Jim and Corinne Thorp
WorldVenture
Strategic planning and outreach - Maputo, Mozambique
Jim and Corinne moved from Brazil to Mozambique in January 2005, where they oversee the ministry in Mozambique and Angola (two Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa). They have joined the Latin Global Leadership Team, a partnership of Brazilian and American churches and missionaries. This team is working on strategic planning and outreach.
Jim and Corinne Thorp
Maputo, Mozambique
August 31, 2007
So, how was your summer? Wow, we had a very full and exciting summer here in Mozambique . Of course, you have to remember that our seasons are different from yours. May, June and July are the coolest months of the year (our winter) and that makes it a good time to have teams come from the States. It also is a good time for people from the States to get time to come to Mozambique .
What a summer with our Short term teams!
Our first visit was a team of college students that came with two leaders from our WorldVenture mission headquarters. There were eight of them and they helped with VBS, visited the orphanage, cleared land (they dug a lot of stumps out of the ground) and we talked a lot about missions. They worked very hard and were willing to adapt to some difficult situations. You may remember that our truck motor was ruined while they were here and we had to tow it two hours to the mechanic. Not fun. Then we had a flat tire on the van on the way to the South African border. That is when we discovered that the last person to use the van left it with a sliced spare tire, a fact that I did not know until we were stuck in the middle of nowhere. I had to leave them for three hours on the side of the road while I tried to find a tire to get us to our destination. We had a great time with them and God used them to do some great things.
First Baptist Church , Salem, Oregon
Our next visit was a team from our home church in Salem, Oregon . It was great to have a team of people that we knew beforehand. They opened up a lot of doors for us in our ministry. The American women ministered to Mozambican women in a number of ways. They also helped with a VBS at our congregation with lots and lots of children. The last Sunday there were here we had 80 children in SS along with 40 adults and young people. They also made a lasting impression on the church in Manhica where Pastor Luis is building an orphanage. They spent valuable time at the AIDS orphanage and ministered to a group of ladies in the hospice section of the orphanage. Our car problems continued with this team and one day we had problems with all three vehicles and had to cancel a couple of activities and change a number of our plans. Not to mention the day we were stopped three times by the police. But that is all part of the experience of living in this country. The day after they left we had to tow our truck back to the city to be fixed…again. (As of this moment all three vehicles on the field are working, though our truck still needs some work).
Back to “ Normal ”?
Now that the teams are gone we are getting back in to our normal schedule of events. Jim started teaching his Bible classes two days after the last team left. (Talk about having preparation time.) He is teaching the second half of the Old Testament survey and a class on preaching to 16 students. Corinne continues mentoring of ladies on different levels. She began meeting with Joana, whose children attend her SS class, and just recently she made a decision to follow Jesus. Corinne is discipling a couple of women from the congregation, a group of ladies from different churches and helps lead a Bible study for missionary wives.
So close…and yet so far away.
The process of registering our mission in Mozambique continues…slowly. We did finally receive the approval from the Justice Minister which was a big step. We thought we were just about finished with the process. Just three more easy steps! Then we went to the notary office to register the documents and were told that all 10 members of our founding board have to sign. The problem with that is that two of them are in the States and won't be back until next May. So the process is stopped until we can get a power of attorney from them so that we can sign in their absence. The next two steps are not complicated but we were not aware that they would have to sign this document. Once we get their power of attorney we will be able to finish the documents in this office, then we have to register them in another office and finally publish the documents in the official government newspaper.
Where are we going in the next couple of months?
In September, Rob and Heather Blanks, who are interested in becoming missionaries in Mozambique, will be here to visit. Later in the month our colleagues have a medical/dental team coming. We will be making a visit to missionaries up in Beira sometime in the next couple of months. In October we are going to Lisbon, Portugal for a meeting of the Latin Global Leadership Team. In November we will have a visit from the Africa Ministry Director of WorldVenture and in December we are going to the States for a six month Home Assignment. We can't wait to get home and see our boys and our new little granddaughter. If you did not receive the news, Josh and Stephanie had a girl, Madison Anne in May.
Praise God with us…
- Joana made a decision and a number of women are attending church
- The SS class is exploding (last Sunday Corinne had 40 in class)
- That He has provided help for Pr. Luis and the orphanage in Manhica
Pray that God would…
- Pave the way for the final steps in the mission registration process (we need it finished by November).
- Protect our vehicles and us while we are driving
- That God would provide a permanent meeting place for the Alto Mae congregation.
