Testimony of Melaney Hoover Harvest School 9

My time in Pemba left me deeply humbled and rocked by the passionate heart of my Father for the broken, the downcast, the poor; convinced that desperation for intimacy in His Presence, and being utterly consumed by His Love and Joy were my only source for eternal fruitfulness; and more aware that I am a carrier of Living water, a place where Heaven touches earth and true Love explodes in miraculous ways! The blind saw, the deaf heard, and broken-hearts were made, finding their home in the arms of Jesus. A year later, devastation and tragedy struck the nation of Haiti...and His LOVE compelled me to respond... to do something.... to LIVE LOVE NOW! So, He's invited me to lay my life down in Haiti, and enter the adventure of a life-time with Him, to love the one in front of me, and see His Kingdom come in Glory, with outrageous, transformational LOVE and POWER to see His will done on earth as it is in Heaven.

Testimony of Jan Wigley Harvest School Leadership

As part of our Practical Missions Friday program, I took a team of students into the village to pray for anyone who was sick. God brought two ladies to our attention who were just sitting in the dirt with their children, outside their mud house. After talking, we realised one mama, Letifa was pregnant and soon to give birth. We asked questions about giving birth, prayed for the mama and for the baby's safe arrival. She desperately wanted a girl after three boys. The next week we went passed her house but she wasn't there. The neighbour came and told us Letifa was now living elsewhere temporarily and that she had given birth. We excitedly followed two little children up and down lanes finally reaching our destination, (like the wise men) to behold a baby girl in Letifa's arms!

Letifa insisted we name her baby however we insisted that this was too much for us. We told her that her baby girl was a gift to her and that God had shown his blessing and favour. So we went away to consider this and after much prayer we heard God say Gracie for a name. A few days later, Ken and I held Gracie and prayed over the baby, and spoke the Aaronic Blessing in English and then Sergio our Mozambican friend, translated into Makua. The family all repeated the words and I sang out ''lalalalala'' as they do here when they show joy. We all laughed. We gave her some diapers, a capalana, a baby dress, and a baby blanket. We sat in her house, a simple mud hut with a thatched roof with crowds peering in, celebrating the birth of Gracie.

Before we came to Mozambique, I had a dream we were to 'adopt a baby' and that we were to feed and nurture it. I was given the same prophetic word at a staff retreat day at the beginning of the school. Gracie has been just one layer of this dream that God is continuing to unfold in my life.

Testimony of Serena Hockey Harvest School 13

One of the opportunities we had during HS13 was to really get to know a specific dorm of Iris children, and give them special love and attention. My house was paired up with a dorm of 8-11 year old boys. We took them to the beach, had them over at our house, and generally hung out with them. Whenever we saw them on the base they'd come running, jump into our arms and we'd do our special handshake!

About 3 weeks before the end of school they came to our house with a boy we hadn't seen before and insisted he was part of their dorm now. It turned out the guards had found him sleeping in the latrines outside at night and so Iris investigated his background and took him in. It was such an experience seeing how he adjusted to his new life over the next few weeks. There were times of tears but also times of much joy and laughter. I look forward to hopefully seeing them all again one day, a little older, growing into the fullness of what God intends for them!

Testimony by Ed Palma, current long-term Iris missionary

Missions school was a whirlwind. There is so much content packed into that 3 months that arriving back in the USA left me a little bit lost. The environment in Mozambique is so much more focused on relationship than work that moving back into a get-things-done culture felt a little empty.

I remember in the school my time was mostly filled with lectures, programs, reading and outreaches...and then there was these other "unadvertised" moments where you could just sit down and get to know someone, love them or do nothing with them, because in this culture the "with" part is so much more important than the "do" part.

Today I find myself six months deep in missions with the beautiful people of Mozambique, striving to remember that lesson every day; that if I fulfill all of my responsibilities and bless the people around me with many gifts and talents, but I have not known them, have not loved them, then I worked for nothing. I've been realizing that this lesson is universal because everything else fades, even in America. The reason to do anything is love. I never want my focus on doing to become greater than my focus on loving.

Testimony by Kevin Bubna

Let me tell the story of something that recently happened to me. I was lying on the floor during worship (a typical thing to do here) just enjoying the Lord's presence when I had what some might call a vision or prompting from the Lord. It so overwhelmed me I that I was weeping for quite a while. It was simple but profound and life changing. I saw myself exchanging my clothes for that of a poor Mozambican man. The clothes were tattered and smelly and I knew the Lord was asking me to do this. It was my team's turn to go on outreach to the bush the next weekend so I knew that was going to be my opportunity for the exchange. During my vision I also saw myself preaching to the villagers. That next Friday, 28 of us packed into the back of a flatbed truck they call camios here. It was very uncomfortable and I was quite agitated that they would take so many people at once, especially for a 7 hour drive, half of which was on dirt roads, even dirt trails not even 4 feet wide! Oh how the Lord Jesus continues to stretch me!

We arrived in the village at night and the next day split up into teams to go pray for the sick. I remember one old lady said she could barely see so we prayed like Jesus said to pray: "Your Kingdom come, your will be done!" Well, it worked! A little bit of heaven came down and the dear old saint was excited because she could see a key hanging from one of our team member's neck! It wasn't all the way done so we prayed some more. Then she started seeing things far away. We tested it to be sure with a bottle cap! Praise God! Wow! Jesus still heals. The poor folk here have so much faith. They just believe Jesus and receive so readily. Many of them don't get very excited about it because they just know it will happen and it does. I have seen a man deaf from birth totally healed. The whole village knew him!

Oh, there is so much to praise Jesus about but let me get back to my "exchange" story. We arrived in the village. I looked for a man to exchange clothes with. There he was, a bit shorter than me, but the clothes he was wearing were too big for him, and I thought they would work well. I approached him and pointing at his clothes, tried to tell him what I wanted to do. He just looked at me funny. There were dozens of people around and they were probably all wondering what this crazy "acunia", i.e. white man, was trying to say. Just then I ran to the truck to get my best shirt and shorts to show the man I wanted to exchange them for his. He still looked at me funny, but a guy standing beside him figured it out and helped him understand. Then he looked at me with a big smile and ran to a clump of trees to change. He brought back his rags for me and I ran to the clump to change as well. When I came back the truck driver pointed out that I had the pants on backward (they were weird pants) and we started laughing and laughing. Everyone was laughing at me! By that point I had lost all dignity and just dropped my new trousers and turned them around (yes, I had underwear on).

After all that, one of our interpreters came over and I began to tell this dear old man and those all around why I had done this crazy thing. Jesus had left the splendor and glory of heaven to become a man that we might have relationship with God. He became poor that we may become rich. My exchange was a simple prophetic act to show them what Jesus had done (I said something like that). As I shared I was overwhelmed and tried as best I could to hold it back. We hugged two or three times and I invited them all to come to the Jesus movie that night.

Just before the Jesus film I was asked to preach to the village that night. I wore my new clothes and related to them again what Jesus had done for us. Many gave their lives to Jesus and many were healed of various diseases. All glory to He who became poor that we might become rich. (2 Cor 8:9)

Testimony by Steve Soars, current long-term Iris missionary

I have been a long-term missionary with Iris in Pemba serving the Mozambicans for two years. Before coming to Pemba, I felt I was being prepared in many ways to be working in full-time cross-cultural missions, but it was in Pemba at the Harvest Missions School where I learned what it would actually be like living and working on foreign soil with the poor. I think of the proverb, "It is not good to have zeal without knowledge." In the school and in the Mozambican context for the first time, I began working through how I have been impacted by my culture and the western church and how to set that down to learn what God was doing in the Mozambican people and culture. What I learned in the school is how to truly lay down my life for God and what that looks like in my relationship with the local people I work with. For me, I use the school's impartation on a daily basis as I work alongside Mozambicans and as I continue to learn how to impart skills and training in the Iris vocational department. It is about partnering with what God is doing in helping call Mozambicans into their destinies as sons of God and also into their vocational calling which brings dignity through being able to provide for their families. Jesus inaugural sermon in Luke 4 was talking about a holistic gospel and through the school's teaching, reading, and practical missions training, I began to see what that really looks like in missions.

Testimony by Jennifer Dueck

Harvest School truly was a life-changing time for me. I encountered Jesus in ways that I absolutely have never encountered Him before, and I really do feel wrecked for the ordinary and long for His presence more than anything. It means SO much to me to know that you are still praying for us. Wow. I feel so incredibly honoured to be part of the Iris family. My heart over-flows when I think about my beautiful time with you in Pemba last summer. It was such an incredible gift from the Lord to be able to spend three months with you and the rest of the Iris family. I don't think that there is a day that goes by where I do not think about Pemba and remember the precious time that I had there with the Lord. Thank you so much for everything that you guys poured out on us as a school. I am forever changed from lying on my face with the Lord and drinking from His living water, having my own well dug deeper, learning how to drink, and drinking from some of the deep wells that you have personally dug!!
Jennifer Dueck HS10, Canada

Testimony by SheriLyn Fehr

There is so much that God did in me when I was at HS11...God did a lot of inner healing in me, and freed me from the fear that had practically run my life before. Being finally set free and healed in these areas that hindered me before has given me a new perspective on the world and life. Learning to live by love, stop for the one, and allow God to consume me was a life changing experience. I will never be the same. Before the school, I was mildly interested in missions, but now, God has placed His passion in my heart, His life and joy inside me, and I wanna run to the world, to the lost and dying and be His love to them. I want to see people set free from the bondage that has held them prisoner for so long.

The highlight of my extended outreach was [in Nepal] when we went to the mountains and got to see God's love released through us to the people...setting them free. The joy of being able to be Jesus' hands and feet....to lay hands on the sick and see them healed in spite of us....was so liberating....and FUN!! Having fun with God....being at His side and watching what He is doing was such an experience. Being in this country and with the missionaries really blessed me - opened my eyes to what practical love looks like. It encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and dive deep into the life of adventure God has called me to.
SheriLyn Fehr HS11, Canada

Testimony by Emily Bair

Harvest School 9 changed my life. I am so far from the person that I was before the school, the change can really only be a direct result of hanging out with God in Africa for a few months. Since the school, I have gotten some clear direction in my life, right now I am in Brazil, about to begin helping at a children's home that is in disrepair with 40 broken children living there. Since God healed my heart in Mozambique, I am now able to work with broken children wherever I end up. I spent some time working with autistic kids in the US, and while I know God's heart is for healing, I realized that there is much to learn from these special kids. Although I am in Brazil right now, Mozambique still weighs heavily on my heart. I remember and pray for the kids there often. I am praying about God's timing for returning to visit.
Emily Bair HS9, USA

Testimony by Miriam Smit

The time in Pemba really gave me hope. I believe the Lord has big plans for me prepared. During my time in Holland I really lost some of the vision the Lord gave me. But now little by little I am letting go of my own life again and my relationship with Him is growing again. I am really learning (again) to lay my life down. The Lord is really working on my character at the moment. The Lord is preparing me to go to different countries, but the next couple of years I will be here. I know that the Lord called me also to other places, but I will go on the right time. My desire is to really see the kingdom of the Lord be revealed through His sons and daughters. I want to see people become more like Him. When I look to the students and the people from our home church I really see them changing. I really see them coming free and they start to walk in authority. It is such a blessing to be a part of this. Last week I really saw again how powerful it is to stop for the one. I went to visit one of the gypsies' families we work with and I saw just by having some attention for them I brought so much joy and life. Relationships with the church are really a lifeline for the church. It really brings them so much joy and hope. I really see my life changing from being focused on work/ tasks to be focused on relationships. It is such a blessing to work with people and to do work I can do. The school really changed my life and I am happy that I was able to go there.
Miriam Smit HG3, The Netherlands

Testimony by Rollo Hope

My HS11 experience has been the greatest one of my life. It has been extraordinary how deeply in love with Jesus I have fallen, it is something one hopes for but never quite expects when it happens to a deeper level. During the school I got so totally wrecked that I manifest when I am around people who are not even Christians so trying to control Him is quite challenging but hilarious too.

On graduation day God did a really deep work in me. He broke me for the poor and especially the starving and that took me by surprise, the starving had not been on my heart before to such an extreme extent. God showed me a glimpse of his heart for them and I was destroyed by it, crying on the floor for them in North Africa especially. This has dramatically changed me now I am back in England because He did not just give me a good experience in Mozambique but he told me what he wants me to do. I know that he is calling me to feed the hungry and to minister through music. So I am now very conscious about taking steps towards what he is calling me to and not in another direction but that is always stretching and my finances are pretty limited. I am trying to fix my eyes on him and follow him with this all. So please pray that God will provide and that I will have discernment about always going after what he wants me to do. I passionately feel that the world can be changed through music that brings the glory of Jesus to people who would not have otherwise been in a place to hear about him. So I am pursuing music as a career and using that as the vehicle for feeding the starving. Please pray that the first steps of that come into place.
Rollo Hope HS11, England

Testimony by James Temme

I did the school in October 2009. I had an amazing time. I think the highlight for me was the friendships I made. It was awesome to be able to spend time with such amazing people for all around the world. I was on the outreach based in Cuamba. It was such a privilege to see God move so powerfully and to play a small role in what He is doing in Mozambique through Iris. We saw a lot of miracles but one that stood out for me was a guy who had been deaf and mute from birth and God healed him. I've read about the deaf been healed before but this was the first time I've prayed for a deaf person and seen them healed. It was awesome to see the guy's reaction after he got healed and also the reaction of the other people from the village when they realized what had happened. His life is forever changed. He'll never forget what Jesus did for him. I also really enjoyed hanging out with the kids. It was a lot of fun and they seemed to get a lot of joy by us simply spending some time with them.

I loved my time in Mozambique and would definitely go back to Africa if that's where God wants me. I really just want to serve God and be in His Will - I realized more and more during the school that nothing else matters. I also feel like I have a much greater grasp of my identity in Christ as a result of the school - a greater freedom to serve Him without worrying about what people might think. Another thing I feel like God is showing me is to spend more time with people who don't know Him and not just hang around with my Christian friends where it's safer and easier. Everyone deserves a chance to meet Jesus and I want to play my part in making that happen. I just want to thank Iris for the opportunity to do the school and experience what God is doing in Mozambique. It really was a life changing experience.
James Temme HS11, Australia

Testimony from Beira Outreach by Jan Wigley, Australia

Our time at the Beira conference was like jumping into the colorful illustrations of the New Testament in a children's bible. Jesus touched the deaf, the blind, the lame and a sick woman.

One afternoon when I arrived at the conference, some Harvest School students came excitedly and said, "there are some deaf people here. We told them to wait until you came". I am a teacher of the deaf and can sign. I met with a group of young boys who were deaf and began to communicate using sign language, writing in the dirt, and with pen and paper. They used Mozambican sign and I used Australian.

After sharing about myself, I asked if I could pray for them. Our prayers were fervent, but there was no apparent change in their hearing. I invited them into the conference of the night meeting that had commenced. There was a row of empty seats in the second row, just perfect so they could lip read, see the screen, and for me to interpret the message. I explained the gospel in sign language with the help of the Holy Spirit to represent the key information spatially. Five boys and two girls accepted Jesus for the first time. Pastor Mario from the Peniel Church called them to come out front. Four more men who were deaf came also. I checked with each one to see if they believed. As they came out, the song "You Come" was being played - "chains be broken, lives be healed, eyes be opened, Christ is revealed".

I have always sung the words as "ears be opened" as I have passionately sought to see deaf ears be healed since I was a young girl. Tonight was the night! God blessed them. There was improvement in their hearing. The next day the blind came. I prayed for a man who was lame and a sick woman who miraculously recovered after 38 days on her bed.

A few days later, I met a boy with only one hearing aid and not two. I asked why. He replied, "Don't you remember? You prayed for me." Praise Jesus!