Village outreaches are Iris at its most basic. This is the core of what we do. Here is where we meet the poor, the remote, the forgotten lost sheep of the world. Here the Gospel shines deeply into the darkness, facing head-on our frail human predicament, and all the despair and damage that Satan and his demons can…
The sparkling edges of the Indian Ocean are rippling gently on the rocky sand before me at low tide here in Pemba. The brilliant noon sun is accenting ribbons of green, turquoise and blue tropical water with intense flashes of reflected light that add dazzle to the shimmering surface. The restful sound of surf is …
26 DECEMBER 2005
I can hear the waves of the Indian Ocean softly wash up on the rocks and coral of Pemba’s beach out in the dark. The air is warm and still. All is peaceful at our funky, thatched house far to the north in Mozambique. And it is three a.m., time to rise. I have more than a thousand miles to t…
LILONGWE, MALAWI, 8 SEPTEMBER 2005
I’m back in Africa after weeks of conferences in the West. And I’m facing another kind of conference: a gathering of the poor, hungry, ragged, barefoot and sick from among our churches in the central region of Malawi. Carpets, air conditioning and chandeliers have gi…
SOMEWHERE IN CENTRAL AFRICA, 27 APRIL 2005 Dark rain clouds loom on the northwest horizon, directly in our flight path. Row after row of mountain ridges stand before us. We have no weather briefing. We have never flown this route before. We are heading for yet another country, but do not have a landing permit, or …
SUMATRA, FRIDAY, 15 APRIL 2005
Our Merpati Airlines Fokker F-27 is old. The interior is faded and stained. The seats are frayed, and tiny. My briefcase won’t fit under the seat. But at least I am on the plane, along with Steve Lazar, director of our children’s center at Maputo, and Mel Tari, my evange…
Kakala is grinning broadly, so excited. Heidi is prompting her syllable by syllable, and she is answering perfectly into the microphone. This stirs the whole watching village, which knows that Kakala has been a deaf mute all her life. They run to get Kakala’s mother, and soon the two of them are beaming as t…
SUDAN
The children’s voices are strong, determined, fervent. I hear them all around me. Down myself on dust and dirt, I look up briefly and realize this is no ordinary children’s church. Eight-year-olds are pounding their fists on mud-clay walls crying out for God’s mercy and power. Some are bow…
I’m hot and miserable. It’s dark and my feet are aching. I can hardly see where I’m going, slogging through sticky mud and slipping off narrow trails. I can’t recognize anything around me. I’m soaking with perspiration. My eyes are getting blurry from fatigue…view »
7 April 2019—Cyclone Idai in Mozambique I’m hot and miserable. It’s dark and my feet are aching. I… More »
4 December 2018—Extraordinarily Blessed Dear family, Heidi and I want to communicate with our fri… More »
25 January 2016—A Pure Heart “The human heart is the very throne and citadel of God. Wh… More »
16 December 2015—A Missionary Legacy [Every few years I have been re-posting this newsletter I … More »
2 November 2015—Five Essential Core Values Hi everybody! A lot of people want to know more about our… More »
12 February 2015—Confidence in Him “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though yo… More »
1 February 2015—Onward and upward in Jesus! Twenty years ago Heidi and I landed in Mozambique with a v… More »
27 November 2014—Thanksgiving in the bush To our worldwide Iris family! This week, like every other… More »