Author Lisa Harris

WHY MOZAMBIQUE? PART I. . .

A HEART TO HEART INTERVIEW WITH SCOTT HARRIS

African Outreach Ministries is preparing to train and send workers to go into Mozambique to share the gospel with an unreached people group, the Tonga tribe. With church in Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi, why move into Mozambique? Here’s what Scott had to say.

SCOTT: AOM’s vision has always been to move into other parts of southern Africa, specifically for church planting movements in unreached people groups. We’ve been praying that God would open doors for us to be able to do this, and he has!

LISA: That’s exciting, but it’s hard to believe that there are still people who don’t know about Jesus. What exactly is an unreached people group?

SCOTT: We define it as a tribe where less that five percent of the people are Christian of any kind.

LISA: Wow. Those figures are startling. So tell us how has God begun to answer this prayer?

SCOTT: We received an invitation from a man named Antonio in Mozambique who saw the need for the gospel to come to his people. He has been active in doing research for us to help us choose a tribe. God has also been faithful in connecting us with people who also have a passion for these unreached people. There is a church in Houston who has caught this vision and will be working with us to make sure that the Tonga people are reached with the gospel of Christ.

Lisa: Why the Tonga people?

Scott: Logistically it makes sense because we can get there in a day, but more importantly there are no evangelical missionaries there and few Tonga speaking churches. Without a doubt this is an unreached people group.


Lisa: Why do you think the Tonga people haven’t been reached with the gospel yet?

Scott: They are highly animistic. This means that they are involved in things like witchcraft and ancestral worship. They have also been traditionally resistant to outside influences. Most of the churches in the areas are not in the people’s heart language and few of these Christians are actually Tonga, meaning the majority of the Christians living among the Tonga are transplants in the area from other tribes.

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Thank you for taking the time to read about the need for the Tonga people to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. Check back on Monday for part two of my interview with Scott on WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? We are currently needing both prayer partners and financial partners to join with us as we reach out to southern Africa. If you’d like to learn more about our ongoing work with African Outreach Ministries, Please contact us at sgharris@mac.com

Blessings!

Lisa