For the past three years, we have been teaching and discipling fishermen in the villages of southern Mozambique.
Two of the fishermen grew up together. When they were kids, they attended school together, played together, went fishing together, and now, grown up, they are learning the Bible and discovering Jesus Christ together.
Both of them have been coming to us frequently with questions and much interest in learning the Bible. God has given us opportunities just as he gave to Paul in the past:
“They… came… to the place where he was staying. He witnessed to them from morning till evening, explaining about the kingdom of God, and from the law of Moses and from the prophets he tried to persuade them about Jesus” Acts 28:23.
Together, we spend hours under the shade of a tree, learning what it means to follow Jesus.
Recently, one of them shared an amazing story. He shared that when he was a kid at the only school in his village, he didn’t learn how to read. Even though he tried hard, he never understood a word.
He said that his teacher got very angry with him because he could not read. He told the teacher that he wanted to learn to read, but he couldn’t.
This can be a challenge for many kids at school.
But a few years ago, he received a Bible. Suddenly, he was able to connect the letters. The words started to make sense for him, and he could read!
Even his best friend was surprised. He said, “We grew up together, and I can testify that at school he could not read a word. It is amazing to see him reading his Bible today.”
By Paulo Almeida, OMS missionary in Mozambique
