Meet the team
 | | Ready to go... |
To listen to some of the team talking about their expectations for the mission and its significance for their faith, click on the audio link at the top right hand side of this page. Michelle Moffat began by asking Brian Livesey just how they came to be heading off to Mozambique in the first place...Ìý Team members from left to right - back row: Sally Haine, Anthony Clarke, Cirsty de Gruchy, Heidi Gallaher, Justin Gallaher and Angela Alder. Front row: Cathy Bithell, Chantal Clarke, Stephanie Clarke, Brian Livesey and Ian Alder. (Simon Clarke is missing from the picture.) In the Beginning... This particular story starts with a South African young man named Marius Vogel, who spent some time working in Jersey until two years ago. During his time here, Marius found himself joining a Christianity Explored course run by Jersey Baptist Church and went through nothing short of a dramatic conversion to faith in Jesus Christ.
 | | Marius and Marinda Vogel |
This sudden discovery of faith and purpose lead Marius to return home and enrol in a four-year Bible College programme. Jersey Baptist Church was in a position to financially support his studies as he returned home and so the relationship has flourished. Earlier this year, Marius, now two years into his course, returned to Jersey with his new wife Marinda and told friends about the impending mission to Mozambique which formed part of his college programme. Would anyone from Jersey like to go with him? The answer was a resounding ‘Yes’ and so a team of 12 volunteers was swiftly assembled for the 16 day journey to Mozambique via South Africa. Samaria Mission Christ Seminary, the bible college that Marius joined following his return to South Africa, works alongside the Christ Baptist Church and a missionary arm - Samaria Mission to take the Gospel to communities across southern Africa. Samaria Mission's work across southern Africa includes an outreach programme into neighbouring Mozambique. For more information about their work, click on the link to their website on the right hand side of this page. Mozambique Mozambique is a vast land of 300,000 sq m which borders South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Swaziland and Malawi and Tanzania. Today poverty, HIV/AIDS, a legacy of land mines from the civil war and global ‘free trade’ pressures, present just some of the problems that the country is experiencing. Back in Jersey the team from JBC were all aware that conditions in Mozambique would present a considerable contrast to the comparative affluence and security of their lives here. The cultural differences would be huge; as a mission they know that most of the people they meet will have never been exposed to Christianity in any form. In short they would have little in common with the people of Machaela, Mozambique except their essential humanity. Mission Whilst the team from Jersey is in Machaela, they will be involved in Christian Outreach work with the children, women and men of the town. Visiting the sick and infirm in their homes, delivering some basic literacy training, holding services and meetings in the town will also form part of the training. Thanks to the generosity of local traders the team have also been able to take with them a great deal of sports equipment, stationary and toys for the local children. Whilst the team are away, members of Jersey Baptist Church have committed themselves to a 24 hour prayer rota that will be praying for their strength and safety as well as the success of the mission and the people of Mozambique. The team will be making their journey to Machaela from Johannesburg in a 4X4 bus which will travel through the famous game reserves of Kruger National Park and over the border into Mozambique. Their return journey will allow two days of sightseeing to round off what should be a life changing trip. | 
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