"THAT'S WHEN THE FIGHTS START"

The refugee camp was growing daily--eventually to 65,000 people.

We started providing food and medical care, but we knew it was important to bring the Good News of the Gospel to these hurting people. So we asked the officials if we could set up a church in the camp.

"Not possible," they responed. "When you have a church that is when the fights start."

Their words took my breath away. Partly because they were so final and partly because I knew they were true.

I knew we'd have to prove we were different. The opportunity arose out of the need for crowd control. Hundreds and sometimes thousands of people would crowd in to get our help.

We asked a pastor to come help us by leading the waiting crowds in singing--Africans love to sing and their sound stirs one's soul.. He taught them to sing songs with the message of salvation and healing.

A wonderful thing happened--as the refugees sang the words of Jesus into their own hearts the squabbles and fights in the camp were greatly reduced.

Months passed and the officials came to us asking if we could start a church in a building they would provide--and they would give us a place for the pastor to live in the camp.

So many people accepted Christ that when the Mozambique war ended and the refugees were repatriated, there were enough believers that they started 16 churches and ministry points in their home neighborhoods.