The AIM Training in Ministry Outreach (TIMO) team working with the Ndau people of Mozambique live in the shadow of Sitatonga Mountain. Sitatonga is a twenty-five mile ridge that runs from the Chimanimani Mountains at the Zimbabwe border to the Buzi River in Ndau territory. Team members are scattered along the base of Sitatonga and during the winter months (summer in the U.S.), they watch the sun fall behind the mountain at about 4:45 every evening.

While exploring Sitatonga, TIMO members discovered a rock altar. The presence of ashes indicated to them that it had been used quite recently.

"For the Ndau," says team leader, Bob Barnes, "God is the creator and all powerful, but far away and not much interested in daily affairs."When they asked a local believer about the altar, they were told that it is used by a "Christopagan" church in the area that makes goat and cow sacrifices to God in Old Testament fashion.

Instead of responding with fear or disgust, the TIMO team gathered to pray for the Ndau - "that God would free them from empty and unnecessary rituals through Jesus our great High Priest."

The Ndau, they have learned, not only believe that the blood of bulls and goats can take away their sin, but also make offerings to dead ancestors in order to gain their protection, healing, and help with problems.

"For the Ndau," says team leader, Bob Barnes, "God is the creator and all powerful, but far away and not much interested in daily affairs."

To communicate the truth about God and His only Son, Jesus, Bob and the rest of the team are planning a series of community meetings to teach Bible stories beginning with Genesis.

The importance of getting the Good News to the Ndau, Bob says, is made all the more real as the team witnesses these unreached people passing into eternity without Christ. Three months ago, one of his Ndau neighbors committed suicide. Another young wife of a friend and next door neighbor died in childbirth. "Knowing the family," Bob says about the woman, "we have no real hope that she was a believer."

So it is with a true sense of urgency that the TIMO team calls for prayer.

"Pray that we will be able to press on in sharing the gospel both through teaching and on a personal basis. Pray that the Ndau will be curious to know God’s Word... and will come to trust God alone as their all-sufficient protector."

To learn more about Africa Inland Mission's TIMO program click here.

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