In African culture, friends are very important. Having friends is an integral part of day-to-day survival. Friends offer knowledge, security, an expanded circle of influential contacts, comfort, joy, and—as with Carlos and Adri—a home in which to worship God on the Sabbath.
When we first arrived in Mozambique, we were prayerfully looking for a house to rent. We asked our friend Joe if he knew of any houses for rent. He connected us with Carlos who told us to contact his friend Hilario. Hilario became our new landlord.
This expanding circle of contacts is how we met Carlos and Adri who live about three miles from us. Their home overlooks the beautiful Indian Ocean, and their yard is filled with fruit trees and flowering plants that attract large numbers of colorful birds. It is so peaceful to sit in the shade with them and enjoy nature.
When the pandemic chased most foreigners back to their home countries, Carlos and Adri remained, but their business ended up closing. All churches were closed, and Edie and I isolated at home except for food shopping once a week. After a few lonely Sabbaths at home, we remembered that Carlos and Adri also keep the Sabbath holy, so we accepted an invitation to go to their house during the pandemic to read the Bible and pray. It was so therapeutic to get out of our fenced-in house and see something other than cement walls. During the subsequent weekly outings to their home, we became close friends.
When we get together for a Bible study, we search the scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments to get a complete picture of what the Bible says about topics and doctrines. All of us enjoy our discussions of Bible prophecies. We have often downloaded sermons and shared them with each other. We have a deep conviction that we are in the last days of this world’s history. Yes, the seventh-day Sabbath will be an identifying characteristic of God’s people at the end. The pandemic crisis is a wakeup call for God’s people. Carlos wants to be re-baptized. He was baptized by sprinkling as a baby, but now he wants to follow his Savior’s example and get baptized by immersion. Please pray with us that current health restrictions forbidding physical contact at religious services will be lifted soon so Carlos can be baptized without issue.
Carlos and Adri have been a longtime witness for the seventh-day Sabbath within their circle of friends and family. They often send them links to sermons promoting Sabbath observance. When friends call wanting to do business on Saturday, they tell them they don’t work on God’s holy day. And their witness is bearing fruit. Two weeks ago, another expat family started keeping the seventh-day Sabbath holy!
