The scorching heat of the sun was setting slowly over Chicualacuala, painting the sky with hues of orange and purple as Bible worker Victor walked the dirt roads, going from door to door, sharing the gospel. When he arrived at Mr. Félix’s house, he did not know he was about to encounter a story marked by pain, survival, and, ultimately, the hope of redemption.
The creaky door opened, revealing a man with a tired expression and a lost gaze. “Good afternoon, sir,” Victor greeted him with a warm smile. “My name is Victor, and I am sharing a message of hope.”
Mr. Félix hesitated. He was not used to receiving visitors, especially after everything that had happened. But something in Victor’s gaze made him nod his head. “Please, come in. I think I need to hear this.”
Seated on simple wooden benches, Mr. Félix began to open up as if he had been carrying an unbearable weight for years. “I was born in Chibuto in 1974,” he started, his voice choked with emotion. “My childhood was stolen by civil war. We had nothing to eat. I lost my school, my family . . . I lost everything.” Victor’s eyes filled with empathy as he listened.
“When my parents separated, I was just a boy. But I had to be a man. I worked since I was young to support my siblings. I carried blocks and did any job. I slept on the floor, went hungry . . .” Mr. Félix paused as if the past still suffocated him. “I know what it’s like to sleep with an empty stomach and wake up with no hope.”
He told Victor about his father’s death, then his mother’s, about how he moved to Chicualacuala in search of a new life, and about how he met Paulina—the woman who brought back some warmth and joy to his chest.
“She was a woman of prayer,” he smiled, with nostalgia in his eyes. “She prayed so much that I was even afraid. I thought God listened to every word she said.”
But the smile disappeared. “In 2024, she got sick. The church prayed. I prayed. She only got worse.”
He took a deep breath as if reliving the most painful moment of his life. “On May 7th, the hospital called me. I already knew. Paulina was gone.”
Silence.
“And with her, I lost my strength.”
The tragedy did not end there. After Paulina’s death, a neighbor began casting spells against the family. Mr. Félix would wake up in the middle of the night to find crosses drawn on the floor with corn flour. “My children got sick. We could not sleep anymore. Everything was getting worse. I just wanted God to show me if He still looked at me.”
Victor leaned forward, his heart burning. “God heard, Mr. Félix. I am here because He never abandoned you.”
Mr. Félix raised his eyes, surprised. “But why did He take my wife?”
Victor’s voice was firm but full of tenderness. “I also lost my mother, Mr. Félix. And it hurt. But God showed me that death is not the end. Jesus promised to return, and all those who died in Him will rise again. I will see my mother again. And you will see your wife.”
A solitary tear rolled down Mr. Félix’s face. “I . . . I want to believe that.”
In the following weeks, Victor returned to that house. Each visit brought new conversations and new prayers. A small flame began to ignite in Mr. Félix’s heart. One day, he said something that left Victor speechless:
“My house is open to you. I want you to hold services here every Saturday.”
Victor was silent for a moment, taken by emotion. “Praise God!”
And so, a new point of preaching was born. The simple house, once marked by pain and mourning, now resonates with songs and words of hope. Mr. Félix is not yet baptized, but his heart already belongs to Christ. He dreams of becoming a preacher—and, with the firmness of someone who has survived many battles, he declares:
“I want to tell my story. I want others to know that God still performs miracles.”
Victor continues to visit and disciple Félix and his family. And every Saturday, that humble house is transformed into a place of worship and renewal.
Do you want to be part of stories like that of Mr. Félix? Go to afmonline.org to see how you can pray, give or go. Your help brings hope to families who still live without knowing the liberating truth of the gospel. Every open door is a victory for the kingdom of God.
“For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:8).
