Evangelist Reini Coetzee reached another significant milestone in his 10 000 km Crosswalk Africa mission today when he wheeled his wooden cross from Mozambique into Malawi at the Dedza border post.
Since embarking on his Cape Town to Jerusalem trek on March 16 last year he and the cross have travelled over 3 000 km through South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
Thanks to a divine meeting on the road in South Africa with Jannie Smit the missionary pioneer of Chandame, a Shofar Christian Church mission station in the rural north-west of Mozambique, he was accompanied by a backup vehicle provided by the mission throughout his time in Mozambique.
In a phone interview yesterday, when Reini had about 30km to go to the border, he said his passage across north-western Mozambique had been a lot quieter than his Zimbabwe crossing where he drew enthusiastic crowds most of the way.
He said the towns and villages in the part of Mozambique he visited were further apart than those he had seen in Zimbabwe. The people also seemed more reserved and, except on a few days when he had been accompanied by an interpreter, he faced a language barrier as the people spoke Portuguese and Chichewa. Some people seemed confused by the sight of him wheeling a cross through their neighbourhood. When he had the help of an interpreter he had engaged and prayed with people. Mostly he had used the opportunity of walking through Mozambique to pray for the nation. He said people were friendly and he felt safe at all times. He had slept over at churches, with pastors and at a mission.
Judging from the Christian workers he had encountered in the area he said he had an impression that God is raising an army in the region.
I spoke to Ricco Koen of Chandame Mission, who was backup driving for Reini yesterday. Ricco and his wife Jana, who is seven months pregnant took over the leadership last year from Jannie and Susan Smit who pioneered it for 20 years. Chandame serves the local community with a free clinic — the only medical service within a radius of 80km, running water and a baby-support service. They also partner with 25 churches, through Bible studies, preaching and evangelism.
Ricco and Jana, who are from George in the Western Cape, connected with Chandame over a number of short term missions since 2019. They fell in love with the local people and later sensed this was where God wanted them to be full-time. Ricco said it was a sacrifice to leave the comfort of George. “But we truly believe that God is moving here and we want to be busy with what He’s busy with. We are ready to be here until He moves us.” Ricco and Jana are currently learning to speak Chichewa, the local dialect.
Ricco said while driving behind Reini and the cross he took note of communities where people were interested. He plans to invest more time in those areas.
Reini said God has raised more people to support him in the next part of his journey, in Malawi, just as He has done throughout his journey. He said a group Christian leaders in Malawi recently reached out to him. During a Zoom meeting with them he learned that they would meet him at the Dedza border post in Malawi and had lined up 3-days accommodation for him in a guest lodge.
Please help us to keep on publishing news that brings Hope in Jesus:
>> Donate >> Become a Super Subscriber
VISIT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/gatewaynews100
COMMENTING GUIDELINES
You are welcome to engage with our articles by making comments [in the Comments area below] that add value to a topic or to engage in thoughtful, constructive discussion with fellow readers. Comments that contain vulgar language will be removed. Hostile, demeaning, disrespectful, propagandistic and off-topic comments may also be moved. This is a Christian website and if you wish to vent against Christian beliefs you have probably come to the wrong place and your comments may be removed. Ongoing debates and repetitiveness will not be tolerated. You will also disqualify yourself from commenting if you engage in trolling.
