WASH course graduation ceremony in Bucorusi

Updates from the Field

Mariah McGlothlin

August 2022

So much has happened the past few months, and I’m excited to update you on it! Prayers are included in italics to make it easy for you to pray in agreement with us. 

Individuals from over fifty families have graduated our water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) course since May, and we’re running the course now for another eighty individuals.

We’ve been working since last November to bring four new long-term missionaries out to our base. There have been loads of setbacks applying for their visas, but we’ve got two of them ministering alongside us here (pictured below) and two nurses still waiting in the States. 

Holy Spirit lead everyone involved in visa application process for the two waiting nurses; give us wisdom and insight, and favor with government officials.

Mariah with our two newest missionaries; Valeria and Bridget

WASH News!

After the team wrapped up WASH courses in the communities of Bucorusi and in Zimpinga, they started home visits to the participants. In a home visit the team encourages and supports the family’s effort to improve their WASH practices, and often takes the opportunity to pray with them and engage in spiritual conversations. The WASH program opens entire communities to us, giving us abundant opportunities to share the gospel and search for spiritually hungry people.

Pictured here: Chaona, Moises, Quisito, Tomas and myself

under a papaya tree in Bucorusi.

Moises and Tomas are eager young believers learning to do ministry and love their neighbors. I pray they’re as fruitful as the tree we stand under.

Our team has devoted special attention to Bucorusi, having visiting the neighborhood every week for two years. Sometimes we preach the Word house to house, sometimes we rebuild collapsed houses, and now we facilitate the WASH program. In all of this we’ve been sowing and watering seeds of the gospel. Many in Bucorusi see Quisito and Chaona as the de-facto pastors of the neighborhood, seeking them out for prayer and counsel with uncommon vulnerability and openness to ministry. Let’s pray for a great harvest from the seeds that have been sown.



God, we want to see souls saved in Bucorusi. We pray for a movement of your Kingdom. Raise up Mozambican laborers to reap the harvest. Pour out the joy of your salvation on the new and growing believers there, that they would gladly give themselves to you and to the expansion of your Kingdom.

Story Time

Surprising confession from a witchdoctor… 

One day at the end of a hygiene lesson in Zimpinga, lead trainer Quisito started reading a Bible verse that connected with the lessons’ theme. A community leader objected to the verse, saying, “what if there is a witchdoctor here in this class? They might not want to hear it.” Quisito responded by telling the parable of the pharisee and the tax collector. The pharisee boasted of his good deeds and disassociation with sinners; the tax collector beat his chest begging for mercy for his sin. It was the latter who went home justified before God; not the former.

Weeks later the team was installing a biosand filter in the home of one of the Zimpinga graduates. She told the team, “I am the witchdoctor the leader was referring to in class. Thank you for telling that story and for letting me hear the Word of God.” 

Lord, continue to draw this precious woman to yourself. Show her you’re pursuing her. Send us and others to minister your love to her.

Never going back to dirty water… 

While we were installing a filter in the home of a new couple, we learned that the young woman had been drinking water from the filter we installed in her father’s home two years ago. She recently married and moved in with her husband’s family, and she didn’t want to go back to drinking dirty water. When we offered the WASH course in her area, she faithfully attended the lessons so that she could receive her own filter.

Graduates of the WASH course in Zimpinga

WASH Lessons in New Communities

We just launched the WASH course in two communities; “25 de Setembro” and “Eduardo Mondlane” in Gondola. I expect the lessons will have a particularly strong impact on their health because both communities are situated on hills where the water sources are highly contaminated with rainwater runoff and latrines leaching into the groundwater. In the town of Gondola we’ll be reaching a more people at once. Quisito is chomping at the bit to take advantage of the opportunity to preach the Word in these communities!

Lord give Quisito and Chaona words of life to preach that would draw people to You. Prepare their hearts to love and minister to the training participants, and may all their labors bear fruit.

The team taking a lunch break in Zimpinga

Need more laborers

The Community Health and Discipleship program is arriving at a sweet spot of integrating the three arms of our ministry: WASH training, biosand water filters, and Christian discipleship. Our challenge now is to bring more laborers on board to broaden our reach, whether they’re paid trainers or volunteer health promoters from within the communities we work in. Ultimately we’re always looking for people of peace (Lk 10:6) that will become disciple-makers.

Lord, lead this team to the men and women you’ve planned for them to disciple—to the ones who will eventually be ready to lay down their lives for You and become disciple-makers. Lead the team to ones who are passionate about the health of their communities—those who can take on the work of promoting safe water, sanitation and hygiene amongst their neighbors.

Thank you to everyone agreeing with us here in prayer! 

Upcoming travel plans: At the end of September I’ll fly back to Colorado to visit family for a month and spend a week in North Carolina. In November I’ll head to the Antioch team leader gathering in Rome. Then I’ll close out the year here in Moz.

Love and blessings!

~Mariah

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