“Not a day goes by that we don’t use something that came in the last container,” is a statement often said by Chad and Dara Vanden Bosch. Only God knew how crucial the 2019 Container would be for the Vanden Bosch’s continued ministry in Mozambique, as the pandemic shut down...
For the average family in central Mozambique, it has been a painful start to 2021. Two back-to-back cyclones in January brought 10-15 inches of sudden rain. Because 90% of the community are subsistence farmers, living off whatever they can grow in an acre or so, this was devastating. As Chad...
Why Send Art Supplies to Mozambique? A few years ago, after many challenges in Mozambique, an adoption that was making us feel “trapped” (within a small radius in a foreign land with a small support system), someone said to me, “Dara, go back to your younger self. Who were you...
It’s about people. Stepping into the midst of heart-wrenching stories of extreme poverty, abuse, alcoholism, and spiritual bondage—with the hope of Jesus Christ. Serving, learning, training, equipping and investing in people. This model of evangelism and discipleship isn’t always the easiest way to do mission, but Chad and Dara Vanden...
Mozambique is considered one of the poorest countries in the world (usatoday.com), a situation compounded by social and political upheavel. “Wars and rumors of war” (Matthew 24) can be a daily reality for many Mozambicans. Our Compassionate Care (CC) Team is on the front lines of serving the critically ill and...
As ASM Africa Director Chad Vanden Bosch stood waiting along a hot, dusty stretch of road in central Mozambique, a well-used bus slowed to a crawl, as its brakes loudly protested. A hand holding a small bubble-wrapped package was thrust out the door. This little package, which had been hand-carried...
“Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will act” (Psalm 37:5, ESV) is one of Estêvão (Steve) Macambaco’s favorite Bible verses. Steve says this verse is an important reminder that God is our Provider: “We need to give everything to God and have confidence that He...
Above the noise of the busy roadside market a voice cut through—causing people to stop and listen. What was this voice? What was it saying? Both shoppers and merchants gathered around and marveled as they heard God’s Word in their heart language coming from a little box. What is this? ...
Prepare the soil, plant the seeds, bring in the harvest. It might sound simple, but being without access to tools and updated agricultural methods means many obstacles to a successful crop, even before the devastating cyclones earlier this year in Mozambique. In the Mozambican communities where ASM teams serve, many...
Cyclone Idai was one of the worst-ever cyclones to hit the Southern Hemisphere. In March 2019, it roared on shore at Beira, Mozambique, with 120 mph winds and torrential rain, leaving a path of death and destruction. More than 2 million people were impacted by the storm, losing family members,...
Article by R.B. Klama at Mission Network News Mozambique (MNN) — Mozambique is on high alert as Tropical Cyclone Idai roars towards the country’s central coast, potentially putting thousands of lives in danger. As the storm intensifies this week, forecasters now warn that this could be one of the strongest...
After years of seeing friends and neighbors in the fertile land of Mozambique be stuck in a seemingly endless cycle of poverty and food crisis, ASM Africa Director Chad Vanden Bosch felt God leading him to expand their ministry. Building on the well-received audio Bible recording and distribution process, and...
(Interview with Joshua Harrison begins at 2:56) Article by Lyndsey Koh at Mission Network News Mozambique (MNN) — Deep in the bush of Mozambique, medical resources are hard to come by. For those living with chronic pain, even aspirin is a luxury. If a man or woman or child is...
Article by Lyndsey Koh at Mission Network News Mozambique (MNN) — If you only had one Bible in your family, would it be hard to share? Audio Scripture Ministries knows families in Mozambique who face this conundrum. ASM has served for nearly a decade in Mozambique, recording and distributing audio Bibles. Since...
The Audio Scripture Ministries (ASM) Team has been exploring new ways of telling the stories of people whose lives have been changed by God’s Word. Not everyone can go in person to participate in the work in Mozambique, Mexico, or India. ASM Africa Director Chad Vanden Bosch recently developed several...
The ASM Mozambique Team braved terrible road conditions and unseasonably rainy weather in order to distribute nearly 500 audio Bibles in early July. Their ten-day-long journey led them to nine different locations throughout rural Mozambique. During one particularly wet audio Bible distribution, three men arrived—soaking wet—on their bicycles. These men...
Article by Lyndsey Koh at Mission Network News Mozambique (MNN) — The Tewe people in central Mozambique have had missionaries come to them for years. Today, about 40 percent of the Tewe people are Christian, according to the Joshua Project. However, the Tewe people have no Bible and less than one...
(Interview with ASM begins at 1:34) Article by Lyndsey Koh at Mission Network News Mozambique (MNN) — Like dry and parched earth immediately soaking up the gift of rain, the people of Mozambique are thirsty for God’s Word. And every time Audio Scripture Ministries goes to do an audio Bible distribution...
The Mozambique Compassionate Care Team ministers daily to people with a wide range of debilitating or incurable diseases. Dara Vanden Bosch, ASM Compassionate Care Ministries Coordinator, says her Mozambican team focuses on palliative care and seeks to comfort and encourage patients. Weekly visits help Dara and her team track the...
On a recent trip to northern Mozambique, ASM Africa Director Chad Vanden Bosch and his team traveled to a remote village to distribute audio Bibles. When they arrived, rain began to pour and it appeared as though no one had come out to meet the team. Suddenly, people began flowing...
Audio Scripture Ministries celebrates its 50th Anniversary this year, and this significant milestone offers a unique opportunity for both celebration and prayerful reflection. Celebration First and foremost, we give praise and glory to God the Father, our Savior Jesus Christ and our Guide the Holy Spirit. Our theme verse for...
Recently, while visiting a patient with end-stage AIDS, my team had the opportunity to spend the majority of the visit sharing the Gospel with a very ill young woman. From previous experience we know well the urgency for someone to understand the Gospel when in such a state. On this...
Communication among our world partners can be difficult to maintain sometimes, so we are especially excited when we get to share news from audio Bible distributions in remote locations. Check out this update from Sergio and our most recent distribution of 370 audio Bibles in Mozambique: “We arrived on Friday in Nicuadala and...
When the Swedish Fish are gone, I begin to panic, slightly. You see, there are few things that we bring from the US that I save for a bad day (or week). I had one bag of Swedish Fish from April. In July, Chad asked how long I was going...
Article by Lindsay Steele at Mission Network News In rural areas of Mozambique, terminally ill people are pushed away. They’re isolated and alienated. Often times, they’re even put in mud or grass huts and don’t see anyone. Why? “Because of fear of death, fear of the spirits after death; people...
Sergio in Mozambique recently did some direct distributions. He remembers one story in particular; “When we were evangelizing some homes I came to one where a lady said she likes to hear the Word of God but she is dying spiritually. Her knees cause her lots of pain, and she...
En route to Pindandanga -a Mozambican bush village off the dirt path- sat a man, ill for years. Some locals that knew of this man’s ill health led the Compassionate Care team to him hoping that they could help him improve his quality of life. Despite not having access to...
There is no shortage of challenges to doing ministry in a country like Mozambique. There are so many things that we take for granted in the west…such as functioning courier services. It is one of those things that you don’t even realize you’re missing until you need it. Earlier this...
In April our staff in Mozambique organized an audio Bible distribution in the village of Matchelene in the southern province of Gaza, Mozambique. Matchelene was selected in 2014 as one of our focus areas for distribution of the Tsonga New Testament. Focus areas were determined in order to ascertain the...
Recently, the ASM staff distributed audio Bibles in a remote portion of central Mozambique heavily affected by military conflict during the past year. It was shocking to see nearly every single building along the rutted dirt road riddled with bullet holes or burned by fire. A peace agreement has been...