So here is part of my story, and why I'm writing: I am Joao Wenningkamp, I have no middle name because the nurse who helped my mother through her early delivery, told my mother I would not survive. I am the fourth son of a farming family from Rio Grande de Sul, the most southern state in Brazil. Unfortunately, destiny reserved sadness for our family, as our biological father abandoned us to women, drinking, and other friends. He lost everything gambling and decided to abandon the state of Rio Grande de Sul. I was only seven months old when he abandoned me and my brother, and two sisters and mother.
My mom tried to feed us and care for us by working and all of us living with her parents, but everything just kept getting worse. She decided to give us up for adoption to different family members. When I was nearly two years old I was adopted by my mother's cousin. I lived there until I was eighteen years old when I joined the Army. It was there, through a Christian Captain, Gerson, and also a Sargent Ronaldo, that for the first time in my life, I knew the love of God. I understood that I have a Daddy God and I never felt like an orphan again.
But life is full of highs and lows. It happened that after many years of separation, I was able to see my brother, because the last time we had seen each other we were in a bus station. My brother recognized my name tag and asked if I knew who he was. For one minute I looked at him, and remember once when I was five years old, my brother came to visit. I told him, 'Yes, you are my Brother!' We embraced each other with tears in our eyes, but my bus was leaving and destiny separated us once again.
After seven more years of separation, history changed again. I had the opportunity to visit with my brother and then lived with him and his wife for a year in Curitiba. He was able to get me a job at an engine factory, where we built engines for Volvo Semis. The job was tough since I didn't have experience, but it was great because I spent a year with my brother. That was a great blessing for us to get to know each other after having grown up in different families.
During that year in Curitiba with my brother, I remembered that when I was a child, I had asked God that if my birth father was still alive — I would like to at least see him once in my life. My desire to meet him was not with hate or bitterness in my heart, but mostly out of curiosity. My brother had already met him, then told me our father was alive and where he lived. It was time for me to go to meet him too. I traveled to the other side of our state, close to the Falls of Iguacu, and met my father for the first time when I was twenty-six years old. We cried and embraced. It was a moment in our life that would impact the rest of our lives. It was such a strong moment, intense for both of us, but at the same time brought healing to our wounds and clarity to my history. I learned what had truly happened. He had three daughters in his second marriage, who to this day are in contact with me via Orkut and facebook.
After this intense reunion with my father and meeting my sisters, I went to a Global Awakening conference in Curitiba. Randy Clark was the main guest speaker. There everything in my life changed; at that time I felt that my destiny was to help orphans. The first open door for me to fulfill God's newly revealed calling in my life came through an invitation to Mozambique with Rolland and Heidi Baker, founders of Iris Ministries.
Spending the days at the Conference and answering the call to missions, meant that I had to choose between work and ministry to God and orphans. Obviously, I lost my job as a result of choosing missions. Without money and without a job it looked like I wouldn't get to Africa, but in one night God gave me a strategy to raise the ticket fare. I made a small booklet with photos from Iris Ministries, my letter of Invitation to Iris Ministries in Mozambique, and a pastoral recommendation. With this booklet and faith I visited many churches of various denominations, small businesses, bars and shops, some people called me crazy, but after eight months to the glory of God I arrive in Mozambique on February, 2, 2002.
Today, I've been here nearly ten years. I met my lovely wife, Jennifer, in Maputo, the capital city of Mozambique, and we were engaged here. We were married in Colorado, USA, on June 12, 2004. We have three wonderful sons: Jonathan is 6 (born in Beira Mozambique), Daniel 3, and Benaiah 1.
During our first years of married life we re-built an Iris Ministries base in Dondo, with housing for thirty boys, dorms for one hundred Bible School Students, the Bible School classrooms, a pre-school for up to seventy-five kids, missionary housing, and visitor housing, and a permanent block fence around the ministry base.
We currently live in Chimoio (means little heart in the local dialect) The city is an hour away from the Zimbabwean border, and two hours to Harare, Zim. We are starting up another Iris Ministries base here. Heidi Baker requested that we name the base. We've given the base the name 'River of God'. Our focus right now is a Children's Center. At this time we are taking care of twenty kids who live at the 'River of God' Iris Ministries Chimoio Base. We have housing with an office, indoor bathroom and a study room for up to forty boys, a small house for girls, a Dinning room and outside temporary kitchen. Thankfully we also have a great little playground, electricity, a few small gardens, a hand dug water well, and a one hector field currently being used for a small 'Farming God's way' farming project. We want to finish the Children's Center with a permanent fence for security, a bore-whole well, a large kitchen and dinning room, a first aid room, and a larger girls house for up to ten girls, with an area for sports and more play and garden activities.
We also want to build up missionary housing on base for ten to twelve missionaries, and a compound for about twenty visitors to teach and love on the children and staff, and also bring blessings to share with the Iris Pastors in the Provence of Manica. We also dream of having a worship and ministry area for special pastoral re-enforcement (for pastors who have completed the Bible school and need retreats and refreshers) and ministry training, with offices to help administer and organize programs with the 80+ bush pastors who are caring for one thousand vulnerable or orphaned children in the provence of Manica.
In the future we want to ask the Mozambican government to provide land for building a high school near the Children's Center, since the closest high school is 6km and there is no school transportation available from one neighborhood to another. We will also ask them for some land to build small housing for the youth who are eighteen and can no longer live inside a children center because of their age.
It seems kinda crazy to dream like this, to dedicate so much for the well-being of these orphans and vulnerable children. But we have a destiny and we long to remain in the center of God's will for our lives. At this time, his will for us in being here in Chimoio, Manica Mozambique.
Interesting, who would have thought that an adopted kid, abandoned by his father would be caring for orphans and abandoned children so distant from his home town.
However, in this last year it has been a bit difficult for us to continue living here because of a huge increase in personal expenses. The Mozambican government began to cover a huge fee for the residence document for strangers living in Mozambique (DIRE). The DIRE cost 800USD per person, something that previously had cost less than 50USD. Although they've lowered the fee, the dollar value has decreased and it will still cost our family nearly 700USD for each of us, including our baby, who need to annually renew our DIRE. So far we have about half of the money to renew our DIREs within a month from when I'm writing this letter. Our personal offerings are nearly one thousand dollars a month. We work as volunteers in Iris Ministries. We don't receive any salary or ministry money for personal needs. We live by faith, and God always provides for our needs, although very often the moment we need it, and not much before. My weight of responsibility as a husband and Dad is ever increasing. Our six year old son, will be enrolled in a private English School in January. We believe that God will provide for our needs, because we know that in our own strength and efforts we can't even imagine being able to stay here. You know, sometimes it's difficult for me to administer all of this in my heart. So if I can't get this all out in a letter, I can't imagine trying to muster up the courage to communicate my thoughts face to face.
In nearly ten years of living in Mozambique, this is the first time that I really thought about leaving Mozambique because of my load, frustrations and cost of living for my family. I know that the world economy is in crisis, But all of this made me want to give up for one instant. I don't want to sacrifice my wife and sons, and even myself to suffer or die before our time.
But I want to believe in the unseen: that He will continue to provide.
I know that He has faithfully provided for us throughout the years through individuals, businesses, and churches who are generous to give even small amounts to our family, and even through supernatural means.
Believing in what we cannot see, makes me remember what happened when I was seven years old. I was born premature with a birth defect. I had only one testicle. When I would use the urinal in the school bathroom I saw that the other boys had two testicles and I only had one. I was sad and embarrassed. One day at home, I went outside to go pee. I looked down at my defect, and then up at heaven and said, "God if you are the God that is written about in the Bible, then I want to be like the other guys. I want to have to testicles."
I went to a Lutheran church with my adoptive parents from the time I was adopted. I had heard about God, But to my surprise, after a month and having forgotten my request to God, I noticed that there was the other testicle. My mom can confirm the birth defect, and my acceptance into the army can confirm the truth in the miracle God did in my body.
Now we are waiting for another miracle. We are believing in what we cannot see. Believing in God, in dreaming His Dreams, and loving the lost.
On we go in Christ Jesus!
Joao and Jennifer Wenningkamp
Iris Ministries Chimoio