Here is the link to the video - sorry it has taken so long to get it correctly on the internet. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6628745116328144217&hl=en
The written report is below, all 33 pages :)
Introduction
At the outset of this report, we hope to clarify its scope and intent. In regard to the intent, we are trying to provide a background first for better understanding the current situation in Mozambique. For those who have significant experience in Mozambique, much of this will be review. Much of the information provided is simply given to flesh out a picture of what is happening and to explicate the key dynamics within Mozambique. Second, we intend to provide a specific update for Cedar Springs in regard to the work being done in Mucatine through World Relief. We will detail the projects, their impact, and give recommendations for ways that the impact can be maximized. Finally, we will provide information about other opportunities that Cedar Springs has to be involved in Mozambique. In regard to scope, we want to state at the forefront that we were in Mozambique for only six week and realize that our interactions were limited and that there is much we did not see. We talked with many agencies, church leaders, city-dwellers, businessmen, and villagers, and each had a different viewpoint on the greatest needs. The need is tremendous, yet we hope that Cedar Springs and other partner churches will continue to see that the greatest need is not monetary but instead for people who will lay down their lives for the Gospel to be spread (be it whatever area of need). Similarly, we applaud CSPC for “adopting” Mozambique, yet in light of the diversity of the need, perhaps the focus should be one area in the south (Mucatine) with the possibility of being involved in one area in the north.
Realities of City Life
Introduction
The large cities in Mozambique present a myriad of opportunities and challenges that are quite different from those of the rural areas. In Maputo, Beira and Nampula the needs of the urban poor are certainly striking, yet there seem to be fewer instances of extreme hunger than poverty-stricken areas of Gaza. Western music and film have contributed to the moral poverty of the cities, particularly among the generation under 20 years old. The vices of sex, alcohol, pornography, and some drugs also contribute to an environment that presents challenges for the church. Corruption within the government is maddening, as foreign aid often goes into the pockets of officials. Some have estimated that only one in five dollars of aid actually reaches the people who need it most. Government officials often live in sprawling villas outside the city, having taken cuts from the tremendous amount of aid flowing into the country. For instance, aid was earmarked for the development of one major four-lane road in downtown Maputo. One side of the road was built, but construction then stopped and the other side was never started. Traffic now uses the two completed lanes while the other side operates as an outdoor market area. No one knows where the rest of the money went.
Church Growth and Pastoral Situation
Despite difficulties, the church is growing and the people are developing spiritually and vocationally. Similarly, although the government is corrupt in many ways, it has been stable for fifteen years and is considered by some to be a model for Sub-Saharan Africa. As we met a dozen church leaders in Maputo and a handful in each of the other cities, they poured out their hearts as to what they hoped and dreamed for how the Body of Christ may develop. Many desire further training, yet they must sacrifice to attain such education because of the monetary cost. In the larger cities, night or weekend courses are readily available in most denominations, yet this training is often very basic. Government and private night schools offer training in Portuguese and other subjects. Economic efficiency is improving and people are beginning to work more productive, eight hour days, yet the work ethic and efficiency must increase if Mozambique is to flourish economically. City-dwellers also have significant opportunities toward literacy that rural residents do not. The city pastors face many difficulties, yet among mainline denominations within the cities, one can more readily find male leadership than in the countryside. On the other hand, the occult and various forms of modified witchcraft exist in the city in more exaggerated forms than the countryside. Likewise, the prosperity Gospel has taken root among some in the cities, and there are several popular televangelists that teach a Gospel that leverages faith to bring economic blessing.
Urban Economy
Although the economic situation has improved dramatically since 1993 (when Mozambique was considered the poorest country in the world), the situation is still difficult for many churches and pastors. Many do not have a church building and meet under a tree in their backyard. Most of the pastors struggle to make ends meet, work at least one other job, and often receive less than $1 a week in tithes from their congregations. Some shared that their children often go to bed hungry. As we talked with them, most accept the situation and count it a privilege to pastor their congregations with or without payment.
Necessity of Partnership, Challenges to Partnership
Working in a place with such poverty presents challenges to genuine partnership, particularly with city pastors. These pastors have seen opportunities of technology, and many cannot understand why the West won't immediately provide them with such tools. Furthermore, much prayer and reflection is needed to work effectively with the local church without creating dependency. This is one area of caution as some pastors struggle with the wealth of the West and the resources available to missionaries and others. Several pastors in Lichinga and Pemba vented frustration with mission groups that do not contact them or build relationships with them. The pastors expressed anger and said that they were working for the Lord but not receiving any opportunity to obtain resources from missionaries, especially transportation that would be helpful. Likewise, they were not being consulted by most mission groups. Negotiating different expectations and building relationships with pastors is no easy task, as we quickly found out. Upon arrival in Pemba, one pastor handed us a bill of $520 for his computer and forcefully asked that we pay it because he had been helping the World Mission Center coordinate its conference. While we did not contribute to fixing that pastor's computer and listened to numerous other petitions for financial support, one must recognize that economic disparities can create hurdles in building relationships.
Such relationships, however, are vital to seeing the church grow. Mission groups must find ways to come in and meaningfully submit to the leadership of the local church, to work in concert with their vision, and to push them toward fulfilling their role. When mission groups enter with their own agenda without partnering with the local church, the Body of Christ is fragmented and new believers have difficulty integrating with the indigenous church. Every missionary that we met in Mozambique has a 4x4 vehicle (or access to one). We do not criticize them, yet virtually none of the indigenous ministries have such transportation (most having a bike as their best transport).
The Problem of Dependency
The reason that Western missionaries have been so reticent to give financial aid to purchase transportation or help with technological resources is that dependency is one of the most pervasive and deep-seated problems in Mozambique and one of the most difficult to solve. The problem seems more intense in the city. In a ten minute walk to the store, one will typically be confronted by several different people asking for bread or money. In other parts of the world, the crippled, blind, and orphans beg, and this is certainly true of Mozambique, as well. More striking, however, are the number of strong young men and women that boldly ask for assistance. They typically do not say that they are hungry and do not seem weak, yet they seem unashamed to confront one and ask for money. We had one young man stop us and say, “Because you are an American, can you give me some bread?” The mindset seems to be that since the West is rich, it should be obligated to give to those who are not.
In the past, the temptation of the West in both missions and humanitarian work has been to pay indigenous people to do the work. One can support a Yao believer with $1500 annually to plant a church among his own people (the Yao have few believers and only a fledgling indigenous church). One could pay a Shangaan-speaking Mozambican $900 annually to plant a church among an unreached village in Gaza. Both of these would be able to minister within their own cultural context, would not have the significant disconnect that Western missionaries initially face in coming to Africa, and would represent only 2-3% of the cost. The Western bent toward efficiency would make this a “no-brainer,” yet such support typically cripples the local church and creates long-term dependency because it results in the West paying the nationals to evangelize their own country. One example of this has been in the Nampula area where one of the Baptist groups heavily supported the local church in staffing pastors. As the church has begun to withdraw financial support in recent years, the supported pastors have been unable to adjust to the kind of lifestyle they would need to live without the support. This has created both dissonance between their pastors and other pastors and between the pastors and the congregation. As money from the West has dried up within this denomination, the number of people in the church has plummeted. In difficult financial situations, the pastors need to experience what the congregation is going through to be able to minister sacrificially and effectively. Many of the leaders told us stories of people who will go to the mosque on Friday (for food), the church on Sunday (again, for food) and worship their ancestors throughout the week
Southern Rural Areas (Shangaan speaking)
Introduction
The situation in the rural areas of the South presents many unique challenges to ministry and the Gospel going forward. Churches in the south are growing, yet this growth is chiefly among largely deviant forms of Christianity (Zionist, Old Apostles and Twelve Apostles congregations). Those living in the rural south typically face malnutrition on a daily basis and have much less agricultural security.
Zionist Churches
Zionist churches present significant challenges to spreading the Gospel. These churches claim to be Christian, but most have not surrendered to the Lordship of Christ. In one service that we visited, we encouraged the congregation with several passages about the person of Christ (we were asked to share a bit). The pastor agreed with us and then read from Isaiah 53, the suffering servant passage. While Isaiah 53 seems to refer clearly to the person of Christ and His bearing the burden of our sin and propitiating the wrath of God, the pastor did not even address the passage and moved to his own thoughts on another topic. Such preaching is typical among Zionist churches, as the pastors' experiences dictate the content of the message. They mix traditional religious practices, like ancestor worship and consulting witch-doctors, with certain passages from the Bible, creating a situation where people do not have to submit to the authority of the Bible but can worship God without changing any of their traditional practices. In many cases, pastors of Zionist churches are not purposely trying to deceive or cheat people. Ninety percent of these pastors have had no Biblical training, and sixty percent cannot even read. Though they exhibit tremendous emotion and have frequent prayer meetings and times of singing, they have been misled on key doctrinal points and are in turn misleading others. Very few of the pastors that World Relief works with in the villages in Gaza submit to the Lordship of Christ or regard faith in Christ and personal intimacy with God as vital. Whether by conscious choice or genuine misunderstanding, they are not leading people in the truth. Though the “church” is growing rapidly, the true church is actually very small.
Other Wayward Church Groups
While many Zionists know little about the Bible and often lead people astray, the Old Apostles and Twelve Apostles churches seem to be worse theologically and more difficult to reach. First, they typically prohibit their people from buying or keeping a Bible, even if they are literate. Only the pastor is permitted to have a Bible. Second, since many of the pastors are illiterate, they have ten verses or so that they have memorized and base all of their teaching off of these verses. Church services start with a verse, but the lesson and worship generally has little or nothing to do with the verse. Finally, they warn the members not to go to any other church nor talk to people of other faith. They say that their church is the only one with the truth and that they would be led astray if they listened to others. In these churches, the leadership appears to be far more manipulative, particularly on a provincial level.
Rural Economics
The economic situation in the southern villages of Mozambique is currently very bleak and seems far more serious than urban areas. Since the floods of 2000 and 2001, rain has been irregular and sparse, and the majority of planted crops have failed. Finding daily food is a constant stress for many of the people, and most do not have enough to eat. They have been forced by necessity to look for other means of income because farming is not possible without rain. The solution has been to make charcoal (chopping down trees and burning them), which is causing and will continue to cause destruction to the environment, as trees are not being replanted and desert areas are emerging. Because so many people are making charcoal right now, the value of charcoal is very low. Many of the volunteers were at home and available to talk in the afternoons because their usual afternoon work schedule (pounding maize to cook xima) has been disrupted as there is little maize to pound. Few men remain in the villages because there are no jobs available outside of farming which is currently not an option. Most young boys are responsible for taking care of goats, then cattle as they get older, and when they reach age 15 they typically leave for South Africa or a bigger city like Maputo to try to find work. Some come home once a year and others never return. This system cripples both the local society and the church. Yet until there are jobs available to them closer to home, the men have no good reason or motivation to stay. Over the past 9 years, Pastor Lucky has lost seven strong male leaders in the youth group (who could have become elders in the local church) because there was no work and they needed to provide for their families.
Other Difficulties in the South
Though World Relief's child survival program is helping the people in many ways, there are still many health issues facing the people that will not likely change until the Gospel takes a firm root in society. Most of these health issues are connected to STDs, polygamy, and overall immorality. Even treatable STDs are not being significantly curbed, despite available medical treatment, because adults typically have multiple wives and/or partners. Unless all people involved take the medicine at the same time and live faithfully afterwards, the disease cycle begins again. This is causing many people to doubt the power of “western” medicine and revert back to witch-doctors or herbal remedies. In combination with polygamy, the patrilineal system in the south fosters abusive spousal relationships and practically enslaves most women. Because the husband must pay a bride's price for his wife, she then belongs to him and his family and is treated as a servant until the day she dies. Even if her husband dies, she still belongs to his family and is therefore unable to remarry. Many men in the village however are keen to “take care of her,” which means sleeping with her, resulting in the spread of diseases and new pregnancies for women who already have a difficult time taking care of their children.
Missionary Impact
There is much less foreign missionary impact in the southern provinces (Gaza, Sofala, Inhambane), than in the northern provinces. Indigenous nationals have greater ability to reach some of the rural areas around larger cities, but areas like Mucatine are too far to send teachers and pastors on a regular basis. Most foreign missionaries in the south are reaching out to some of the bigger cities like Maputo and Chokwe, but little is being done in the villages. Even in organizations like World Relief, who are offering wonderful opportunities for villages to grow economically, preaching about the person of Christ is not currently the priority. There are several local pastors, however, based in the bigger cities, who are developing systems of volunteers who travel to the villages to teach and preach. Despite problems of transportation, income, and accommodations, these are people who are making an impact through huge personal sacrifice. Still, however, there are many villages who have not yet been reached by these laborers. The great need in these villages seems to be believers and teachers who would come and live among the people, planting churches that believe the true Gospel and are bold enough to preach it.
Villages of the North
Introduction
The villages in the northern part of Mozambique are different in many ways from those in the south. Though culturally somewhat similar, their languages and economic situations are different. The soil in the north is very rich and rain has not been a great problem. Droughts of the past five years have not devastated the north in the same way as the south. Most people have enough money to get by and their economic situations are improving faster than the people in southern villages. Most of the young people can read and write Portuguese and many of the older ones have at least a basic understanding of Portuguese. The infrastructure of the North is not as developed as that of the South, but the biggest advantage at present is that hunger is not as pressing a problem. The major physical issues facing the people in the North are no clean water, no hospitals or clinics, much malaria, and no public transportation. There are some villages that are so difficult to reach that the government has no documentation or information on them. The people are possibly even unaware that they are a part of Mozambique and have no understanding of the government or history of their country.
Church in the North, Other Religions
The religious situation is also very different in the North, where Islam is stronger, traditional tribal religions still exist, and the church has yet to reach many of the outlying villages. Although the Zionist church is not present in North to the degree that it is in the South, many Christian churches have incorporated traditional religious practices into their worship. A large Muslim presence in the north is growing, as Muslims from northern Africa are coming south to evangelize. Many Islamic businessmen are beginning to infiltrate southern Africa in an attempt to win the continent for Islam. Their method of evangelizing often involves giving jobs, money, or meeting other physical needs if the person will convert to Islam. Many new mosques are being built in Northern Mozambique. The Catholic presence is also very large in the North. Neither the Catholics nor the Muslims, however, are educated in their faith or fundamentalist in their practice. Across the board, Muslims, Catholics, and Protestants all must deal with the syncretism of traditional African religious practices that have been incorporated into their worship and faith.
Missionary Presence and Approach
Missionaries are focusing on planting churches among many of the lesser reached groups in the north, and in the bigger cities like Lichinga, Pemba, and Nampula, the missionary presence is very large in comparison to southern Mozambique. Mission groups, such as SIL and New Tribes Mission, are targeting unreached villages and are finding that to learn the language, translate the scriptures, and plant a church is typically a 15-20 year process. Many local churches have a vision to evangelize villages, but transportation and monetary problems make this challenging but not impossible. Most indigenous pastors seem to agree that it is best to target geographical areas rather than people groups. Basically all people groups have a church planted among them at some location, but most are spread out such that one church will not reach all the people in the group. Some people groups still do not have the Bible in their heart language and must rely upon the Portuguese Bible or another version.
The approaches from the West and from the indigenous churches in reaching these distant villages has been different. The Mozambican church has recognized that tribal divisions are not a big problem and that the government is currently trying to diffuse tribal divisions in the country. Therefore, if a mission group comes to focus on one tribe, it will attract negative government attention and possibly bring harm to the tribe it is targeting. As a result, many indigenous churches are targeting an area or village to plant a church in. Conversely, New Tribe Mission and SIL recognize that focusing on translating the Bible into the heart language of the people presents a tremendous opportunity to share the Gospel contextually. This is a much longer, more time and financially intensive process, but it often bears significant and long-lasting fruit.
Educational opportunities
The education system is growing in scope and strength, yet it remains one of the most significant areas of needed development if the church is to be truly indigenized. Villages typically have a primary school that goes through grade 6, meeting 3-5 hours a day. A normal class has 70-100 students, and because of the stress of the job, teachers rarely stay in a village for more than two years before either resigning or being transferred. Few children can afford to go to high school (there is typically only 1 high school in each district) and even fewer can afford to go to college. High school and universities are heavily corrupted, with teachers requiring bribes and sexual relationships with their students in exchange for passing them. Teachers teach 8-10 hours a day, having two 4-hour sessions with different students each session, and there is a 3 hour session at night providing opportunities for even more children to attend. It usually takes a bribe of $200 for a child to get into the day classes or $120 for the night classes. In order for a village child to go to high school, the family must pay for books, uniform, tuition, bribe, transportation each day, or a room for the child to stay in within the city during the week. This makes it next to impossible for a village child to get schooling past primary school, although there are some who live close enough to the city and who are motivated to walk distances of up to two hours each way to attend. This further adds to the cycle of young boys leaving for South Africa to find work and young girls getting pregnant, married, and bound to their village for the rest of their lives. Northern villages are less educationally developed than those in the south, yet neither offer many opportunities to see the children develop life skills or literacy.
Large cities have some opportunities for further Bible study, but again, the level of education in those institutions is between 4thand 10th grade (only a handful have accreditation beyond this). Maputo has the highest density of Bible schools, followed by Beira. In Gaza province, there are a few evening schools located in Chokwe, and Museu has an Assemblies of God school and Volta a Biblia. Xai Xai has a Wesleyan and Assemblies of God Bible schools. Larger northern cities like Lichinga, Pemba, and Nampula also have various Bible schools and other opportunities to get basic level training, yet they desperately need higher levels of instruction to equip at least the main provincial and district leaders of the church (supervisors of large numbers of local pastors).
Assessment of Mucatine and the Partnership with World Relief
Introduction
World Relief is doing a tremendous job in serving the people and helping meet many of their health and physical needs, yet in order to see these strengths leveraged to proclaim the person of Christ and the full Gospel, the partnership with Cedar Springs would need to be strengthened and expanded. World Relief's programs have seen a dramatic reduction in infant mortality, and the community is much more disease-conscious. It's cleanliness has greatly improved and its approach to health has changed significantly. Although many physical needs are being addressed (seeing aspects of the social Gospel proclaimed) few in the village seem to know Christ or to view a personal relationship with God as something to be desired. Many volunteers from the World Relief Verhunga project claim to have no knowledge about who Christ is. Some comments that volunteers made in response to specific questions about God, the Bible, and Jesus go as follows:
“I don't know much about God, only what I hear.”
“I can read, but don't have a Bible.”
“I know nothing about Jesus:
“I have no idea what gives my life purpose or meaning.”
When asked what gives them joy and strength to face hardship, most responded, “when I wake up in the morning, it gives me joy to know that my family is well and that no one in the community has died. Joy comes from accepting the situation that you are in.” Similarly, in interviewing the supervisors (who travel to different villages each day to equip the animators and key volunteers with health knowledge) and asking them why they endure the travel and the difficulty of the work, they responded that they work with World Relief and endure the difficulties for two reasons. First, they mentioned that they get a decent salary, and second, they said that the information helps the communities physically. None of them said that they were doing it to be able to share about Christ or as part of Christian discipleship.
Current State of Churches in Mucatine
Although the teaching that Robert Hodge did among local pastors and leaders was readily accepted and the pastors liked him and asked about him, the training seems to have produced little if any heart change among those in the local churches. This underscores the difficulty of cross-cultural ministry and teaching and the need for deeper and more constant relationships to be developed. Even if convinced of doctrinal truth that differs from their teaching, it is very difficult for a pastor to begin to change the message that he preaches because the bulk of his livelihood often comes from people paying him to consult ancestors or prophecy. As a result, the pastor would have to go against tradition and culture, and would have to reject his former means of salary, in order to preach salvation through Christ alone. With Amon and his wife Florinda now gone (the one solid pastor in Mucatine who took over pastoring Lucky's church in Tchakye, a nearby village, when Lucky and Sonnet joined with World Relief full time), Mucatine does not have a pastor that proclaims the Lordship of Christ and the necessity of faith in Him. The reformed church, though faithful, has no pastor and relies on outside speakers or on messages from women laypeople (as there are no male leaders). As such, World Relief does not have a church capable of leveraging its efforts to proclaim the truth about Christ, with the result that economic and health improvement is currently unlikely to render strong spiritual results unless other additional programs are initiated.
Likewise, the agricultural project has brought some hope of change, but the pilot program has been so small that it has not made a significant economic impact on the community. With only 3.5 currently irrigated hectares, only 1/10 of the families have access to a strip of irrigated land, and the strip is not significant enough to sustain a family's food needs. Because of the problems with electricity (which should have been available, but through governmental corruption has been delayed), the electrical grist-mill is non-functional. The Chapel is buying the electrical one so that a gas-powered one can be purchased by Cedar Springs and installed. The church continues to lose potential key leaders in Gaza villages because irregular rainfall and a lack of industry translates to a lack of jobs for young men who leave for the South African mines.
Why villages are strategic and the CSPC/WR pilot program is important
Although the cities of Mozambique have greater population density and more future leaders, modeling a program to reach the rural areas is currently more strategic. Sixty percent of the population resides in rural areas and the potential for a return of city-dwellers to rural areas is significant if people are given agricultural opportunities. Likewise, since the rural areas are largely untouched by the true Gospel of Christ, outside investment and input offers potential for self-sustaining enterprise for the people and an avenue to preach about Christ. Currently dependent on importing food to feed its people, Mozambique should be agriculturally self-sustaining and could feed many other countries as well, yet less than 5% of the land is developed, and even much of the extremely fertile land around the rivers is unused.
One would expect that leaders from the city who are raised up through Bible colleges might be called to plant churches in the rural area, yet this rarely happens because city-dwellers are often unaccustomed to the difficulties of village life. City pastors have little money, and the lack of transportation infrastructure means that an effective church plant in the rural areas is almost exclusively done by pastors who live in that rural area (as opposed to costly commuting). The vast majority of villagers in Gaza and Inhambane have not heard the Gospel and most have no understanding of who Christ is.
Some would missiologically object to calling rural outreach in Gaza highly strategic. Many people groups in Mozambique do not have the Bible in their heart language, and many only have the New Testament. We recognize that translating the Bible is very important, yet there are not any people groups in Mozambique that can be referred to in the classical sense of being “unreached.” In speaking with New Tribes Mission and looking at online reports, one can see that each group has believers and some semblance of an indigenous church. Likewise, having the Bible translated into one's language does not ensure that the bulk of the population has access to the Word of God, or that the majority of people have the ability to read it.
Serving Mucatine (and more broadly developing a pilot program for all of rural Gaza) is important, however, because the people of Gaza have perhaps the greatest physical need in Mozambique (struggling to survive from a lack of food), little opportunity for development (groups are not focusing on empowering them to become self-sustainable), few educational opportunities, and tremendous spiritual needs. Through relationships with Lucky and Sonnet, World Relief staff and volunteers, and strategic connections with others, Cedar Springs is in a position to actively partner to meet some of these needs.
Recommendations
Based on these observations, we will present a series of priorities and recommendations. Cedar Springs must first assess its focus in working with World Relief and specifically in Mucatine. As mentioned, World Relief is providing valuable help to the community in terms of humanitarian aid. Spiritually, its ability to bring pastors together allows for ideas to circulate and experiences to be shared, yet this does not appear to have much of an effect in Mucatine, as Christ seems relatively unknown among the church leadership. If a primary focus for Cedar Springs is church development and growth in Mozambique, several obstacles must be addressed.
Raising up or Planting Church Leadership
First, at least one pastor who deeply knows the Word of God must be either raised up in Mucatine or brought in from outside to help the church grow. The pastor needs to be located in Mucatine and actively pastoring the church. Having Lucky come once a month for a week is an extremely helpful step. He is building a network of deep relationships with the pastors to challenge them toward Biblical integrity, yet for the church to flourish, a full-time Mozambican pastor is a necessity.
To move towards having at least one strong pastor and strong church leadership in Mucatine, we would recommend the following possibilities. First, let Lucky build relationships with local pastors and give him the financial backing to offer one or two pastors a scholarship to attend Volta a Biblia for the three month summer session (Jan-Mar of 2008). This scholarship would need to include their fees (roughly $50) and financial support for their families while they are gone for three months (roughly $150 total). We would suggest that Lucky be empowered to feel out pastors' desires for education and to see who has potential and interest. Lucky has tried to send pastors to Volta a Biblia in the past, yet they have been unable to go because if they left their fields their families would suffer without their income. Two in particular who had great potential left for South Africa to find work.
The leadership at Volta a Biblia typically sees half of their students for the three month course actually become believers during their time in the course (pastors and leaders often come with little Biblical background but significant positions within the church). We would suggest that the scholarships be offered on a pilot program basis and that there be an assessment process after the pastor has attended Volta a Biblia and returned for a few months (perhaps July 2008). Lucky could interview the pastor(s) about his experience at Volta a Biblia, speak to members of the congregation (to see if anything has changed), assess any sense of dependency that could be created, and assess the impact of such help on the leader's discipleship.
Another strong possibility to see church leadership developed could be through an agricultural project. We would suggest that Cedar Springs consider working to fund an agricultural development that consists of a dam that irrigates roughly 100 hectares of land (~250 acres), a pig sty, and a goat grazing area. The main need would be to help provide funding for the dam and to provide resources for microfinance loans for the farmers. The development of a website like Kiva.org would be helpful to link individuals at Cedar Springs to give loans for pipes, initial seed, and fertilizer and to individual farmers in Mucatine. This project would offer more opportunities for connection, much like the Friends of Mucatine program has done. The major upside, however, of this project would be to stipulate that one of the city pastors from Maputo be employed in the building of the dam and be loaned money to buy one hectare of land with piping, seed, and fertilizer. Leaders in Maputo and other major cities say that they have church leaders who have been equipped but that they cannot go to the villages to stay and plant a church because they have no land for farming, no source of income, and their families would starve if they moved to a village without financial support. We would suggest that Cedar Spring considers working with one of the doctrinally strong churches in Maputo to mobilize a trained church leader to move to Mucatine and be initially employed in the project building and later employed through self-sustainable farming. Likewise, we would also suggest that Lucky's two key disciples who have left for South Africa be given opportunities to come back to work on the project or receive a micro-loan to start farming once the dam is complete. This option would provide significant employment for the men and help keep strong church leaders in the village.
Developing a Passion for the Word Among Laypeople
We also suggest that CSPC works on a grassroots level to develop in the people a hunger for the Word of God. We suggest that Cedar Springs continue to pursue development of a megavoice recorder on a pilot program basis. We would suggest that 30-50 recorders be furnished (representing a cost of $1000-$1500) and that Lucky be empowered to work with Pastor Sebastiao Sitoe to develop Bible stories and messages that preach to the needs of the people. Pastor Sitoe has 15 years of experience working with Zionist pastors and pushing them toward doctrinal integrity. The first step needs to be determining the capacity of such recorders (i.e. Could they hold 10 minutes of information or 2 hours?). Once a timeframe is established, we would suggest approaching Pastor Sitoe and offering to pay him as a consultant in the development of the sermons and Bible lessons. Dr. Ernst has offered to take either Pastor Sitoe, Lucky, or another Shangaan speaker to Durbin to do the recording, where his brother has a studio and would offer such services at a minimal cost. We would suggest that the other partner churches be approached with the opportunity to contribute to the pilot effort (spreading out the expenses of the development of the material and implementation). After the material is developed, Lucky would give the recorders to pastors and interested World Relief volunteers. After one month, these recipients would be interviewed in order to assess the effectiveness of the megavoice recorders and the interest of the people.
Similarly, we would suggest that Cedar Springs continue to explore options for literacy development among the people of Mucatine. While it continues to be important to explore this option, we feel that this should not be ranked as highly as the other three options for several reasons. First, the ability to read will not be effectively harnessed without strong leadership. Raising up a strong pastor should take precedence. Second, the megavoice program offers the opportunity to test the people's hunger for Biblical messages and reading from the Word of God. If they have little hunger for this first step, literacy is unlikely to have its desired effect of getting people into the Word. Similarly, the people's chief difficulty is physical hunger. Without food, people have trouble with being healthy enough (through sickness and energy level) or motivated enough to go to class consistently. If agricultural self-sustainability is not reached, literacy will likely be viewed as an unneeded luxury by many.
We do suggest however that the literacy program be explored because there may be significant governmental materials, trainers, and even financial resources available to make such training extremely inexpensive. At the current time, we do not know all of these details, so further exploration on Sara's part will be necessary (contacting the provincial governmental leadership in Xai Xai).
Recommendations for Short Term Trips:
Though we recognize that neither Mozambique nor Mucatine will likely be deeply reached or dramatically changed through short term teams, there are many positive and strategic advantages in sending these teams on a consistent (twice yearly) basis. Developing and deepening the relationship between CSPC and the people of Mucatine continues to be an important priority, especially in this place where strong relationships open doors for the Gospel. Money given without relationship is very dangerous and often has a negative effect. Though it is difficult because of language and cultural barriers for those who come on short term trips to build relationships of much depth with individuals, the people of Mucatine are very aware of the sacrifice it is for Americans to come and stay in their village, and the relationship between Mucatine and Cedar Springs as holistic units deepens with each visit. Also, the emphasis Cedar Springs has placed on prayer partners with the Mucatine volunteers has had a very positive impact in building relationships and softening hearts towards the Gospel.
Not only sending teams, but also the structure of the teams sent has important significance to the impact these teams are able to have. After talking with World Relief staff (Sara Welch, Pieter Ernst, and Lucky and Sonnet Mnisi in particular) and after participating in a short term trip with a team from the Chapel, we suggest that the majority of short term trips sent would include a man to teach the pastors, a woman to teach the volunteers, and 1-2 people who are equipped to teach children and youth. Skills training, agriculture development, and arts and crafts training can be valuable assets, but the priority needs to be on teachers for the 3 groups listed above that contains spiritual content. The greatest priority, in fact, should be in sending a man to teach the pastors. This man does not need to be a pastor, theologically trained, or even hold a position within the church. The important criteria is that he is a man preferably 30 years old or older, who has biblical knowledge and prepared materials. It is also important that this person work in concert with World Relief staff and with the woman who will teach the volunteers to coordinate those teaching topics that will be most beneficial for Mozambicans to hear. Again, the emphasis should be to clearly teach about Christ to all groups in Mucatine during each trip.
Because most of the pastors that World Relief works with are Zionist pastors, there are strategic topics and methods of teaching that are more effective than others. When teaching, it is most culturally appropriate and beneficial to use an inductive method as opposed to a deductive one. This would entail teaching with a lecture as well as facilitating discussion among the pastors to enable them to connect with each other and reach conclusions from the Bible that stem from their own insights and thought processes. As far as teaching topics, most Zionist, Twelve Apostles, and Old Apostles churches focus exclusively on the Old Testament law. In order to connect with these pastors, it is good to start lessons with the Old Testament and then move to a focus on how Christ is the fulfillment of the law/passage being studied. For example, one can begin with the sacrificial system presented in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, followed by passages from John and Hebrews that refer to Christ as the final sacrifice.
Key Prayers for Mucatine:
that the people would know salvation and that believers would not compromise the truth or mix it with superstition
that those who choose to stand strong for the truth would be kept from harm by other villagers who are suspicious of any who go against the accepted order of things, and that the Christians would stand together.
that the Holy Spirit would speak to the leaders and convince them of the truth as they read the Bible
that God would raise up evangelical pastors for Mucatine who are willing to work together and preach the truth
that God's Kingdom would come to Mucatine and He would use this village to reach other villages, other provinces, and even other countries with the Gospel
that prayer partners would pray for the volunteers and that answered prayers would cause many to want to know God
for the agricultural projects to succeed and grow, and that economic blessing would directly result in a spiritual harvest
Additional Priorities: Going to Outlying Areas and Strengthening Church Leadership
Introduction
Regarding future priorities, we believe that seeing a viable1 church among every people group should be at the core of the church's missiological approach. To foster this viability, we suggest that two opportunities are perhaps most strategic: reaching people in less reached areas with a focus on mobilizing the indigenous church and helping indigenous leaders mature and develop. Although we would prioritize these two areas, many other opportunities are also “strategic,” given that people within the Cedar Springs community feel called/led to pursue a particular area. Mozambique needs partners who are willing to commit their time and energy to finding solutions. For example, child education is important and offers tremendous possibilities for partnership, but we do not list that as one of the most strategic areas of involvement. Similarly, literacy development and translation of the Bible into different languages are not listed as most “strategic,” yet if an individual feels a burden to work in these areas, they could have a wonderful impact and greatly help the body of Christ through that work.
Among Mozambique's forty indigenous groups, all have believers and a church at some location, and the government is working hard at integrating all groups under the headship of the Mozambican government; as a result, targeting a specific group is not as strategic as in other places of the world. Among its people groups, intermarriage and cross-group relationships are quite common. Cedar Springs has led the way in targeting groups (Dong, Bozo, etc.) that are almost entirely unreached by the Gospel, yet a more appropriate strategy for Mozambique seems to be to mobilize the indigenous church to plant churches in particular areas and to help equip them when they encounter difficult situations or roadblocks.
In concert with a desire to serve Mozambique in a particular area must be discipline to partner with organizations that strive to prevent a relationship of Mozambican dependency on the Western church. If dependent relationships form, we run the risk of doing tremendous long-term harm while doing short-term good.
Mobilizing Indigenous Believers
The World Mission Center (WMC) has taken an approach to reach those areas with little church growth that is quite different from the approach taken by organizations like New Tribes Missions. The WMC is striving to motivate Mozambican churches to adopt an area and plant a church there. This approach seems to be effective in working to unite local believers to plant churches in outlying areas. Similar to the vision of the indigenous churches, the WMC is identifying unreached areas and mobilizing the indigenous church to reach those areas. Strategically, working through the local church has the major advantage that local believers can more readily share their faith without cultural barriers (which are largely non-existent among tribes in Mozambique). Admittedly, several assumptions underlie this strategy. First, one must assume that indigenous believers are close enough culturally and linguistically to plant churches and that they have the ability and motivation to do so. Although there are points of disconnect, indigenous believers claim that cultural barriers present little problem. Linguistic barriers exist, but most congregations have indigenous believers who speak several languages and could potentially go to the outlying areas to help with the church plant. Another assumption is that churches involved with the WMC strategy are doctrinally sound. For instance, if the WMC mobilized the Old Apostles church, the people would likely be taken farther from the true Gospel than before hearing. While the WMC does not have a screening program to filter unsound churches from participating, its conference speakers strongly proclaim the Gospel and the necessity of telling others about salvation through Christ alone.
Despite these potential barriers, this strategy represents an excellent approach in most respects. First, the church will not become dependent on the West in any way. The World Mission Center pays for the pastors' transportation to the conference and food while at the conference. Pastors are responsible for their own accommodations at the conference and for mobilizing their churches upon return. Second, this vision, task, and methodology creates unity among the body of believers and brings them together. It is difficult to overstate how positive this can be, especially among pastors that have been divided through competition in the past. Third, this strategy is one way that the Western church can meaningfully submit to the leadership of the local church. Some pastors grumbled that WMC was not paying them for helping to organize the conference and that WMC was forcing them to take responsibility for many of the details. Despite such rumblings, one must recognize that this is continuing to wean the people off of Western monetary support and infrastructural support and to push the leaders toward responsibility and maturity.
Although the World Mission Center's vision to mobilize churches has significant opportunity for success to reach the outlying areas, it does not address the other core need in Mozambique, which is leadership development. The World Mission Center's LiveSchool focuses on developing leaders and equips people to reach out to those who have never heard the Gospel, yet Portuguese is not currently one of the priority languages for translation. Although a significant number of people speak Swahili north of Pemba (in the northernmost part of Mozambique), Mozambique needs to see leaders developed throughout the country in Portuguese, and the most noticeable need is visible in the northern half of the country. As such, we believe that World Mission Center's LiveSchool has tremendous potential but might not fit very well into strategically addressing the educational needs of Mozambique. If Portuguese translation becomes a focus and an avenue opens for opening a school, Cedar Springs could explore supporting such work.
Raising Up Mature, Indigenous Leadership
Mozambique will never progress to spiritual or economic viability without strong indigenous leadership. Having a Western education is not a prerequisite for successful ministry and leadership, yet we found it interesting that all of the most dynamic, mission-minded, Biblically-centered pastors were educated either in the West or through an independent Bible college or seminary (not in one of the denominational schools in Mozambique or by Theological Education by Extension). In general, the church is numerically exploding in Mozambique, and the training of pastors and lay leaders has not kept up with the number of new believers. Maputo and Beira have many Bible colleges and opportunities for further training, yet such opportunities are less available in the north and among village pastors throughout the country. Stories abound of people who go to church once in a city and return to start a church in their village. Such “pastors” have no Bible, no training, and no foundational knowledge of the church's role in society. Even many of the provincial church leaders (often supervising hundreds of smaller churches) have little or no training. To flourish and meaningfully send people to outlying areas, the church must grow deeper roots.
Northern Mozambique is a religiously divided area (although currently experiencing little tension as a result). Christianity dominates the south, while Islam remains a stronger force in the north. This reality makes the north a very strategic place to strengthen the church with sound doctrine and deeper discipleship. Following their 1997 global consultation, Muslims began targeting sub-Saharan Africa in an effort to win the people for Islam. Missionaries say that fundamentalist forms of Islam have begun to reach northern Mozambique, and emissaries from the Middle East often come to teach and rebuke the people for their syncretism and lack of discipline. For these reasons, supporting educational development among those in northern Mozambique and the rural part of southern Mozambique is particularly strategic.
The temptation is to create a quick-fix through financial support because indigenous seminary professors cost a pittance to employ (less than $2000 annually for a full-time professor). The problem with paying professors and drastically expanding opportunities for education is that paying locals typically creates dependency. As such, we suggest that instead of paying salaries, Cedar Springs consider how to support leadership development in ways that avoid dependency. One such way is to scholarship one or two pastors from Mucatine to attend a three month course at Volta a Biblia, with the possibility of continuing such a scholarship for three years, provided the pastor desires further training and that Pastor Lucky Mnisi approves of his progress in understanding the Bible. Second, we suggest that Cedar Springs consider supporting PROFORTA or the development of schools like INTENA, Volta Biblia, and the Theological School of Pemba. PROFORTA helps provide materials, training, and leadership for the seminaries under its umbrella (all of which are in the north and have curriculum independent of denominational affiliations – Volta a Biblia is not associated with PROFORTA).
*for more information on these schools see below
Conclusions
In submitting this report, we recognize the limitations of our experience and continue to encourage the CSPC GMG for Mozambique to seek the Lord for specific guidance on how to be involved. Almost all of the ministries that we met with (and all included in this report) have tremendous vision for serving Mozambique. Their leaders love the Lord and are working to steer clear of creating dependency in Mozambique.
While we appreciate the analogy that Cedar Springs is “adopting a family” in adopting Mozambique with so many different cultures and needs, we would suggest that CSPC refine its focus and perhaps not claim to adopt “Mozambique” (unless the congregation is clear that they do so on a “prayer only” basis). Without financial support, personal connection, or in-depth understanding, such “adoption” tends to oversimplify issues. If the congregation truly feels called to the entire country, we would suggest giving money to 8-10 organizations that are working to cover the vast bulk of the needs (organizations which could receive $10-15K annually, including World Relief, New Tribe Mission, SIL, Restoration Ministries, PROFORTA, Iris, World Mission Center, etc.). We don't like the option of giving to many different groups because it lessens personal involvement and depth of understanding. In being involved in Mozambique, the two most important aspects are relationship and accountability. Partnering with a few organizations allows both depth in relationship and accountability to develop.
With that introduction, we will give a brief description and contact information for each of the ministries we spent significant time with and feel have the capacity to partner with the West without creating dependency.
World Mission Center: contact, Willie Crew (wmcint1@worldmimssioncentre.com)
The World Missions Center exists to mobilize churches and individuals to be involved in missions. WMC's current Lake to Sea program is motivating and equipping indigenous churches to reach the outlying areas with the Gospel. WMC has also developed a missions training curriculum, called the LiveSchool. LiveSchool has 234 hours of teaching and focuses on leadership development, general Biblical understanding, and the importance of missions. The tapes are currently in English and Russian, and work is being done to translate into many other languages. Translating the full material costs ~$170,000 for a language, and buying the materials for a LiveSchool costs ~$15,000 (including being trained, all the CDs and materials, etc.). The school typically has six months in class, with a 3-4 month practicum and a one month “bootcamp” where the students are trained in the field.
Volta a Biblia: contacts: William (South Africa) and Carol (US) (Pieter Ernst has contact info)
Volta a Biblia is a Bible school in Gaza Province in the city of Museu that is doing a good job training rural pastors and teaching the foundations of the Bible. Its programs run on three legs, providing opportunities for people in many different situations to take part in the training. First they offer a three month foundational school. These three months lay a theological foundation of Christianity and the Gospel. Many who are sent become true believers during this three month process. Those who attend must be sent by their local church, and most are typically from the Southern part of the country (mainly Inhambane and Gaza). They also focus on rural pastors, who want to be trained and go back to their rural churches. When they've completed the training they return to their local church who then has the authority to decide how to use the newly trained men and women. Second, after a person has completed the three month course, they are then offered the opportunity to attend a three year course. The three year course uses the curriculum of New Tribes Mission (Building on Firm Foundations), which is a chronological study from Genesis to the early church. Classes are taught in Portuguese and Shangaan mostly by local teachers who have already completed the training. Ten out of the fourteen staff are Mozambican. The class sizes are small, 12-15 students, and the students remain with the same group of classmates for the entire three years. Each staff has 3-5 students to mentor throughout their time. The schedule is eight weeks of class, followed by two weeks off. Students must pay about ¼ of their living expenses, which comes to about 200 meticais a month ($8), and the remaining funds come from donors. Volta a Biblia is a faith-based work and therefore does not directly ask for money, and is not tied to any group although World Relief helps with transportation and outside work.
The third leg of the school takes place in the villages where Volta a Biblia staff and students are sent to teach courses of varying lengths and content to village pastors and church leaders. At any one time in all three branches of the school, there are typically 300-350 students participating. In order to attend, students must either be proficient in Portuguese or Shangaan, and accreditation is not a primary focus.
INTENA: contact Inge Michel, from Germany, (ingemichel@gmex.net)
Located in Nampula, INTENA was opened in August 2004 under the umbrella organization PROFORTA, which is connected to Africa Inland Missions (AIM). There are currently about 30 students, the majority coming from the city of Nampula. The program operates in modules and new students join every semester. The courses are offered at night, Monday-Friday and takes approximately three years to complete, although there is great flexibility for those students who cannot come every night. They can take as long as they need to take to complete the training. Much like Volta a Biblia, the students are sent by local churches and will return to their local church upon completion. The church will then decide how to utilize the student. The first group of students will graduate February 2008. Currently INTENA only offers a certificate upon graduating (comparable to grades 7-9), but by 2009 they hope to be able to offer a diploma (grades 10-12). INTENA, like Volta a Biblia, focuses on raising up indigenous leadership within their students, faculty and administration. The only remuneration that the professors receive is reimbursement for their nightly bus travel to and from class.
New Tribes Mission: contact, DJ Morrison: dj_morrison@ntm.org, http://www.ntm.org/
NTM is focusing on several lesser reached groups in the north (Lolo, Muinika, Ngoni, etc.). The missionaries are placed in villages where they learn the culture and the language and teach the people the Bible based on chronological story telling. The entire process typically takes 15-20 years.
Literacy: SIL: contact, Nancy Loveland (literacy_mozambique@sil.org)
SIL in Mozambique is only working North of Beira, producing and translating literacy materials, with the ultimate goal of equipping people with the skills to read the Bible, and thereby empowering them in all areas of life. They have nothing available in Shangaan but suggested that Cedar Springs contact Dr. Muianga, director of Adult literacy and Education in Maputo (governmental organization). We began this process by meeting with one of Dr. Muianga's assistants, and Sara will continue to pursue this avenue.
Restoration Mission International, contact: Rev. Sammy Gumbe, sammy.gumbe@rmi.org.mz, http://www.rmi.org.mz/
RMI has a broad vision for reaching Mozambique, beginning in the cities and moving to the countryside. RMI has three points of focus: pastoral training (a three year program), a missions school in Beira (based on WMC's LiveSchool materials), and vision
conferences (bringing Christian leaders together).
Iris Ministries –
We had less time with Iris (just two hours, and no time with their leadership) but were impressed with the way that they care for the orphans, try to maintain low expenses, seem to be working indigenously, and are creating partnerships with the West. For those with a heart to work with orphans, this is a great place.
Key Prayers for Mozambique:
Pray for the pastors to come to know the Lord more deeply through the Bible, to faithfully shepherd their congregations, and to seek depth of relationship with other believers and pastors
Pray for the growth of leaders within educational institutions, particularly Bible colleges, Christian schools, and the public primary schools – that Mozambique would see strong indigenous leaders develop
Pray for indigenous churches to better understand the Great Commission and commit to planting new churches in remote regions where there is no church.
Pray for missionaries to disciple believers, to develop leaders, and to give their lives for the Kingdom of God to grow and flourish
Pray for laborers to be raised up in Mozambique – those who will give their lives so that others may grow and flourish, both physically and spiritually
Appendix
Mozambique General History:
The political history of Mozambique is important to examine in order to better understand the church history that has operated within it. Mozambique existed as a Portuguese colony until 1974. The Portuguese arrived in Mozambique in 1498, led by Vasco de Gama who was looking to establish supply points for Portugal's sea trade with India. De Gama found the Bantu people living in Mozambique, a people of strong Arab influence. Coastal Mozambique proved to be a very advantageous location for Portuguese settlements, and this, coupled with conflict with Arab traders and Mozambique's gold and ivory resources, motivated the Portuguese to colonize the country at a rapid pace.2 They were more interested however in how Mozambique could provide profit and convenience for Portugal than in developing the country socially or economically. The Portuguese rented out Mozambique's resources, including human labor, and forced locals to work on farms, in some cases as slaves. These types of conditions remained in place for Portugal's entire stay in Mozambique. From 1932 to 1968 Fascist leader Antonio Salazar ruled Portugal, and during his reign conditions in Mozambique deteriorated even further. Cash crops replaced private farms, causing an extreme drop in food production and leading to widespread famine and death for local Mozambicans.3 By 1960 Mozambicans had had enough and the independence movement began. Frelimo, the Mozambique Liberation Front, formed in 1962 and fought for 10 years to secure Mozambique's independence. In 1974 the Fascist regime was overthrown and the Independent Republic of Mozambique began. The Portuguese quickly left Mozambique, leaving very little behind them. With no infrastructure, skilled professionals, or a stable economy, Frelimo looked to the Soviet Union for help, and the goal became to build Africa's first truly Marxist-Leninist state.4 Rhodesian-trained rebels in Mozambique formed the Mozambique National Resistance, Renamo, in 1977 in order to oppose Frelimo and prevent the country from becoming Marxist. “Renamo's aim was the wholesale destruction of Mozambique's social and communications infrastructure and the eventual overthrow of the government.”5
The year 1983 brought more grief as drought and famine continued to unmake the country. Renamo stepped up its attack during this time, attacking relief trucks and grain stores. Frelimo gradually began to open up to the west, which responded with help and food. In 1990 Frelimo surrendered its Marxist ideology and in 1992 signed a peace treaty with Renamo, ending the civil war. Since the elections of 1994, the government of Mozambique has worked to rebuild the destroyed country. Despite setbacks from millions of land-mines planted during the civil war, droughts, cyclones, and floods (one as recent as 2001 killed about 700 people and left half a million homeless6) things are changing and Mozambique is beginning to heal from its wounds. Today Mozambique is very open to help from outside the country.
Church History:
Mozambique's church history also begins with Portugal. Portuguese Catholic missionaries brought Christianity to Mozambique in the 16th century. Dominican missionaries arrived as early as 1506, and by 1560 the Jesuits had arrived. Dominicans, Jesuits, and Augustinians were active on the coast of Mozambique until the early 1700s when Christian work began to decline. It did not rise again until the late 19th century.7 Some of the more northern and predominantly Muslim tribes were not reached with the Gospel until 1930, and today they remain almost 80% Muslim. In fact, Mozambique remained one of the least reached nations with the Gospel south of the equator until WWII. Protestants arrived in Mozambique in 1879 when the first American board missionaries arrived. In 1918, after WWI, the Scandinavian Baptists arrived, and today they are the largest Protestant denomination in Mozambique.8 Pentecostals came in the 1930s and today the Pentecostal Assemblies of God makes up the third largest Protestant community in the country. The church in northern Mozambique has had the slowest growth, and the Anglican church has had the greatest influence among the Muslim Yao people of Northwestern Mozambique. Indigenous churches, despite strong opposition and slow growth, have maintained a presence in the country as well.9
Jesuit missionaries were expelled from the country by Portugal in the early 1900s, and although Catholic missionary societies were allowed back into the country in 1940, they were obliged to operate in ways beneficial first to Portugal. The manifestations of this hierarchical system often took the form of sanctioning the colonial status quo and remaining silent in the face of injustices against local Mozambican people.10 Throughout Protestant church history in Mozambique, the church has operated independently of governmental control. Before independence, Portugal was opposed to Protestant ministries in Mozambique, and made it very difficult for them to operate. The ruling that only Portuguese could be spoken in the country eliminated many Protestant ministries because they were not from Portugal and could not speak the language. For those who could speak the language, however, Protestants played a key role in Independence by indirectly promoting the idea of national emancipation to Mozambicans through education. Significant elements of Frelimo's ideology and beliefs were of Protestant origin at the beginning, although they quickly changed to Marxism when the Soviet Union began supplying and supporting Mozambique after independence.11
In 1975 when Frelimo took over control of the country, all Christians began to suffer. Missionaries were forced to returned home, seminaries were closed, and persecution of local leaders and believers increased until 1988 when the Pope visited Mozambique, recognizing and denouncing the horror experienced by the country through the war of Independence and the Civil War. Since that time, there has been freedom of religion and the church in Mozambique has exploded with growth. This growth has been mostly in Protestant churches because the Catholic church has been so closely associated with colonialism. According to Operation World, “at independence in 1975, Evangelicals were 3.7% of the population. By 2000 this was nearly 12%.”12 Mozambicans have responded overwhelmingly to the Word of God, corresponding directly to the availability of preaching, and today 57% of the country are professing Christians.13
The situation of the spread of the Gospel and the church in northern Mozambique is different from the rest of the country. As recent as 1995 there was little to no missionary work taking place in the north, although it is the most populated area of the country. Most missionary activity is just recently getting started. New Tribes, Wycliffe, and a handful of Southern Baptist and Assemblies of God missionaries now live in a few of the northern provinces, and are focusing on church planting, evangelism, and Bible translation among the predominantly Muslim people groups: the Yao, Makonde, Makhuwa, Lomwe, Chwabo, and Swahili.14 Other mission agencies and foreign churches are also currently exploring avenues to have a presence in the north.
Religious/Historical/Political Context:
The religions of Mozambique are widespread, including African traditional religions, Christian (both Roman Catholic and Protestant), Islam, and Hinduism. The history of animist religions in Mozambique runs long and deep, going back for thousands of years. Many Mozambicans will not lightly let go of their traditional beliefs, sometimes holding onto them alongside an organized religion.15 Arab traders introduced Islam to the coastal regions beginning in the 8th century, and Portuguese Catholic missionaries brought over Christianity in the 16th century. During the time of the civil war, from 1975-1992, the Marxist government was very opposed to Christianity and expelled foreign missionaries from the country. However, “with the signing of a peace accord between the FRELIMO led government of President Joaquin Chissano and the insurgent Mozambique National Resistance in 1992, there was an apparent end to the indiscriminate violence and human rights abuses that had brought havoc to the country for 16 years.”16 A democratic election was held in 1992 ending the Marxist reign, and the government began a new course of trying to rebuild a broken land, including the ending of governmental opposition to Christianity. Article 26 of the new constitution affirmed that all citizens are to have the same rights, independent of color, race, sex, and religion. Article 33 went on to affirm the state guarantee of freedom of religion. The current government of Mozambique appears very committed to working with the people and doing what it believes to be best for them. The main area of the country where Christians could encounter opposition is in the predominantly Muslim north. The Africa Muslim Agency has been known to stir up opposition to new Christian workers and churches in northern Mozambique, and at times anti-Christian apologetics classes have been taught in mosques.17 Overall, however, Christians are welcomed in Mozambique.
In terms of historical considerations that need to be considered by those attempting to promote the Gospel, the devastating history of war and destruction must be taken into account. The country statistics on literacy, infant mortality, life span, and poverty are a demonstration of the broken state of Mozambicans. According to the World Christian Encyclopedia, “women and children fared very badly in the civil war, Mozambican women have the highest maternal mortality rates and lowest rates of literacy in the world.”18 Though Portuguese is the national language, during the years of the Civil war education was shut down, and those people, men and women, who grew up during that time cannot speak Portuguese. Today, only the very young or the very old can communicate in this language. The average lifespan for Mozambicans is 37.83 years for men and 36.34 years for women, and the rate of infant mortality is 137 deaths for every 1000 births. Mozambique has suffered badly from colonialism and three decades of civil war. According to Operation World, “in 1995 it [Mozambique] was reckoned to be the world's poorest nation.”19 Though the government is now working hard to open up the economy, lay democratic foundations and rebuild farm land, the country continues to face many challenges from current national disasters and effects of wounds from the past. The infrastructure that had been rebuilt following the civil war was destroyed again in 2000 by cyclones and flooding, and the AIDS calamity is increasing every year. Many Mozambicans are turning to God as they have opportunities to hear the Gospel and its message of hope. Christians responded to the flood crisis and many new churches were planted in refugee camps, however the growth of the church faces serious challenges due to illiteracy, lack of Scriptures, and syncretism. Many church leaders are self-appointed “and are looking for international links, finances and aid rather than spiritual input.”20 Even for those who are sincere, there are few church leaders with education, theological training, or adequate funds or facilities. Church leaders are in desperate need of Biblically sound training.
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