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Key person: Talsamo
BHW has been supporting Tarikhi ya Haakhi since 2006 and have visited the place several times. The initial connection was to support the growth of the church planting movement. The core of this movement is the weekly gathering of the key leaders so we have been funding bicycles so they can come together in Angoche every week along with the provision of training resources and some food for those who come. This has continued over several years as the movement grew and is the core of our connection to the group.
Along the way, as the movement has grown, they still purchase bicycles but have added a couple of motorbikes for those who are a long way out from Angoche, some boats for groups out on islands and simple smart phones for communication and for receiving resources.
Also added to the programme but separate, is the development of Koti language tutoring 
classes for school children (MOZ04a). Every morning on the way to school these groups meet; there are now 43 of these operating with almost 2,000 children involved. These children are doing so well at school in all classes that the government is taking notice.
The key person is Talsamo. He is married with three children, Jay (8), Esther (4) and Timotheo (8 months). He is a very strategic leader and had to take over leadership as a young man as the previous key local leader had a major moral failure. He leads with vision and integrity.
The main activity in this part of the partnership is the support of the weekly meeting of the leaders. This remains the glue that keeps this group together, focussed, accountable and growing. And it continues to grow despite the pressure of the community and the impact of Covid in the past three years. The growth has slowed but continues.
Every Wednesday there are currently 58 people coming to the leadership meetings. Their desire to see the work grow continues to remain and they are passionate about seeing more people, especially Koti people, coming to faith in Isa.
In 2021 there were approximately 150 people baptised, in 2022 approximately 100, and so far in 2023 there have been 30 baptised.
Prior to Covid there were 14 centres and now there are 18. Some of these are on islands where it is very dark spiritually. They used to count the number of prayer houses in each centre but now do not really know how many there are. There are many informal groups.
They have established a football team and organised a local football league. This has brought many young people into their group, and they are able to go into many surrounding villages using this as a tool.
They are thrilled with the growth of the main group in Angoche. There are now more than 400 people at the regular meetings and this is having a great influence in the community. It is so different to anything else, and the young people especially are very attracted. It gives them a great opportunity to witness and speak to the public.
In the past BHW has done some Foundations for Farming training with some people there. Many are still continuing with this, and some others have joined in with them. They have coped well during the lockdowns and the closed fishing seasons.
There are many groups that benefit from this partnership. This includes:
- Those whose lives are being transformed by the Good News as they come to faith and leave the darkness of their old religion.
- Whole families who are exposed to the Good News and who come to faith. This includes many stories of restoration and reconciliation.
- The leaders of the centres that come together every week. They get biblical input and training.
- The young people coming to faith. They stop destructive practices and are set free from many vices. Christian marriage has been introduced to the communities.
- The kids that attend the tutoring classes.
Many young people especially are pushed out of their homes when they become believers. This causes issues for their future, especially in education.
Even older people are suffering. Wives are being sent away from homes with their children and older people are abandoned by their families and communities. Both of these create issues for the movement.
Currently cholera is rampant in the area from polluted water. Last week two sisters died and there are five of their members in hospital being treated for cholera. Malaria is also a major issue.
They are trying to care for many widows in the community. Some are widows because their husbands have died, some from accidents while fishing. Others have been abandoned by their husbands. Some are quite young as well. It is a real struggle.
There is quite a lot of hunger in the area. People are still dependent on fishing and the government now enforces closed fishing seasons.
Bringing younger people into leadership is an ongoing challenge. They currently have six young people they are developing and mentoring into leadership roles, and they are showing real promise. They are past the challenge of getting the gospel into the community, now they are working to consolidate that into the lives of the next generation. This requires training and modelling of new ways of living, especially in the area of sexuality, marriage and raising children.
The extremist activity in the north has affected their teams and they have had to leave. It is just too dangerous right now.
They plan to visit the people in the north later this year, but they have to go carefully and not in numbers.
They want to do more Foundations for Farming training and grow this much larger.
They are planning a women’s conference in May and more than 300 want to come. They can only take about 200 so are having to make a few changes.
Timmy Holah (a pastor from NZ who lived there for three years) is intending to visit again later in 2023.
Later in July they are planning a youth conference for 200–250 youth.
In July 2023 a team of four from BHW are intending to visit Angoche for three days.
The work continues to go ahead. They do not have targets they are trying to meet; they carry on as best they are able to do the right thing and be faithful. Covid and lockdowns especially has affected the growth as can be seen in the number of baptisms.
The work in the north has been hampered by the increase in terrorism and extremists. They had sent a team to begin work among the local tribes of another faith but the team has had to leave the area. There are several Christian groups and families still living there but they have had to find safe places to stay. They are still in touch with these people and are communicating regularly with them. Hopefully things will change at some stage, but the resistance is very strong and many have been killed.
They regularly speak to Joe Graham (the guy who pioneered the work there) who continues to produce training materials for them.