Update from BHW Mozambique Partnership Facilitator

Key person: Talsamo 

The most recent visit to this partnership was in July 2023 and the next one is planned for July 2025. 

Recent Events

Context

Since the previous visit of the BHW team in July 2023, the founders of the work in Angoche, Joe and Jenny and one of their associates, visited Angoche. Since then, we have been in dialogue with them about their visit and about the future as well. 

Just prior to our visit in July there had been a shake-up of leadership as reported by the BHW team in the July 2023 report. 

In this report there will be several quotes from the ongoing conversation we are having. This is more a report on the strategies being developed to see the work become more sustainable at the local level. 

It was four years since Joe had visited and he writes, “Much has changed. There are many new people we have not yet met and wonderful new leaders! So, it was a vital time to input into them and confirm some of the DNA (vision and values) of our movement. But our time mustn’t be just a time of sharing ideas. We need the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, filling and changing lives. Raising up a new generation of leaders!” 

While they were there, they balanced their time between the core leaders, 20-30 men and women, and a wider group of about 400-500 leaders from communities of faith scattered through villages and islands near and far.  

The challenge

There are more than 20 new zones, most with a network of several or many churches, so even getting all the leaders together was impossible. There were too many to host in Angoche at one time so the leaders in each zone have to select the ones who can participate in the conference they ran for representatives. 

There is a need to tweak the structure of the organization to grow further into the future. This will be a challenge for the young team of leaders, and they are not experienced. Joe writes, “20 zones is pushing our capacity logistically. Yet there are so many more people to reach! We need wisdom!”

They didn’t get to grips with tweaking the structure as much as they would have liked to, but they are in constant conversation with Talsamo and his team. They are confident they will get there!  

Comments from their time there

The work upcountry to the north of them where mainly Makhua people are coming to faith is strong. These people have a very traditional and syncretistic catholic faith so in some ways are pre-evangelised.  

The Koti work in Inguri and the islands is quite weak. This is the area that requires a lot more thought and prayer regarding how to go about it. 

The people at the conference especially loved the sessions on marriage and they pray for stronger marriages right across their communities.

While they were there around 250 people were baptised. They came from several churches around the area. Needless to say, it was a rather boisterous and joyous occasion. 

Literacy and the madrassas (MOZ04a)

BHW supports the literacy and madrassa programme that has around 2,000 children attending per day. This has also spread to the adults as many parents see their children becoming literate and the benefits it brings to them. 

The literacy programme underpins the church planting work that is occurring in the region, primarily focussed on the Koti people. The primary purpose is to teach people to read their own language, Koti. Very few older people can read Koti and there are very few books. All the government departments use Portuguese or Makhuwa and Koti is largely only spoken by the old people. It is rarely written and few of the older people can read it. This programme helps young people become fluent in their own language and the outcome is that they begin to excel in all their classes. The madrassas ignite their desire to learn and the encouragement they receive in the classes spills over into other school subjects and into their spiritual development as well. 

These classes have been operating now for several years and the team is noticing that the young people emerging through the movement have a deeper understanding of their own identity and are showing increased leadership potential. 

At the last report in mid-2023 there were 45 groups, and that number are still operating. It is increasingly difficult to maintain the impact, mainly the financial pressure as the teachers are only given a small honorarium. 

This project is a very important underpinning of this growing work. However, it is not sustainable and so to deal with restructuring is vitally important and this applies to the literacy programme as well. 

They understand that this programme must continue and grow, but from within. BHW facilitators are in dialogue with the leaders about what this needs to look like. Part of the issue they face is that they have an increasing number of young people coming through the education system and this will create many issues in the community and their movement as there as very few opportunities for educated young people. 

Part of the next strategy needs to focus on vocational training and job creation, and this will be on the agenda in the discussions. 

Ideas/Plans for the Future

They have put several things on the table for discussion. The ball is in the court of BHW to work this through with them as they have little experience in the area of development. They have identified some things below, but it will be dependent on them having the right people in place. Unfortunately, the BHW team cannot get there before mid-2025. 

If people have some land, there is potential to be able to help reasonably easily. The biggest issue they face is all the young people in the towns. Joe writes, “We have no good answers to the long-term living of the many (and we’re talking hundreds of them) Angoche young people, who are the core and the cutting edge of our team. They are not that interested in farming; they are interested in small business, but we have not been able to give them enough mentoring to make that happen. We have given them seed money for proposals, but nothing has come of it. Some training and mentoring in small business would be wonderful."

Keeping in mind that there is a need for training and mentoring, the following ideas are on the table for discussion:
1) The breeding of goats – there will be places where this is a good option. BHW has supported projects like this in several locations.

2) To get farming going at a better level. BHW is in the early stages of doing another training in Angoche in mid-2025. This will be done in the context of a long-term plan. We hope to have a Foundations for Farming trainer with us on the trip in July 2025. 

3) To develop the madrassa (tutoring of children), so the kids get a better education. The madrassa eats up money and gives some of the young people something to do but it is not a long-term solution for their financial viability. BHW supports the madrassa programme that has around 2,000 children in it per day (MOZ04a). This could mean the establishment of vocational training. 

The town of Angoche presents a real challenge. Joe writes, “I think there is more money flowing into Angoche than before, probably because there are more government jobs in teaching and the hospital jobs. That money goes around, and people seem to have more cash. I don’t see evidence of more industry of any sort. Our people in the townships bordering Angoche, like Inguri where Talsamo lives, are in about the same living conditions as ever and in the rural areas too. But the Indian shopkeepers are making a killing. We probably need to ask some good questions of Talsamo and the team about what the invisible side jobs people are doing in the local economy to cover their needs. When I asked not to so long ago, they didn’t have any answers.”

4) Small business – one woman has a sewing business which is going quite well. Joe says,”There is opportunity for adding value to things and selling them, every lady can make bread/cakes and sell them. We could build a small kiln and bake bread to sell, we have an experienced baker (Teofilo) who used to work at the bread shop in town. The bread shop has closed down so there is a huge market for bread. He can bake the bread but I don’t think he has any business sense but there is one guy (Marenga) who has business sense and who could help several of them.”

5) Computer training – They have paid for young people to go to classes to learn basic computer skills, but they could start their own classes. There is one guy (Pai Jorge) who is able to control the finance for things like that and make sure it all works.

Summary: The town people need to add value to their personal incomes, that is the challenge. The rural people are more or less OK. Very poor but they don’t need much support apart from helping with the costs of the training each week, transport etc. This is nothing compared with the costs of supporting the town people. 

Prayer and Praise Points

1) That a strategic development plan will come together over the next year. 

2) Praise that many people are still coming to faith and that the work continues to grow. 

3) That the leaders are facing the challenge of development and want to see this happen. 

4) That there will be young people emerge with the capacity to lead the development of the people. 

Comments

BHW is excited about the opportunities that are developing here. Our involvement in this partnership has been critical to the growth of the movement. The investment in leadership development and the madrassas has been vital and continues to be. However, it is obvious that there is going to have to be developments that might look quite different and that the current funding model may need to change.