The Church in Mozambique

Church in Mozambique certainly looks different from the States. Our first stop in our 10 day Bush-Bush experience was to a conference for the leaders of the province of Zambezia. Iris organized this conference for the pastors overseeing the 16 districts within Zambezia which consists of thousands of churches. These leaders slept outside underneath an old tarp to stay dry from the rain while we stayed in tents that we had brought from the states.

The leaders met in a church that had no walls, a dirt floor, a tin roof, and about 800 square foot in size. These leaders each oversee several hundred church but yet their level of spiritual understanding is also limited. I had the privilege of speaking at the conference regarding spending time daily with God and being dependant upon God to do ministry (John 15). I do not know how well the message was received as it had to be translated into Portuguese and then into Lomwe.

While being around the Mozambiquan believers I recognize the great need for discipleship. Their congregations do not have Bibles and additional Christian materials are non-existent due to finances. Also having worked at JH Ranch ministering to families, I see a huge need for family ministry here. The separation between men and their wives is large as well as the separation between men and their children. The need for laborers is great.

Our greatest tool for ministry has been showing the Jesus film in the people’s local language. To go into a village with no electricity and set up a film in their own language is very powerful. For one, this might be the first time these people have ever seen television. Not only this, it is not in the national language of Portuguese but it is in their mother tongue which makes the message more powerful. For us the movie appears to be very old and out-of-date but the impact is still great. Many people gather in the villages for this event and many do choose to believe in Jesus. However, the need for discipleship still remains. Iris is training at least 300 pastors a year at its base in Pemba but the need is much greater. I have seen the huge responsibility the church has in the west to support this demand financially and with labor. This has been a valuable experience to have my eyes opened to this need.