After more than 150 years in existence, the United Methodist Church in Mozambique has adopted many ways of planting new churches. Many souls have come to know Christ and others are recovered through strategies including small groups and individual home visits, prayers in reclusion sites and markets, family and social gatherings, and more.
Praise the Lord with songs, tell church stories and preach the word of God, transform lives and make people realize it is worth it to follow Christ!
One other important strategy is mission outreach, popularly known as evangelization campaigns. Every year the Mozambique Episcopal Area launches evangelization campaigns in mass, targeting new and growing sites.
Evangelism in action
The evangelization campaign is a great celebration where people (including those from other denominations and lost souls) meet and exchange ministry work. They are renewed, and their own spiritual and church growth is enhanced.
The conferences normally set targeted conversion numbers of new members through this process. Mozambique area conferences have grown over the past years since the adoption of these practices, and today there is a total of 31 ecclesiastic districts, 168,850+ members, 258+ clergy (South, Southeast and North Conferences), 5 districts in the South Africa Conference and 2 churches in Madagascar.
Hundreds of church members from Maputo, Gaza and Inhambane ecclesiastic districts mingle in specific selected places for prayers and spiritual revivals. Like pilgrims, they then disperse into the communities, praising the Lord with joyful songs, telling church stories and preaching the Word of God, with the aim of making people realize it is worth it to follow and live in Christ.
The Rev. Xavier Naftal Guambe, the South Conference Evangelist, said, “The evangelization campaigns constitute a great period aimed at helping mobilize the whole church to engage in mission. Districts at the conference level replicate this effort, organizing and carrying out campaigns, mostly into new living communities, enhancing the increasing numbers of United Methodists and yielding new church starts.
“The pilgrims are split into smaller groups of about eight people each, gravitating into different directions in the neighborhoods, sharing the good news and supplying Christian education materials to people, feeding them with the word of God.”
The campaign's theme was, “People’s Transformation through Evangelization,” from John 4:29. The central ceremonies at the Mozambique South and Mozambique Southeast Conferences took place at the Administrative Post of Palmeiras, in the village of 3 de Fevereiro and at Chissibuca village-Zavala respectively, represented by their district superintendents, pastors and church leaders at all levels.
Connection brings transformation
The. Rev Eduardo Filipe Ângelo, the Southeast Conference Evangelist shared, “We are blessed to be in ministry, and by telling the good news to the people of God, in turn we plant churches and recover values, and hence contribute to healing the already lost social and ethical aspects in our communities, especially for the young people and teenagers.
“This also helps alleviate girls’ early marriages, and as we continue with adult education classes in our churches, this helps alleviate illiteracy. Our sincere appreciation to all those who by personal means supported this initiative. We would especially like to express gratitude to the Mozambique –Missouri Initiative for the provision of Christian education materials which are helping a great deal in making Disciples of Christ.”
The selected sites for evangelization comprise communities with hundreds of less privileged people, including children and youth with a variety of needs, and people who lack secular and Christian education and health care.
The 2025 campaign was very productive, as it yielded 38 and 15 souls (South and Southeast Conferences respectively), some of whom immediately joined for closing services. New local church starts were also established. The Mozambique-Missouri Initiative presented Portuguese, Xitswa and Changane bibles and hymnals, which were distributed among the participants in all conferences as a great tool for evangelization.
Seeds are planted, nurtured
“We are chosen by God even in the midst of environmental and socio-political constraints faced in the country. God is indeed hearing our prayers! Based on the biblical text Matthew 28:16-20, we were all invited to plow and clean the soil, and yet we planted the seed of Jesus Christ’s ministry.
“We are now called to nurture the tree, so that the newly evangelized brothers and sisters are in the right and fruitful Christian environment,” stressed the Rev. Uinge Salatiel Guirruta, the Council on Ministries Director for the Southern Conference, acting on behalf of the Mozambique Area Bishop João Filimone Sambo.
Guirruta urged the crowd not to be led astray by worldly things, but to pray, trust and obey in the Lord. He added, “In today’s world, the interactions with communities are tough, but because we are clothed in God's armor, we have been welcomed in peace and confidence by the communities we visited.”
He reminded church and community members gathered that, “Like the first twelve Apostles received a special call, today there are many more people among us being invited to serve, following Christ's command to proclaim the Gospel to everyone. That is why we must value Christ's mission and be strong and persevere.”
He recommended those gathered to put up signs on church sites and on roads in the vicinity, both for easy church location and to serve as an instrument of evangelization. He also urged them to continue working, bearing in mind the extreme need of reinforcing Christian education, focusing on different outreach strategies for the good name of the Lord.
Ezequiel Marcos Nhantumbo is a UMCom/UMNews Lusophone Correspondent in Africa based in Maputo-Mozambique; June 2025
