Beira is Mozambique’s second city. Its large container port is a gateway for shipping goods into Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia as well as inland parts of central Mozambique. In 2019, the city was devastated by Cyclone Idai and more recently, the Covid pandemic has dealt a further economic shock.
Carlos Tique Jone is a leader in the Baptist church in Beira. He lives with his family in the city. Carlos was the first eVitabu user in Mozambique and he uses a wide range of resources from the app in both Portuguese and English to support rural pastors. Rural pastors in central Mozambique have virtually no access to training.
Faith in Mozambique is characterised by a combination of African traditional religious practices blended with aspects of either Christianity or Islam.
In December, Carlos received an APF Covid grant to support vulnerable families in Beira. He describes how he used the funding and the impact it had.
Firstly, I would like to say thank you very much to APF for your support. It was great to be able to help some of the neediest in our churches, those who were seriously struggling to provide something for their families during Christmas and New Year time. Your support meant people were able to have a meal on their table and celebrate the New Year with joy.
We made food parcels and identified vulnerable people from the church and local community for the distribution. Each parcel had rice, beans, cooking oil, sugar, salt and fruit. We are very experienced at providing food aid and identifying beneficiaries for support. The Baptist church in Beira did a lot of this work following the emergency when Cyclone Idai affected our city.
Anita is a widow and a member of the First Baptist Church of Beira. She cares for her 15 year old grandson. They share a small room in a very poor part of the city.
Angelina is the mother of four children. Her husband does not take care of or support his family. She is a Muslim believer and is our neighbour. We always help her to feed her children when we can.
Pastor Ernesto had a stroke and is unable to work and get income to feed his family. He lives with his wife and son. The church cannot provide him with sick pay or pension.
Julia, standing next to me in this photo, lives in shared accommodation in the city with her granddaughter. You can find many vulnerable people like them in Beira.