5 new reasons to rejoice in Mozambique!

A cattle project in Mozambique that’s met practical needs and improved the spiritual lives of 13 families

Imagine being a farmer in Sub-Saharan Africa. You depend on your produce to feed your family and use any extra income to buy basic necessities like soap and oil. Now imagine you have a year of bad crops and run out of food to feed your family. You feel helpless. What now?
 
That was the predicament a church leader named Inacio found himself in in his rural community in Sussendenga, Mozambique. And it’s why BMS World Mission started the Manica Cattle Project. By bringing more effective methods of farming to the local community (including using cattle to prepare the land, instead of doing it by hand, and using crop rotation to improve the quality of the soil) BMS helped local farmers help themselves. And it’s worked brilliantly! BMS supported Inacio as he purchased two cows, trained them to work in the fields and then rented the cattle out to local farmers for a small fee.  
 
“It’s made a big difference,” says Fiona Welsh, a BMS project manager who helped start the project. “It’s helped these families be able to feed their families for a whole year, whereas previously without having cattle to plough the land they maybe only had enough food for a few months.”

Thanks to your giving, lives have been transformed in Sussendenga. We want you to rejoice with us and give thanks for five things in particular:
 

1. Praise God for fed families

Although the farmers faced challenges due to a severe drought in the 2015-16 growing season, there were still some incredible results. Inacio grew three times the amount of corn he produced in previous years and five other families also grew more. Without this project, these families wouldn’t have had enough food for their families to eat. Praise God!
 

2. Give thanks for souls saved

Seven people Christ into their lives, increased church involvement and church training opportunities – these are just a few ways in which faith is growing in this rural community in Mozambique. Thanks to the cattle project, Inacio has been able to spend more time with people in the church and surrounding community, strengthening relationships and sharing the word of Jesus. Today he is discipling the seven people who have accepted Jesus and the church plant in the community has grown from 20 to 42 people in just two years. Inacio has also been able to use his increased income from farming to be able to attend theological training and to deliver leadership courses to local churches. Good news indeed!

3. Praise the Lord for improved lives

The new farming methods have also had a positive impact on the standard of living in the rural community. Three families are struggling less, two families are building better houses and one family has used their extra income to buy goats. Hard lives are being made tangibly better.
 

4. Widows and oprhans have been helped – Praise God

Some of the most vulnerable families within the community are benefitting from the project. Two widows, one with young children, participated in the training and rented the cattle. It’s been very helpful to both of the women and especially the young mother. She was happy to report that the project helped provide her family with enough food to eat and she was even able to sell some of the extra vegetables she grew. This provided her family with extra income to buy essential items. God is good!
 

5. Praise the Lord for a sustainable future

Inacio will continue this way of farming within the community in the hopes to help even more families learn this more effective way of farming and to share Jesus with more people.
 
“I want to thank everyone for their continued prayers for this project and other work we’ve been doing in Mozambique,” says Fiona. “Things don’t always go smoothly in Africa, so to see the results that we have, we can really see God’s hand in it.” Praise God!
 

Thanks to your giving, you are helping families live and thrive in Mozambique! You can continue to support the work we are doing to transform lives around the world when you give today