Marrevoni is one of the 11 variants of the eMakhuwa language group, which is spoken by about a third of the population in Mozambique. The Marrevoni translation project is located in Micane Village in Moma District. The subsistence activities are agriculture, and fishing, due to their location alongside the ocean. The majority of the Marrevoni people are Muslim with only a small percentage of Christians. Traditional religion is also practiced. The need for Bible translation was determined when the Catholic Church, together with other Evangelical churches, began conducting outreach programs. They came to realise that what they needed, both to elevate life transformation in the communities and to follow God’s mission, was to have relevant Bible narratives in their own languages. This would open up God’s Word and provide opportunities to reach out to all people.

One of the team members shared this feedback:

"I have been visiting many Christian communities, and I have noticed that some of them have taken the translation so seriously that they usually use them for Sunday services and other prayer meetings. They keep asking us about when the whole translation will be completed. I have to explain to them that the process is long and requires a lot of resources and time. One of the church elders, visibly pleased, said to me that “this translation has made our work easier. It was also a hard task to find a right person to do the reading on Sunday but with this device, you just select the reading of the day and magnify the voice and play it in the church and we can listen to it as many times as we wish. There is no rush, the words are pronounced clearly, the language is entirely ours. In short, the Word of God goes straight into our bones and flesh.”"

"The Word of God goes straight into our bones and flesh.”

The eMarrevoni translation team has completed translation of the Gospel of Luke and is now busy with Genesis. Their most recent workshop took place at the end of September and beginning of November, where they were busy working with the consultant and recording translated passages.

They are keen to receive more audio devices loaded with translated Scriptures, reported that people, including many Muslims, are eager to listen to the Word in their heard language.