Spread out across the northern provinces of Mozambique is the eMakhuwa language group. This is the largest Bantu language spoken in Mozambique, covering about 1/3 of the population. eMakhuwa is classified into 11 variants, of which some are close to each other and others are distant.

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.

The teams have seen significant impact since the translation started. Andre Raul (Project Coordinator) reported that,

“many people walk long distances just to go and listen to the stories; we can see that they are absolutely thirsty for the Word of God.” 

Arlindo António Miguel said,

"I must admit that many people are so much moved by these stories that they actually ask for the copies. When we start the listening sessions, people are not bothered with time. They just want to keep listening again and again."

He also reported that,

"I have already implemented family evening prayer where all my family gather together and listen to one story and each one share what he/she understood from it and we finalize with a prayer. I am very grateful to God for being part of this project"

The three Makhuwa teams (eMarrevoni, eSaka and eXirima) have completed translation of the Gospel of Luke, and are now busy with Genesis.

For updates about each language, please see their individual pages, linked at the top of this page.