Mozambique
(MNN) — The Makua (mahKOOwa) are the largest ethnic group in northern Mozambique. It's a region still combating the
aftereffects of years of war and occupation.
Today, the literacy rate is estimated at 48%, with men
dominating the women in the average. The
latest reports also show that there are now over four million speakers
scattered throughout the region.
There are two primary Makua-speaking peoples: the Makua and
the Lomwe. There are nearly two million Lomwe. The Makua are the primary group
in Nampula province, while the Lomwe dominate Zambezia.
For the evangelists-in-training at the Emmanuel Evangelical
Wesleyan Bible College of Xai-Xai Mozambique, Scriptures in audio would be a
great evangelistic tool. Audio Scripture
Ministries' Tom Dudenhofer says that's why the nationals took ownership of a
Scripture recording project.
A late season storm recently damaged their newly set-up
recording studio. But after the roof was
repaired and equipment dried out, overall damage was minimal. From there, the students ran with the
project.
"The whole process of them learning to identify the
readers, to do the actual recording, to clean up the recording, to make it
presentable so that it can be, in this case, transferred to audio cassettes,
and later on, to digital players, is a real significant step for these
believers."
Start to finish, it'll take three months for the Makua
language to be ready to be distributed through ASM. What's more, Dudenhofer
says, "Because the recording studio is located in a Bible college, the
material will be used immediately by the speakers of this
language. They'll be able to
take some of our hand-wind tape players and copies of the Scriptures that are
being recorded immediately back to their people."
