Mozambique Relief Update, May 2019

By Newman Kanchefu

Since the cyclone, most of these areas were not accessible by road—but by air only—and we had to wait until the roads were cleared. I will include pictures to tell the story.

In April, we travelled to Messicca, Mozambique, where we met with the preacher there to assess the situation on the ground and their needs. Below is our church building in Messicca.

A number of our members had their houses damaged, but no loss of life. In the photo below we visited some families to assess the damages.

These structures are not strong, which has contributed to the damage. The provinces of Beira and Sofala were the most affected.

In our assessment, currently the need in Messicca is for food so that the meager resources they have can be channeled towards rebuilding. Food can be bought from the shops there. Below are our youths sorting through clothes to distribute.

We also teamed up with some brothers and sisters and headed to Chimanimani in Zimbabwe. Hundreds and hundreds of people perished there, including more than eight members of the church. Some are still missing.

We attended a church service at Ngangu—a residential area of Chimanimani—where a lot of houses were destroyed. It was so emotional. We could not hold back our tears as the members came forward asking for prayers and telling us their experiences. We came to face to face with a community that is traumatized physically, spiritually, and socially.

Below, my wife and I are standing on some ground where it is believed a family of five is buried beneath the rocks and soil. There house was completely covered. Earth-moving machines are not able to reach this place yet.

On our approach to Chimanimani, we could see a tent city command center, where NGOs and army medics are operating from. Helicopters are flying in supplies and bringing those in need of medical attention.

That concludes our story from Chimanimani. We could not proceed further to Rusitu Valley, where the whole location was buried because there is no road. We lost a good number of Christians at this place.