Country Profile

CRWRC has been working in Mozambique since 1993. Despite recent economic improvements, Mozambique remains one of the poorest countries in the world, with 70% or the population living below the poverty line. Life expectancy is at a low 40 years, and decreasing with the recent surge of the AIDS pandemic. To address these issues, CRWRC works with the Reformed Church of Mozambique (Igreja Reformada em Mozambique) integrating a variety of community programs to impact whole lives, communities and churches.

Fast Facts

Population: 20,905,585 (July 2007 est.)
Area Comparative: slightly less than twice the size of California
Literacy Rate: 47.8%
Life Expectancy: 40.9 years
Population below the poverty line: 70%
HIV/AIDS - Adult Prevalance Rate: 12.2% (2003 est.)
Gross Domestic Product per capita: $1,500 (2006 est.)
Religions: Catholic 23.8%, Muslim 17.8%, Zionist Christian 17.5%, other 17.8%, none 23.1%
Languages: Emakhuwa 26.1%, Xichangana 11.3%, Portuguese 8.8% (official; spoken by 27% of population as a second language), Elomwe 7.6%, Cisena 6.8%, Echuwabo 5.8%, other Mozambican languages 32%, other foreign languages 0.3%, unspecified 1.3%

(From the World Factbook. Click here for more information on Mozambique)

CRWRC Partners in Mozambique

CRWRC has one primary partner in Mozambique:

Igreja Reformada em Mozabmbique (IRM), Mphatso (m.PAHT.so) Synod Through the combined efforts of IRM and CRWRC God is transforming rural communities in northern Mozambique. Last year, 2,209 community members participated in the following IRM programs:

• Agriculture
IRM helps subsistence farmers increase their food production by facilitating training in compost manure production, improved crop storage, and crop diversification. As a result, farmers are improving the soil, growing more crops, and increasing their crop yields.

• Community Development
Due to the high rate of HIV/AIDS in Mozambique, communities must support a large number of orphans. Through IRM, communities are empowered to embrace and nurture orphans and enable their care-givers to provide healthy, stable homes for them. Some communities have set aside community gardens to produce food for the orphans. In other communities, care givers receive training so that they can improve their income.

• Income Generation
IRM also works with small business owners. Groups of business people come together to learn Christian business and stewardship principles, encourage each other, write business plans and access small loans together to grow their businesses. Paid up loans return to the pool to make new loans available. People proudly report being able to give more to church, help their families buy better clothes and farm inputs and pay school fees.

• Literacy
IRM hosts 27 literacy centers, where more than 598 community members learn basic reading and writing skills. IRM trains literacy instructors and provides them with teaching materials and techniques to help them strengthen their programs. Besides learning a useful skill, community members also gain confidence that opens doors for them to be more actively engaged in their churches and communities.

• Relief, rehabilitation, and reducing vulnerability to disaster
In recent years, life has become much more uncertain in many rural communities in Africa. Mozambique is no exception. Changing weather patterns are making the seasonal rains less dependable. Often the rains start on time, but then stop for several weeks leaving tender young plants to wither and die – along with people’s hopes for a sufficient harvest. Along with this is the scourge of HIV/AIDS that is decimating what should be the most productive part of the population. The ability of families to dig and plant gardens of sufficient size to assure enough food is compromised through sickness and death. Population pressure, chronic poverty, and policies that tend to discourage instead of encouraging production all conspire to reduce productivity. Through relief and rehabilitation, IRM works with communities to move toward reducing vulnerability to these negative influences. Crop and diet diversity, growing community capacity to work and plan together and improving crop storage and management all help to give communities hope and help them work with God as stewards of all He has given them.

• HIV/AIDS prevention
The Reformed Church in Mozambique is reaching out to youth, married couples, parents and pastors with important HIV/AIDS prevention training. This training is taking place as part of a USAID funded project entitled Abstinence and Behavior change for Youth (ABY). Through this project, youth meet monthly to learn about HIV/AIDS prevention, study Biblical passages, encourage each other to make healthy choices and engage in social activities like soccer matches and choir festivals. The Reformed Church is also using radio broadcasts and billboards and couples, parents and pastor’s retreats to share HIV/AIDS prevention messages with the wider community.

CRWRC Staff in Mozambique

There is no full time staff in Mozambique. Instead, Larry McAuley (US expat) and Phil & Christa Grabowski live in Malawi and represent CRWRC in both Malawi and Mozambique.

Larry and Linda McAuley serve jointly with Reformed Church in America (RCA) and Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC) in Malawi and Mozambique. Larry and Linda met at Sterling College, Sterling, KS where Linda obtained her BS in Elementary Education. Larry transferred to Kansas State University after his second year of college where he earned BS and MS degrees in Agronomy.

After marrying in 1972, Larry and Linda served 2 years in Ethiopia with Presbyterian Church, US (PCUS) as Volunteers in Mission teaching at Bethel Evangelical Secondary School. While in Ethiopia, they also worked on a mission station on the Omo River with the Daasanach people helping with a windmill program.

When their tour of service ended in Ethiopia, the McAuley’s returned to the States where Larry managed a corn/bean/hog farm in Illinois for 5 years. In those years on the farm, though, God kept stirring their hearts to return to the mission field. In 1981, Larry and Linda answered the call to do pioneer church-planting and community development work with the Pokot people in western Kenya.

During the 15 years they worked in this semi-arid area as RCA missionaries working hand in hand with Africa Inland Church, they helped the community start a school, a clinic, several churches, demonstration gardens, water development work, literacy, women’s development programs – and were blessed with 3 children!

In 1997, Larry returned to school beginning a program of study at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis. Sabbatical year finished (but not the studies), Larry and Linda accepted the joint assignment with RCA and CRWRC in Malawi and Mozambique in 1998 that they still hold. Larry is the Country Consultant for Malawi/Mozambique and Linda is a “Designated Volunteer” working with partner staff to identify training needs and opportunities, strengthening the adult literacy program, hosting and orienting volunteers and guests, and taking care of much of the correspondence from the field.

Larry finished his MA in Theological Studies in 2001 and enjoys integrating the fields of theology, agriculture, and development in his consultation with partner staff and communities.

EMAIL:  Larry larry@crwrcm.org or Linda linda@crwrcm.org

Phil and Christa (Jen) Grabowski joined the Malawi Team in September 2003 as Program Hope! Interns. During their two and a half year internship, they worked closely with Nkhoma Relief and Development’s field workers in rural communities along Lake Malawi. They assisted Nkhoma Relief and Development to organize and facilitate community planning events using Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and Appreciative Inquiry (AI). They also assisted NRD to improve reporting systems and introduce new projects and trainings on composting latrines, natural medicine, and other health and agriculture-related topics.

In December 2005, Phil and Christa began work as Malawi/Mozambique Program Consultants. They are sharing one position, with Phil working 80% and Christa 20%. They are responsible for consulting Nkhoma Relief and Development in Malawi and an extensive HIV/AIDS prevention program with the Reformed Church in Mozambique.

Phil and Christa are from Grand Rapids and Portage, Michigan and have degrees from Michigan State University in Botany with a focus on Environmental Biology. Christa is currently studying her Masters of Science in International Development by correspondence with Tulane University.

Email:  pgrabowski@crwrcm.org, cgrabowski@crwrcm.org

Read Staff Newsletters from Mozambique

Take time to read a staff newsletter - direct from the field!

Grabowski April 2007. pdf
Grabowski February 2007.pdf 
Mcauley November 2006.pdf