Emmanuel Evangelical Wesleyan Bible College students John Mark and Bernacio holding a MegaVoice player.
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."
