Successful first year comes to a close in Mozambique

1.0 Introduction

Our first year is coming to a close and we are more than grateful for the mercies we continue to enjoy in God’s hands. We celebrate the milestone of being in existence here in Mozambique and a host of other achievements we have witnessed in us, our partners and the church at large. In this report we discuss the progress we have registered in our academic pursuits to date, the visit by Donnie Estep from Bear Valley Bible Institute in the States, the projects progress at the school, the efforts in the registration process, the loss of the Ruracas and other arisings.

2.0 The curriculum progress

The recent courses that were taught were the New Testament Church, Public Speaking and Life of Christ II. There is so much development in the students with a few who may need special assistance. The New Testament Church was taught in September at a time when we had the recent weekend outreach in Machipanda. So much energy and eagerness could be witnessed as they went about doing door to door preaching. The confidence in Public Speaking was evident in different deliveries we witnessed. We had one of our students preach in our chapel session in the presence of Donnie Estep and it was, according to him, ‘fantastic’. We continue to pray for this development in these vessels in God’s kingdom. 

Donnie Estep taught on the Redemption Scheme. He had the class on two consecutive days to cover as much content as he could. Owen Marange took over from him to complete the outstanding material and the class is yet to sit for their final exam for the course. The next courses will be Personal Work I and Homiletics I which shall be done in the months of November and December.  

3.0 Our Visitor from The States

We received Donnie Estep as our visitor from the USA. He was accompanied by Ishmael Mutichu from BVBI in Gweru. Donnie Estep is part of the staff at Bear Valley Bible Institute in America and is our coordinator in Southern Africa. We were more than excited to have him visit us for the first time. We received him on the 16th of October 2025. He had an opportunity to meet with our Patron and long time serving preacher Dr. Campion Mugweni. Doctor Mugweni has been very generous to us in many areas in our work in Mozambique. He hosted our visitors at his place on the sixteenth. Donnie had an opportunity to teach at Dr. Mugweni’s secular college where he taught over 450 students. Donnie delivered a lesson and had moments with the teaching staff. Later we had a tour to some of the Eastern Province beauties. At dusk we headed to the Forbes boarder post for Mozambique. As usual we had some challenges at the Mozambican side which delayed us. However, we thank God, we managed to pass through and arrived at the facilities we were to lodge a little late. 

On the 18th of October, Donnie met our first and current intake which had 13 students altogether. On the following day we went to worship with the brethren in Manica at the Vumba congregation. Donnie preached and there was a common meal after the service. He had his class in the afternoon with Owen Ruraca and his wife as his translators. Donnie and Ishmael left on the 20th for Harare and flew back to America on the 22nd of October. We thank God for a safe stay in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. We look forward to his future visit with a lengthy stay in Mozambique if God permits.  

4.0 The Projects At The School

Our vegetable garden was badly affected by lack of water. The two unprotected wells that we had relied on since the end of the rainy season had dried out. The water from the tape is a rare feature. The cabbages wilted as well as the covo plant and we are hoping that there will be a plan for us to have a stable water source in future. We currently have the Black Astrolop freelance birds in the fowl-run. These were hatched from our incubator and we are confident that our incubator is efficient and may need just a few items to increase its efficiency. There were 53 chicks from two crates. We currently have fifty of them after loosing three from snake bites. We fixed the problem of the snake. Their growth pace is commendable and we are yet to establish how many are cocks and how many are hens. We are giving them supplements while they have time to scout for their own food on the compound. As they grow up we will fix nests for laying their eggs. This we will do in due course.     

5.0 The Progress In The Registration

We pulled down our banner lately for some reasons. We had a tip off from one of our students that we are likely to have law enforcement officials visit us to enquire on the issue of registration. Immediately, we started the process of registration. The school had to translate the constitution into Portuguese. The director’s CV, copy of his passport, ID and some other documents were also required. The school was asked to get several documents from different local leaders. These documents were obtained at a fee. To date we have submitted our file to the district offices and have paid the fine for having started our operation before this process. We are grateful for the assistance we occasionally received from Dr Mugweni during the process. We also want thank the Bear Valley Bible Institute through Donnie Estep for assisting us in the process as well. We are currently waiting for the papers from the Provincial offices. We will prepare a function for the handing over of the certificate. This again will be our expense. Different state departments will have their representatives invited to witness the handing over of the certificate.   

6.0 The Loss of The Ruracas’ Daughter

On 28 October 2025, the Ruraca family had a dark cloud hovering over them after their eldest daughter Linda passed away. Owen Ruraca and his wife Eunice are part of the IBBVM staff. Linda was 25 at her time of death. She is said to have consumed a poison and her reasons are not yet clear. The school staff and students together with other preachers and Christians from Zimbabwe and Mozambique joined the family at the funeral. The burial took place on Wednesday the 29th of October. The school wants to thank the Bear Valley Bible Institute through Donnie Estep for the assistance they gave to the family to cover the funeral expenses. The Ruraca family also lost a niece and her husband in a fatal accident that claimed several other lives as well. The newlyweds were on their way to the funeral when they met their untimely death in a car accident. The week became one of the most devastating weeks of their lives. The couple was buried on Friday the 30th of October. We continue to comfort and pray for the Ruraca family as they grieve the loss of their daughter and relatives. 

7.0 The Graduation

Celebration, celebrations. Owen Tirivaviri Marange the director of the IBBVM graduated on the 31st of October 2025. He graduated with a Master of Science in Peace, Leadership and Governance with the Zimbabwe Open University. The graduation took place in Harare where over two thousands received their certificates in various disciplines. We are joining him and family in the celebration of this achievement. We pray that he may continue to be of use in the kingdom of Christ.   

Conclusion

The curriculum is progressing well with tangible results in their wake. Because of that we are grateful. Donnie Estep visited us in the month of October for the first time. Both the students and staff were very happy with him around us. He managed to teach the course, The Scheme of Redemption for +/-12 hours. We look forward to his next visit. We currently have the Black Astrolop freelance birds in our fowl run. They are doing well despite challenges here and there. We are currently in the process of registering the school and the process is at an advanced stage. It is with heavy hearts that we also report the untimely death of Owen Ruraca’s daughter. We continue to pray for the family as they grieve their daughter and loved ones who perished in a car accident on their way to the funeral. Owen Marange recently graduated with a Master of Science in Peace, Leadership and Governance with The Zimbabwe Open University.

Student growth in Mozambique

Introduction

The Lord has been taking care of us to date in the face of a mixed package of events in the unfolding history of the institution. Our courses are progressing slowly with the eighth course almost complete. We have had sad news of the deaths of two preachers and two preachers’ wives in Zimbabwe in the months of July and August. This has been so trying to the preachers’ fraternity. There has been exciting news from different congregations on the progress of our students. The churches in Zimbabwe had a series of  lectureships and gospel meetings in the month of August. We are looking forward to the resuscitation of the work in Machipanda in the month of September. We have abandoned the raising of broilers due to the increased cost of production and are now moving to our hatchery plans. There is currently a cabbage crop in our garden alongside the covo vegetables. Your school now  has a patron for governance purposes. All the above items are covered in this report.

Curriculum progress

Three of our recent courses have been Life Of Christ, The Old Testament Law and The New Testament Church which is coming to completion soon. Our students have been doing well in many of these courses with a few who need to be assisted here and there. In the process of our learning you cannot avoid the obvious excitement that is evident in our students as they discover so many new things in their journey of faith. The eagerness in them is encouraging and keeps our energy high. We pray that it may continue to the end of the course.   

Student Preachers’ Progress

We are excited to note that the student preachers have been engaged in different congregational activities in different congregations. We continue to encourage these congregations to involve them in worship, hospital and sick visits, funerals and other activities. To date their performance has been awesome. The preacher in Messika has given very good reports on sermon delivery and Bible classes by the IBBVM students. Both the women and men have been doing so well according to their activity forms to date and we are excited with the reports that we have been receiving. We pray that God may continue to do wonders with his vessels.

Mozambique school has big plans

1.0 Introduction

The true shape of the school is slowly showing its face. This comes with surprises and a lot of discoveries at its wake. We pray to God for courage in facing some truths of the progress of the work. There are five courses that have been done to completion to date and the sixth one is in progress. In the process of learning, there are also many other happenings that go along with curriculum progress. The curriculum progress, the projects update, the students activities, meet our students and staff are the items in this report.

2.0 Curriculum Progress

We are excited to let you know that there are five courses that have been done to completion to date. These are Introduction to the New Testament, Introduction to The Old Testament, Communication Skills, How We Got The Bible and Life of Christ. The tutors were Owen S Ruraca, Theophilus Tanhera, Owen T Marange and Tatenda Tizora respectively. There was so much fun as these were in progress while a lot of patience was required in the pitching as the group has different educational levels. The next course will be Public Speaking. All the six courses are introductory courses that introduce the Bible student to basic knowledge of the journey into the study of Theology and Ministry.

The overall grade in each course is attained after some course work which includes assignments, midterm tests and final exams. These were done by all those who will be proceeding to the next set of courses. The grading system is American. The pass mark is 70% and above.

3.0 Projects Update

3.1 The Vegetable Garden

During the rains in January, we started a covo vegetable garden. We want to make this a cash project since the vegetable is on demand in the area. After the baseline survey it was resolved that we start this project. The vegetable is now ready for harvesting and selling. We are also yet to add chicken manure which is within our reach. Small areas have been affected by too much water since the larger part of the land is a wetland. We have plans to put tomatoes and other vegetables on these spaces that are left as the water levels go down.

The vegetable garden will also assist with offering some vegetables for the student lunch meals which is one of the urgent needs that we have. We hope to utilize all the space we have.

3.2 The Incubator

With the help of Pact Missionaries we are now in possession of a 1500 eggs incubator. We thank God that we now have it with us from Zimbabwe. We are very grateful to have received this important gift that will go a long way towards our vision of self sustenance. Hatchery business is capable of growing into a giant project given the scarcity of broiler chicks on the market. Yet, our current focus is on other freelance varieties of birds. The school will start with a few birds as parent stock that will produce the eggs to be hatched in the incubator. In the process, our Projects director will work on our possible markets. The project director has produced a business plan which we will share with various stakeholders and interested partners who will be interested in the project.

3.3 The Broiler Project

Since the hatchery project may take a longer time to realize meaningful profit, the school has decided to do the broiler project to develop capital and support to the hatchery project. There was an abandoned pen at the compound which needed a few renovation touches. We have worked on it. This pen can house as many as 200 birds. We started with 50 birds which were sold at an equivalent value of US$4. We are taking another lot. In this second batch we will take another 50 birds because we had so many expenses that we incurred in the renovations of the pen.

 4.0 Students Activities

The school designed an activity form for the students to record their participation in church activities. So many activities have been recorded and the students are excited in their studies and experiences. The school has been communicating with Tim Brumfield on his work in the WBS. To date we have one of our student Elidio Lucas Selemane from Manica doing follow ups of WBS students in Manica town. Of the two follow ups one has been baptised by our student and is now meeting with the church in Manica. Some of our students have been involved in visiting the sick, presiding on the Lords's super, singing, preaching and teaching various classes. Besides these, the school has chapel sessions every day in which the students and staff participate offering the students another learning platform as well.  

The church in Messika hosted a gardening workshop that was done by Healing Hands International for two days (29 and 30 May 2025). Our students and their wives were part of this workshop. We hope we will have more of these together with our school projects to provide a learning platform in developing in self-sustaining projects.

5.0 Meet Our Students  

5.1 Lewai Gande Julio and Chipo Requireai

Lewai Gande Julio was born on 25 June 1990 in Vanduzi where he comes from. Lewai graduated as an English teacher from the Chibata Teacher Training Institute in 2011. In 2019 he graduated from the Pedagogical University in the English language with another qualification in Shona. He is the Headmaster at 12 de Outubro Primary School since 2022. He also serves as head of post and head of major events in the Frelimo party in the Manica district. He was married to Chipo Requerai in 2012 and the two are blessed with 4 children.

Chipo Requireai studied at Chinhamapere Secondary School and finished with her tenth grade in 2015. She was born in Manica where she hails from. The couple stays in Messika where they also worship. Lewai was baptised by Owen on the tenth of June in 2010. Chipo was baptized by Owen in September 2012 at Messica where she has since been an active member. The couple are both students in our first intake.

5.2 Elidio Lucas Selemane

Elido Lucas Selemane was born on the 17 of April 1985 in the district of Gurue in the province of Zambezia in Mozambique. He was born from a religious family of the Church of Christ. He was brought up by his grandfather in Gurue and later moved to Chimoio. In Chimoio he went to stay with his uncle Jose Paputiano. For four years he went to Guro district from Chimoio. He later moved to Manica town in 2010 and became part of the Church in Manica. It had been his dream to pursue pastoral studies. With basic English proficiency he could have crossed the border to pursue these in Mutare which had the closest Bible school. However, for many years it was buried. Rays of light toward his vision came when he rubbed shoulders with the Ruracas who were preaching in Messika. The reality of his dream showed up on the fourth of January 2025 when he found himself among the Instituto Biblico Bear Valley pioneers. Elidio is a self-motivated man with an excellent integrity. He is hardworking and punctual in his work. He is not yet married. To date he has exhibited a level of performance and ability above average. We have such a promising preacher in him.  

6.0 Get To Know Your Staff  

Owen and Eunice

Owen Simone Ruraca is a Mozambican national. He is married to Eunice Chikukwa. The couple is blessed with four girls. The couple are graduates of MSOP of 2005. The couple are the only trained preachers in the Manica Province to date. They have been working with the Church in Messika for 19 years and have been very active in the work of the Lord. Owen is working on his Bachelor’s Degree in Biblical studies. Owen is serving as a teacher and Director of evangelism activities. Owen stands tall in his communities and we think ourselves very fortunate to have him as part of our team. He has been struggling with cancer but has not stopped giving his service to God even beyond his strength. Eunice is helping us with handling our paperwork and keeping records. She does an excellent job.

7.0 We need prayers

We are asking for prayers from you brethren. Owen Ruraca’s health has been on and off. He has recently changed his cancer treatment and was down most of his time. He might undergo another operation in the near future and we are soliciting your prayers.

One of our student from Manica, Alberto Zecharias has not been feeling well also. We were told at the beginning that it was cerebral malaria but it later proved to be something else different. He was later taken to his rural home and has been slowly improving. We hope he will be back earlier to continue with his studies. He has a good reputation of being punctual, hardworking and consistent. We have missed him too long and kindly request for your prayers.  

Conclusion

The school is progressing with its curriculum with other activities which include income generating projects like the vegetable garden, the broiler poultry project and the yet to roll hatchery project. Our students have been active in different church activities that include preaching, teaching, song leading, visitations and others. We are very grateful of the partnerships that we have so far and look forward to many of these. The school needs prayers for our ill student  Alberto and tutor Owen Ruraca who has been struggling with gist cancer for over seven years now and awaits another possible operation.  

New School in Mozambique Celebrates a Successful Beginning

Introduction

Instituto Biblico Bear Valley Mozambique is a new school in Chimoio Mozambique in Southern Africa. Excitement has been part of us with the mere idea of having a school in this part of Africa. We give glory to God for the efforts and collective input with the likes of Keith Kasarjian, Mathew Muchingami, Theophilus Tanhera, Owen Tirivaviri Marange and many others. Eventually Mozambique has first of its kind a Bible School. The new school is located in Chimoio in the Manica Province of Mozambique. It is an extended school model that has weekend classes. The staff complement is currently five.

The school has since been in progress since the fourth of January 2025 with nineteen students. To date they have done and finished two courses with one in progress. We welcome new relations to date with possible others to come.   

1.0 Mozambique

Mozambique is an underdeveloped third world country on the Indian Ocean coast in the east of the Southern African region. It stretches from the southern part of Tanzania and borders with the southern part of Malawi and southeast of Zambia, the Eastern part of Zimbabwe and also borders with South Africa and Kingdom of Eswatini on its south. The country has ten provinces with a total population of 33 million people. It is one of the two Portuguese speaking countries in Southern Africa. The other one being Angola. These two countries were former colonies of Portugal. All the other countries that it borders with are English speaking, making it an Island in the Southern region. While all of the countries that it borders with have several native languages they use, Mozambique’s many vernacular languages were destroyed by the Portuguese colonial system. Even some that its populations shared with other bordering tribes making it truly an Island.

Both Portuguese colonies attained their independence from the Portuguese colonial rule in the mid-seventies. However, the liberation movements that took over leadership in both former Portuguese colonies enjoyed less than a decade of peace in their countries. These countries were soon torn into pieces by civil strife that haunted them for two decades. These wars impoverished the big part of the populations and ripped important institutions like the schools to the ground. To date both countries have very low literacy rates as a result of these wars. Their health institutions standards are low and need a lot to be desired. The infrastructure needs a lot of attention just like many other African countries. Sanitation is at its worst as the nation failed to recover from the Portuguese sabotage after the liberation war.

The conditions and state above made Mozambique really a solitary child. The church has been there for a while but lacks the vibrant spirit and growth. A good example is the Province of Manica which borders with Manicaland in Zimbabwe with the highest number of churches. Its first recorded church was established by Campion Mugweni of Zimbabwe with his team in 1989. Yet, for over three decades there are only five congregations in a Province with a population of around 9million. Trained preachers who are serving do not go beyond ten in the whole country. The Manica Province in particular has two known preachers from Mutare School of Preaching in Zimbabwe and only one of them is still faithful and serving.

History has it that attempts have been made by different groups to start preacher training schools but none of these attempts left traces of their existence. One is said to have been built in Maputo but thought to have been sold with a circulating story that the rebels grabbed it during the civil war. There are also other groups that have made other attempts but have no traces of ever having trained preachers. We hope there will be future breakthrough with others.

We have every reason to say thank you YHWH the Most High God for this breakthrough. In the same vein we continue to ask for prayers from the brethren that we may complete what has been started in us by God. This tender shoot starts at a harsh period with other trying conditions such as the recent post-election violence that rocked other parts of the country and destroyed many lives.

The Intake

Another excitement proceeds from the size of intake we started with. We had 19 students to start with in the school. Seventeen of these are men while two are females and wives to two of the male students. Our students are from Manica town, Messica, and Chimoio. Messica has the highest number of students. Many of the student commute coming to school. Many of them are employed in different government departments that include education, health, and other departments. Two are heads in circular schools. Three are teachers and another is an administrative clerk in school and a nurse. The others are employed and self-employed in different sectors.  Many of them that are married have been coming with their wives to classes and the school has been planning their separate lessons in the near future.

The Staff

The current staff complement stands at five with the Director – Owen Tirivaviri Marange and three part-time lecturers; Theophilus Tanhera, Owen Simone Ruraca and Tatenda Tizora and Mrs Ruraca who is handling some other works and keeping our records. The three, Owen Tirivaviri Marange, Theophilus Tanhera and Tatenda Tizora are from Zimbabwe. Owen Simone Ruraca and Eunice his wife are preachers in Messica in Mozambique. All of the staff are graduates from Mutare School of Preaching in Mutare, Zimbabwe. Owen Tirivaviri Marange is finishing on his Master of Science in Peace Leadership and Governance with Zimbabwe Open University. He is also a preacher at Hillview Church of Christ in Mutare Zimbabwe. Theophilus Tanhera is yet to embark of his Doctorate in New Testament studies with a University in South Africa. He is a deacon at Hillside Church of Christ in Dangamvura, Mutare, Zimbabwe. Owen Simone Ruraca and Tatenda Tizora are pursuing their Honors in Biblical Studies.

The school in Progress

The school had its orientation on the fourth of January. We had a big turn up with other many potential students in the future. This event was also graced by elders from Manica congregation, leaders from Messica and others from Mutare in Zimbabwe. One of the figures present was an elder and preacher who is the founder of the work in the Manica Province of Mozambique – Campion Mugweni.

To date the students are on their third course on their curriculum. They all have been participating in different worship activities at their respective congregations, and we are yet to design forms they will use so that we can formalize the data.  

The school has also started a vegetable garden in the compound. This is a project which is meant to assist the school financially and create visibility within the community. According to the baseline survey by brother Tizora, the type of vegetable we started with is easy to maintain and on demand in the local communities. The students will be responsible for the maintenance of this garden. We look forward to introducing more projects that will teach life skills and a variety income generating activities. 

6.0 The Visitor from Bear Valley in Denver

We were happy having a visitor from Bear Valley Bible Institute in Denver. Keith Kasajian is Director of International Studies. We received him on the 28th of January at the Zimbabwean Robert Mugabe Airport. We travelled by road to Chimoio past Mutare. We want to thank the LORD for the safe passage mixed with challenges and learning experiences. We arrived at the school in Chimoio the same day at dusk. Keith met the staff and students with some other church members. The following day he had an opportunity to visit the MSOP campus and meet the staff and students there. In the afternoon of the 29th of January he was in Harare to meet Howard Suwari and Gideon Madyira who both Bear Valley staff members. Keith left for South Africa on the 30th.

7.0 Relations

We call upon different church-oriented organizations to come on board and be part of the efforts of producing preachers in Mozambique. To date we have the PACT missionaries as one of our new partners. The PACT missionaries have donated an incubator to the school. We celebrate this move and look forward to its use toward to the development of the school in many ways. Of significance in our needs is the move toward staff development which is our currently our priority number one on hierarchy of needs.

Conclusion

There is a lot of excitement on both the students and the staff at Instituto Biblico Bear Valley in Mozambique. The school started in January 2025 with an intake of 19 students and four teaching staff and one non-teaching staff. We were happy to receive Keith Karsajian in the month of January. PACT missionaries have joined hands with us by donating an incubator meant to generate additional income for other needs in the school.