This church goes back to 1876 when Presbyterian missionaries from Scotland came from Malawi to explore the region of Lake Nyama in Mozambique. Missionary efforts were initiated by Christians who had been converted in Malawi (1885). In 1910 a Scottish missionary, James Reid, accompanied by an African elder, Luis Mataka Bandawe, started working for spiritual revival in the Zambesi region. In 1912 a mission station was opened in Alto Molocue, 200 km southeast from Nampula. In 1913 they officially founded the Scottish Presbyterian Church, later called the Evangelical Mission of Nauela, and today known as the Evangelical Church of Christ in Mozambique. In the 1930s Pastor John C. Procter translated the Psalms and the NT into Lomwe. The Scottish missionaries discontinued their work in 1933, and one year later the work was transferred to the Church of the Brethren, who, only five years later, handed it over to the South African General Mission. The Portuguese government closed the mission in 1959, charging that it was responsible for an incident of religious folly. A troubled period followed. For several years the church had to rely on its own resources. In 1969, through an interdenominational initiative, Pastor Felix Cossa was made available to the congregation of Nampula. Today some of the congr are part of the Bapt church, others have remained faithful to their origins. Now the church is witnessing in the Zamb?zia and Nampula provinces as well as in Maputo. Headquarters are in Nampula.
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