Eyewitness Testimonies of
Persecution and Atrocities

September 1986

Memories of Mozambique

Singing villagers welcoming us as we walked up the hill. Sick, thin and malnourished people rejoicing as they received Bibles and food. Long days of travelling, by motorbike, by dugout canoe and by foot through war-ravaged countryside. Days of walking past burnt out villages and burning crops, countless destroyed churches and unburied corpses.

Mozambique. Long worship services. Many hours of Bible teaching to Christians who had walked 30km, 50km, 100km and even 150km to hear the Word of God. Over 300 research interviews with survivors of Frelimo massacres. The joy of distributing over a thousand Lomwe, Chichewa and Portuguese Bibles to believers who had had all their Scriptures destroyed by the communists. Testimonies of Christians tortured, shot or hacked to death. Seeing the scars of bayonet and bullet wounds of many church leaders. Comforting the widows and orphans of Christians martyred for their faith. Sharing the sorrow of families whose sons or daughters had been forcibly taken away by Frelimo. Day after day of unrelenting tragedy and horror.

“Then the lamb broke open the fifth seal. I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been faithful in their wit nessing. They shouted in a loud voice, Almighty Lord, holy and true! How long will it be until you judge the people on earth and punish them for killing us?’ Each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to rest a little while longer.” Revelation 6:9-11

Researching the Facts

During July 1986, I undertook what I expected to be a routine Bible teaching, Bible distribution and evangelistic mission to Northern Mozambique. In fact it did involve the distribution of over a thousand Bibles and 16 church services (lasting up to 6 and 7 hours each). It also rapidly became a research trip as I encountered testimony after testimony of Frelimo atrocities and persecution of the Church.

I travelled many hundreds of kilometres by motorbike, landrover, dugout canoe and by foot, interviewing about 300 Mozambique tribesmen, including some 100 pastors and church leaders. Over 50 villages in nine different districts of Tete, Zambezia and Niassa provinces were surveyed. Only sworn eye-witness testimonies confirmed by other first-hand accounts of separately-interviewed witnesses were accepted as fact. The resulting report is a stunning indictment of Marxist third world dictatorships.

I have documented full details from these eye-witness survivors of over 42 villages being burnt to the ground, 74 churches being destroyed, over 60 cases of Bibles being burnt and 28 instances of Frelimo or Zimbabwean troops massacring whole villages. Every village surveyed also reported many of their people having been placed in Frelimo “re-education camps”, many of their youngsters, even girls, even as young as 12 years old, being forced into Frelimo’s (FPLM) army, countless instances of their crops being destroyed and clothing stolen— by the communist forces. The full report is available at R2,00 from Frontline Fellowship.

“Break the power of wicked and evil men; punish them for the wrong they have done until they do it no more.” Psalm 10:15

CHRISTIANS KILLED AND CRIPPLED, BIBLES BURNT

Testimony of a pastor and six members of MILANJI District, ZAMBEZIA Province, Mozambique:

“At the beginning of July 1986, Frelimo came during our church service and arrested everyone — all 134 of us. “Why are you praying?” they asked. “We never liberated Mozambique by prayer — but by guns.” They then took Brother Robinson, our choir leader, and slit his throat with a knife. Brother Manuel, our church secretary, they chopped up with a machete. He leaves a wife and three children. Brother Paul — they tied up with wire and beat him until his back was broken and both his arms also broken. He has six children and a wife to care for. He can only walk with great difficulty now. The Frelimo were very angry because we had children in the church. “You know that children may not be in church — we want all the children for Frelimo. Your old people can be Christians but the young must be Marxists.” All our possession — even our clothes and dishes — were stolen by Frelimo. Frelimo also took all our Bibles (16) and all our hymn books (8) and tore them up and burnt them by fire. So there are no more Bibles or hymn books in our village. We are not allowed to bury the bodies of our brethren who have been killed.”

ZIMBABWE TROOPS MASSACRE VILLAGES

Testimony of 32 members of CHEMBA District, ZAMBEZIA, Mozambique:

• “From 1975 to 1982, Frelimo persecuted the Church in our district very severely: ‘Anyone we find worshipping God is an enemy of the People.’ They would arrest or kill anyone who they found praying and preaching. ‘In this country there is no God except Samora Machel,’ they told us. During all these 8 years we had to meet secretly at night to worship. Then, in 1982, Renamo chased Frelimo away and for the first time we had freedom to preach the Gospel and gather for worship.
• In June 1984, Zimbabwean troops (parachuted) into KAPANGA Village from the sky and they destroyed the whole of Kapanga. They burnt down the three churches, burnt all the Bibles, battered babies to death in the streets, and machine-gunned over 300 defenceless villagers to death. They then planted landmines and (booby traps) in the fields and roads.
• Frelimo comes to our villages and ask: Why do Renamos like worshipping in church so much?’ and then they burn our churches and destroy our Bibles. Frelimo always burns down our crops and, since June 82 we have had no (livestock) animals because Frelimo came and took them all away. Many of our own boys and girls have been forced into Frelimos army (FPLM). Even those who they took away in 1976, we have never seen again. Now that Renamo is in control again we have schools and peace and freedom to worship. But we still have no clothes and little food.
• In June 1982, Frelimo burnt all the Bibles, the church and the whole village of KADO. In June 1984, jets came and bombed KADO, then (helicopters) came and Zimbabwean soldiers came out of them and killed over 100 people and destroyed the village.”

MINISTER KILLED

Testimony of a minister in NIASSA Province:

“In June 1986, an Apostolic Faith Mission minister was killed for preaching the Gospel. Frelimo told him: ‘You should obey us — forget about Christ.’ When the pastor answered: ‘I cannot forget about Him for He is the living Christ,’ the Frelimo said: ‘Then you must pray for we will certainly kill you.’ He knelt and prayed and was then shot by the communists.”

BURNT BIBLES AND STARVING PEOPLE

Testimony of an evangelist and six members of DOA District, ZAMBEZIA, Mozambique:

• “In June 1986, Frelimo burnt down the church in NYADANGA, burnt the Bibles, killed some people and burnt the whole village to the ground.
• In June 1986, Frelimo burnt the Bibles and the church at NKALI.
• In June 1986, Frelimo burnt Bibles and two churches (Roman Catholic and African Assemblies of God) in
  KOHMANGO.
• Many boys and girls, even 15-year- olds, have been forced into the FPLM (Frelimo’s army) and none of them have ever been seen again. All our food and (livestock) animals have been confiscated by Frelimo. All our clothes have been stolen by Frelimo and we have no Bibles left in our villages.”

CHRISTIANS MASSACRED

Testimony of a minister of MILANJI District of ZAMBEZIA Province, Mozambique:

“Early in July 1986, Frelimo killed 39 Christians who were singing as they walked to a church service. There was only one survivor of the group of 40.”

“The world will make you suffer. But be brave! I have defeated the world!” John 16:33

CHURCHES BURNT, VILLAGE MASSACRED

Testimony of a pastor and thirteen members of POSTOSHIRE District, ZAMBEZIA Province, Mozambique:

“On the night of 15th November 1985, Frelimo soldiers came and arrested me, asking: ‘Why are you preaching to the people about God?’ They bayoneted me in the head. They shot Joao, Mr Domingo, Brother Nasho, Sister Maria and Dorga. Then they burnt down the churches of Hebrew Christian Church, the Pentecostal Church of God and African Assemblies of God. The whole village was burnt and at least 70 people killed by Frelimo as the houses were burning and the people were running in fear. A baby was burnt to death in a hut during the shooting.”

“They left the bodies of your people for the vultures, the bodies of your servants for wild animals to eat. They shed your people’s blood like water; blood flowed like water. . . and no one was left to bury the dead.” Psalm 79:2,3

OUR ONLY HAPPINESS COMES FROM WORSHIPPING GOD

Testimony of a pastor, POSTOSHIRE District, ZAMBEZIA Province, Mozambique:

“We have much problems and persecution for our faith. It is the FPLM (Frelimo army) who has burnt many homes and shot many people. ‘Why are you praying?’ they ask us, and they shoot many people. There are many widows and orphans. There is much crying in Mozambique. We have no clothes and no food. People are wearing skins of trees and eating grass. Our only happiness comes from worshipping God. People come from far away, even 50km by foot, through the bush, to hear the Gospel preached. Because of Jesus’ name, the few pastors travel many kilometres to preach to the other villages who have no Bible teachers. Sometimes I have baptised 65 people in one day—such is the spiritual hunger of the people and the growth of the church these days. In February 1986, Frelimo started shooting into the church at ALUFASI village. The church was burnt and many killed. Pastor Basheku Masiyaya, whose wife had been paralysed by bullets before, had to run carrying his wife, and swim the Rua River with her to escape.”

“I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18

HUSBAND KILLED, VILLAGE BURNT

Testimony of a widow and her daughter, survivors of PANDOKANI Village, MUTARARA District, TETE Province, Mozambique:

“On 24th July 1986, Frelimo came into our village and stripped everyone — men, women and children — naked, took us down to the river and with pangas started to kill us. My daughter and I escaped by the river but my husband was killed, and so were Mr Nchawa, Mr Sandi, Mr Nthengu, Mr Waide, Mr Batista and many others. Frelimo then burnt the village down. We saw the huts burning from a distance. We then ran away to here, where the Christians gave us some clothes and food.”

“I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot after wards do anything worse. I will show you whom to fear: fear God, who after killing, has the authority to throw into hell. Believe me, He is the one you must fear!” Luke 12:4,5

Peter Hammond