Donate

Timeline

  1. Home
  2.   / About
  3.   / Timeline
History of Equip Mozambique

History of Equip Mozambique

Where we have been, where we are going

2014

new beginnings
Jon and Carla Reinagel had previously served as missionaries in Mozambique from 2008-2011, and after a few years in the States they heard God calling them to return. They formed a team of intercessors and helpers, registered the 501(c)3 nonprofit and developed a board of directors, recruited one other missionary, Janie Smith, to join their effort, and arrived in Beira, Mozambique in November of 2014. Their kids were 4 and 2 at the time.
2014
20150929844

2015

Restoring Hope to widows
Carla met Nora Binda, a Mozambican woman with a heart to help the widows in her community, and together they started the Restoring Hope sewing school.

It began with 3 ancient borrowed sewing machines, with Carla passing on her hobby of sewing to the first 7 women whom Nora found and wanted to help. Pictured here with one of the first students.

2016

Audio Bibles Launched
Jon started training some young Mozambicans in media and computer skills, which set the stage for our eventual tech team.

We noticed a huge need for the Word of God to be available in people's heart languages, in a relevant format, and with readily accessible means. We formed several new partnerships with other Bible translation and recording organizations and launched the first version of the Fountain of Life audio Bible app.
3f0623cc-48f9-45a3-9fdf-d4c46638121c
2017-cropped

2017

Explosive growth
We started 2017 with 5 full-time employees, and we finished it with 18! The sewing school grew from 7 students to 48, the Fountain of Life app was launched in 17 new countries, and we started a new Christian library, called Biblioteca Beireano with a donation of 770 Portuguese books. We had to move our operations out of our tiny apartment and into a large office building. The Reinagel family also grew, as their third child was born in Mozambique in September.

2018

Greater depth and breadth
In 2018 every department grew deeper and wider, with more sewing school students, more app projects, and more books and patrons at the library. We also helped start a new Christian elementary school called Beira United.

This year we started developing the Conslutare health app.
Screenshot 2022-03-23 112752
IDAI Aftermath - A view of the destroyed neighbouhood of Praia N

2019

help in the midst of disaster
March of 2019 brought the world's deadliest natural disaster of the year to our region, as the eye of the cyclone/hurricane Idai passed right over our city of Beira. Over 1,200 people died in the storm and the floods, and we spent much of the year helping people recover and rebuild from the ruins. The event shaped many of our future projects as we learned about some deeper infrastructure problems that led to the storm's widespread destruction.

2020

Solutions in the struggles
Like the rest of the world, we also felt the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, but it was an opportunity for our team to find creative ways to create solutions in the midst of all the challenges. We launched the Consultare health app, the sewing school made over 20,000 masks, and two members of the Tech Team created a helpful app that allowed churches to reopen and comply with government regulations.
MaskSewing
269839961_6596865963716697_5580199517739118185_n

2021

Leadership Growth
The Reinagel family left in February for what was supposed to be a short visit to the States, but ended up stuck for the entire year with visa problems due to the continued pandemic. In the meantime, the Mozambican leadership team grew significantly in confidence, capacity, and initiative as they led the team through the year.

2022

New Beginnings
This year saw some internal upheaval in Equip Mozambique, but these growing pains led to greater fruit in the long run. This year we hired our new national director, Eugenio Makuyana, and saw the ministry grow and expand in exciting new ways. This was the first year of our Innovation Center efforts to bring Kingdom empowerment to the entrepreneurship sphere, which has been life-changing for many people.

2023

New building, new opportunities
In April we moved to a new office building that is strategically located in a busy neighborhood close to several schools. The library exploded in popularity in our new community, with hundreds of kids, teens, and adults making a regular habit of coming to read, study, learn, and grow. The other departments also saw much growth this year, with a sewing school graduation in February and considerable expansion with our law and rights campaign, Juris, and the agri-tech solution, FAMS.

2024

Celebrating a decade of impact
This year we celebrated 10 years of Equip Mozambique! Many local and international partners and visitors came to commemorate this milestone with us. Each of the departments continued to see substantial growth this year, and we laid the groundwork for going international with the founding of Equip Zimbabwe in the country next door.