Location

The nearly 4 million Lomwe People are found in Mozambique and in Malawi, in the southeastern part of Africa. In Malawi, they are located primarily in the southeastern section, with the largest concentration being in Phalombe District. In Mozambique, the Lomwe people and other closely related language groups occupy most of Zambezia Province.

History

The Lomwe People originated in Mozambique, but these days their numbers are almost evenly divided between Mozambique and Malawi. Migration of large numbers of Lomwe into Malawi had already begun before missionaries, white traders, and colonials arrived in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Tribal wars in Mozambique in the 1930's, coupled with the possibility of finding seasonal work in the flourishing tea industry, prompted another large influx into Malawi. A last contributor to Lomwe migration into Malawi was Mozambique's long civil war.

Identity

The Lomwe are Bantu people of the Negroid race, as are most of the people of southeastern Africa. Traditionally Lomwe women made distinctive scarification marks on their cheeks as a beautification ritual. However, younger generations are unlikely to engage in this ritual, except in very remote villages. The Lomwe are a rural people with only 5-10% living in urban areas. They are primarily subsistence farmers. Many of them love to hunt, though wild game is scarce due to high population density.

Politics

Mozambique's muddy political history has not greatly influenced the rural dwelling people, except to really scatter the people group over the area and into Malawi. Neither Portuguese culture nor Marxist teaching were seriously embraced by these people, though the Marxist influence among Mozambique Lomwe was in many respects similar to the influence of the 30 year rule of so-called "benevolent dictator" Dr. Kamuzu Banda on the Malawi Lomwe.

Language

The Lomwe language was first written down by Portuguese colonials, and therefore uses the Roman alphabet. Lomwe people in Mozambique speak Elomwe as their heart language, and the areas of Gurue and Alto Molocue are considered to have the purest form of the language. In Malawi, the situation is somewhat different. Although the Lomwe in Malawi continue to keep their traditions, the Lomwe language is used less and less; in general, only the elderly would consider (Chi)Lomwe to be their heart language. Most Malawi Lomwe speak Chichewa, which was made one of two national educational languages in Malawi in 1968.

Customs

Lomwe society is structured around work and play. The men build the houses, the barriers to protect their gardens, and grain bins to store maize even though women are just as likely to be seen tending the garden as the men. Men also make grass or reed mats for sleeping, or for drying produce. Women are generally thought of as more industrious than the men. They garden, cook, care for the children, haul water daily (sometimes over several kilometers), and often run small businesses from their homes selling chicken eggs, soap, matches, or other inexpensive items. Young girls begin helping their mothers by carrying younger siblings on their backs as soon as their first permanent tooth erupts. Lomwe often work with their friends and neighbors to cultivate their fields, build houses, etc. Lomwe children go through a series of initiation ceremonies that teach them about increasing responsibilities and prepare them for full adult privileges in their home village. The children have developed numerous games, and are quite expert at forming balls from discarded bits of plastic.

Religion

The religious leanings of the Lomwe vary greatly with the degree of penetration of Christianity. Islam has had very little influence on this people group. In general, the Lomwe are animists who still worship and fear ancestral spirits. Most would consider themselves Christian because of 500 years of exposure to Roman Catholicism due to Portuguese colonialization; however, the traditions of the ancestors still greatly influence their lives.

Christianity

As previously mentioned, the Roman Catholic church has had the longest influence on the Lomwe People Group. Because so many of the Lomwe who came into Malawi from Mozambique in the 1930's were Roman Catholic, the Catholic Church in southeastern Malawi was sometimes called the "Lomwe Church." The Universities Mission to Central Africa began work at Magomera in southern Malawi in 1861. As the Lomwe are one of three major ethic groups in that area, they were among the first to receive a Christian witness in Malawi. In Mozambique, there has also been a greater than 100 year history of evangelism in some Lomwe areas due to the efforts of the Baptist Union of South Africa. The Baptist Union has had a strong influence in areas surrounding their churches.Lomwe people are extremely responsive to the gospel, but surveys reveal that although they consider themselves Christian, very few have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. And although Christianity has been available in some areas for several generations, the Lomwe People tend to think that evangelism is the work of the pastor, priest or missionary; very few actively share their faith.

Churches

Church buildings in Lomweland do not look much like American church buildings! Believers in Lomweland may meet in homes, under trees, in a "pole-barn" (a structure with a roof but no walls), in a rented school, or in a mud brick building with a grass roof. Of the few hundred churches, maybe a dozen have buildings with metal roofing. The International Mission Board does not fund construction of church buildings or purchase of metal roofs, so the buildings are indigenous, and the style is reproducible without outside assistance. The members of these indigenous churches are learning to be less concerned with outward appearances and more focused on spiritual growth.

Food Aid

Though the International Mission Board is not a relief agency, there are times when the missionaries must intervene. One such time was the famine of 2005-2006. The 2005 rainy season, which usually would extend through May, ended abruptly the first week of February. Most of the crops in Lomweland were dried up before harvest; this was particularly frustrating as many parts of the area are accustomed to getting two crops in before the rains end. Thanks to the generosity of US supporters, giving through the World Hunger Fund, your Southern Baptist Lomwe missionaries were able to feed over 5000 families enough food to last two months.