Hundreds of previously illiterate Mozambican adults are reading and writing after completing the first part of a four-level literacy program last week. Held in 22 churches built by Maranatha Volunteers International, a non-profit construction group run by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the program will provide the more than 400 graduates with the option to continue their education at high school levels when they complete the program.

Mozambique’s literacy rate is nearly 50 percent, with four out of five women and one out of three men unable to read. The literacy classes are taught by trained instructors, many who are also members of the local Adventist congregations.

At the graduation ceremony, Mozambique’s national director of education Antonio Muianga complimented the literacy efforts.

“When we signed the memorandum last year with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, we knew that they would do wonders,” Muianga said. “Today we are witnessing the potential of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and we will encourage other denominations to follow this example.”

The first lady of Mozambique, Maria da Luz Dai Guebuza, sent a statement to be read during the ceremony applauding the efforts.

“We want to thank the Seventh-day Adventist Church who, through Maranatha people, are contributing to the growth of our country by fighting against ignorance and poverty,” Guebuza said. “We will work together hand-in-hand in this program.”

In 2007 Miguel Simoque, director of education for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Mozambique, agreed to partner with the Mozambique Ministry of Education to offer literacy training programs in Seventh-day Adventist churches built by Maranatha.

The education initiative is sponsored in part by the Mozambique government and Hope for Humanity, a humanitarian ministry of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

For more information visit maranatha.org.