Rev. Zelda Cossa of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mozambique at the Africa Pre-Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya in May 2023. Photo: LWF/ Albin Hillert
Voices from the Communion: amid ongoing violence, Rev. Zelda Cossa works to support communities displaced by big mining companies
(LWI) – A pioneer for women’s ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mozambique and a powerful advocate for peace and justice in the Southern African nation, which is still reeling from violence following last October’s contested elections.
As a young woman growing up in the church, Zelda Cossa discovered the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), receiving a scholarship to study in neighboring South Africa and working for the World Service program which operated in Maputo until 2018. Following her ordination in June 2017, she went to work in a rural part of the country where unmarried women like herself were not seen as a suitable choice for pastors of a congregation.
Since then, only one other woman has been ordained in her church, which numbers around 12.500 members in a country where Catholics and Pentecostals form the majority Christian communities. As well as serving in her congregation, Cossa works for the ecumenical Christian Council of Mozambique, coordinating a program to support communities displaced by big mining corporations that exploit the country’s rich natural resources.
Tell us something about your church background?
My family were half Catholics, half Presbyterian, but we joined the Lutheran church that was close to my grandmother’s house in Maputo. I remember the missionaries from Brazil who taught us as children in Sunday School using puppet shows which I really enjoyed. My mother, my brother and myself, we all became Lutherans. I am getting married in July and my husband has become a Lutheran as well.
As I grew older, I attended a lot of ecumenical meetings with young people and in 2005 I went to Brazil with the World Council of Churches. In the year 2000 I started working as a personal assistant in our church head office in Maputo, helping with the computers and other office tasks. I learnt about the LWF and took part in a communications training program for young adults. After that, I was assigned to work for LWF’s World Service program in Maputo, as well as continuing to do communications work for the church.
In 2010 you served as a steward for LWF’s Assembly in Stuttgart, didn’t you?
Yes, we started with a Pre-Assembly in Dresden and I remember it was amazing to be among so many other young people from all over the world. I was a member of the choir as well and I especially remember the holy communion bread that was freshly baked every day by some of the women there.
I was already an LWF scholarship holder at that time, studying for my theology degree in South Africa at the university of Kwazulu-Natal in Pietermaritzburg. In order to attend the Assembly, I had to sit an exam by myself so that I could travel to Germany in time.
Were you ordained after you finished your studies?
No, it was not easy for me because some of the pastors said I could not be ordained if I was not married. I protested, but they would not take me for my practical year which I needed to do before ordination. Instead, I went to Dubai where my auntie was working as a diplomat at the Mozambican embassy and I found a job as a travel advisor in a tourist company. I also found a Lutheran church there run by the Norwegian and Swedish seamen’s center. It was a small community, but it was wonderful to worship and feel connected to my church back home.
When I came back to Maputo, there was a new pastor from South Africa who enabled me to do my practical year and I was ordained in 2017, the year that all the Lutheran churches were celebrating 500 years of Reformation. It was only the second time that a woman had been ordained in my church, and I was first unmarried woman to become a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mozambique!
On paper, there is gender justice in the church, but in practice it is still very challenging.
Rev. Zelda COSSA, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mozambique
Was that a challenging time for you?
It was very hard because we live in a very patriarchal society. I was sent to serve a congregation in Lionde, near Chokwe in Gaza province, three to four hours north of Maputo. Some of the people there, including the women, did not want to accept a young, unmarried female pastor and I can say I had to be very courageous to continue with my ministry. On paper, there is gender justice in the church, but in practice it is still very challenging.
You are still serving that same congregation in Lionde, aren’t you?
Yes, I am still serving as a pastor there, but I am also working as a coordinator with the Christian Council of Mozambique which brings together 26 member churches. I work with communities that are affected by the mining companies and I try to bring people from our congregation to see what is happening to these communities.
Our country is very rich in charcoal, rubies, diamonds, gold and, up in the north where the war is going on, we have oil and gas too. Our task, together with other civil society organizations, is to follow up on what the mining companies promise to do for the communities that are displaced. This should include building houses, schools, hospitals, roads, and creating conditions for job opportunities.
Have you had much success in this work?
Yes, with some communities, but there is also a lot of corruption too. The mining companies give the government money to provide the infrastructure, but people don’t know about this. We try to get proof of transfers from the companies and then take this evidence to the government and ask what has been done to help the affected communities.
One of our success stories is in Tete province, where the Vale company was mining charcoal and they have moved people to other areas. We insisted that they needed to build schools and hospitals, marketplaces and roads so that people can get around to sell their produce.
How much is the ongoing political violence affecting your work?
In the north we have a war that has been going on for over eight years. In the rest of the country now we have the post-electoral violence which continues to kill and injure people, even small children who get hit by bullets. During the elections last October, I was an observer for the Christian Council of Mozambique and the All Africa Council of Churches. You could see so many people voting for the opposition party because they are tired and want something new for this country, but it was not a fair election.
The opposition party is exposing government corruption but after almost 50 years [the ruling party] Frelimo doesn’t want to leave power. There are protests in the streets, with shops and cars burnt, so people just stay at home. Last year, we didn’t celebrate Christmas in Mozambique because people were too scared to go out with police and roadblocks everywhere. No one went to church and people are really suffering. Everything is very expensive, so some people exchange a bit of rice, or a bit of sugar with their neighbors to try to make ends meet.
What does it mean for you and your work to be a part of the global communion of churches?
We were grateful that the LWF and the Lutheran Communion in Southern Africa (LUCSA) sent their solidarity and called for humanitarian aid when the violence broke out last year. I am also grateful for my LWF scholarship and for all the support and training I have received over the years, which has really opened doors in my life. We keep praying and meditating and we ask others to join us with the hope that peace will return to our country.
