Diocese of Niassa logo

In the Province of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa
(Archbishop Thabo Makgoba)

Bishop of Niassa

The Rt. Reverend Mark Van Koevering

Mark and Helen Vankoevering

Bishop’s and Diocesan Office
C. P 264, Lichinga, Niassa, Moçambique
Tel/Fax: 00258 71 20735 or 20336
diocese.niassa@gmail.com

ALMA Link Officer:Revd Helen Van Koevering

MU President & Bishop’s Chaplain: Revd Helen Van Koevering

Head of Mission: Rebecca Vander Meulen

Bishop’s Commissary in the UK:
Revd Patrick Coleman, 01495 212 246

Map of Niassa Diocese

Some key facts about the diocese:

The diocese was founded in 1980.
(Before that it was part of Lebombo and before that part of Nyasaland)
It covers the four civil provinces north of the River Zambezi.
Bishop Mark Van Koevering was ordained Bishop in September 2003.
The cathedral church is St Bartholomew's at Messumba on the Lakeshore. In 2007, rebuilding work started on the cathedral. (October 2007 Progress Report).

About Bishop Mark:

Mark Van Koevering is an American who studied agriculture and theology at university, working first in China and then as an agriculturist with DanChurchAid in Niassa. There he met and married Helen, who was working with Save the Children on reuniting war orphans with their families. He became an Anglican and was a diocesan development officer when he felt called to the ministry. He trained in Wales and was working under Rowan Williams in Newport when the people of Niassa elected him as their Bishop. His wife Helen was ordained shortly before leaving Wales in 2003 and is now Mark’s chaplain, the first woman priest ever seen in Mozambique.

From September 2003 to April 2011 the Van Koeverings’ ministry in Niassa was supported through USPG. Since April 2011 a new Trust Fund has been set up: ‘The Van Koevering Trust Fund’. Revd Patrick Coleman Vicar of Abertillery, Diocese of Newport, who is also Bishop Mark’s Commissary in the UK, is the Chair of the Trustees and Revd Chris Swift from Shepperton, London Diocese is the Vice Chair. The new Trust is trying to secure the funding to enable the Van Koeverings to complete the final five years of their ministry in Niassa. Please look at the Trust’s leaflet for further information. All donations, regular or one off, gift aided if possible, are really welcomed. The equivalent of 500 people giving £5 a month for five years would provide the resources to enable this dynamic and inspirational ministry to be completed. Download the Trust's leaflet ( 701Kb)

Padre John Massano with Matias Ncailila

Rebecca Vander Meulen, from Michigan USA