Global Ministries and International Connections

West Angola Covenant

 
Bishop's Delegation Visits West Angola

A report and reflection
from the
Africa Planning Committee

 

It has been a time of new beginnings for the Africa Task Force. We have welcomed new members into the Task Force, and Rev. Abiot Moyo has agreed to be the new Chairperson, taking the role after Rev. Ed Grant has stepped down after so many years of faithful service. We thank Ed for his amazing leadership, and are pleased that he will remain as a member of the group.

In January 2008, Bishop Peter Weaver led a team of eight people who visited our sister conference, The West Angola Conference. The trip was not without challenges. Thank God for Dot Hollenbeck, the Administrative Assistant to the Bishop, who did not give up the fight when we were faced with visa problems and nearly had to cancel the trip.

After 21 hours in-flight and an overnight stop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Bishop Gaspar Domingos met us at the Luanda, Angola airport and whisked us through the customs in less than 30 minutes -- only to be delayed for over three hours at the baggage claim, waiting for our luggage! But we weren’t the only ones waiting. As we exited the airport, we were welcomed outside by a choir of both women and men, who had waited in the heat for more than three hours but greeted us joyfully with African songs and lively spirits.  It was a moving experience, one that words cannot describe. We felt like celebrities!

We were taken to the guesthouse adjacent to the Conference Center and the new Methodist University (Universidade Metodista de Angola). Bishop Domingos told us the guesthouse was built by the money donated from many of our American churches for the Hope for Children of Africa, and is used as a women’s training center and to host the United Methodist Volunteers In Mission (UMVIM).

Our time was one of relationship building, mutual learning, and sharing the Gospel and seeing the Word of God made flesh in our brothers and sisters and the work they are doing for Christ in this beautiful country. Although too numerous to count, some of the highlights include:

Meeting with the governor of Luanda, Job Capapinha, who told us about how the country was struggling, but rebuilding with hope, after coming out of a bitter civil war that destroyed the infrastructure. He stressed the key partnership between the church and the government in the rebuilding process.
 
Meeting with Mr. Mencia Donrosa, the President of the Council of Christian Churches in Luanda.  He shared with us how all the churches were working hard to educate the people about their voting rights and to pray for peace during the elections that will take place this September. Recognizing what is happening in Kenya and Zimbabwe, let us join our prayers that the election process in Angola will be met with peace and hope.
 
Touring the new Methodist University, which includes 8 floors of classrooms and facilities. An example of the partnerships being forged between government and the United Methodist church, the teachers’ salaries at the University are paid by the government.
 
A day of deep sharing with Bishop G. Domingos, conference workers, and many of the pastors at the conference office.  Pastors and program staff shared their moving stories about going without salaries for many months, lack of transport to visit their churches and parishioners, and children dropping out of school because they cannot pay tuitions. 

During the visit to the conference center, we were shown pictures of some of the churches and the projects that needed financial help, and in the days following we visited some of these places and projects, including:

  • Sao Paulo – formerly an orphanage during the war, now a school and social program teaching vocational subjects like cooking, design, and information technology to more than 520 students in two shifts.
  • Bom Jesus, which is translated to “Good Jesus”, where the church has built a clinic and pharmacy for the community. The clinic is ready for operation and only waiting for paperwork and clearance from the Ministry of Health. 
  • Caxito (pronounced Kashito).  We saw some projects and educational ministries at this church that needed help in the areas of carpentry, cooking, and sewing..
  • A fishing project at Barra Dande.  This is a wonderful project that is bringing together the community, the United Methodist Church, and the government.  

On our last Sunday in Angola, each one of us was assigned to preach or worship at a different church. Many new relationships were formed and the entire trip was rich and fruitful. More information on the trip and on the Angola Covenant will be coming in future issues of SpiritNET, as well as available online at www.neumc.org/angola.

This year, the Africa Task Force will be working on more ways to communicate with and involve local churches in mission and ministry with our West Angola Conference. We will be making some adjustments to the “Adopt a Pastor” program to reflect our learnings that it would be more effective for churches in our New England Conference to “adopt a church” and have communication and relationship between the two churches, rather than focusing on  a specific pastor. There are many other ways to connect with the work of the Task Force and the ways we are serving Christ and our brothers and sisters in Africa .  Please feel free to contact Rev. Abiot Moyo or any member of the Africa Task Force with any questions, comments, or ideas.

Blessings,

The Africa Planning Committee

 

Original Covenant

Read the New England Conference / West Angola Conference Covenant

 

Audio from the August 2000 visit to West Angola

Windows Media Audio

Listen to Music  Music recorded during our visit to Angola Displaced Persons Camp. 1:36

Listen to Music  Women singing processional at Monte Sinai church UMW meeting in Luanda, 4:17

Listen to Music  Choir at UMW gathering at Monte Sinai church UMW meeting in Luanda, 2:10