2011 Annual Report
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February: Launch Lent Appeal ‘Training God’s people’ at Diocesan Study Day
May: Bishop Dinis visits Angola
July: ALMA Sunday celebration service with Bishop Dinis; Presentation first ALMA Twinning Covenants; St John’s Waterloo Festival ‘War and People’ featuring ‘Swords Into Ploughshares’
September: Archbishop Thabo visits Niassa Diocese for first time; Rebecca Vander Meulen presented with St Mellitus Medal for her work with Equipa da Vida
November: Special service to mark Bishop Donald Arden’s 50th Anniversary as Bishop (70 as priest), previously Archbishop of Central Africa and father of ALMA.
150th Anniversary of the arrival of Bishop Charles Mackenzie in Nyassaland
Two ALMA friends presented with MBEs: Revd Philippa Boardman, and Dr Peg Cumberland for her work in Mozambique
ALMA visits in all directions!
Three visitors to Angola: Bishop Dinis Sengulane, Revd Richard Fermer- to review the Mission and Ministry project, and John Tasker
Nine visitors to London from Mozambique: Revd Domingos Tole Chipuazo, Mrs Anna Baptista, Bishop Dinis Sengulane, Bishop Mark Van Koevering, Revd Helen Van Koevering (x2), Fr Germano Mandlate, Rebecca Vander Meulen, Dr Peg Cumberland and Mr Francisco Bila (Headteacher at Maciene School)
Four visitors from London to Niassa: Olyve Johnson, Claire Pinney, Revd Jenny Welsh from St Pancras and Sarah Leedham from A Rocha.
Sixteen visitors from London to Lebombo! Revd Stephen Coles, Christine Cox, Sandra Hall and Wesley Da Costa Arruda from St Thomas Finsbury Park and Revd John Seymour, two teaching colleagues and nine students from Twyford C of E High School who visited their link schools in Maciene
One visitor from America via Mozambique – ALMA Friend Roger LeCompte
See the list of visits in 2011 here.
There are now links with 40 parishes and seven schools in Angola and Mozambique involving over 55 London parishes and schools.
There are also 25 parishes / schools looking to twin!
It has been a joy to see some of the new twinning relationships develop and receive their twinning covenants on ALMA Sunday in St Paul’s Cathedral, and to see shared celebrations between well-established twinned parishes, such as Fr Germano from Beira, sharing St John’s Friern Barnet’s centenary.
Many link parishes have been involved in helping their partners’ church building projects and community ministry projects: there have been concerts, notably Canto da ALMA at St Mary’s Stoke Newington, lunches, cake raffles, and quiz nights to buy cement, roofing sheets and window frames and to build wells and priests’ houses. It is encouraging to see such tangible expressions of ‘being church together’.
The ALMA community met up several times in 2011: at meetings in February with Revd Helen Van Koevering and the two visitors from Chimoio; in May to hear about the ‘Rooted in Jesus’ training Programme; in July for ALMA Sunday and twice in October first with Fr Germano Mandlate and then with Rebecca Vander Meulen, Dr Peg Cumberland and Mr Franciso Bila.
ALMA has been invited to preach at: St Barnabas Northolt; St Mary the Virgin Primrose Hill; All Saints Isleworth; St Paul’s Bow Common; Holy Innocents Hammersmith; St Michael & St George White City; St Thomas Finsbury Park; St John’s Greenhill, Harrow.
So much of this ALMA Life is possible because of the dedication of our totally volunteer ALMA Officers and Strategy Group and the support we receive from staff members at Diocesan House. Thank you to each of you for all you do–seen and unseen. We would particularly like to acknowledge our debt to Peter Southwood who is standing down as Angola Projects Officer, having previously been ALMA Link Officer for several years. He will be greatly missed!
‘Training God’s people’ raised a total of £50,769.78 with £3000 of this allocated for the purchase of 180 Africa Bible Commentaries in Portuguese, 60 for each partner Diocese.
| Unrestricted Donations (ALMA General Fund) | £12,743.93 |
| Restricted donations (includes 2011 Lent Appeal; Special Projects; Link parish/school programmes) | £136,899.97 |
| Donations remitted to ALMA Partners in 2011 | £150,834.88 |
In addition to supporting ALMA link officers in partner dioceses, these funds were used for a variety of projects including: small donations to assist or equip churches being built; the support of orphans attending High School in Chimoio; an ALMA’s Children crèche in Magumeto; Mandambuzi community health clinic; 2009 Lent Appeal water project and 2010 Lent Appeal care of HIV orphaned children in Niassa; donation towards clergy retreat costs and the third stage of the building of Songo school.