Reps Circular

Dear ALMA Reps and Friends,

THANK YOU for your support of the 2012 Lent Appeal - you’ve kept us busy in the last six weeks as the postbag has increased but it is good to report that almost £40,000 has been raised so far and that we have even made our first grant (more below)!  Moving from the fourth floor to the first floor of Diocesan House has meant sorting out our cupboard and filing cabinet with the bonus that we have been able to look back to the start of ALMA 14 years ago and marvel at the deepening of our partnership as we prepare for this ALMA Sunday, and the 15th year of our Diocesan links.

This week the Bernard Mizeki Pilgrimage takes place at Marondellas in Zimbabwe with many of our Mozambican partners present. There is a whole liturgy for the 18 June and a detailed biography  but perhaps as we read this circular we can all pray the Collect together:

‘Almighty and everlasting God, who kindled the flame of your love in the heart of your holy martyr Bernard Mizeki: Grant to us, your humble servants, a like faith and power of love, that we who rejoice in his triumph may profit by his example; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen’

1. Diary Dates

18-22 June: Bernard Mizeki Pilgrimage

8 July: ALMA Sunday –See Prayer for ALMA Sunday & some worship suggestions

2-5 August: Various celebrations to mark 10th Anniversary Diocese of Angola

31 July-8 August: Sheenagh, John and Christopher Cunliffe (Archdeacon of Derby and Chair of MANNA) will be in Angola to join the Diocese of Angola in their celebrations

4 September: ALMA Reps meeting with Bishop Mark van Koevering 6-8 pm in the Main Hall at London Diocesan House with refreshments from 5.40. Please put this important date in your diary and make it a priority if you possibly can.

8 September: MANNA AGM at St John’s Waterloo

19-29 October:  The Bishop of Kensington, Bishop Paul Williams, will visit both Niassa and Lebombo, ending his visit at the Lebombo Diocesan family Weekend.

2. News from our Partners

a) Angola

• Two things come to mind with the forthcoming visit to Angola:
  • Would any parishes or schools who would like us to take letters, photos or small parcels for their link parish get in touch?
  • We wonder if parishes and schools twinned with Angola would like to incorporate signing link certificates for their twin parishes/schools into their ALMA Sunday worship so we could take them to Angola and present them at the appropriate point?
  (We’re also planning to take Link certificates for London parishes who have not yet received them and hope to get them signed by their link parish and Bishop André whilst we’re in Angola).
• Praying for Angola is the theme for the USPG prayer diary in the week commencing Sunday 29 July. John has contributed to this.

b) Lebombo

• 
  Father Juliao Mutmeba with Archbishop Thabo Makgoba
  We were thrilled to hear that Father Juliao Mutmeba of St Barnabas Bagamoyo has been elected to the board of Hope Africa (whose remit is to promote and implement a social development programme for the Anglican Church in Southern Africa for the improvement of the Spiritual, Physical, and Emotional Well Being of the Poor and Oppresses People of Africa on a non denominational basis). We all know Fr Juliao’s work with those who live on the Hulene rubbish dump in Maputo and his heart for the poor so congratulate him in this new role.
• 
  St Bernard Mizeki church at T3, under construction
  St Bernard Mizeki Church at T3, the second church building project supported by Hammersmith and Fulham Deanery Synod, is coming on apace after the setback caused by the floods in Maputo in January. The walls are now at shoulder height and the step up to the sanctuary is cemented.  Soon this church will have a building! It is a satellite church of St Cyprian’s Maputo .

  Fr Silva and Josephine, our Link Officer, write:

  ‘St. Bernard Mizeki has about 300 members, distributed among the existing groups (Sunday School, Youth, Mothers Union and St. Bernard Mizeki’s guild, besides the groups of the meetings of prayer which is a house to house movement.

  At the moment the main challenge is the building of the church, and we place our effort on that as the second objective after the evangelism. The place is a suburb of the Matola Municipality, beside a big and long valley called Infulene, where it is produced most of the vegetables which supplies the city of Maputo, within an urban context. Because the Infulene channel keep stagnated water, it becomes a source of mosquitoes, responsible for  malaria, and during the rainy season it generates problems related with cholera. The big market of T3, generates problems of waste management and homelessness.

  We hope that the building will be used, not only for the services, but also accommodate projects aiming to respond to the challenges of the area. It was in this area where the lynching phenomenal started, so we need to develop infrastructures for the transforming projects’.

c) Niassa

• Vehicle News

  The Diocese of Niassa had the opportunity to purchase a well cared for two year old Toyota Hilux owned by missionaries who were leaving Lichinga. Top Gear fans among the ALMA fraternity will know it is a vehicle well suited for the road conditions in Niassa! We were able to make a grant from this year’s Lent Appeal to ensure the purchase (supported by other donors too) could go ahead.  It has now been road tested on journeys to Cobue and the remote Lakeshore (where 200 were confirmed, six couples married and the results of the Lenten stewardship teaching were evident in the generous contributions to the church after a good harvest) and a journey to Mecanhelas (where the church has grown from 181 members in one church in 2004 overseen by Judge Justus to 53 churches with 3740 members now with Padre Camuendo).

  Helen Van Koevering writes:

  ‘Mark came back from his Mecanhelas journey - a seven hour drive - at least an hour earlier than expected, and full of beans still! Driving this car is a delight (and he gets 1000 km to a tankful, not 600 km like the old one!) - thanks again everyone!!’

• We have also been sent a wonderful set of photos showing the building of a well at Magachi which remind us of the obstacles to be overcome if wells are to be built in remote locations. A 4x4 vehicle is essential to deliver building materials like stones, and cement and also the pump mechanism itself. These will be on the website in due course

3. London News

• Lent Appeal Update - after the news above can I encourage you to send in any contributions to the Lent Appeal and remind you that it’s not too late to put on an event or take a collection for the appeal. Our books stay open until the end of December and we still have some cards and posters if you’d like to use them! Our goal is £60,000 which would give each partner diocese £20,000 towards a second hand 4x4 vehicle. Currently we have raised close to £40,000. If we could get to £45,000 that would be £15,000 for each partner diocese!
• Visits
  • 
    Tim Bailey of St Mary’s Hampton at Mandimba
    It was great to visit St Peter’s  Hammersmith to see, hear and taste the feedback on their recent visit to Messumba from the Vicar, John Record and the two ALMA Reps, Matilde and Sandi. The rice we shared – a present from the people of Messumba – was a very special moment.  Sandi is a professional photographer and the pictures she blew up are both luminous and numinous. Some will be on sale for Messumba in due course.
  • St Mary’s Hampton have also recently returned from visiting Mandimba and have produced a great slide show of their visit which is available to watch on YouTube.
• Twinning : John Tasker, our Twinning Officer, writes

  “I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel” Paul and Timothy wrote to the Church in Philippi (Phil 1:4). ALMA has so far enabled 45 parishes, seven church schools, two Mothers’ Union branches and a parent & toddler group to find joy through direct partnerships in the gospel between Christians in London and Christians in Africa. You can read about these links and the visits between them in the Links section of this site. Do explore and be inspired by the stories of deepening partnerships in the gospel. If you are interested in starting to consider whether your parish or church school might develop a link, we have new guidelines to help think through what a link could mean to you. We recommend producing a short profile which also serves to introduce yourselves to potential partner parishes and schools. Do contact me on john.tasker@london.anglican.org if you would like any advice on twinning. As Bishop Richard concludes his letters “With thanks for your partnership in the gospel”.

• ALMA SUNDAY: 8 July 2012
  • Please pray for ALMA in your services on this 14th ALMA Sunday. There is much to be thankful for!
    • the growing number of ALMA link parishes, school s, toddler group, and MU groups
    • the growing church in Angola and Mozambique –see Mecanhelas and Mandimba where church planting is almost a quarterly phenomenon
    • the proposals before Provincial Synod for the multiplication of each Mozambican diocese into three dioceses
    • the deepening of relationship and fellowship between partners
  • Pray for Partner Bishops, Archdeacons, Priests, Catechists, MU Leaders, Bernard Mizeki Gild, the Equipas da Vida and the volunteers in the various health initiatives and projects.
  • Pray for those who carry out the day to day running of ALMA – our Link officers Fr Nunes; Josephine Mutemba; Revd Helen Van Koevering and the volunteer team who administer ALMA in London
  • Resources:
    • the ALMA partnership prayer
    • the Bernard Mizeki Collect – see start of this circular
    • using the Lent Appeal 2012 power point or the Chihunzuine Project power point as a backdrop to intercessions
    • Adapt  the meditation on the Millennium Development Goals for your church
    • Other prayer resources on this website
  • consider worshipping together by singing one of the hymns sung across our partnership: What a Friend we have in Jesus; Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness; We are marching in the light of God;
  • Use your Link Covenant Certificate, if you have one, to renew your commitment to your link.
  • Activities:
    • Take the collection in an Angolan /Mozambican fashion –dance up to the basket with your offering giving joyfully!
    • Sing Happy Birthday to ALMA in Portuguese – ‘Obrigada Senhor’
    • Give thanks for the fact we are a fairtrade diocese and share some fairtrade nuts from Mozambique. Liberation Nuts a faitrade cooperative from the Nampula area sells Harrys Nuts in the UK - comedian Harry Hill lent his name to these. They are cheapest in Oxfam shops and carry the story of a Mozambican farmer on the packet.
    • Take a photo of your congregation today and send it to your link!
    • Could you have a skype conversation as part of your service –pray together and worship together?