Reps Circular

Dear ALMA Reps and Friends,

In just a few days John and I will be off to Angola to join our partners in celebrating the 10th Anniversary of their diocese. It will be a real privilege to be there and to give thanks for the remarkable journey of the Missionary Diocese of Angola and all that has been achieved in their first decade. Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, and four others from South Africa will be there too. Please surround this time in prayer that it may be both celebration and commissioning for the next decade.

1. DAIRY DATES

31 July-8 Aug: John, Sheenagh and Christopher Cunliffe (Archdeacon of Derby & Chair of MANNA) to Angola

4 August Celebration 10th Anniversary in Uige at the Church of the Martyrs

5 August Celebration 10th Anniversary at St Stephen’s Luanda

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 ion your diary and make it a priority if you possibly can. If you could offer a cake or help with refreshments that would be appreciated.

8 September MANNA AGM at St John’s Waterloo

19-29 October 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

• Revd Mansita Sangi is returning to Luanda from Strasbourg, and will finish his doctoral thesis in theology from a distance. He’s a deacon at Christ the Redeemer parish.
• National Assembly Elections

  The second election since the end of the civil war in April 2002 is scheduled to take place on 31 August. Reports are reaching us from Christian Aid and Amnesty International of political violence in Benguela, Huambo and Luanda. Please pray for God’s help to sustain peace and to tackle Angola’s many problems

• There is an interesting article on BBC website on Nova Cidade de Kilamba, about a brand-new mixed residential development of 750 eight-storey apartment buildings, a dozen schools and more than 100 retail units 30km (18 miles) outside Angola's capital, Luanda

b) Lebombo

• Bishop Dinis shares news of the Bernard Mizeki Pilgrimage

  ‘We have just returned from Bernard Mizeki pilgrimage. What a heavenly experience! Both Dioceses were represented by about 40 people from Niassa and about 120 people from Lebombo. Marondellasin Zimbabwe was flooded by more than 10000 pilgrims who spent the night of 22 June praising God, and the whole morning on 23 June singing and praying angelically!… The Mozambicans had to return to Chimoio in order to celebrate on Sunday with those who were unable to travel to Zimbabwe. Another vigil on Saturday and on Sunday about 20 young people were baptized and confirmed, new members of the Fraternal of Bernard Mizeki were enrolled and the afternoon was spent sharing pilgrims’ experiences and reflection. A lot has still to be shared because “the whole earth is full of the glory of the Lord” and “God has many people in each place” something which we saw and experienced it’.

  Bishop Dinis has also sent a further reflection on the pilgrimage.

• Pray for Bishop Dinis and Lina as they prepare for their wedding on 8 December at St. Cyprians Chamanculo.

c) Niassa

• Padre Diniz Mbenueca  (formerly in Morrupula) has recently been installed as Archdeacon of Milange. This was followed by a three day retreat with all the clergy of that archdeaconry, after which  Bishop Mark carried on for another week to visit Rio Shire district further south in Zambezia, with Helen having a difficult 20 hour journey back to Lichinga on a night ‘chapas’ (minibus)
• An MU get-together in Kuchijinji (the Diocesan Centre) was the opportunity to hear about the prison ministry in Nampula and in Lichinga. A day visit to the Nampula women's prison, where our MU cooked a meal for the prisoners, sang, prayed and chatted, was televised throughout Mozambique - and two of the recently released women have joined Nampula’s church.

3. LONDON NEWS

• John has shared this good news:

  World-shaped Mission Recent exchanges about world mission in the General Synod at York showed the Church of England in its best light, so said the Church Times in its leader on 20 July. ‘Exposure to the faith and customs of people in other countries, hearing of the problems they face, helps churches conform to the New Testament model of charitable interconnectedness’.

  Into this interconnectedness of love this month we welcome the Parish of St Mary the Virgin, Primrose Hill whose PCC agreed unanimously to go forward in partnership with the Parish of St Peter, Cazenga in Luanda, Angola. Also linking are their associated church schools of St Paul’s Primary School, Hampstead and St Peter's School, Cazenga. We have now grown to 13 parish and five school links between London and Angola.

• And news from St Mary-le-Bow: ARCUBUS makes its first grant - £35,000 for microfinance in Niassa!  Arcubus, a microfinance charity set up by St Mary-le-Bow Church to engage City workers and churches in international development, recently awarded £35,000 to expand microfinance services – loans, savings, insurance and business training – in the diocese of Niassa. The microfinance services which Arcubus is funding are delivered through mobile banks – literally banks on wheels which go out into the villages so that rural people who live in villages where there are no banks have the chance to borrow and save money. This can make such a difference.

  St Mary-le-Bow is in the heart of the City of London and hears a lot of ‘bank-bashing’ but microfinance bucks the trend, showing how providing small-scale banking services really can change lives for the better, sustainably. They are proud of the headline: ‘Church builds banks in Mozambique!’

4. WIDER ISSUES

• Archbishop Rowan’s response to Rio+20 What gift do we leave our children? is available in English and also in Portuguese

  ‘What’s the gift we want to give? The gift of a world that’s more free from pollution, a world whose future is more secure, a world where more people have access to food and clean water and healthcare? Yes. But also a world in which we’re transmitting the wisdom of how to inhabit a world, how to inhabit a limited environment with grace, with freedom, with confidence.

  All religious people see the world as a gift from God. And all religious people are therefore bound to ask: if that’s the gift we’ve been given, how do we make it a gift to others, to the next generation? How do we do justice by our children and grandchildren? How do we act fairly by them? Are we handing on a gift, both material and spiritual, that really will make them live well, live happily, so that their future will be secure and they too will have a gift to give to their children and grandchildren in turn?’