Reps Circular

The 2011 Lent Appeal poster
(see the London News section of this circular)

Dear ALMA Reps and Friends,

If you sign up for the RSS feed which alerts you to new additions to the ALMA website you will already know of the tragic loss of another of our partner Priests on 16 December as he was being transferred from Pemba to Maputo following complications after an appendectomy.

The full story is in the News section.

Please pray for the the family of Fr Fenias, the people of Pemba, Lurio Archdeaconry, the Diocese of Niassa and for all of Fenias’ friends and colleagues in Lebombo and Niassa. May he, and the wife of Fr. Joao Roque in Maputo, who died at the same time, rest in peace and rise in glory.

This circular contains:

1. Diary Dates
2. News from our Partners
   1. Angola
   2. Lebombo
   3. Niassa
3. London News

1) Diary Dates

15 February ALMA Reps Meeting with Revd Helen Van Koevering 6-8pm Plus opportunity to collect your parishes’ 2011 Lent Appeal Materials. There are no rooms available at Diocesan House so we are very grateful to St Peter’s Church, Notting Hill for hosting us. The full address is:  90 Kensington Park Road, London, W11 2PL and it is opposite the junction with Stanley Gardens. Nearest tube: Notting Hill Gate Central Line.

2) News from our Partners

a) Angola

• The container of desperately needed, donated school desks has reached Luanda albeit with some of the complications we have learnt to anticipate with shipping. It will be good however to think of some Anglican schools equipped for the start of the new school year in 2011.
• Bishop Andre and Fr Nunes, ALMA Link Officer Angola, have been visiting Cunene Province.

b) Lebombo

• Josephine Mutemba , ALMA Link Officer Lebombo has sent this news:
  • St. Barnabas Bagamoyo has had to temporarily close its pre-school because of  problems with the Department of Woman and Social Action. New legislation requires improvements in toilet facilities and the provision of more mattresses, sleeping mats and blankets. The church is working towards meeting these targets.
  • On 12 December Maputo archdeaconry met together at Bagamoyo to evaluate evangelism work
  • Fr. Juliao Mutemaba had the opportunity to attend the graduation ceremony of the United Seminary of Ricatla, which is part of the Christian Council of Mozambique, and was able to take pictures of students from Niassa Diocese who also graduated to BTh, Diplomas and Domestic Economy.
• Fr Antonio Nhaca from the Good Samaritan Zimpeto sent a very beautiful Christmas greeting to ALMA.
• Unfortunately visa complications meant the visitors from Chimoio, Revd Domingos Tole Chipuazo and Mrs Ana Joao Baptista, were unable to come to their link parish St Luke’s Chelsea during Advent. We are hopeful that the visit can be rescheduled in the spring and that we can learn from this experience. You’ll remember we have new ALMA guidelines for outward visits ( 150Kb) and we are currently working on guidelines for inward visits. If you have any wisdom to contribute to this please be in touch with our visits officer Revd Ann Clarridge 

c) Niassa

• The untimely loss of a third Niassan priest is another body blow to the growing church in Niassa. Please pray for the diocese and for Bishop Mark who was both unwell and beyond cell phone reach when Fr Fenias died.

3) London News

• Lent Appeal 2011 is well on track and we have very generously been given the services of a designer for our cover and poster, so you will notice it is a little different from previous years but strangely pertinent and inspiring! It features the Angolan church leaders, ordained and lay, who took part in the Rooted in Jesus course in May 2010.

  Training God’s People is arguably the most important thing we can help our partners with. They face huge obstacles to training including: distance; cost of travel to a regional hub; subsistence during training; materials in appropriate languages; educational levels and lack of basic resources. There are obviously differences between capital city, provincial city and really rural locations but the need for initial and continuing training, lay and clerical, in all these contexts cannot be underestimated.

Finally, ALMA London has undergone many changes in 2010 as we have adapted and changed to reflect the wonderful growth the ALMA partnership has seen. I’d like to thank everyone on the Strategy Group, the other helpers and all the ALMA Reps and ALMA Friends for your commitment and dedication. It is a privilege to be part of such a tangible community, and see a small but vibrant section of the body of Christ in action. May you all have a truly blessed Christmas.