Dear ALMA Reps and Friends,
Many good wishes to you for 2009. I hope that those of you who succumbed to flu are now fully recovered and ready for what promises to be a very busy ALMA year!
This mailing is a bumper one
- Diary Dates
- Lent Appeal: Living Water
- News from Our Partners
- News from Visits
- New Links
- Snippets
1. Diary Dates
Friday 30 January 2009 Lent Appeal sample mailing goes out to Parishes and Chaplaincies (any volunteers to help stuff envelopes welcome – Room A, London Diocesan House, 12-2ish. Please let Sheenagh know if you can help).
Tuesday 10 February 2009 ALMA Reps Lunchtime Meeting 1.00 - 3.00 pm in Main Hall, London Diocesan House (as above). An opportunity to meet each other, have a sandwich, collect Lent Appeal Materials for our parishes and hear from Elizabeth Tucker on her recent visit to Zove and Beira. Please RSVP for catering purposes.
NB materials can be collected without prior arrangement on any Tuesday in February. Packages can be left for collection at other times if reasonable notice is given.
Ash Wednesday 25 February 2009 Launch of Lent Appeal details to follow.
Sunday 29 March 2009 6.00pm Concert at St Mary Brookfield, Dartmouth Park Rd, NW5 1SL by the Medical Orchestra to raise funds for a community rural health post in Mandambuzi, Lago district in Niassa Province. Flyer to follow.
2. 2009 Diocese of London ALMA Lent Appeal LIVING WATER
This carries on the theme of our 10th anniversary service – the River of Life – and aims to fund water and sanitation projects in Angola and Mozambique. This year, rather than a 3 fold leaflet, we have produced a card that can be stood on a mantelpiece or shelf and journey through Lent with us. The cover picture shows Bishop André visiting one of the water stations in Luanda that service the 1 million people who do not have access to piped water and who suffered severe shortages in the days before Christmas.
- Do look at the materials on this website: Card; Poster; letter from Bishop Richard; Gift Aid Envelope; Letter to Church Treasurers and materials request form.
- Please encourage your church to take part in the Appeal.
- If you are very involved in a project in your link parish please remember that Lent Appeals, like the Lay Leaders’ Link, are a way of spreading the blessing of ALMA to communities in Angola and Mozambique that don’t yet have the benefit of a twin parish.
- Additional materials including reflections, bible readings, power points and prayers will be on the website shortly.
- If you come to the Reps meeting to collect your resources why not offer to collect for adjacent parishes?
3. News from our Partners
Angola:
The candidates with Bishop André
The Uige clergy chapter
- On 14 December Uige celebrated: two priests Revd. Robert Mario and Revd Manuel Mfinda were ordained alongside deacon Jacinto Herinque, whose training in Brazil was partly supported by ALMA.
- See news on water shortages in Luanda in section 2.
- Mike Clark has rediscovered ‘the Uncovered History of the Anglican Church in the South of Angola’ and been in touch with the retired mission partner who wrote it. This is a very long but inspiring piece that needs editing – any past editors among our number?
Lebombo:
- Today is a special day for Lebombo and ALMA: the launch of the ALMA’s Children Project in Chihunzuine in the presence of The Archbishop of Cape Town. Chihunzuine is both a nursery school and a water project - previously children had spent hours each day fetching water and were unable to attend school. A new school building has been built along with a 100 metre borehole powered by solar panels which pumps water into large storage tanks. We join in the celebration and joy.
- Anglican Social Action is also being launched in Xai Xai today followed by Diocesan Standing Committee on 30 January, confirmations in Maciene on 1 February and a Mothers’ Union Service in Maciene on 3 February.
Niassa:
- Last year we received a searing photo from Shire area of Niassa that few of us have forgotten: it showed Padre Albano and fellow villagers lamenting the inundation and destruction of their newly built well which Littleton parish had funded. Today it’s wonderful to be able to show the relocated and rebuilt well in Shire.
- The USPG Lent Appeal ‘The Daily Mission’ features Lichinga in week one and looks at one of the Lay Leaders of the church there. See www.uspg.org.uk
4. News from Visits
- the Health Centre in Messumba was officially opened in October. Brenda Kick and David Askwith from St Andrews Sudbury were present for this – some of their photos are on their parish website.
- In November Elizabeth Tucker and Father Paul Walmsley-McLeod went to Beira to their link parish and then on to Zove the scene of the accident in 1998. Elizabeth will talk about this at the Reps meeting on 10 February. ALMA sent £1000 to the Esperanca Berta Healthcentre in Zove in thanks for the life of Berta Sengulane and all that has been accomplished in Zove.
- Robert Ashdown also returned for this anniversary and has made many important observations including his reflection on the movement from countryside to town and city that has taken place in the rest of the world is now happening in Mozambique and the implication of this for the church.
- Diana Evans from St Paul’s Winchmore Hill is shortly to go to Angola for a three month visit which will include working with Nets for Life. We’re just wondering if we could have the first ever ALMA blog? Can anyone advise?
5.New Links
- St Matthew’s Fulham are establishing a link with St John’s Chiia, Niassa, Mozambique and with pastor Revd Eduardo Bukutu there.
- Five Southall parishes (Emmanuel, St George’s, Holy Trinity, St John’s and St Mary's Norwood Green) are linking with Kuchijinji, Lichinga. They are planning to build a church there and support the training of lay Catechists.
6.Snippets
- Some of you will have seen the Swedish detective series ‘Wallander’ on TV during the autumn. This was written by Henning Mankell who has a foundation in Mozambique and wrote ‘Chronicler of the Winds’ about street children in Maputo.
- Daniel’s Den parent and toddler group linked with the crèche in Lichinga has moved from its home of the last decade under the Wembley Stadium to St Michael’s Tokynton.
- ALMA Language classes…we didn’t do very well on learning the Grace in Portuguese at our last meeting so Pastor Muanga has very kindly helped us by producing a phonetic version. We have two weeks to master this before the next meeting!
A graça do nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo,
A grassha doe nosso sun-yor Zay-zus Christoe
e o amor do Deus Pei,
ey oh ah-mor doe Day-uz Pie
e a comunhão do Espírito Santo,
ey ah komu-niaw doe Ish-piritu Santu
estejam connosco
is-teja ko-noskoo
desde agora e para sempre.
dez-day ah-gorah ey para sem-pre
Ámen.
Ah-men!
