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Intercessions for Angola from USPG

[Source: USPG quarterly Prayer Diary, Nov07 – Feb08]

The USPG Prayer Diary features Angola from 30 Dec 2007 - 5 January 2008. How good to start the New Year with Christians from around the world praying for Angola! Please encourage others to join you.

Membership of the church in Angola continues to mushroom under the leadership of Bishop André Soares.

TEE (Theological Education by Extension) is now into its third year, and is being taught in five centres across the country. At Bishop André’s latest confirmation service this year 2,000 were confirmed and, earlier in March, the bishop travelled into the mountains to ordain seven priests and three deacons. The previous day the bishop and his diocesan standing committee had narrowly escaped death in a bad car crash. Bishop André paid the price for driving himself so hard: a cerebral haemorrhage from which he had not yet recovered at the time of going to press.

In 2002, following the end of Angola’s civil war the country’s economy has been growing phenomenally – with predicted growth of over 30 per cent for this year (IMF). As China’s chief source of petroleum, Angola receives billions of dollars of credit, which is now being spent on roads, railways and infrastructure.

Later in 2008, Angola is to hold its first parliamentary election since the disastrous attempt in 1992, and – a promising sign – 7.3 million out of a potential 8.5 million electors have been registered.

But little of this wealth has filtered down to the suffering poor – 68 per cent of people survive on less than a dollar a day, and the country lies 160th out of 173 countries on the Human Development Index. The challenge facing Angola is still enormous.

By the Revd Mike Clark, Bishop André’s Commissary in Britain
(also on the ALMA Task Group and MANNA Board)

Sunday 30

This week we are praying for Angola. In particular, we remember Bishop André Soares, as he recovers from a cerebral haemorrhage, and for all clergy in the Missionary Diocese of Angola.

Monday 31

Give thanks for Angola’s growing prosperity and efforts made by the petroleum industry to be transparent in their accounting. However, Angola is still rated poorly by the International Monetary Fund’s ‘corruption’ index.

Tuesday 1

Pray for USPG-supported St Peter’s Medical Centre and Maternity Clinic, in Cazenga, one of the largest suburbs in the capital, Luanda, which is struggling to absorb thousands of internally displaced persons, and where malaria is endemic.

Wednesday 2

Pray for this year’s parliamentary elections, for press freedom, and for an independent judicial system able to hold the police and military accountable for abuses of power. Pray also for the opposition parties (currently salaried, housed and schooled courtesy of the ruling junta) to stand on their own feet and forge a distinct democratic alternative.

Thursday 3

Pray for Diocesan office staff as they struggle to control a spiraling budget and deal with project proposals requiring a firm grasp of English. Pray also for the newly created NGO Henda Angolan Action, which administers the diocese’s social programmes.

Friday 4

Pray for the Revd Simão Adolfo, Dr Augusto Domingos, the Revd Elias Mbala and Manuel Finda who teach TEE. Pray for the Revd Michael Clark, in Britain, who prepares the TEE materials.

Saturday 5

Pray for Angola’s poor, who have not benefited from the country’s economic windfall. Pray for grassroots democracy, diversification of industry, capacity building in the non-oil sector, agricultural recovery and the elimination of rampant malaria.

Lord of all the world, and Lover of each person, we pray that you will teach us your ways and give us wisdom to understand your world in order to serve you more faithfully. Amen

USPG: Anglicans in World Mission, 200 Great Dover Street, London, SE1 4YB. Tel: 020 7378 5678, Fax: 020 7378 5650, www.uspg.org.uk, Registered charity number: 234518
Reproduced with kind permission of USPG: Anglicans in World Mission. USPG works with Anglican Churches in over 50 countries. For free resources, phone 0845 273 1701 or visit www.uspg.org.uk