Links with Angola
[Source: Rose Thompson, ALMA Rep, November 2008]
Our link began in 2002 when Archdeacon André Soares told us about a new church which was being built in Benguela …
Land had been given but might be lost if building didn’t start soon. £3,000 was given by a member of our church. This was used to start building the new church and lay foundations for a school next to the church. The plans for the church were bigger than we had envisaged! We also raised money for the training of two midwives at St Peter’s Health Centre in Luanda, Angola. A further donation of £1,781 was sent in December.
“In Benguela the church has left the old shack it used to use and meets at the priest’s home. This is home to a family of seven. The church meets on a “small paved patio” covered by some new corrugated sheets. A new church is being built half a mile away with the generous assistance of St John the Baptist, Pinner.
This is a much more ambitious affair. The church has found a wonderful large site in the suburbs, close to the main road and one of the main markets. The church will measure 20 by 23 yards or so. The foundations are built, and the walls are half completed. Some may say that this is too ambitious, but when Bishop Graham Dow visited in August this year to open the Health Centre, he held a confirmation service in this half built church. 44 were confirmed. The church, though unfinished, was full, so perhaps this ambitious church is already too small before it is finished. Next to the church the foundations of a new four-classroom school have been laid. There is plenty of space for a new hall and other buildings. The local congregation has never faced such a challenging project. The priest Revd Antonio Capembele is also stretched, like most in Mozambique and Angola. His parish stretches to Lobito 20 miles to the west, to a congregation 40 miles to the south, and a further congregation 125 miles to the north. At the moment he has the usual bicycle. When the church is finished it will be called St Barnabas”.
“As well as looking after two churches Fr Antonio is also the Health Centre administrator. His salary is $150 per month (about £1,080 per year). This certainly helps, as very few parish priests are paid. There is a catechist at St. Matthew’s, who also has a small salary, working at the Health Centre as a receptionist.
The Anglican Church in Angola is very poor. Most of its congregations are in slum areas on the edge of the towns and cities. St. Barnabas is on the southern edge of Benguela. Close by it is a shanty town for the poorest people. Very few members of the church have jobs. On most days the women will go to the nearby market and spend most of the day there, hoping to sell a few things at a small mark-up from the price they paid for them.
The Sunday congregation is about 70 adults, along with a number of children. It has been higher, but some have returned to their villages. Rosa dos Santos, a teacher by profession, teaches the children at Saturday school (2 pm) and Sunday school (10 am). Most of the children do not go to day school. Besides the church building lie the foundations for a four-room school. If the church builds the school the government will pay for the teachers.
There are huge possibilities in Angola. The members of St. Barnabas greatly appreciate belonging to an international church. Do develop the correspondence and do visit. The leaders of the church have said that they would be prepared to write to St John’s. (They would write in Portuguese, but I believe you have a translator). Perhaps you could allocate them to members of your congregation as correspondents.
I hope this helps. I am very eager to see the Angolan churches grow stronger. I have very good memories of St John’s. Do give my greetings to Simon and all my friends there.
Yours sincerely,
+ Graham”
“Our best wishes in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We would like to place on record that the fourth letter we wrote is not mentioned in your last letter of 2nd November 2005.
Our health is not good; my wife is suffering from low blood pressure and my 21 year old son had a car accident which resulted in 2 fractures in his right leg. He is now in a private clinic having treatment. At the moment as we face these difficulties we ask for your prayers.
In spite of the difficulties in the priest’s house, all is going well with our Lord’s work with God’s help. In this first semester, we have baptized 25 children and 8 adults; brought 10 believers into the heart of our Lord, and this last month there were 2 weddings and the dedication of 13 children. We will send you photos later.
The construction of our church has come to a standstill because the walls have reached a height where a girder is required for better stability. Only after the girder is in place can we put the final layers of bricks in place before working on the roof. We are now working to acquire the rods which so far we have not succeeded in getting.
Last year we received your gifts of $1500 and $1700 for which we thank you warmly.
We would like the Priest of St John the Baptist to visit our parish soon to see for himself the real situation of the Church of Benguela and to create further bonds. Bishop Dow, when he visited us, took away a lot of information about us. He also comforted us over our difficulties and encouraged us to keep faith in our dealings with our brothers.Perhaps our brothers think that the faithful of Benguela don’t make a contribution, we do give but because of the situation in which we live in Angola, at the moment we cannot be considered rich, perhaps in the future by the grace of God. The contribution we make locally is used for expenses such as taxi journeys for evangelism, often over distances of 60-150kms, purchase of papers, and helping the sick. So it isn’t enough to cover construction costs too.
Our correspondence could be done by airmail, but the letters we send to you are conveyed by a private service as we don’t have a computer, nor internet services, nor fax.
Yours much obliged
Always in the love of Christ
Father Anthonio Capembele
Parish Priest”
