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Visit Report 2015

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Visit to Tete, Mozambique 13 - 25 April 2015

[Source: Sarah Robson, July 2015]

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Revd. Dilly Baker, John Guest, Ann Flett, Jonathan Gebbie, Sarah Robson and Michael White visited Tete from 13 to 24 April 2015.

Revd Dilly Baker and Bishop CarlosRevd Dilly Baker, Rector of the St Mary’s Stoke Newington, with Bishop Carlos at the church's dedication stone

I have longed to see something of Africa and it was a real privilege to be part of the group from St Mary’s Stoke Newington visiting our link parish The Church of the Epiphany in Tete, North West Mozambique. As a former member of staff of an international aid agency I was prepared for a culture shock, to see sharp contrasts in wealth, to expect the unexpected but I never anticipated that I would be made to feel so welcome and at home in a church community so different from my own. I would like to share with you a few memories and reflections.

Tete Church
Tete Church

Igreja Anglicana Epifania (Anglican Church of the Epiphany), Tete

Overwhelming generosity

Our key contact, Julio, had sent us an enthusiastic message a couple of weeks before our departure telling us how much the community was looking forward to our visit along with all the other visitors expected for the consecration of the church on Sunday 19 April. When we left England we had no idea where would be staying and what we would be doing. In view of all the preparations needed for the big day we were concerned that we might get in the way and certainly expected to be a sideshow.

Local Orphanage
Visit to the local orphanage
The Market
Visit to the local market

Nothing could have been further from the truth. From the moment we came through security at Tete airport to be met by a welcome party of 12 people to the farewell meal on the final evening, we were greeted warmly, embraced and feasted. A busy guided programme of visits and delicious meals in the homes of members of the church community had been organised for us and we were very comfortably housed with running water morning and evening. Edwin, a Malawian catholic with excellent Portuguese who had been enlisted to be our translator, Padre Miguel and at least three other parishioners always accompanied us. We were given the full VIP treatment, nothing was too much trouble. How long had our hosts saved to give us such a wonderful experience? Even as we were leaving they showered us with gifts especially of Capulanas. The vestments and other gifts we had brought seemed totally inadequate, even though we supplemented these by leaving most of our spending money in the collection plate and making one or two other donations.

Gift of a BannerGift of a banner from St Mary’s Stoke Newington
Gift of vestments
Gift of vestments from St Mary’s Stoke Newington

A vibrant, spiritual community where faith is part of everyday life.

Our visit began with a sung prayer holding hands under the shade of the grass roofed car park of Tete Airport. This set the tone for our visit: daily prayers morning and evening, grace before meals, prayers with every household and Eucharist services, with wonderful joyful singing integral to worship on many occasions. We had been told to be prepared to pray, preach and sing and we were very glad that to some extent the five of us were all musicians. We had come prepared to sing to them in our English way with formal singing requiring us to read from music! It didn’t take us long before we threw away the script in favour of simple lively songs that the congregation took to their hearts. Clearly Mozambicans can sing and dance and were delighted to share their songs with us. For a community who had never experienced a woman priest, they revealed their willingness and ability to adapt by inviting Dilly to concelebrate, bless everything in sight and calling her Madre Dilly!

Gathering for the Consecration
People gather for the consecration of the church
Bishop Carlos at the Consecration
The Bishop speaks at the consecration

The consecration service was an amazing, uplifting experience with a quirky mixture of the formal and the informal. Lots of women were dressed in Mother’s Union uniforms, the like of which I have never seen in England and 15 confirmation candidates walked on their knees to the altar, the women in long white dresses. There were prayers and a sermon about Xenophobia: the current attacks in South Africa were on everyone’s minds. Mixed into this six hour service was fantastic singing from three different choirs, dancing by children and adults (at one point led by the Archdeacon) and a sea of vibrant colours in the dresses and shirts that the choirs had specially made for the occasion. Bishop Carlos had a wonderful presence going with the flow but at the same time definitely in charge. It was hot and sticky, water bottles were handed out during the service, and a parish lunch in the shade afterwards was most welcome.

Determination and commitment

The Journey is Long is the song that became our signature tune. It framed our reflections on the journey that has been the foundation and development of the Anglican community in Tete and the building of the church that St Mary’s has helped to fund. We witnessed a community working together that has shown tremendous commitment and faith to develop from small beginnings in 1991 in someone’s home to a packed church housing a vibrant, caring community.

While the members of the community that we came to know in the main have a least one wage earner and seem to be among the more affluent members of society, they have all faced and continue to face enormous challenges in their lives. We heard from parishioners about experiences of refugee camp during the civil war, met the newest baby born to a young woman who had been orphaned and given a home by a member of the community and learnt about the impact of HIV on one member of the congregation. This lovely Zimbabwean woman touched our hearts with her amazing determination and capacity for compassion. Abandoned by her husband when he discovered she was HIV positive, she runs her own business, is bringing up three children and has set up a charity to support HIV positive children, personally taking supplies of food once a week to 24 children. In 2013 the UN estimated that 190,000 children under four in Mozambique were living with HIV and Tete is one of four areas where the prevalence is high. What we saw was a tolerant and very caring community who have put the civil war behind them.

Sustaining a relationship

Visit to foundersA visit to Philomena and Alberta, founders of the Anglican church in Tete
Revd Dilly Baker with catechist Julio and Padre MiguelRevd Dilly Baker with catechist Julio and Padre Miguel

Igreja Anglicana Epifania has ambitious plans for the future. They wish to grow the church community beyond the boundaries of the city, establish a nursery school in the church, help improve people's livelihoods and are keen that some members of the community visit England. They face some of the same challenges as us, not least getting committed givers and maintaining the church buildings, including Padre’s house. We now need to work at getting our parish to embrace the needs of the community of Tete with the same wholehearted generosity that they embraced us. When we asked them what the priority was for any money we raised, they said a visit to England. Our challenge is now to raise money for a visit and to help them continue their work. We saw several projects requiring funds but our friends in Tete have to determine their priorities.

Downtown Tete
Downtown Tete
Jonathan Gebbie and Dilly Baker
Jonathan Gebbie and Dilly Baker on the bridge over the Zambezi in Tete