Saturday 17 June: a day from my Angolan diary

There are pictures from this visit in the Picture Gallery.

There was extra excitement in the room this morning when the fan came on at 6.45am. That means the electric is on and we can shave and bathe in the light - clearly a Saturday treat!

The drive from Uige to Songo was lively with The Reverend Nunes Pedro putting his foot down and managing to keep up an average of 100 kilometers on very rough roads. There was only one near miss! St Barnabas Church - quite a large building - was packed with a congregation when we arrived and the 82 candidates were all at the front of the church. Given the number I suggested to the Bishop that we both confirm but he was adamant that I should confirm them all - which was of course a privilege when the Diocesan Bishop was present. As well as good singing from various choirs, there were greetings from the local Government official and from a representative of the parish. I presented the youth of the parish with a football and a pump - which caused great excitement! (I brought a suitcase of ten footballs from England and they are proving to be very popular among the young people of the churches.)

After the service we had lunch in the Archdeacon’s home and then drove into the bush to Maiengo, the village where Bishop Andre was born. Here (was it anything to do with being the home village of the Bishop?) we received the most exotic welcome to date. As we arrived at the outskirts of the village members of the Mothers’ Union were there with palm branches intertwined with beautiful red bougainvillea. They sang and danced round our Chelsea Chariot and led us to the church. And there was more to come - the women of the parish had made a pathway of their shawls from the road to the door of the church. People stood either side of this path, singing and waving palms and bougainvillea. The church door was garlanded with the same.

The church was beautifully cared for and had a corrugated iron roof that MANNA paid for some years ago. We were welcomed by the catechist and worship leader, who led the people in very vigorous and hearty singing. It was in this church that I discovered that, if you say, “Viva!” you get a great chorus of response, repeating the words, “Viva Anglicana!” This relatively new Church of the Communion is really proud of its Anglican roots and membership.

Maiengo was a smaller village than others we’d visited and it seemed that almost every member of the community was there - but it was also clear that they all knew the hymns and worship songs. They do not have a priest at present so, apart from the Archdeacon’s visit for a monthly Sunday Eucharist, the Church is led by the catechist and worship leader. The Mothers’ Union choir sang a song and that was followed by one of the most youthful male choirs we have seen to date - I would think boys from 7 to 17. This is the parish of the Confession of St Peter, which helped the preacher with yet another sermon!

This service was not Eucharistic but there was, again, a great emphasis on the time of offertory. And gifts were also brought forward for their guests: another branch of bananas, much cassava and many groundnuts, yams and sweet potatoes, money put in a large plastic washing bowl and, probably the largest gift so far, a live goat, which was tethered but still made us very much aware of his presence.

The warmth that we experienced inside the church continued as we made our way over the garment path (now changed in direction to take us straight to the cars) where everyone wanted to greet us and wanted their children to be blessed. Not a Eucharist and not a confirmation but the whole event, full of simple praise and much communication between villagers and guests, took two hours.

On the way home we gave a lift to a young woman with her baby son, Fernando. They had travelled earlier by taxi from her home village to St Barnabas for the confirmation. I think having baby Fernando on board made our driver a little more cautious and sensible - the journey back was at a far better pace for timid Londoners!

Our journeying today took us through the most stunning countryside - rolling hills, open land and rich areas of forest. We returned to war battered Uige, which is now a very unattractive city. The red brick houses of the local people that have grown up round the old town remind you of the villages and look warm and inviting - the old town itself is a sad testimony to the violence and destruction of the past conflicts that were centred on this area.