From Church Leaders
[Source - Bishop Dinis Sengulane - January 2013]
Dear Friends in Christ
With Baptism, Confirmation, teaching and a beautiful wedding of a couple from Beira (originally the bride from Niassa and the groom from Zambézia), the naming of the Congregation at the prison centre nearby, (St. Peter’s ) we had a blessed pilgrimage with people coming from Chimoio, Beira, Maputo and the local Congregation. The quality of the intensity of participation at the pilgrimage and the maturity detected at the local Congregation of Zove makes one feel that God has a purpose for Zove.
Having spoken to Fr. Germano just five days before his death concerning his health when he informed me that he had been diagnosed skin cancer, I was very far of thinking that we were having our last verbal connection under the sun. He died after seeing doctors and receiving medication at the military Hospital in Maputo. We celebrate requiem Mass at SS. Stephen & Lawrence – Maputo, with some of our guests for the wedding attending. Gertrudes and their two children are very much in our prayers, they have moved back Maputo to be near relatives. The new rector of St. George’s Beira is Fr. Mateus Campira who will move from Macia where he has been for about ten years and his institution will be early February. Pray for him and Anabela his wife and their children.
Lina and I have summed up our emotional, spiritual and physical response to all that happened around our marriage in the words of the Magnificat “The Almighty has done great things for us”. As we think of people who came from near and far, making available some of their precious time to be with us, as we think of generous material gifts for the logistics of the event, as we think of the messages read, uttered or sent, as we think of the choir and others who worked for the liturgy (we were ourselves surprised at what God enabled us to bring as our own input in it) as we are still hearing people greeting us with songs which they learned from TV live transmitted and repeated in full two weeks later, as we continue to feed on the Archbishop’s inspiring sermon and presence, we are bound to declare boldly, The Almighty has done great things for us. We had four consecutive days of events that were linked to the Holy Matrimony. Following the new law we had a marriage that is valid also as a civil marriage, the first in the Anglican Church in Mozambique.
As I announced that I was to get married, informing one of the members of the Church, his response was that as a way of saluting the event he decided to renovate the Diocesan Office, give new furniture, paint a large proportion of the Diocesan Centre as to make it smile! “The Almighty has done great things for us” because for a long time we wanted very much to paint the Centre but no financial resources could be found and now because of a marriage of mere normal couple we have this new look and content of the Diocesan Centre.
The publication of the Portuguese hymn book which previously had 87 hymns and now it has 180 plus devotional material, sponsored by the bride and groom to make their wedding and as a contribution to make homes centres of devotion as a prayer booklet “praying from childhood up” was also part of the effort, is now being reason to gather groups of choirs and other interested people to meet and rehearse the new hymns with such enthusiasm which makes us see the hand of God in all this.
“The Almighty has done great things for us”, and for all this, God’s name be praised, were and everywhere, now and forever, by me and everyone.
The Seminary closed the academic year with eight third year students, two from Niassa and six from Lebombo, and with seven in the second year. The new academic year starts in February with first and third year.
New features are that individuals and groups have offered to sponsor each seminarian as the costs are far beyond what is being contributed by external and internal sources.
The other new feature is that while so far the Bishop had been acting as the warden of the seminary, for the first time we have a full time warden, Fr. Chamuce who ceases to be Rector of SS. Stephen & Lawrence and moves to the seminary. He has had a long association with the seminary as he teaches Old testament and African Traditional Religions.
May the Lord of all ages grant you a blessed 2013 and prosper all your efforts to the glory of Jesus Christ.