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ALMA Reps Meeting 30 January 2013 at London Diocesan House

[Source: Helen Doery]

On Wednesday 30 January, twenty-five of us gathered to hear all the latest ALMA news from all four dioceses. It really showed how busy all the ALMA partners have been in the last few months.

Sheenagh Burrell opened the meeting and gave a comprehensive overview of January news via a most interesting Power Point. There were three new Archdeacons installed in Angola: Archdeacon of Mukaba the Ven Vieira Jose Miguel and in Luanda the Ven Joana Domingos & Ven Simao Adolfo. There were six new Deacons licenced at Messumba Cathedral in Niassa - Revds Domingos, Osvaldo, Artur, Jaime, Lucas and Francisco - a fairtade conference in London – a nut factory in Niassa, and then we heard about the current devastating floods along the Limpopo River in Lebombo.

At that point Helen Doery spoke briefly about the floods and then we divided into three groups, according to our links with the three other dioceses, so that we could pray and give thanks for the needs and recent happenings in that diocese.

Following the group prayers John Tasker showed us many pictures and told us about the trip he, Sheenagh and the Chairman of MANNA made to Angola to represent the UK for the 10th Anniversary of the Angolan Anglican Church. Archbishop Thabo (Southern Africa) was there, making his first visit to Angola as primate, and amongst many other celebrations, at Quibaxa he prayed and apologised for the blood shed there by South Africans. This was an extremely powerful and moving occasion. Also it was good to hear of the role the church was to play in the forthcoming elections by having observers available in the polling stations and to hear about the rapid progress many churches had made since John’s trip the previous year.

Sheenagh showed us a wonderful selection of her photos and some taken by Fr Juliao (St Barnabas, Bagamoyo) of Bishop Dinis and Lina’s wedding.(See the website). They clearly showed what a joyous occasion it had been for all concerned. She explained about the different celebrations that were held, the many wonderful customs relating to marriage and the couples families. She shared with the couple how they were being prayed for, at that time, in Bishop Dinis’ other cathedral, (St Paul’s London, where he is an honorary Canon), and reminded him of one of the descriptions of partnership which surrounded the original ALMA Covenant - Partnership is a deep friendship between two people which engages their families and their offspring.

For the final section of the evening we went back into the same diocesan groups as before and shared news, helpful hints and ideas for improving our partnership with one another.