Visit Report 2006
17-30 June 2006
There are two fascinating reports on this visit to Tete, written by two of the of the travellers, Graeme Watson and Beryl Warren.
For eight years the relationship between our two parishes was developed by letter. We have prayed regularly for the parish, and they for us. We have also sent them some gifts.
Last year, it was decided that the time had come to arrange a visit. Four members of our 200-strong multi-ethnic congregation were chosen as delegates - one is British born of Nigerian parents, one from Uganda, and the other two white British. After 6 months of fund-raising, and enhancing the profile of our link by various social events, pictures and information, the four delegates were commissioned. So we set off for Tete in mid-June, by air via Johannesburg and Blantyre in Malawi, and thence by road across the border, a journey of almost 48 hours in all, and not without some adventures on the way.
The parish of the Church of the Epiphany, Tete, is a relative newcomer in the diocese of Lebombo. It was founded by a Mozambiquan business man called Papane in the 1980s, who built a small church at the back of his house. Later some land about a mile from the city centre was acquired, a single-storey house for the priest built, and plans drawn up for a permanent church.
But after fourteen years there is still no church. Why not? For one very simple reason. The parish, which at present numbers some 60-80 souls including children and young people, does not have the funds. Just to make ends meet - that is, to pay for their day-to-day expenditure and to contribute to the priest’s modest pay - takes almost all the money they can raise. Yet by a great effort during the last two years, they have managed to collect enough money to build the church up to head height. Much remains to be done before it can come into use.
So for many years the congregation have been meeting in a space beside the priest’s house. This space is covered by a makeshift corrugated iron roof, supported by wooden timbers, in all about 25-30 feet long and 15 feet wide. It is otherwise open to the weather, for there are no walls. Whether it’s drought or rain, hot or very hot – Tete is said to be the hottest place in Mozambique – this is where the congregation meets. The Sunday school meets in the open air. Because there is no other storage space, all the gear for worship has to be stored in the padre’s house, and then brought out whenever there is a service. So his house also has to serve as vestry and sacristy, and repository for drums, service books, hymn books, and everything else needed.
Despite these problems, the amazing, indeed miraculous thing we found was being caught up in the unforgettable life, joy and warmth of their worship of God. The beauty of the dancing of the five young people before the main Sunday Eucharist, the singing by the congregation of hymns old and new, the lead singing of a youth leader with his beautiful baritone voice, the rhythmic drumming, the throaty ululations of the older women, the warmth of the welcome given to us, the sense of joining in the historical and universal liturgy of the Church – the Eucharist – these things cut across all barriers of language and culture. After six days of sharing their lives and weekday activity, our final act of worship there came as an amazing climax of thankfulness and wonder. I recalled Jacob’s words at Bethel: “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” (Gen.28:17)
So the material needs of the Epiphany parish at Tete are glaringly obvious, but their spiritual gifts of sincere, joyful and attentive worship were something we had to experience.
But that is only half the story. Twice we travelled eastwards towards the Malawi border, over 100 miles into the most remote places in the bush, far from any recognizable road. Here in two days we found five different groups of Christians awaiting our arrival. As well as con-celebrating the Eucharist, Father Francisco and I shared in the glorious task of baptising over 100 (one hundred!) adults and children! These village people, three hours’ drive from Tete, had not seen a priest for 2 years, and they were desperate for the sacraments! In all my years of ministry in Britain and even in Tanzania, I have never seen anything like it! Here, we met a different kind of poverty, not the poverty of city people who need money to live, but the poverty of village people for whom life is precarious in the extreme. We found villages where there is no clean water, so people frequently suffer from water-borne diseases. Infant mortality is high. Dispensaries are miles away. Primary schools are few and far between, and secondary schools completely non-existent. During the annual rainy season many children are completely cut off from their schools. Village shops are few and rudimentary in what they could provide. It is not that the Government is inactive. We saw evidence of road-building, and railway reconstruction. But this is a huge country, and resources are limited. In the provincial hospital, there was for example only one X-ray machine in working order.
Yet once again, we were moved by the dignity and grace of these villagers. No one begged. No one looked for handouts. But the singing, the dancing, the worship had that same quality of self-forgetfulness, the same relaxed reverence for the word of the Bible and the sacraments, which we found in Tete. And a sense of seriousness allied with fun and vitality. And in each place we were offered a meal of maize porridge and goat meat. In those remote villages the gift of God’s spirit that comes most to mind for me is that gift which is called in the New Testament long-suffering or patience.
Again, for us it was not all work! We greatly enjoyed a day off with our hosts visiting the Cahora Bassa Dam, both beautiful and hugely impressive. It was good to see for ourselves something of the benefit this scheme, now over 30 years old, has brought to what is still one of the poorest countries in the world. Built by the Portuguese, it is now run by local people. The hydro-electric power station supplies electricity not only for Mozambique, but also for Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa. The potential is even greater. Additional hydro-electric schemes further down the Zambezi are planned, bringing more work opportunities, and making this province an essential part of Mozambique’s developing economy.
Our last evening with our hosts included a useful review of the week, an exchange of gifts, and many moving words.
Since then we have reported back to St Mary’s and we have just received their report on our visit. Very soon we in London will be meeting to consider our next steps in this developing relationship. They have already received our invitation to come to London in 2008 to help us celebrate the first 150 years of our own glorious so-called “New Church”. It is our prayer and hope that by then the church of the Epiphany Tete will have been completed and dedicated. It seems all too likely that we at St Mary’s may be given the privilege and the challenge of a supporting part to play in helping them to meet this goal, their greatest aspiration. But will we be ready to receive whatever of their spiritual riches they may wish to offer us?
The journey to Mozambique was like God giving me a spectacular slide show with associated tutorials. Teaching me how to look through and past the scenery, into a deeper place.
The journey for me began five years ago when I became the ALMA Rep for St Dunstan’s, Stepney, having had the job given to me by the then ALMA Rep, a very formidable lady - not someone you say no to easily. I have to say, I did not really have any enthusiasm at first, but as I read, I felt myself being drawn in.
Two years later I saw an ALMA video showing the trials and tribulations of our Mozambiquan and Angolan brothers and sisters, which was very upsetting. When I saw the people at worship and the depth of spirituality being shown it hit me, almost like a force. I felt so much love for the people. Now I was not just an ALMA Rep, I was an ALMA Rep with a passion given to me by God.
I prayed that God would show me how to help and that one day I would go to Mozambique and Angola.
I moved home and now attend St Mary’s, Stoke Newington. Richard Munnings was the ALMA Rep and I was glad to play a supporting role.
Then came the most wonderful news. I had been nominated as one of the four people to represent our congregation to visit our twinned church in Tete, the Church of the Epiphany. The Lord had made my dream come true. Even when I was offering my prayer of thanks I wanted to jump with joy.
Just before we left for Mozambique Richard proposed me as the ALMA Rep for St Mary’s as he wished to resign, whilst still very much supporting ALMA.
Our group consisted of: Revd Graeme Watson - who wrote a great piece for MANNA and did a great job organising the trip; Stella - a medical student, who has a marvellous way with young people; Simon - a Health and Safety Officer whose wife had just had a baby under trying circumstances; and myself. We had been meeting over a period of time prior to our trip, so we were very relaxed with each other. A relationship which deepened during our journey together.
The trip began in June of this year. It was eventful from the word go. At Heathrow our tickets were not making any sense, so a whole re-scheduling had to take place. We reached Blantyre safely, but when we arrived at our lodgings there was no record of our booking - the World Cup was on at the time so the place was very full. Somehow they found us some rooms, a miracle in itself. We ordered breakfast for the next morning. The next morning came but the chef did not. So, no breakfast.
In what seemed like absolute chaos, we found a bus destined for Zobue, which is at the border of Malawi and Mozambique, where we were going to be met by our hosts. We all trooped happily onto the bus, went round the corner and all trooped off again. No Brakes! Two hours later we were on our way.
We reached Zobue but could not find our reception committee anywhere. There was not going to be another bus until the next day, seemingly no accommodation anywhere and the mini buses looked dangerously overloaded, so we elected to stay with the bus and go on alone to Tete. Simon negotiated what seemed like a good price for the extra journey, but in hindsight I am not sure it was legal because when we did reach Tete we were hustled off the bus at speed and the bus left us with a squealing of tyres. We looked around us and then at each other – what next?
I saw a man with a pickup a truck and asked him to take us to the largest hotel in Tete. NO ENGLISH UNDERSTOOD, little Portuguese and MIME.
We clambered into the back of his truck and he took us, round the corner practically, to the Hotel Zambezi. I love that name. The hotel looked like something out of a Brazilian Art Movie. The receptionist at the hotel was absolutely charming and he allowed us to dump our luggage in the foyer and tried to help us as much as he could. NO ENGLISH etc.
It was now discovered that the address we had was not really complete. The mobile phones did not work so Stella went off to sort out SIM cards whilst we checked the telephone listings, to no avail. The Church of the Epiphany was not listed.
I decided to find a police station. I saw a policeman and asked him the way – NO ENGLISH. He actually took me there. When we walked into the station, which looked as if it was out of the same art movie as the hotel, I was faced with a disconcertingly large audience as I tried to explain our predicament with very little Portuguese and MIME. And laughter!!!
A rather large and sinister chap came in and everyone suddenly became rather nervous. He barked questions and I just knew he considered our problem to be nothing to do with him.
So, I tried another MIME and he just burst out laughing. He sent Lt. Luiz on his motorcycle to find the church for us.
He returned, telling us that the reason we could not find the church listed was because it was only partially built, but he had found a parishioner who was coming to pick us up.
We were soon picked up and taken to our accommodation, which was nice. I called the lady who looked after us “Mama”, as a mark of respect. She had the facial expressions of Les Dawson but she was very sweet and I got on really well with her. I made it my business to make her smile at least three times a day.
That evening, as I contemplated our journey to date, I realized how the Lord had handled everything. At no point had I felt irritated or concerned when things did not seem to be going to order or on time because right from the beginning I felt that God was guiding this journey, so there was no need to worry.
It really hit home during the whole trip that God guides us, if we let him.
We visited a hospital, an AIDS clinic, schools and the Tete Orphanage. We were invited to homes and worshipped in their temporary church which has no walls, a corrugated tin roof supported by wooden struts and a portable table as the altar because everything has to be dismantled at the end of each service.
Building progress is slow because available funds are low but the worship was vibrant, joyful and the singing absolutely beautiful. God felt so close!
An enduring memory I will always carry is from our visit to the market in Tete, to buy food. I noticed a woman calmly sitting to one side of the busy, raucous group of stall holders with just six tomatoes to sell. I did not feel sorry for her, I admired her. We bought those six tomatoes.
One morning we left at 5am to visit three villages in the remote back country. As we journeyed on, the sun began to rise and it was stunning and I thought “God lives”. That day Padre Francesco and Fr. Graeme baptized over 100 people of all ages. It was such a joyful occasion with much celebration.
In one of the villages I saw a boy wearing a David Beckham football vest, which made me smile. As we left the villages the little boys would chase the truck, the same as children anywhere. There was always one that kept running after the others stopped, as is ever the case.
As we drove towards Tete, the sun was setting, a beautiful end to a beautiful day.
Our interpreter and Catechist for the Miwawa Chapels (the group of three villages) was called Smat - pronounced Smartie. Smart and sweet by name and smart and sweet by nature. He was responsible for the upkeep of the prayer life in the villages as the Padre could not visit that often because of the long distances involved. He spoke Portuguese, English and tribal languages. His dream is to be priested and Bishop Mark has informed me that he is on track to fulfil his dream. He got married on the 14 October and it was the first marriage in The Church of the Epiphany. The congregation in Tete, with so few resources, sent his wedding suit and wedding clothes for his bride.
At first hand we were to witness real poverty, lack of clean water, hospital equipment and education for all children over eleven years of age.
But through the real spirituality of the people there, I have now come to realize that by the grace of God I would be taught through their capability my potential capability to love in such a way that all communication is possible. When I looked into their faces and they looked into mine, there was a natural connection.
We bade a very emotional farewell to Tete and journeyed on to Lichinga in Niassa.
Bishop Mark organized a tour of the ongoing programmes which were run in villages where both Muslims and Anglicans lived side by side. Regardless of the ratio of Muslim to Christian, the programmes still ran. We all thought this was a great example of inter-faith co-operation and real Christianity at work.
My favourite visit was to a village called Massenger. The purpose of the visit was to sell to the villagers the idea of using a mini-oven instead of an open fire, in order to conserve the amount of wood used.
So a demonstration was organized amongst much excitement! The open fire had to compete against the mini-oven. The smoke, the noise and laughing had to be seen and heard to be believed. At last the group cooking with the open fire conceded and all the people agreed that although using a mini-oven was a bit slower, it was best because it was still hot and the open fire was dying.
I was asked to speak, so I offered greetings, thanked everyone for inviting us and said that I thought the mini-oven was beautiful but the standard of cooking was great in both cases.
When we left Massenger we all smelt like smoky bacon crisps. So you can guess my favourite choice of crisps now.
In so many ways God taught me how to look deeper and beyond outward appearances. He showed me honest compassion through the graceful generosity of spirit that was shown to us from every Mozambican we met. A people who seemed to know how to be very much in the present.
Their aspirations are the same as people anywhere in the world. Food, good healthcare, clean water and an education for their children. The difference is nothing is taken for granted and having a Church building is of paramount importance to them.
There is nothing like seeing things first hand and the four of us came back enriched and empowered
If asked “What do the people need?” I would answer A CHANCE.
Appendix - Tips