Greetings from Luanda, the capital of Angola! It is a summery February day here as I am just beginning to represent Global Ministries – and you! – in this particular place, in this global mission partnership.

My first six mission months, August 2007 through most of January, involved language study in Lisbon to learn as much Portuguese as possible before arriving in Angola. Thankfully, I had two excellent and very patient teachers.

Let’s just say that my learning curve bore testimony to the advantages of tackling a new language as a child, not significantly later in life! Becoming more proficient in Portuguese will be an ongoing challenge, and an important part of working with people in a spirit of equality and partnership. A portion of my work also will find my English of value as a number of proposals and reports for donors need to be in English.

Ready or not language wise, I now am living in Luanda, Angola’s capital, working in the Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola (IECA), in their Department of Social Assistance, Studies and Projects (DASEP). This is the area, given the match between IECA’s needs and my skills, to which I have been assigned by Rev. Augusto Chipesse, the General Secretary of IECA. DASEP is IECA’s community outreach arm that addresses issues that include: extending health care; opening doors for education and training; creating sustainable development projects; and working to further reconciliation among people and justice in rebuilding communities during this time of peace. I am a Program Assistant to Luis Samacumbi, General Director of DASEP, to help him develop organizational capacities, offer guidance on a variety of development projects, and assist in strengthening relationships with existing partners and creating links to new partners for project support. All of this work will take place in the context of efforts to make DASEP self-sustaining.

My mission position is clear evidence of Global Ministries’ commitment to “critical presence” in Angola as the country has really only begun its recovery from the legacy of colonialism and 27 years of civil war. DASEP’s work directly addresses people’s needs by empowering them to create a richer, fuller life for themselves and their families, communities and country. The work is an active reflection of God’s love and reconciliation of people, especially those who are “the least of these” in Angola, and the healing of a war-ravaged landscape that remains riddled with land mines in many rural areas. DASEP is broadly ecumenical in its approach to partnership, working well with people of different faith traditions and with all people of good will who pursue a vision of peace, justice and wholeness.

My initial days with the DASEP Team have been an encouragement to my spirit as they have welcomed me with tremendous grace, openness and support. Each of them is deeply committed to God’s work of lifting up the Angolan people, in response to the biblical imperative: “Let us rise up and build!” (Nehemiah 2:18). I am impressed with IECA’s clear commitment – in its strategic plan and in its daily life – to the full expression of God’s Good News that all of life is to be redeemed. IECA has clearly accepted the dual challenge by commitment to:

• “Spiritual Mission” of evangelization that addresses people’s hunger for meaning and reassurance that God’s strength will increase their own; and,
• “Social Mission” that is dedicated to minimizing people’s suffering, satisfying material needs, involving local communities in decision making, and creating protection and opportunity, especially for women and children.

On the first Sunday in February, I was blessed to see evidence of that rising up and building as I was welcomed to worship at St. John’s Church in Bairro Kicolo on the outskirts of Luanda. What a vital faith community in which people celebrated God’s presence and power in their midst! The congregation had some time ago outgrown their church building and is now worshipping, a few meters away from the original building, in a much larger church in progress. The basic supports for the structure were in place; a balcony of Sunday school rooms was framed out, and the roof topped it off. The walls will come later, but the people gather now to worship, to build each other up, and to bring life and hope to their community.

That Sunday morning was a reminder that God’s work is, indeed, a work in progress to which each of us has been asked to lend a hand.

I am very grateful to God for providing this opportunity in Angola to use some of the threads of my life to contribute to the weaving of a new social fabric of life in Angola. It was also a reminder that it’s never to late (I’m 61 now) to take an inventory of the talents that God has given each of us to see what “new thing” we can help to create – in our own backyard or in a faraway place.

So, as I adjust to the challenges of settling into a very different county, culture and climate, I am grateful to that rainbow of folks back home who have schooled me in cross-cultural understandings that will guide me in the larger, more challenging international context. And, I ask for your prayers that God’s people in Angola will maintain courage and strength to move forward in faith that God will continue to make a way. I look forward to sharing with you stories from along that way.

Peace and blessings,
Donna

Donna Dudley is a missionary with the Evangelical Congregational Church of Angola.  She assists with development projects and staff leadership training programs.