Londuimbali—As a result of its evangelistic thrust, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Angola has registered a strong growth in membership. Nevertheless, this growth has also brought with it the need to build more churches to house the new members. In many places, the lack of churches—or the presence of unfinished churches—has almost become an eyesore in the community. However, this sad story is now a thing of the past in the municipal village of Londuimbali, in the province of Huambo, the second largest city in Angola. Since 2019, Pastor Silvino Calei Albino, a district pastor in the area, has made sure God’s people will have decent places of worship.
Seeing the need to house God’s children in decent facilities, Pastor Albino had to pull up his sleeves in order to get his hands dirty and started to build churches for God’s faithful children in this vast area. During the past four years, Pastor Albino and his team have so far built not one, not two, but four beautiful permanent churches, three temporary clay churches, and a pastoral house for the district pastor.
Talking about his humble work and his team, Pastor Albino said, “It was the need and desire to welcome new people who have been converted that led me to think of structures to house them.” He indicated that it took him and his team less than a year to build one church; hence, for the past four years, they managed to build four beautiful churches. In terms of costs involved, Pastor Albino said all this construction has so far consumed about Kz5 million (approx. US$10,000). On how he managed to achieve this, Pastor Albino said, “The church members buy the building materials, and me and my team, we take care of erecting the walls, the roof, and all the [masonry], as the specialists call it.”
Pastor Albino reiterated that the construction is not for personal income; what he does is missionary work to further God’s kingdom, as he believes his reward is in heaven. He has so far encouraged other brothers and sisters with such gifts to emulate his spiritual gift as the world church embarks on the call “I Will Go.” At that moment, Pastor Albino works hand in glove with the skilled personnel from the National Electricity Company in order to make sure all electrical wiring and plumbing are within the recommendations of the Angola government’s set standards.
As the Bible says, it is more blessed to give than to receive. It came as no surprise that the district under which Pastor Albino operates has been among the most faithful in returning tithes and offerings to Missão Centro, the administrative headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist Church for the central region of Angola. As a result of his dedication to the mission of the church, Pastor Albino is a darling of his community yet gives God all the glory for the spiritual gifts with which He equipped him. Adventist around the world may pray that many people will be inspired as they emulate Pastor Albino’s dedication to the mission of the church.
The original article was published on the South Africa-Indian Ocean Division news website, Adventist Echo.