More than 20,000 Seventh-day Adventists from central Angola gathered in the city of Huambo April 26 to meet with Pastor Jan Paulsen, president of the Adventist world church, and Pastor Matthew Bediako, executive secretary for the world church.
More than 20,000 Seventh-day Adventists from central Angola gathered in the city of Huambo April 26 to meet with Pastor Jan Paulsen, president of the Adventist world church, and Pastor Matthew Bediako, executive secretary for the world church. In a day of singing, preaching, drama and fellowship, Adventists celebrated the end of 25 years of civil war in Angola, the end of isolation from the rest of the world church, and the prospect of a brighter future.
Paulsen’s visit to Huambo was the first by an Adventist world church president in more than three decades. He reminded those gathered in the outdoor stadium—some who had walked for two days to be there—that they are part of a worldwide family: “To be a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, no matter what country we come from, means that we are bonded and blended together with love,” he said. “And to love one another means that when I look at you, and when you look at me, we don’t see a stranger; we see a brother, we see a sister, we see a member of our own family.”
While Angolans are currently celebrating the first anniversary of peace, the effects of more than a quarter century of conflict are evident everywhere. Bomb damage to public buildings, offices and houses in Huambo has not been fully repaired. What was once the governor’s mansion is now a burned-out shell. Roads are still rutted and torn by tanks that rolled through city streets, and almost every house bears multiple bullet holes—marks of the conflict that raged between UNITA rebels and government forces. More than 1.5 million Angolans died in that war.
For the Adventist Church in Angola, the past 25 years have been difficult. While the church has grown in numbers—there are now some 300,000 members around the country—much of the church’s infrastructure was ruined. In east Angola alone, where the fighting was heaviest, 145 church buildings were destroyed.
The once bustling Adventist compound of Bongo Mission Station, located some 80 kilometers from Huambo, now lies abandoned. Bongo was where Adventist work in Angola first began in 1924, and the area has great significance for church members there. Workers at the Bongo compound were forced to flee in 1986 as fighting moved into the area. The compound’s two churches, hospital, seminary building, and secondary and primary schools are still standing, but are in urgent need of repair and refurbishment.
In a visit with the governor of Huambo province, Paulsen said Adventists are committed to being a part of the reconstruction process in Angola. “While we are primarily a spiritual community, and we speak in terms of eternity, we also want the people of today—the children of today—to look to the future with hope.” He said the church “feels particularly strongly that we can and should make a contribution in the education system.” Schools around the country were closed during the civil war, and a generation of young Angolans has grown up without the opportunity to learn to read and write.
Governor Paulo Cassoma told Paulsen that there is both “physical and psychological damage” in Angola. “Wherever you go you will see signs of the war: in the buildings and infrastructure, and in the people themselves.” Cassoma welcomed the church’s presence in Huambo province, saying that during the dark days of war, the church played a part in preserving faith and hope among the people.
Before the civil war, Huambo province was an economic powerhouse for Angola; one-third of the country’s population lives here, and the region possesses vast agricultural and mining potential. But for now, the province—along with the rest of the country—is struggling to reestablish basic services, and deal with the humanitarian crisis created by the conflict. Unexploded landmines are still scattered throughout the countryside; it is unwise to stray too far from well-traveled roads. Angola has the highest amputee rate in the world; one out of every 350 people, many of them children, have lost a limb by stepping on a landmine.
Paulsen also spent time in Angola’s capital, Luanda. He visited with the national Minister of Culture, Boaventura Cardoso, whose portfolio includes religious affairs. Minister Cardoso said he appreciated the church’s work in Angola, but appealed for continued support in the areas of education and health. “We have experienced difficult times,” he said. “We are positioned for progress, although this is happening slowly. We want to build good relationships with churches in this process.”
During interviews with the national newspapers, radio and television in both Luanda and Huambo, Paulsen emphasized the church’s role in providing both spiritual and material support to those impacted by the war. “I say to the people of Angola: Turn your back on the past, look to the future, and determine to build a better tomorrow for your children,” he said. “And the Seventh-day Adventist Church wants to be a part of that future.”
On April 27, Paulsen met with some 4,000 Adventist church members in a stadium in Luanda, telling them: “You have celebrated one year of peace and reconciliation, but there is still much healing to be done. Let the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Angola be an instrument of peace. Let Seventh-day Adventists be known as healers, as peacemakers, as those who speak a message of hope.”
Paulsen also reassured Adventist believers in Angola that throughout the years of war they were not forgotten by their church family around the world. “And although we are now separated by many miles and continents, in the earth made new we will live as neighbors,” he declared.
Pastor Pardon Mwansa, president of the church in the Southern Africa-Indian Ocean region, or division, and other area church leaders, accompanied Paulsen during his five-day visit to Angola.