Seventh-day Adventist Church world leader, Pastor Jan Paulsen, met with President Joaquim Alberto Chissano of Mozambique April 29, and said the Adventist Church is committed to making a strong, positive contribution to Mozambican society.
Seventh-day Adventist Church world leader, Pastor Jan Paulsen, met with President Joaquim Alberto Chissano of Mozambique April 29, and said the Adventist Church is committed to making a strong, positive contribution to Mozambican society.
President Chissano received Paulsen, and a delegation of Adventist leaders, at the Office of the Prime Minister in downtown Maputo. In a wide-ranging discussion Paulsen and Chissano talked about the country’s social, health and education needs, and the beliefs and worldwide work of the Adventist Church.
Paulsen later called the 45-minute meeting “cordial” and “relaxed.” He said it was an opportunity both to hear President Chissano’s plans and thinking for the future of Mozambique, and to share with him information about the Adventist Church.
“I think it’s important for the leadership of the country at the highest levels to know about us as a church, to know our capacity,” said Paulsen, “and to know that we want the best for the people of this nation.”
President Chissano, elected in 1986, was a leading figure in the Mozambican Liberation Front—the group that helped to win independence from Portuguese rule in 1974. In 1992, Chissano’s government negotiated an end to the civil war that raged throughout the country for more than two decades, and which devastated the country’s economy and infrastructure. Although work on reconstruction is moving forward, the more than 18 million people of Mozambique continue to face day-to-day hardships such as poverty, a lack of schools, hospitals and clinics, and one of Africa’s highest rates of HIV/AIDS infection.
The Adventist Church in Mozambique is not immune to these difficulties. When asked about the challenges facing the church, Pastor Victor Niconde, president of the church in Mozambique, says that lack of access to education tops the list. “We need to establish more schools and to bring those we have up to a higher standard,” he said. There are currently only two Adventist secondary schools and three primary schools in the country. According to Niconde, education will open new doors for the future of both the church, and the nation. “With education our church members and leaders will learn new ways to think, and new ways to overcome the problems they face,” he says.
Adventist Church member Susana Belia Maxaiele, who completed her secondary education three years ago, says that Adventist young people are desperate for education options. “I want an education. I want to study at a university, but there are very few opportunities for young people in Mozambique.” Maxaiele says she got good marks at school and speaks three languages, and yet she has still not been able to gain acceptance into Mozambique’s only government-run university, or find the money to attend one of the few private universities.
Widespread poverty and unemployment are also major concerns. “Eighty percent of church membership is dependent to some extent on external help just for basic survival,” says Niconde. “This impacts the church’s ability to grow and to support itself.”
An estimated 16 percent of the population of Mozambique is infected with HIV/AIDS—an epidemic that is impacting every part of society, regardless of income or background. “Many in the church are dying from AIDS, and we are very worried about this,” says Niconde. “We want very much to educate our church members in ways to avoid this sickness.” He explains that steady church growth in recent years also means that many people who are already suffering from HIV/AIDS are finding new life in Jesus Christ, and are joining the church.
In a question-and-answer session with pastors from around the country, Paulsen touched on the issue of HIV/AIDS, urging pastors not to see the disease as a “curse from God” or a “punishment.” “When a disease becomes so prevalent in society, people become infected in so many different ways,” said Paulsen. “Let us not seek to place blame. We need instead to speak words of comfort, and assure them of God’s love.”
Paulsen also spoke about the church’s responsibility to take action in both educating people in ways to avoid infection, and caring for those already suffering from the disease. “When Jesus was on earth He spent an extraordinary amount of time with those who were sick, and those who were poor,” said Paulsen. “As a church we want to bring a message of healing and hope to those who are sick.”
The world church is in the process of establishing an Office for HIV/AIDS Ministry, based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The office will encourage and coordinate broad church involvement in HIV ministry, from local churches, to church humanitarian organizations, to health-care and educational institutions.
Church leaders in Mozambique say that, despite the challenges, the more than 170,000 Adventists there are full of energy, and are already hard at work sharing God’s love in their communities. Niconde says that some lay people are walking two days to new areas to witness. Women’s Ministries is also active in Mozambique, with women taking a lead role in evangelism. During his visit, Paulsen called the women of the church in Mozambique a “mighty force for Christ in Africa.”
Paulsen and world church executive secretary, Pastor Matthew Bediako, spent three days in Mozambique last week, visiting with church leaders and members. They were accompanied by Pastor Pardon Mwansa, president of the church in the Southern Africa-Indian Ocean region of the Church.