Visit to Niassa
I had the privilege of making a third visit to Niassa, in the company of Mary Beckley, a friend of the van Koeverings from their days in Bettws. While much of the week was taken up with instructive visits to parishes and projects in the vicinity of the bishop's house at Lichinga, during the weekend we split up. Mary went to see development and health work on the shores of Lake Malawi (and braving floods on the way). I joined Bishop Mark on a pastoral visit to the coastal port town of Nacala.
Bishop Mark and I took off on the Saturday with one of the new airlines - Air Corridor - and a 'fighter' pilot who nearly ran out of runway on takeoff and landed with a thud! The food on Air Corridor was more substantial than that on LAM - perhaps this is the main instrument of competition between them! We then travelled by 4x4 from the airport at Nampula to the coast at Nacala - some 200 km. The driver (wearing traditional dress along with a leather ten-gallon hat) was fast and very good, although we wondered why he was not slowing at the police check points - we discovered later that he was the Chief of Police!!
At Nacala we came across a hive of activity in preparation for three significant events. Bishop Mark was to ordain a new deacon; then he was to admit thirteen members of the newly-constituted branch of the Bernard Mzeki Guild (a men's society); then to consecrate the first Anglican State School in Mozambique since independence in 1975. School uniforms were being run up on the church steps, and there were frantic attempts to fill up the great chasms made in the road to the church by the recent torrential rain.
We got to the church at 8am on the Sunday morning. Mark received the declarations of the candidate to be ordained, and gave his charge on the life and duties of a deacon. At 9am the deacon's family were still on the road, so it was decided to get on with the blessing of the new school. Ribbon had to be cut, and every room, including the lavatories and storerooms, had to be blessed with holy water.
On our return to the church, we continued with the Mass. I was given the privilege of preaching, with Mark interpreting into Portuguese - we managed much laughter! - but for some of the time had to shout because there were periodic cloudbursts hammering down on the tin roof. We survived through the ordination and all the other formalities until the postcommunion at 12.45pm. By now the temperature was well into the upper thirties and the humidity well over 90%. Then came the speeches - the altar server and I almost withered and died, but not most of the congregation, who after fifteen minutes of speeches went off to do other things! We finally processed out at 1.50pm. Recovery came due to kind people with chilled water and fizzy drinks, and a kind host who entertained us to a fish meal, despite the fact that he and his wife were suffering from low-grade malaria (I’m glad we took some portable nets with us!)
The flight back on the Monday was superb, with a very smooth landing under low cloud cover and little visibility.
This is not just an entertaining tale, though - it bears witness to the phenomenally hard work being done in Niassa to nurture and grow the church, and the fabulous growth for which we can thank God, but also his servants in ministry, and especially Mark and Helen!
Revd Patrick Coleman