Mozambican president welcomes bishops, receives resolution
Nov. 2, 2006
NOTE: Photographs and related coverage are available at http://umns.umc.org.
By Robin Russell*
MAPUTO, Mozambique (UMNS) - In a special welcoming service for the United Methodist Council of Bishops, the president of Mozambique said the denomination's efforts in that country have greatly impacted the well-being of his people.
Mozambican President Armando Guebuza told 75 bishops - who gathered Nov. 1 in Maputo for their first-ever council meeting outside the United States - that the church's commitment to social justice had created the conditions that helped Mozambique become an independent nation and begin to tackle its poverty.
"This church has contributed to the rescue of our self-esteem," he said. The United Methodist Church helped Mozambicans "gain the awareness that colonization was not a fact of life," he added.
"As we learned that foreign domination was not a fact, I hope Mozambicans will also learn poverty also is not a form of divine punishment and can also become something of the past."
He praised United Methodists for seeking a "culture of peace" and helping the nation develop water resources to battle poverty, and called for a continued partnership with health and education initiatives.
Bishop Janice Riggle Huie, the council's president, presented Guebuza with a resolution that included a pledge "to promote the welfare of Mozambique" and promises of prayer support for his continued leadership of the nation.
"I believe his excellency has given us a challenge for our work this week," she said. She noted that the church's partnership on education and health initiatives would be taken to a new level.
"Through our presence, we are showing our solidarity, partnership and continued promise of prayers for the people of Mozambique. It is our honor and privilege to be here at this time."
'Happy and proud'
Three area choirs presented welcoming songs during the celebratory service, and local United Methodist leaders added their greetings.
"We are not exaggerating if we say we are blessed," said the Rev. Arlindo Romao, Maputo East District superintendent, of the council's meeting in Mozambique. "We are very happy and proud that what we have heard about is now a reality."
He told the welcoming gathering that "it was hard to describe the joy we feel when we heard for the first time in the history of the United Methodist Church that the bishops were meeting outside the U.S. and they chose our country - not Europe or Asia, but they chose Africa and our country of Mozambique."
He said that from this journey, Mozambique can "write one more page of Methodism."
"Please see us as only beginners, as pioneers in this task, and if you return, you will see we are doing even better."
Bishop João Machado of Mozambique, host for the council's meeting, told the audience that the United Methodist Church was "greatly advanced" in having female bishops, and he teased that Portuguese, the official language of Mozambique, defines the word "bishop" only as male.
"We have to insert this in our dictionary because the United Methodist Church has many women bishops," he said, as he introduced Bishop Huie to the near-capacity audience at the Joaquim Chissano Convention Center.
*Russell is managing editor of the United Methodist Reporter.
News media contact: Linda Green, (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
********************
United Methodist News Service Photos and stories also available at: http://umns.umc.org