United Methodist Bishop Joao Somane Machado of Mozambique travels to the United States to meet with the Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church.
He will speak about his country at 7 p.m., Sunday, at the Keeseville United Methodist Church.
Last year, the Council of Bishops, who represent churches in the United States, Asia, Africa and Europe, launched a special appeal called "Hope for the Children of Africa."
The council’s appeal aims to provide relief and reconciliation to thousands of children and families who have suffered and lost so much from war across the continent. It also seeks to rebuild United Methodist churches and restore ministries, with special attention to the well-being of children.
Machado is no stranger to this area. Since 1993, several teams of volunteers from the Troy Annual Conference have traveled to Mozambique to acquaint themselves with the people, country and to work on homes and church buildings.
In 1998, Machado led a team of mission volunteers from Mozambique to the Troy Conference, which includes churches in northeastern New York and Vermont.
While here, he and the team visited churches, farms, and homes and shared their music and energetic message of faith and hope.
This time he comes alone, but Madeline Robinson of Keeseville is looking forward to renewing her acquaintance with him. When the last team visited, she remembers their enthusiasm and their interest in the United States and its people.
"The churches have been collecting money for work with children and to help with reconstruction after the floods," Robinson said.
Robinson’s son, Peter, lived in Mozambique for part of the decade he spent in Africa. She remembers him telling her about the country’s poverty and beauty.
Mozambique, home to more than 18 million people, is one of the poorest nations in the world. It has a literacy rate of 33 percent.
Mozambique gained its independence from Portugal on June 25, 1975. Before fleeing, the Portuguese razed the infrastructure, thus paralyzing the country.
The fledgling nation struggled against 17 years of destabilization incited by Rhodesia and later South Africa, who feared its indigenous populations would also throw off the yokes of colonization. The nation’s political unrest was compounded by a five-year drought.
"In one of the southern provinces, hundreds of thousands of people died from starvation," said Brenda Arley, chair of the Troy Conference-Mozambique Ministry Team. "Our (then) Bishop Dale White was concerned about what was happening in Mozambique in 1990. He knew Bishop Machado because of his visits to the United States. We didn't send mission teams until 1993. We waited until there was some stability."
In 1995, the mission team to Mozambique helped reconstruct and refurbish the guest houses for the United Methodist Mission Center.
"What we saw there was profound poverty. A Mozambican asked me the saddest thing I saw when I was there. Every child is wearing what we would use here as rags. It was clear they were malnourished. It was pretty overwhelming."
It was apparent there was a clear imbalance of privilege of access to financial resources between the United Methodist churches in the United States and Mozambique.
"They have tremendous gifts to share in their human and spiritual resources and their sense of community and living together. So we were inspired and invited them to come to the Troy Conference and be volunteers in mission to us.
In 1998, Machado was one of 11 Mozambicans to spend three weeks in the Troy Conference.
"The first thing he said when he arrived was ‘You don't realize how deep your invitation goes to us as Africans.’
"This was the first time Africans were invited to be missionaries in the United States. It has created a stronger relationship between the United Methodists here and there."
This relationship is rooted in trust.
"They have been exploited for centuries by white people. They suffered under 500 years of Portuguese colonization.
"They found we were really authentic in our desire for them to come. We can learn from them. Our churches are getting smaller and smaller and their churches are getting bigger and bigger."
Arley was part of a precedent-setting mission team that stayed with church members in Mozambique rather than guest houses.
"It created a much more personal experience for the members here, and it’s truly a wonderful opportunity to be with one another."
She sees American assistance to the Mozambicans plight as a reconciliation of past injustices.
"Their ancestors were forced over here by our ancestors, and we have prospered form that. It’s a chance for us to redistribute the resources and put it back in Africa. That’s the largest lesson I've learned.
"The message they came with is that we're one United Methodist Church. If we are one, if one part of the body is hurting, it affects all of us."
This feature from Press-Republican Online is protected by the copyright laws of the United States. The copyright laws prohibit any copying, redistributing, retransmitting, or repurposing of any copyright-protected material without express authorization.