Pastors in Angola are Thankful for Your Support

A high percentage of pastors in Angola (90%) are hostages of their social condition – a way of life that forces them to depend almost entirely on the insufficient crumbs that they get occasionally from their local churches. We praise God for our faithful partners who blessed the pastors with relief for better living conditions.

Part of the AWF Global Response to COVID-19 was the Pastors Relief Project. The project focused on pastors and families who were living in extreme conditions due to the pandemic. The AWF Africa Region, including Internally Displaced People (IDP) in the Northern part of Africa, received this support. One of the countries selected to participate in the project was Angola, where a total of 18 families were aided.

For the distribution, the Board of Directors of the C&MA of Angola (ICAA) gathered all the pastors in a meeting, where they were instructed on the good use of these resources. After the funds were distributed, the Board of Directors received much positive feedback.

Some of the pastors were able to cover their children’s school fees, some used the funds for health matters, and others used the aid to provide for their homes. Also, many of them used part of the money for their small business projects, like raising chickens for breeding, pig farming and planting.

Pastor Patricio Chibinda, one of the beneficiaries of the project, shared his testimony with us: “I received this relief from you, and I am thankful for having such support. It provided me with many good things in my life,” he said, “such as contributing to my spiritual life, ministry, health, small business, and building good relationships with my neighborhood.”

Pastor Chibinda shared with joy, “In my spiritual life, it helped with more optimism. I had much more energy and it eased my soul from many troubles that I face in my daily life. In my ministry, the support motivated and allowed me to perform better than before. I am eager to contribute more to the church. In my health, I had a doctor’s appointment and I also consulted with a specialist that had been canceled before because of money issues. And I started a small business so I can pay more expenses.”

“Around the church where I work as a pastor,” he continued, “people could see that we received assistance from you all, and I could also share it with some of them. It helped building a good relationship between my family and the communities around us, as well as with members of our church. My family is also motivated because of this great support we received, and it positively influenced our relationship with the head of the C&MA church of Angola.”

“And lastly,” Pastor Chibinda said, “the relief for pastors in need contributed to enhancing my family’s life, the church, and the communities where ICAA is located.”

AWF wants to say a big thank you to our faithful sponsor partners for their support during this special time and for being a blessing to many pastors, families, and communities. We all dream of better days, and for some of them, this dream has come true!

Let us continue to pray for our brothers and sisters around the world, and for the daily challenges they face.