Welcome to the Global Ministries Mission Live
Webinar with Donna Dudley,
missionary working with the Evangelical
Congregational Church in Angola
The presentation will begin at 7:00pm.
Please mute your computer microphone and
turn up your computer speaker audio volume.
Challenges & Realities for the Church in Angola
National Context: Background
• 1974: Portuguese
colonial rule ends
• 1975: MPLA
victory; ongoing
civil war with
UNITA
• 1989 – 1994: failed
peace accords
• 2002: Peace accord
that is holding
• 2008: Parliamentary
elections held
Political and Social Realities
• Civil war leaves winners and
losers, destroyed infrastructure,
legacy of structural and
domestic violence, broken lives
and divided communities.
• Peace is the cessation of armed
hostilities, not peace with
justice.
• A weak civil sector and high
levels of abuse of human rights
prevail.
Political and Social Realities (2)
• Economic growth benefits only
the few while the great majority
survive on $1 per day.
• Paralyzing fear grips and
controls most people; if you
stand up, you stand out and are
at risk.
• The truth that sets people free is
yet to be spoken.
Statistics that Challenge Us
• Life expectancy: 40 for men; 41
for women
• People actively participating in
the economy: 32%
• Population below poverty line:
68%
• Population without access to
basic health services: 76%
• Population with access to basic
sanitation: 16%
Statistics that Challenge Us (2)
• Population with access to
potable water: 47%
• Population age 20 and under:
60%
• Infant mortality rate: 154 for
every 1,000 live births
• Child mortality rate by age five:
274 per 1,000
• Maternal mortality rate: 1,500
per 100,000
Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola (IECA):
Background & Landmarks
• 1880: founded by North
American missionaries to
begin rich history of
evangelization and
community development
• 1930: first jubilee celebrated;
10 missions and 822
branches, generally rural and
central
• Civil War: Destruction of
mission stations and flight of
rural people to cities
Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola (IECA):
Background & Landmarks (2)
• 1991: Dept. of Social
Assistance, Studies and Projects
(DASEP) created to revitalize
community development
• 2009: IECA is Angola’s second
largest church with…
presence in 15 of 18 provinces,
over 900,000 members,
2,800 congregations,
fewer than 180 pastors, and
resolve to be “100% urban and
100% rural”
IECA’s Strategic Outlook
Mission Slogan
Evangelize, teach and
promote integral and
lasting peace in Angola
by Word and Works
Vision Slogan
To create a more just
Angolan society,
founded on ethicalmoral and biblical
principles, leading to a
better world for all
IECA’s Strategic Priorities
• Evangelization – to grow the
church and to create and
sustain hope
• Education – for children and
adults to improve literacy and
academic attainment
IECA’s Strategic Priorities (2)
• Training – for teachers,
vocational preparation, and for
church and community
leadership
• Sustainable Development – to
improve life for individuals,
families, and communities
IECA’s Strategic Priorities (3)
• Health/HIV-AIDS – to reduce
epidemics, infant and maternal
mortality, and prevent the
spread of AIDS
• Gender equity for women and
protection for children – to
empower those individuals
most at society’s margins
• Institutional Development –
to improve the general
administration of churches and
projects and to increase
institutional credibility
Additional Concerns Cited by Clergy and Laity
• Continuing healing from the
war, for individuals and society
• Encouraging reconciliation
among former combatants and
between various sectors
• Sharing ideas regarding how to
live in peace, with a healthy
sense of community
Additional Concerns Cited by Clergy and Laity (2)
• Educating individuals for
citizenship: promoting voting
rights; encouraging government
accountability; and empowering
civil society
• Developing leadership, within
both church and community
Additional Concerns Cited by Clergy and Laity (3)
• Creating opportunities for selfsustainability of the church and
projects, to lessen the impact of
outside control
• Strengthening positive internal
and external partnerships that
foster community development
Additional Concerns Cited by Clergy and Laity (4)
• Advocating for human rights,
including “special populations”
• Encouraging cultural
development and pride
Examples of Forward Progress, Signs of Hope:
Canata Pre-School Program
• Opened in March 2009
• Enrolment of 100 children, ages
3–5
• Has a strong arts component,
provides recreational activities,
encourages teamwork, and
exposes children to pre-reading
skills
Cuio Water Project
• The goal was to improve poor
people’s access to safe water
and basic sanitation to improve
health and living conditions
• Construction of a pump-andgravity system to deliver water
• Local women manage the
project and resisted government
attempts to increase pricing
• People have moved to the town
to benefit from this safe, secure
water supply
Faces of the Future
Faces of the Future (2)
Faces of the Future (3)
Faces of the Future (4)
Partnering to Create
a Shared Vision of the Future
• I served as an assistant to Luis
Samacumbi, DASEP’s General
Director, from January 2008
through December 2009
• Helped develop organizational
capacities
• Assisted in enhancing strategic
and operational planning and
implementation
• Offered guidance on a variety
of projects
• Assisted in strengthening
relationships with existing
partners and creating links to
new ones
Working together
to build the
one body of Christ
in
two different places
The Journey Yet to Come: Critical Presence
Meeting God’s People at the Point of Deepest Need
Thank you for participating in this Global Ministries Mission
Live Webinar. Global Ministries is able to send
missionaries, like Donna Dudley, on behalf of Disciples and
UCC because of your generous support of Disciples Mission
Fund (DMF) and Our Church’s Wider Mission (OCWM).
Thank you for sharing the story of God’s mission in Angola in
your congregation and please tell others about our next
Mission Live Webinar on January 28, 2010 @ 8pm when
Emily Christmas, Global Mission Intern serving in South
Africa will share her story.