Angola

FACES OF THE OTHER

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By Father Raymund J Festin SVD

Fr Festin, from Odiongan, Romblon, learns some important lessons on being a missionary. We thank The Word, www.theword.ie , published monthly by the Divine Word Missionaries in Ireland, for this article.

Angola is a hauntingly beautiful country lying along a stretch of Africa’s Atlantic shoreline. It is blessed with the choicest gifts of nature: fertile land, an ocean with a plentiful supply of fish, the air is sweet, tropical fruits abound and diamonds and oil flow like milk and honey. In the remote rural areas, time passes at a serene and soft rhythm, unperturbed by the din of war.

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The Dying Earth

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By: Fr. Efren de Guzman, SVD

War Again!

As we go to press the peace talks in Ivory Coast have broken down and civil war has broken out yet again in weary Angola. Fr. Efren de Guzman, our correspondent in Angola and our intrepid missionary writes and tells us about the hardships.

Cut off Arms and Legs

Last April 8, at 6:00 in the morning, the soldiers in the military camp in Funda, 40 kms. From our convent attacked the people near the camp. They cut off arms and legs of men and women, children were thrown violently to the ground, some of them were killed, others were maimed. The soldiers behaved as if they had lost their mind and accused the people of having killed one of their soldiers, so they could have some reasons for putting our people in prison, one of whom was out catechist. It really was a sad day.

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Angola’s Agony

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By: Fr. Efren de Guzman

For more than fifteen years Angola, in Southern Africa, has been wrack by civil was. The Marxist government was backed by Cuba and Russia while the rebels led by Tomas Savimbi were backed by U. S. and South Africa. Now that the cold war is over, peace is beginning to break out or at least the fighting is stopping. Fr. Efren de Guzman, a Filipino priest working in Angola assesses the problems and the challenge to the Church in helping to serve them. It seems in many places the Church is an institution with credibility which can help heal wounds and build peace.

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Letter from Kenya

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By Sr. Fidelis Jardiel OSB

This is a letter from a Filipino missionary, Sr. Fidelis Jardiel OSB, who works in Nairobi, Africa. Her picture is on the cover this month. Would you like to drop her a line?

Dear Fr. Dom,

Greetings from Nairobi, Kenya. The enclosed photo was taken in the Lerio Valley where the Pokot and Marakwet tribes live. Actually, this photo was taken when I was once for holidays in the valley. These are two Pokot women and a baby we met while visiting some of them who lived nearby. The Pokots are a nomadic tribe, who speak only their own tribal language, very poor and l live in the bush.

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 The Singing Priest in Angola

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The Singing Priest in Angola

By Fr. Efren de Guzman, SVD

Is a Filipinos Priest in Angola

Josefa

One month after my arrival in Angola, I met a young catechist named Josefa. She was a good animator- active and joyful in the formation of the catechists.

Illness Strikes

One day she got very sick, a kind of ulcer with complications in the stomach caused by hunger. She brought to the hospital. We visited her, brought communion and prayed together.

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