The assembly in Helions Bumpstead, Essex, UK commended my wife and I to the grace of God in 1993 to serve the Lord in Angola. We consequently spent two years in Lisbon, Portugal, learning the Portuguese language before moving to Angola with our two sons, Alex (4yrs) and Luke (2yrs) in 1995.
Our burden was to preach the Gospel and teach the Word of God and in some small way to strengthen assembly testimony. It became evident on our arrival that to effectively reach the people with the Scriptures we needed to speak the language of the people as so few really understood Portuguese. So we set about learning the Chokwe and with the Lords help after 9 months I was able to preach my first message in Chokwe. Since then this is the language we use in day to day conversation and public preaching and teaching.
We lived at Camundambala, a former mission station which was abandoned by assembly missionaries in 1969 due to the unrest. The war of independence moved on to be a civil war which continued in the country until 2002 when Jonas Savimbi the UNITA leader was killed. This brought peace to Angola, which by the goodness of God continues to the present day. We worked hard to make a home out of very little, and without all the practical help that is available today the Lord gave us the grace to live in challenging surroundings and circumstances despite the war that at times almost came upon our doorstep. The boys grew up knowing the explosions of mines, artillery fire passing over the house, small arms fire, refugees, even their friends would flee the village at night due to fear that the rebels would attack, but we were preserved, safe in doing the will of God. Psalm 91 became exceedingly precious to Debbie and I over those years.
Debbie home schooled the boys and during the day I would have small Bible study groups with men who came from the surrounding villages. It was our desire to teach those who could in turn teach others and it is our great joy that many of those who participated in those Bible study groups during 1996-2003 are still active and serving the Lord in their assemblies to the present day. They were physically tough days, but we were happy in doing something for the Lord and His faithfulness to us as a young family in meeting our every need will never dim in our memories as the years pass.
In 2003, we returned home to the UK for the education of our sons. God hadn't called them to serve Him in Angola, and we felt they were our first mission field and we needed to prepare them for their lives in the UK, to be among folk of their own culture and hear Bible teaching from someone other than Dad! So since 2003 we have been based in the UK and I have been able with the Lord's help to visit Angola four times every year, up to a month each visit.
During this time, our service for God changed into an itinerant ministry. I would load my Land Rover with books, Bibles and Hymnbooks, take a couple of local brethren with me and travel mainly into the Camaxilo area of northern Angola to preach and teach the Scriptures. It has been an amazing time, seeing the phenomenal need of Bible teaching at first hand amongst the Chokwe speaking assemblies. The foundation had been laid during the pioneer years of Gospel work in Angola but with the onset of war which continued for almost 40 years the work had only grown numerically and colossal ignorance of basic Bible truths exist and the fear of witchcraft abounds in every place. We have found that by speaking the language, living in the Africans homes no matter how simple they are, and eating their food, sitting where they sit and making the effort to reach them has opened hearts as well as ears to the truths of the Word of God.
basic Bible truths exist and the fear of witchcraft abounds in every place. We have found that by speaking the language, living in the Africans homes no matter how simple they are, and eating their food, sitting where they sit and making the effort to reach them has opened hearts as well as ears to the truths of the Word of God.
Summer 2015
Written by Brian & Debbie Howden - ANGOLA