The Kapasseni Project
The Lutheran Church in Mozambique - Igreja Luterana de Mozambique
The Kapasseni Project was formed in 1998 to assist with the regeneration of the village of Kapasseni. One of the requests from the village chief was to provide spiritual support and in 2006, the first worship services of the Lutheran Church of Mozambique were held in Kapasseni village, the township of Sena, Murrema, Mbueza, Chemba, Mpango, Zondane and Samboneta.
The Kapasseni Committee in Canada continues to raise funds to assist with the training of 8 students who will be ordained as Pastors for these rural communities in Sofala province of Mozambique in Eastern Africa.
MISSION WORK
With the community development projects completed, the Kapasseni Committee in Canada has concentrated it's efforts on the mission work. Eight local men asked to be trained as pastors, and have been working towards this goal for four years. They serve as lay Pastors in their own communities and they know the people and the local language.
Spiritual Support
Kapasseni-born Joseph Alfazema answered the Chief's request to provide spiritual support and studied at Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary in St. Catharines, Ontario. Joseph was ordained at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Victoria, British Columbia. He was called by Lutheran Church Canada in June 2006 to serve as a mission Pastor to the village of Kapasseni and surrounding areas. Joseph was uniquely suited for working in the Kapasseni area, as he knows the people, their customs, and the language, and is a respected elder in the community. He served for 5 years and then retired and now lives in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The mission work continues through the student Pastors who know the language and serve the churches that were started by Pastor Joseph.
Mission Work Continues - for more information go to Kapasseni Mission website
TEE Program
Rev. Carlos Winterle, a Brazilian mission Pastor based in South Africa, is the coordinator of the Theological Education by Extension Courses being offered in Mozambique and Angola through the Seminary in Brazil. August/Sept 2013 was the fourth stage of the TEE program, which began in 2010. The 8 candidates are already recognized as pastors by their communities, but as they are not ordained, they cannot baptize and offer the Lord’s Supper. They lead the local worship services and preach. They teach and prepare the people in their churches for Holy Baptism. They visit the sick, perform funerals and do God’s mission. The Kapasseni project raises funds to help these students as they study and serve their churches. A small monthly honorariumis given to each student so they can have enough food to eat, help with transportation costs to attend their monthly training meetings, rental space for the meetings and a place for them to stay overnight. These basic needs are covered with your generous donations as well as the yearly in country costs for training.
Building Project- Mpango Lutheran Church
Funds are being raised to build a church in the village of Mpango. The congregation is very large and growing. The local people want a church building and have started making bricks and preparing to build. They need funds to purchase building supplies for the roof, doors , and lumber for some benches and furnishingsThe Kapasseni project has provided funds to build and furnish 5 churches. These building projects are completed in Kapasseni, Sena, Chemba, Murrema and now Mpango.
Pastor Andre Plamer
An outreach was made in 2012 to Pastors in Brazil to look for a mission Pastor to go to Mozambique and continue the work that had been started with Pastor Alfazema and the lay Pastors. Brazil is a Portuguese speaking country as is Mozambique and this will be helpful to continue the training of the 8 students. Pastor Andre Plamer indicated his willingness to go to Mozambique and he participated in the training session in September 2013. He met with the TEE students and went to the worship service in Murrema with 82 people attending and 28 people were baptized. He also went to Mpango with 104 people attended the service and there were 29 baptisms. While Pastor Andre was there in September, the small catechism was studied and translated will be printed through the Lutheran Heritage Foundation. Pastor Andre will assist with the training of the TEE students in another training session in August 2014 and the goal will be to have them ready to be ordained after completing the TEE course in 2015. It may be possible to train more pastors and start a new TEE class after this group of 8 students is ordained. There are several areas that still require funding. The Kapasseni Project has committed to collect donations to help with the budget for the mission work and the TEE program. See Donations page for information about helping the mission work with your gift.
