Publicado por José Geraldo Magalhães em Geral - 13/09/2013
Joaquina bispa em Moçambique
A pastora Joaquina Nhanala, de Moçambique, é a primeira mulher eleita como episcopisa na Igreja Metodista Unida na África.
A Rev. Joaquina foi eleita no dia 23 de julho. Com 51 anos de idade, pastora na Igreja Metodista Unida de Moçambique em Matola, ela sucederá o bispo João Somane Machado, que se aposenta do episcopado de Moçambique. Em outra eleição durante a Conferência, Bispo Eben Nhiwatiwa foi re-eleito líder da região do Zimbábue.
Joaquina é casada com o pastor Eugênio Tomas, com quem tem quatro filhos. Ela foi ordenada diácona em 1989 e obteve o título de bacharelado em 1995. Em 1998, ela fez pós-graduação em Estudos Bíblicos numa faculdade de Nairobi, onde tem atuado como professora. A Revda Joaquina fala cinco idiomas nativos, além do português e do inglês.
Ela terá muitos desafios pela frente. A falta de condições materiais é, talvez, o principal deles. O bispo Somane, que foi aluno da Faculdade de Teologia da Umesp, em Rudge Ramos, disse uma vez, numa entrevista publicada no site da Igreja Metodista Unida e reproduzida no jornal Expositor Cristão, que, em Moçambique, "perfurar poços" é uma forma de evangelizar. A falta de água tratada, de alimentação adequada e de assistência médica faz as taxas de mortalidade infantil serem altíssimas. Malária e Aids também são graves problemas de saúde pública. A Igreja Metodista Unida mantém vários trabalhos assistenciais no país.
A pastora Maísa Gomes de Oliveira, missionária brasileira no Seminário em Cambine, conta que os seminaristas precisam até emprestar Bíblias uns aos outros para estudar. Por isso, a Igreja Metodista no Brasil pretende lançar uma campanha para a compra e envio de Bíblias a Moçambique. Aguarde mais informações pelo site.
Informações extraídas do site da Igreja Metodista Unida, dos EUA (www.umc.org)
Veja, abaixo, a matéria completa, extraída do site:
The Rev. Joaquina Nhanala of Mozambique is the first woman elected as a United Methodist bishop in Africa. A UMNS file photograph by Bill Kreamer.
A UMNS Report
By Linda Bloom*
July 23, 2008
The Rev. Joaquina Filipe Nhanala was elected July 23 as the first female United Methodist bishop in
Nhanala, 51, the pastor of
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Nhiwatiwa was first elected to the episcopacy in 2004 and has served as general secretary of the Africa Central Conference since 2000. He previously was a faculty member of the theology school at
Besides serving a large church in Matola, a suburb of
Among those celebrating her election were members of the denomination?s Missouri Annual (regional) Conference and its Mozambique Initiative ministry, which connects churches, groups and individuals in
"We in the Missouri Conference have had a long relationship with Rev. Joaquina Nhanala, providing assistance for her to attend the clergywomen?s event in California several years ago, working together in workshops around women?s issues in Mozambique, and as a pastor of a covenant partner church, Matola UMC in Mozambique," said Carol Kreamer, coordinator for the Mozambique Initiative.
Nhanala is the only female United Methodist pastor in
The new bishop also facilitated the Mozambique Initiative?s consultation with 200 participants in
Catholic and Methodist roots
Nhanala is married to another United Methodist pastor, the Rev. Eugenio Tomas, and they have four adult children.
Although she was baptized and confirmed as a Catholic - her father?s religion - Nhanala also attended her mother?s Methodist church. Drawn to the youth programs, she became active in the Methodist church as a teen-ager. She and her husband, who married in 1976, were both accepted for theological studies at the 1985 Mozambique Annual Conference and received sponsorship from the Women?s Fellowship.
They attended Gbarnga School of Theology in
In 1998, she graduated from Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology with a master?s degree in Bible studies and theology and also served as a teacher and dean of students there. She speaks five native languages, as well as Portuguese and English.
A growing area
According to the Mozambique Initiative, The United Methodist Church has tripled in size in
The denomination?s three central conferences in Africa are comparable to the five
*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in
News media contact: Linda Bloom,
VEJA TAMBÉM:
Diário de Moçambique. Os relatos da pastora Maísa, missionária brasileira em Cambine, Moçambique.