Learning experience in Africa for Leslie
The minister of Cambuslang Parish Church has returned from his latest visit to Mozambique and he believes both churches can learn from each other.
The Rev Leslie Milton was making his second trip to the southern African nation in the past two years.
Last August he ran a course for around 40 ministers in the country, and his purpose this time was to again help teach.
He said: “It was with the Evangelical Church of Christ.
“In Northern Mozambique, there is a lack of education, particularly because of the war there (the country had a 16-year long civil war that ended in 1992) so the idea was for me to give them some training in the ministry.
“The other part was that all the ministers don’t have a formal order of service for things like baptisms and funerals, so we were giving basic training in how to organise that. “It was a really good fortnight there. “I gave 10 full days of teaching and the courses were very well received - the folk there were eager to learn, especially having been denied an opportunity to learn in the past.
“We managed to produce a good couple of orders of service when there and we talked about what the needs of the pastoral community were and how they related to their own people, as it couldn’t just be us telling them as the Church of Scotland.
“That was very interesting for me, to learn about that and have their voices heard.”
Leslie spent several years working in Mozambique in the 1990s, and his return last year coincided with the 20th anniversary of being ordained as a minister.
Earlier this year two ministers from Mozambique returned the favour by visiting Cambuslang, and Leslie’s recent visit let him see Rev Daniel Joaquim again, strengthening the relationship between the two churches.
He added: “Daniel’s great and a really effective communicator.
“Members of the congregation in Cambuslang were really supportive of our visit. There is a sense of a growing relationship, and how their church life can enrich us.”
Leslie’s visit also let him see some of the country.
“I got to see beyond city life and see rural life.
“There has been a huge explosion in communication there, and the little rural houses, built on mud, didn’t have an electricity grid but they did have solar panels to bring light to them.
“There are often negative images of Africa but Mozambique is doing well, there is a sense of peace there at the moment.”
Mozambique is doing well, there is a sense of peace there at the moment”