Minutes for Mission
(taken from www.united-church.ca)

Like most young men, Eduardo Campos had a dream. He wanted to become a pastor. But Eduardo lives in Angola where life is difficult and uncertain.

In the late 1970s, Eduardo began fulfilling his dream as a student at Emmanuel United Seminary. At the seminary, his remarkable intellectual and athletic abilities became apparent. Late one afternoon, as Eduardo was playing soccer, he stepped on a landmine. Eduardo lost one of his legs. Can you imagine the horror -- both for him and his family!

Despite the trauma, the accident did not deter him from finishing his studies and becoming ordained. Ten years later, Eduardo was sent to work in Kuito as a pastor. During the 1992-1994 war, another tragedy struck. Eduardo contracted malaria and, because of the side effects caused by the only medication available, his vision was impaired. Medical help offered by Dr. Collins, a Canadian working in Lubango, and by an eye doctor from neighbouring Namibia, came too late. Eduardo became blind.

Again, Eduardo summoned the courage to live out his dream. Unable to carry out his former activities as a pastor, he joined the local Association for the Blind and is now President of the Association for one of the provinces. He uses a Portuguese Bible in Braille and a special machine to write messages for other blind people.

The United Church of Canada has a long history of working with the church in Angola. The M&S Fund supports the work of the Evangelical Congregational Church of Angola and the Council of Christian Churches of Angola.

Eduardo is an example of the people that our M&S Fund touches in Angola -- people with difficult lives, people with dreams and courage. Your gifts are needed so that we can continue to work with the church of Angola and with the Eduardos of the world.