“The empathy that the Anglican church has demonstrated to us is beyond my words,” says 27-year-old Jacinta Gloria, a widowed mother of four and victim of the ongoing persecution of Christians in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado area. “There were days my children and I would go without eating. I even wished that God might take us so that I can rest. I was so depressed and angry with what was going on in my life. But the Anglican church has revealed the love of Christ in my heart.” 

Mrs Gloria is a recipient of the aid flowing in response to an emergency appeal from the Archbishop of Sydney’s Anglican Aid (see appeal story). Anglican Aid supporters have given more than $50,000 to the Diocese of Zambezia to distribute maize, cooking oil, sugar and beans to 300 displaced families, with priority going to the most vulnerable – including widows, orphans and people with disabilities.

The empathy that the Anglican church has demonstrated to us is beyond my words

As well as the physical provisions, the diocese is helping families build faith and recover from the trauma, training 60 community and Christian leaders in counselling, trauma recovery and discovery Bible study. 

Mrs Gloria, whose husband died in the terror attacks in Cabo Delgado, was helped by the diocesan team. 

“Through the trauma healing session we had, I now believe I can also help other people that are in my situation,” she said. “Without the church I believe I could have been a lost soul living and rebelling against God. I want to thank the church for such a loyal work as they serve as servants of the Lord.”

Another widow,  71-year-old Fatima Saide, also thanked the church and supporters for their generosity. “As a Christian woman from the Apostolic Church, I never thought that another Christian church would be capable of giving a helping hand,” she said. 

“The Anglican church did not just come to distribute food, but they offered some encouraging words of faith – which I needed to hear most. I was so desperate and in despair. The trauma healing and counselling has brought relief, not only to me, but to other people in my situation. If the Anglican church had not come, I believe most of us would be still living in despair, without any hope.”