I got married and went to Angola

Today we will travel to a country of the African continent, Angola, and see all the challenges that Adriana lived!

"My name is Adriana Augusta Costa, I will talk about  my experiences in Angola.

I always had the dream of going to Africa, whenever I saw those meetings on video tape with Bishop Gonçalves, the church full of people, many manifesting with demons and at the time there were not many pastors or assistants. He had to stop the prayer to cast the demons away, that's when it was born in me this dream of serving God in Africa.

After a few years I met my husband, he was a member of the church, then raised as an assistant. Soon after we started dating, he was sent to Espírito Santo (Brazil) to do the work of God. We stayed in the faith, until one day my phone rings ... It was him saying that he was at a pastors meeting where Bishop Romualdo had just interviewed him so that we would get married and go to Angola. It was then that began the joys and despairs, lol. I was speechless, I could not move, in a mix of joy and fear as well.

I was about to face challenges and overcome my own feelings of fear.

Starting with my mother, who always worked to provide for my brother and I, we were always together in everything. The pain of separation was hard, knowing I would not see my mother any time soon.

But I always envisioned my dream and the desire to serve God in Africa required my sacrifice, and I had to sacrifice. I got married and went to Angola.

The civil war had just finished when I got there, but we still had to be very careful, we could not walk alone, we had to be accompanied by other wives at all times.

And so the challenges began, concerning marriage, because I just got married and a week later I went to Angola; adapting to the country and the culture of the people in the church.

For starters, there were in total of 16 people living together and only one kitchen for all of us to share.

Shopping for groceries was difficult because we did not have a car so we could get around easily, and there were no taxis either. They were not like the supermarkets in Brazil, it was an old and broken store, we were afraid to buy. But as the beef and the chicken came from Brazil we felt safe to eat. We, wives of pastors, used to buy everything in boxes (chicken and beef) and we shared it between ourselves).

And that's when I had to start fending for myself, that is, stop depending on my mom and dad and put my hands to good work. In addition, we had to get the condongas (public transport) like everybody else, the smell and the loud music blasting our ears. There were times I had to carry the chicken boxes on my head and bring it home lol... I done it plenty times, actually lol ...

Thoughts came, you don’t need this, because my mother used to go shopping by car.

Whenever well run out of water, we had to go buy water from a truck in order to take a bath or had to fetch water from the well of the church, which was not close to home. We had to clean the well where the water would be placed, and I went to clean it. Imagine cleaning a well full of cockroaches! lol

Another difficulty was that I did not quite understand what people were saying; they spoke too fast and did not have time to catch the words.

Some days I missed my mother and my father a lot, it was such a pain that I cannot explain, but it was my sacrifice.

I had to be careful even with health because we were always prone to illnesses.

I wish I had a picture of the street market where we used to go, the place was terribly dirty, the vegetables were placed on the ground just over a plastic sheet, and there was a stream of dirty, smelly water by the side, I could not stand the stench, but had to go there to buy fruits and vegetables. I saw mothers with their children treading those waters.

Another situation was to counsel women that, even though they already have 10 children, they still wanted to have more, and sought prayer to help them get pregnant. Not to mention those women whose husbands had other 10 women and they accepted it, we tried to give them some guidance, I saw their faith for the sake of their marriages.

For me it was very difficult to let go of my customs to embrace new ones, but as the Bible says, He who is of God overcomes.

When I saw those women desiring to be like us, to have a blessed marriage, be the only wife of their husbands, and above all, to know God, to be a woman of God, then my strength was renewed to overcome all difficulties.

And during the meetings I saw that people, even in such critical situation, but a willing people to seek and know God. Their dances, joy and the strength of their praise is so beautiful. I was a little shy to dance at first, but it is impossible not to, their rhythm is contagious.

It was an experience that matured me a lot. "

And you, would you be willing to face such a challenge? Can you picture yourself in a situation like this? Leave your comment.