The African nation of Mozambique is more than 8,000 miles away from St. John’s Episcopal Church in Essex, but there is a strong bond that bridges the distance between them. Bishop Carlos Matsinhe from the Diocese of Lebombo in Mozambique recently visited St. John’s, stopping off on his way to South Dakota for the consecration of Father Jonathan Folts, formerly the rector of St. John’s, as the bishop of South Dakota.

Folts, who served as rector at St. John’s for 15 years, traveled to Mozambique when Matsinhe was consecrated as bishop of Lebombo in 2014

The connection between St. John’s and the diocese of Lebombo began with the extended visit of former St. John’s parishioners Roger LeCompte and Helen Smits, who have moved to Washington, D.C. LeCompte, a retired hospital administrator, and Smits, a retired physician and health care administrator, spent three years, from 2002 to 2005, doing volunteer work in Mozambique. What started as an informal relationship during their time in Africa has since that time blossomed into a formal connection between St. John’s and the Anglican Diocese of Lebombo.

After the Essex church had put on a new roof more than a decade ago, its parishioners decided to contribute 10 percent of the cost of the roof to build a roof over the Anglican cathedral in Maciene, Mozambique, which was at that point roofless.

“Imagine that, they worshipped there in the rain,” said Deep River resident Ed Burke, a St. John’s parishioner who has visited Mozambique on a church mission.

Burke’s wife Suzy is one of more than 20 people with connections to Saint John’s traveling to South Dakota for Folts’s consecration.

Mozambique, a former Portuguese colony in Southeastern Africa, suffered through a prolonged period of civil strife starting in 1964, first against the Portuguese to gain independence and then from warring local political factions. The civil strife ended in 1992 and Mozambique held multi-party elections for the first time in 1994, although there has been limited and sporadic civil strife since then in some parts of the country.

St. John’s parishioners have made a number of mission trips to work with the Diocese of Lebombo. LeCompte, who has lost count of the exact number of times he has visited Mozambique, said it is more than 5 but fewer than 10. At present, St. John’s is supporting one Anglican seminarian from Mozambique not only through divinity studies but for several years afterward. In addition, the church is providing support for St. Bernard Mizeki, an Anglican church and its priest, Father David Geraldo, on the outskirts of Maputo, the capital of the country.

The exchange between the congregations in Essex and Africa is not a not a one-way process.

“Our relationship is much more. It is a Christian journey of faith and fellowship,” the bishop said. “It is to talk together, laugh together, share problems, share our knowledge of God. It is to make God present in all our lives.”

LeCompte, who has maintained a close friendship with Matsinhe, echoed his sentiments.

“At the core of theology is relationships,” he said.

Matsinhe preaches in Portuguese, the language of the former colonial rulers, as well as English, in which he is fluent, and several of the local languages. The bishop explained Portuguese remains the official national language because there are some 26 local dialects and languages in Mozambique and Portuguese remains the one language that residents have in common.

When the bishop visits congregants in different areas of his country, he urges them not to purchase special food and put on a large banquet in his honor.

“I tell them not to buy food. I grew up eating what they eat in the village, cassava, sugar cane,” he said.

Of Malawi’s some 29.6 million residents, the Bishop said that approximately 500,000 are Anglicans. Episcopal worship came to Mozambique through local men who went to work in gold and diamond mines in South Africa, and became Anglicans in the process.

Formally, the bishop is known as Bishop Carlos. Informally, he is known as Avo Carlos. Avo means grandfather in Portuguese.

“If the priest is the father, then the bishop is the grandfather,” he explained.