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UPF Celebrates with Tocoists at Anniversary Event
Written by Sérgio Vieira, president, UPF-Portugal
Sunday, July 25, 2021
Lisbon, Portugal—UPF-Portugal was invited by the Tocoist Church of Portugal to participate in a special anniversary celebration.
The worship service of Sunday, July 25, 2021, was also a celebration of the 72nd anniversary of the founding of the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the World.
The Tocoists say that their church began in an Africa that was still colonized, when the Rev. Dr. Simão Toco of Angola, having been invited to meet with religious leaders in another country, prayed for an answer from God and the Holy Spirit about the liberation of Africa.
On July 25, 1949, that answer came through the descent of the Holy Spirit upon their assembled congregation, just as at the time of Pentecost 2,000 years earlier. After several revelations, but also persecution and arrests, Rev. Dr. Simão Toco became an admired and recognized prophet in Angola and all of Africa.
No wonder that exactly 70 years later, in 2019 UPF co-founder Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon started focusing her providential work on the African continent.
For this celebratory meeting, the Tocoist Church invited the president of the Parish Council of the city of Odivelas, whose City Council (also a partner of UPF-Portugal) has been very active in promoting interreligious dialogue.
Observing the proper safety measures in regard to COVID-19, about 105 people attended the meeting, out of a total of about 400 Tocoists in Portugal.
At the end of the service there was a great and joyful festivity, at which the UPF vice president presented Mother Moon's memoir to one of the Tocoist Church pastors.
Background
The Tocoist Church (Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the World), whose motto is “Justice, Peace and Joy,” was founded by the Angolan prophet Simão Gonçalves Toco. It currently has more than 2 million members in Angola alone, besides having churches in Europe, America and even in Japan. It has close relations of friendship and collaboration with the government of Angola and has created several social institutions, such as a higher technical institute recognized by the Angolan government, a university hospital, and a radio channel.
Its current leader, His Holiness Bishop D. Afonso Nunes, who is recognized by their members as the personification of the Prophet Simão Gonçalves Toco, has known UPF and its affiliated organization Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) in Angola for more than two decades. That relationship is deeply rooted in mutual trust, and he has a very high esteem and respect for Mother Moon.
Over 20 years ago in Korea, the bishop and his wife participated in the Marriage Blessing Ceremony officiated by Father and Mother Moon. The many instances of mutual cooperation include his participation in the São Tomé and Príncipe Summit in 2019 and in the recent inauguration in Africa of the Interreligious Association for Peace and Development (IAPD), one of the UPF associations.
Through his close contact with UPF and FFWPU, Bishop Afonso Nunes has come to understand the importance of rescuing the family and implementing moral and civic values to create a healthy and just society.
UPF-Portugal has long worked closely with the Tocoist Church of Portugal to increase the important providential role of this big country in the Lusophone countries of Africa. Two members of the Tocoist Church are among the leading UPF Ambassadors for Peace.
Thank you very much! "We are together!"
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