The Rev. Olga Maria Raimundo Choto grew up in Chipongo, a rural area of South Mozambique. Her parents were farmers who never had the opportunity to attend school, but they worked hard so she could attend. As a pastor and single parent, she says she experienced many situations of gender injustice and found the path to becoming an independent adult to be challenging. She is studying to perfect her research skills to begin a major project on gender-violence and the status of women and girls in her country.
Olga Maria is one of the average 50 scholars who receive United Methodist scholarships for higher education through the World Communion Sunday offering each year. The lives these scholarships impact and the dreams and aspirations they fulfill are not just those of the scholars, but of the many people reached by them as they complete their studies and develop ways to fulfil God’s calling in their lives.
Your gifts on World Communion Sunday, supports the Ethnic Scholarship which enables The United Methodist Church to equip gifted, qualified students from around the globe to become the world changers God created them to be.
“Since my youth, I have been passionate about gender justice.”
Olga Choto studied basic theology at the United Seminary of Ricatla, an ecumenical institution. She obtained her Master of Divinity and then a Master in Conflict Management at African University. She has been a pastor in the UMC of Mozambique since 1993 and is the mother of a boy and two girls.
“As a female pastor, I have experienced many situations of injustice that directly affect women and children in my country and on the African continent in general,” she said. “That’s why I’ve been working with this disadvantaged group who experience gender-based domestic violence, early and forced marriages and early pregnancies, who are unable to finish school, forced to return home at an early age.”
Currently, Choto is studying for a Ph.D. in Education at Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo, Mozambique, with a research concentration on Education and Gender Relations. She wants to refine her research skills to bring the facts of gender-based violence in Africa to light, encouraging as many people as possible to intervene to change this situation.
story by Christie R. House, consultant writer and editor with Global Ministries and UMCOR.
One of six churchwide Special Sundays with offerings of The United Methodist Church, World Communion Sunday calls the church to reach out to all people and model diversity among God’s children. The special offering provides World Communion Scholarships, the Ethnic Scholarship Program and the Ethnic In-Service Training Program.
When you give generously on World Communion Sunday, you equip gifted, qualified students from around the globe to become the world changers God created them to be. Give now.
World Communion Sunday
The World Communion Sunday offering provides scholarships and leadership development opportunities for international students and U.S. racial-ethnic students who are pursuing advanced degrees. Gifts not only make an impact in the lives of individual students, but also the religious, social and civic communities in which they lead and serve. These funds are administered by Global Ministries in collaboration with the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry.
Connect here to give online and mark World Communion Sunday.
