Witchdoctor with divining basket in Lunda Sul, from the memoirs of Missionary R.C. Allison.

Feitiçaria, the practice of witchcraft, is a force in Angolan villages but is also very present in urban areas. Although the media tends to focus on child witches, feitiçaria invades all levels of society, from university students to farmers to influential business people. The Angola Field Group invites you to a presentation “The Power of Witchcraft”, at the Viking Club, Thursday May 24th,at 8:00 PM with Dr. José Evaristo Abias from the Instituto Superior de Teologia in Lubango, Huila. Dr. Abias, a former member of the Conselho da Republica and a role player in the peace process of Angola, will draw on his 27 years of experience as a pastor in the Igreja Evangélica, to explain the culture of witchcraft in Angola. He will try to answer questions such as “Is witchcraft just a myth? Why do people turn to witchcraft? Which social classes are more vulnerable? Is demoniac possession a fact?  Can a person be killed through occult powers? Can a person be sick as a result of witchcraft? How is witchcraft learned or transmitted? Can a person get involved without being harmed? How can one be protected from witchcraft attacks? Can one improve economically helped by spirits? To what extent does the fear of spirits affect people?”

Dr. Abias was born in Kaluquembe, Huila province and has degrees in Theology and Missiology. He was the General Secretary of The União de Igrejas Evangelicas de Angola from 1979-2004, the Chair of the Evangelical Alliance from 1998-2004, the General Secretary of the Evangelical Alliance from 2005-2010, a member of COIEPA Comité Inter-Eclesial para Paz em Angola from 1998-2004, a member of Presidium do COIEPA from 2004-2008, and a member of the Conselho da Republica 1991/92. Presently he is a Lecturer at ISTEL Instituto Superior de Teologia no Lubango and a pastor at Igreja Evangélica do Lubango and treasurer of Evangel Fellowship International. He has 5 children aged 20-35.
Dr. Abias says that there is an ancestral belief in the supernatural that leads people to trust in powers beyond material existence. The essence of that belief is based on the existence of a good and supreme entity and the need of mediators through whom normal human beings can access that world. A secular worldview usually sees the issue as just an exotic part of African culture and doesn’t understand the spiritual bondage involved nor how it affects all aspects of a victim’s life.
Everybody is welcome to attend. The talk will be in English. In close cooperation with the Viking Club, this event is offered free of charge. Beverages and snacks are sold at the Viking Bar which opens at 7:30 PM! Coupons must be purchased. For sale, traditional baskets hand woven in Moxico.  You can download a map showing the location of the Viking Club on our Join Us page. The Viking Club is on the main floor of the former Swedish Building at Rua Marien N”Guabi, No 118 in Maianga, across the street from the new Panela de Barra restaurant.