Matapalo, Pedro (1938–2009)

Pedro Matapalo was an Angolan native, an ordained Seventh-day Adventist minister, who served the church in various capacities as evangelist, teacher, pastor, chief financial officer, ADRA Country Manager and church administrator.

Early Life

Pedro Matapalo was born on February 19, 1938, in Chivititi, a locality in Ganda municipality, in the Benguela (district) province. However, on his birth certificate is registered Belém, in Caála municipality, Huambo (district) province as the place of birth.¹ But Ruth Matapalo, a daughter of the late pastor, explains that his birth certificate indicates Belém, Caála, as his birth place because of the late registration of birth record, while he was born in Chivititi.² Pedro was the son of José Matapalo and Vissila Camea.³ The name “Matapalo,” which means “roads” in a local language, was given to Pedro’s father by the court officers in view of José’s construction work to help identify him.

Conversion and Baptism

Pedro’s father, José Matapalo, was responsible for all tasks related to the maintenance of a set of roads in a region of Ganda. The work of maintaining roads was a well-paying job. When José Matapalo heard about the Bongo Adventist Mission and its school, he decided to send all his four sons there for schooling in the hope that they too could enjoy a comfortable life like his in the future.⁴

However, after one semester of studies at Bongo Mission School, only Pedro proceeded to the next semester. His three brothers decided to return at home and take care of their father’s cows. Meanwhile, Pedro continued with his studies at Bongo Mission, where he was converted and baptized. Ruth recalls that her father, Pastor Pedro Matapalo, used to say that “I was taken from African drummers, playing for traditional clowns.”⁵

Education and Marriage

Before joining the ministry, Pedro Matapalo’s education consisted having completed the fourth grade of the primary school level in Bongo Mission School, which enabled him to enroll for theological studies in the Bongo Mission Seminary. The Bible Course lasted for three years, after which he spent another year in the preparatory circle (internship).⁶ Then, he continued with his academic education until the sixth year (according to the old curriculum). His mentor was Pastor Mário Abel.

Pedro married Florinda Paulino in 1959, and the couple was blessed with six children: four girls and two boys.⁷ As of this writing, two of his daughters are serving the Lord at the Southwestern Angola Union Mission office, namely Inocência Pedro Matapalo (now Chilombo because of her marriage), and Ruth Pedro Matapalo.⁸ However, after the death of his wife Florinda, Pastor Matapalo married Eunice Nangoguela in 2008.

Career and Ministry

Pastor Pedro Matapalo served the Adventist Church in various capacities and different places. He was first assigned as an evangelist in Quicuco Mission Center in 1959, where he remained for eleven years from 1960 to 1970. There he served as a teacher-evangelist. Next, he was transferred to Nova Lisboa Mission (now Huambo) as an area director. While serving as Nova Lisboa Area Director, in 1972, he was ordained at Bongo Mission together with Dr. David Parsons, Daniel Cordas, and Daniel Adolfo.⁹ Later, in 1973, Pastor Matapalo was appointed as Mission Field president.¹⁰ In 1974, while he was serving as president of Bongo Mission, he was invited to the Euro-Africa Division headquarters in Berne, Switzerland, to discuss plans of the work with Pastors C. L. Powers and Jean Zurcher, Division president and executive secretary respectively.¹¹

Later, in 1975, Pastor Matapalo was appointed to be the Namba Mission director in Kwanza-Sul province, where he stayed until 1979, when he was called back to Huambo Mission (formerly known as the Nova Lisboa Mission) as director.¹² Meanwhile, in October 1975, Pastor Matapalo was caring for 30,000 members in Angola following the evacuation of Portuguese workers after the country had gained independence from Portugal that year.¹³ Then, in 1983, Pastor Matapalo was appointed to serve as president of the Central Association Mission, when the Euro-Africa Division organized the Angolan territory into several Association Missions.¹⁴ He remained in this assignment until 1990 when he was appointed to be the ADRA country manager, under the Union office administration.¹⁵

Also, in 1995, the Angola Union Mission sent him to the South Association Mission as chief financial officer, where he served one term. While remaining in the South Association Mission, he served as district pastor from 1997 to 2001, after which he was recalled to the Union Mission to serve as Union Ministerial Association secretary. During his long ministry, Pastor Matapalo served as a delegate to the General Conference sessions of the Seventh-day Adventist Church held in Dallas, Texas, in 1985,¹⁶ and in St. Louis, Missouri, in 2005.¹⁷ He retired from his ministry in 2005.

His Legacy

Through the leadership of Pastor Pedro Matapalo, the Seventh-day Adventist Church was established in Sumbe, the main city of the Kwanza-Sul province. This was between 1975-1977, and it took place under challenging circumstances. According to some reports, there were riots near the Namba Mission, which included the destruction of bridges perpetuated by rebel soldiers. When the Security Service of the government investigated the matter, they decided to take the Namba Mission president to prison. According to Pastor Morais Lucas, the former Southwestern Angola Union associate financial officer, when Pastor Matapalo was taken to the main prison of Sumbe under allegations that he supported the rebel soldiers, Pastor Matapalo started giving Bible studies and baptizing many prisoners there. As result of these baptisms, when the prisoners were set free, they started a church in Sumbe.¹⁸

Still, related to Pastor Matapalo’s imprisonment, Alexandre Ruben, a former student of Namba Mission, praised Pastor Matapalo for his courage. He said that he was there when the pastor was instructed to drive his car to the prison. According to Ruben, the pastor was not afraid, and he even defended some mission workers and Adventist Church members who were being associated with the destruction of bridges.¹⁹ Later, during Pastor Pedro Matapolo’s seven years of leadership in the Central Region of Angola (then known as the Central Association Mission), the Seventh-day Adventist Church almost doubled its membership. From 1983, the year of its organization, the Central Association Mission recorded a membership of 29, 839, which increased to 46,857 in 1990 when he left the office.²⁰

Finally, Pastor Matapalo was blessed with the gift of preaching. He became very popular through his sermons. For example, while he was the Ministerial Association secretary, around 2005, he preached a sermon at a meeting organized by the Shepherdess Department where he addressed some ethical concerns in ministerial life. The comments made during that sermon continued to be remembered for many years.

Sources

Bremer, Oswald. “The Adventist Church in Angola.” South European Quarterly Review, September 1972.

“Euro-Africa.” ARH, October 23, 1975.

“Pedro Matapalo,” Euro-Africa Division (Delegates). ARH, June 27, 1985.

“Pedro Matapalo.” Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division (Delegates). ARH, July 2005.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Various years. https://www.adventistyearbook.org/.

União Angolana dos Adventistas do Sétimo Dia. “Registo do Serviço do Obreiro.” Huambo, Angola: União Angolana dos Adventistas do Sétimo Dia, outubro, 1959.

“With thankful Hearts: a report of the yearend meeting of the Euro-Africa Division Committee.” Euro-Africa Division Quarterly Review, March 1974.

Notes

1. União Angolana dos Adventistas do Sétimo Dia, “Registo do Serviço do Obreiro” (Huambo, Angola: União Angolana dos Adventistas do Sétimo Dia, October, 1959), 1.↩

2. Ruth Matapalo, daughter of the late Pastor Matapalo, Southwestern Angola Union Office, interview by the author, Huambo, April 15, 2024.↩

3. Ibid.↩

4. Ibid.↩

5. Ibid.↩

6. Ibid.↩

7. Ibid.↩

8. Ibid.↩

9. Oswald Bremer, “The Adventist Church in Angola,” South European Quarterly Review, September 1972, 5.↩

10. Ibid. As an explanation, what is here referred to as the Union was then called a Mission Field, the Seventh-day Yearbook calls it a Mission.↩

11. “With thankful Hearts: a report of the yearend meeting of the Euro-Africa Division Committee,” Euro-Africa Division Quarterly Review, March 1974, 3.↩

12. Ibid.↩

13. “Euro-Africa,” ARH, October 23, 1975, 20.↩

14. “Angola Union Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1984), 102.↩

15. Ibid.↩

16. “Pedro Matapalo,” Euro-Africa Division (Delegates), ARH, June 27, 1985, 22.↩

17. “Pedro Matapalo,” Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division (Delegates), ARH, July 2005, 36.↩

18. Morais Lucas, interviewed by the author at the Southwestern Union Office, in 2024.↩

19. Alexandre Ruben, Namba Mission former student, interviewed by the author, on April 9, 2025.↩

20. General Conference Archives and Statistics, “Central Association Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, (1984), 102; Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (1990), 83.↩