Pastor Sammy Gumbe

It is with a heavy heart that I write this as we have received news that the pastor of our church in Maputo, Sammy Gumbe, has passed away. In June it was discovered that he had lymphoma. He had a couple of chemotherapy treatments but then was unable to continue them.

Our friend Mark Estes, who was part of the church for several years and now lives in Thailand with his family, wrote this tribute:

"Within five minutes of receiving the message [of Sammy's death], our family had just finished our evening meal and was listening to some praise and worship songs. My favorite – courtesy of Pastor Sammy’s love for the song – “He Knows My Name” played.

"I found myself suddenly alone with the music – Marcia in the kitchen cleaning as the kids meandered to their rooms to play. I sat down and sang in worship and remembered the passion of the song that was shared on so many Sundays not so long ago in Maputo – with Pastor Sammy up front enthralled in God’s Awe and encouraging Bruno to ‘play it again!!’…and Pastor wanted us all to experience that moment as he did.

"I recall often looking up to see Pastor Sammy holding one of his sons – sometimes both (he was a big strong man!) and seeing how much he and Christine loved them – and each other.

"I remember getting to know Pastor from our early days in Maputo back in 2007. We liked to “challenge” each other in loving and brotherly ways. We often didn’t see things eye to eye, but we let love guide our discussions and in the end, regardless of agreement or disagreement on a subject, I walked away with a deeper and growing respect and love for Pastor Sammy. I hope he did the same of me. I think he did.

What would Pastor say?

“God is Good…all the time…and all the time…God is Good” I can hear his voice. Do you remember how he said the word “Love”?

"I’m far away and know that many tears will flow in the days to come as MICF and the Community that knew Pastor come together to comfort and support Christine and the boys as they say “see you later” to Sammy. There is no such word or phrase in the Christian language that means ‘goodbye’ or ‘farewell’ as our assurance of Pastor’s new home is with us – and our comfort through faith holds us fast to the fact that one day…I’ll enjoy shouting praise with Sammy in a better place with the Father who indeed, “knows our name”.

"I can see Pastor Sammy now with the list of questions for the Lord… "OK Father, now that I’m home…and here for a while…there are a few things we need to talk about!”


The other thing Pastor Sammy would say is "God is faithful...all the time... and all the time...God is faithful, for that is His nature." These are good things to remember in a time like this when we could be tempted to ask "Why" and wonder about God's nature.

Pastor Sammy officiating at the wedding of Bruno and Letticia, from our church.