The METHODIST UNIVERSITY OF ANGOLA, authorized by Decree 30/07, continues the Methodist educational action in the country, which dates back to March 18, 1885, with the arrival of Bishop William Taylor and 45 women and men on mission, to raise schools, hospitals and churches in service to the Kimbundu people. In the first two years, they established their activities beyond Luanda, along the Kwanza River, in Nhangue-a-Pepe, Quiongua, Quéssua, Hombo-a-Njinji, Mufuque and Mucondo. These missions were based on self-support, which defined the Methodist identity in Angola.
One of the main effects of the mission was the awakening and training of indigenous leaders, such as Florinda Bessa, João Gaspar Fernandes, Mateus Pereira Inglês, João Leão Webba, Maria Chaves and Adão Gaspar Domingos, who served the Church and society, driven by the message of the liberation of the oppressed, proclaimed by Jesus himself in the Gospels.
Since then, the actions of the Angolan Methodist people, increasingly aware of the spoliation and humiliation experienced under colonial rule, evolved into a commitment to the country's independence and sovereignty. This commitment was expressed in the formation of indigenous leaders for society through education, in encouraging the emancipation of women, in the protection of children and adolescents, in the development of opportunities for youth, in the affirmation of the dignity of the elderly, in accordance with the the Social Principles expressed in the Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church.
The METHODIST UNIVERSITY OF ANGOLA is, therefore, the result of more than a century of firm Methodist action in basic education throughout the national territory. It was created in the episcopate of Bishop Gaspar João Domingos, in 2007, in the effort of national reconstruction that resulted from the Peace and Reconciliation Agreement. The University is part of a global network of over 800 universities and schools on all continents, affiliated with the International Association of Methodist Schools, Colleges and Universities (IAMSCU). It is based on the Methodist movement's commitments to education with universal access, for human advancement, for dialogue between faith and science, for freedom of thought and expression. They are precepts established since the creation of the Kingswood School by the Reverend John Wesley, in England, in 1748, during the Industrial Revolution.