Agostinho Olímpio was invited back to church through a Coastal Mission project to reconnect with members who had drifted away. He returned, chose to be baptised, and then did something that reached beyond his own congregation: he arranged for every employee at his pharmacies, including those who are not Seventh-day Adventists, to have Saturdays off. He has also committed to building a place of worship.

His return is one outcome of a deliberate shift at the Coastal Mission, which oversees the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s work in Benguela and Kwanza-Sul provinces. The Mission has begun tracking and acting on member retention, treating it as part of discipleship rather than an administrative afterthought.

“While evangelism seeks to bring people to Christ and invite them into the fellowship of the Church, membership retention focuses on nurturing, strengthening, and supporting believers so that they remain faithful to Christ, grow spiritually, participate actively in the mission of the Church, and help others become disciples,” said Pastor Bonifácio Manuel Tchiombe, executive secretary of the Coastal Mission.

Pastor Tchiombe argues that the Church’s success should not be measured only by how many people are baptised, but by how well new and existing members are established in the faith and equipped for lifelong service.

The Mission’s own records show the number of recorded cases of members leaving falling from 379 in the first quarter of 2025 to 91 in the third quarter of 2026.

Pastor Tchiombe regards the decline as an encouraging sign of the pastoral care, discipleship and retention work now under way, but says continued pastoral visitation and spiritual care remain essential to keeping members connected to the Church.