Missionary life at St. Thomas Parish, Mzuzu, Malawi

Our Parish is named after St Thomas the Apostle and its Parish Priest happens to be Fr. Thomas. St Thomas the Apostle Parish is a semi-rural parish in the Diocese of Mzuzu in Northern Malawi. The Parish was created in October 2013. It currently has 17 prayer stations, 2 in town and 15 in the villages. The rural outstations are characterized by their distance from the Presbytery, the low number of their Christians and the poor or inexistent structures. One of the churches is not accessible by car. Most of these churches have very lively liturgies where all members participate in praying, singing and dancing. Our main Apostolate rotates around the ordinary administration of the sacraments, teaching/training of the Christians in the context of primary evangelization, Justice and Peace and Integrity of creation, and development works.

As a child I grew up in a village which was not even an outstation. The Catechist was the hero of the faith through his way of organizing the spiritual life of the people. The priest only came to the village once a year, under a special request on the feast of patron saint of the Christian Community, St. Andrew. Sisters and seminarians occasionally came during the Lenten Campaign for 2 to 3 days of teaching. I guess this has affected my missionary approach to remote areas. In a parish like St. Thomas, the temptation is to settle in town where life is softer and Christians are more capable intellectually and financially, while neglecting the rural outstations which are difficult to reach and have small numbers of Christians. Aware of this risk, we have adopted an old but efficient Missionary strategy of spending days at the outstations to maximize our presence among the Christians. We often go as a team, sometimes including Christians from town. The Christians of the outstations are always glad to receive us in their places and they are more than happy to have us in their midst. Materials such as drawings and movies are still relevant pastoral tools in such areas.

Such a Missionary approach goes with its requirement in personnel and finances. It is quite difficult to go to the distant outstations when there is only one priest at the presbytery. I happened to be alone for most part of the year 2020 and despite all the good will, I could only visit the distant outstations during week days. Finances are also crucial for one to reach out to such places. This has compelled us to reflect on ways to empower the parish financially so that it has enough to cover these expenses. Apart from the traditional ways of collecting funds such as tithe and offertory, we have explored ways of generating funds even in rural outstations where the livelihood of people is low, making it difficult to contribute meaningfully. Our Parish does a bit of farming on two farms: One for food crops where we are currently adding a piggery, and the other for tree farming where we have planted beyond 500 apple trees. In town we have small hostels which students of a nearby Technical College rent. Having seen the advantage of this, we have undertaken to build a proper hostel to receive around 100 students, though we are facing some financial difficulties to finish the works. Once completed, this will not only boost the income of the parish but also create a venue for retreats and trainings during holidays.

While some of the development works are for Income Generation, others are aimed at responding to the needs of the parish and the communities around us in areas of infrastructure: offices, school blocks, boreholes, making of bridges/roads in some rural places to enhance accessibility.

After 7 years of existence, St Thomas the Apostle Parish has managed to meet most of its basic needs including salaries of all the workers, upkeep of the confreres and stagiaires working in it, and also the cost of transportation for ministry.

Justice and Peace is part and parcel of our daily pastoral activities. It is very common for us to have to deal with cases where the lives and property of people accused of witchcraft are threatened. We also deal with early girl marriages mainly in the rural areas of the parish. It is fulfilling when after a long struggle a family finally understands that their young daughter is better at school than in a marriage. Also, we attempt to respond to the yearly struggle of the less privileged people during the transitory period before the maturity of their crops, when they are exposed to hunger and starvation. The Justice and Peace Commission of our Parish is also active. Luckily, an oncoming workshop in August 2021 on accompaniment of victims of various injustices will increase their capacities.

By: Thomas Delwende Pouya M.Afr.

Pastoral Experience during the Covid-19 Pandemic: “Jesus Visiting His Flock!”

The challenge that one encounters when writing an article about personal experience is the temptation to employ an academic and scientific approach. This means that the article has to acknowledge the source of any ideas that its scribe has not authored or created. The word ‘created’ reminds me of a Physics class in secondary school. When studying matter in relation to energy, I came across the reality that “energy can neither be created nor destroyed, only transformed/converted from one form of energy to another.” This can still be true, in my opinion, if applied to the Word of God. I would say, therefore, the Word of God can neither be created nor destroyed by any human person. We, as pastoral agents, can only transform or convert the Word of God from one form to another to cause positive effects on human beings.

I would say, as many do, that the Covid-19 pandemic caught the world off-guard. Nonetheless, even if we were to be on-guard, our lived experiences remind us of the fact that, our survival depends on God’s mercy and providence. Indeed, this humbles you and me. Consequently, we begin realising that one’s tomorrow, like that of Noah in the Ark, totally relies on God’s protection and wisdom.

As I recall my physics class, I notice that, in the Law of Conservation of Energy, the amount of energy in any system is inevitably determined by the following combination:

1. the total internal energy of a system
2. the initial internal energy of a system
3. the work done by or on the system
4. the heat added to, or removed from, the system

The same combination can be equally applied to our pastoral activities if you agree with the formulation that “the Word of God can neither be created nor destroyed by any human person, it can only be transformed from one form to another to cause positive effect on human beings.” We can leave this thought for another time.

When narrating our personal experiences, we can easily forget the key people, in particular, those who are very close to us. In order to avoid this error of omission, I therefore thank Fr. Lamec Ciza and Claude Nsengiyumva (Stagiaire) for the role they played in Henley-KwaMpumuza Community during the first wave of Covid-19 infections in South Africa.

Tirelessly, Lamec and Claude have been ministering to God’s family in Henley-KwaMzimba and St. Vincent-KwaMpumuza Parishes in the Archdiocese of Durban. The two were on the frontline preparing the ground in view to re-opening of churches. The preparations included: training of church leaders on how to conduct liturgical celebrations and services in compliance with Covid-19 regulations, forming compliance officers who would take records of congregants (temperature, contacts, etc.) and getting all materials ready (temperature scanners, sanitizers, posters, etc) before the date of re-opening churches. This, of course, drained their energy, disturbing their welfare, and stressed their minds.

Claude was supposed to have left the country for his holidays immediately after Easter (2020) and prepare himself to join the fourth phase of initial formation in Tangaza University College, Nairobi. Lamec was due for home-leave and yet he was still to handover the parish and join Lenasia parish in Johannesburg. Things turned out not to happen as planned. What a stressful situation! With these reasons among many, I sincerely thank both of them for their perseverance and missionary zeal. I pray that the Loving God may continue to bless and give them joy.

Henley Community of the Missionaries of Africa is situated in KwaZulu-Natal Province. It serves two parishes as mentioned above. During this time of pandemic as in other times, of course, we tried our best to draw our energy and wisdom as we allowed ourselves to be nourished and revitalised by the Eucharist. Everything began and ended in the community – we planned and evaluated together. This was so significant to my growth as a Sector leader. Our living together in community increased transparency, sharing and collaboration. Our community life radiated joy and hope to all those who surround us, especially leaders of Small Christian Communities, Eucharistic Ministers and families.

Despite the pandemic, the Small Christian Communities (SCCs) have proven themselves to be indispensable and the heart of Christian life. It was in SCCs that the first stage of re-opening of the churches was first experimented. It was here that the number of congregants, when celebrating the Eucharist, was ensured not to go beyond 50, including a priest and altar servers. The human mind is endowed with creativity and it excels even when hit hard by a pandemic. Creatively and thoughtfully, the Archdiocese of Durban allowed the parishes to celebrate the Sunday Mass during weekdays. Those who could not come to church on Sunday because the number was limited, had an opportunity to attend the same Mass in their Small Christian Communities. We managed to reach out to all the 35 Small Christian Communities.

The second stage in our plan included visiting the elderly and the sick who were unable to congregate on Sundays for obvious reasons. It took us five weeks to complete the first round of visitation in all the 35 Small Christian Communities. The elderly and the sick are categorised as vulnerable groups that are at high risk and exposed to Covid-19 infections. We needed to be very careful when visiting these groups. Indeed, it was a great moment in my life. I could see the face of each radiating joy because their priest ‘ubaba’ has finally visited them. My greetings, “INkosi ayibe nani” (The Lord be with you), was met with a joyful response. This reminded me of a joyful encounter between the Blessed Virgin Mary and Elizabeth (Luke 1:39-56). How joyful Elizabeth was and how the unborn baby, John the Baptist leapt in her womb when they both heard the greetings of Mary, the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:41-42). It was the salutation of joy and peace. Visiting the elderly and the sick, means bringing them peace as we greet them with the words of the Lord ‘Peace be with you’ (John 20:21). This experience when shared at home left each of us energised and motivated. Based on this pastoral experience, I have learnt that when we allow God to lead us, nothing can stop us from doing his will.

Through these encounters which I name ‘Jesus visiting His flock’ my faith and desire to serve God’s people is being strengthened and rejuvenated. However, this has been possible because everything was planned and organised at the level of community. It was not the fruit of personal enterprise, but rather an outcome of community discernment. Indeed, fraternal spirit at its best!

I also noticed that coming together as a community for recreation plays an important role in strengthening our informal and fraternal interaction. Sometimes Claude and I could simply remain seated enjoying beautiful melodies manufactured by Lamec’s competence of playing a piano. It was as well so fascinating to gather as community to offer prayers and petitions and to celebrate the Eucharist. This was also a moment of carrying into our prayers and Eucharistic celebrations, news and events that seemed to touch the lives of many parishioners including covid-19 related death cases. It is in prayers that one finds God’s presence, and in deep silence that one hears the voice of God saying: ‘Peace be with you!’ (John 20:21) and ‘Do not be afraid, I am with you!’ (Isaiah 41:10). One old lady in tears said, that she thought she would die before meeting a priest again. She was now happy to go in peace, if that was the will of God, she said, after having received the Eucharist. Other sick people also felt a great relief after being visited by their priests.

Through such encounters and experiences, despite the covid-19 pandemic, joy overwhelmed each of us. We felt that we were able to serve God’s people despite the worries and anxieties caused by the current pandemic. We also used such visits to encourage and urge people to always remain in compliance with the covid-19 restrictions and regulations. It was pleasing to see that each house we entered we found sanitizers on the table and everyone had put on his/her facemask. Social distancing was as well observed. Together we also reminded ourselves of the importance of continuing to pray so that God may accord us health and healing. In fact, our unity in prayers is the weapon to win the battle against fear and loss of hope.

We remain grateful to God for his presence among us and for the solidarity, fraternity and mutual support lived during this time of pandemic.

By Konrad Simon Millanzi, M.Afr.

A letter to Cardinal Lavigerie

Dear Father Founder,

I am very glad to write to you again on a piece of a paper after such a long time. Indeed, by God’s grace and mercy I am still alive and more zealous than ever to commit myself for the service of the African World. It is almost a year now since we went into the lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. If I were to use the words from the letter to His Holiness Pope Francis from our Superior Generals, by then, the outgoing Richard Baawobr and the incoming Stanley Lubungo, it has been for me the time ‘to look at the past with gratitude, to live the present with passion and to look at the future with hope.’ The aim of this letter Dear Father Founder is mainly to greet you. Moreover, I would ask you continue to pray for your beloved societies and their mission in the contemporary African World. I believe that your intercessions may help us to receive God’s blessings and graces to fulfil our duties and responsibilities as “apostles nothing but apostles”.

Dear Father Founder, we ended the year 2020 and entered the year 2021 under the lockdown. There were no gatherings to celebrate and offer thanksgiving masses to the Almighty God to end and welcome a new year. Actually, I found it quite strange and contrary to my experience that, instead of people coming together to give a hand for each other in time of either joy or difficulty, the call now is to isolate in order to protect and help the other to live. Nevertheless, the life during the lockdown has proved that community life plays a big part in the ability to adapt to changing environment and nature of our pastoral activities. Besides, this ability to adapt has a deep root in a prayer life and unity of the community. Undoubtedly, ‘How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!’ (Ps. 133:1)

Dear Father Founder, in such a situation whereby coming together increases the risk of the Covid-19 infections, the world has to change its theories and ways things have to be done from the joy and rituals at the beginning of life to the cry and rituals at the end of life. In such an isolating situation one joins the Psalmist cry that “My soul yearns for your salvation; I hope in your word. My eyes yearn to see your promise. I ask, ‘When will you comfort me?’” (119:81-82)

Dear Father Founder, the Covid-19 pandemic caught the world off-guard and has tested greatly our way of life and believing. This automatically touches as well our spirituality. And here we see the important of the invitation from the 2016 Chapter. The Chapter ‘invites us to base our spirituality on the Word and openness to the Spirit so as to live fully the joy of the Gospel with all its challenges’ (pg.19). The life experience during the lockdown made us to re-actualize and contextualize our Missionaries of Africa charism. Based on our core-values, different communities lived our charism in their humble services to God’s people. It can be argued that through personal and community prayer, our spirituality has been sustained more profoundly during this time of pandemic. Even so, community life was very much challenged. Our communities never remained the same from the beginning of the lockdown. At least a member was either self-isolated or stranded out of the community. Consequently, the one or two who remained in the community could find it difficult to recite the psalm 133.

Dear Father Founder, I won’t exhaust you with many things today. I know our deceased confreres who worked or passed through South Africa would love to hear more. I promise to do so next time. However, there is one recent experience which I would not leave it for another time. During this period, we developed our skills in cooking. There was a time we had to cook for ourselves all the meals. Yet, you have to conduct funeral services and to attend to the needs of God’s flock. This is the time I came to understand more your insistence on a community of three confreres.

Dear Father Founder, the pandemic has taught us to be diligent, vigilant, patient, humble and depend totally to God’s Word and providence. It tested our faith, unity, vision and mission. How can one keep the lockdown regulations and teach others to do so yet going out to pasture God’s flock? We have many to talk about next time.

Please, dear Father Founder, send my regards to all confreres who are with you in heaven. Their brothers here on earth are continuing with the mission where they left it. Their prayers are needed. We appreciate their writings. We draw knowledge, skills and joy from them for the Mission.

Your beloved son,

By: Fr. Konrad Simon Millanzi, M.Afr.

Labour Day Celebration at CfSC

On the 6^th of May 2021, the Staff members of the Centre for Social Concern (CfSC) were honoured with the presence of the Minister of Civic Education and National Unity, Honourable Timothy Pagonachi Simbega Mtambo, as they were celebrating Workers’ Day.

The event which brought together not only the workers of the Centre, but also representatives of the Board of Trustees, Missionaries of Africa Parishes and Institutions in Malawi, was held in the premises of CfSC in Area 25, Lilongwe.

After the opening prayer by Rev. Bro. Vitus Danaa Abobo (M.Afr), the MC, Mr. Tobias Jere, welcomed all the guests to the Centre, followed by a self-introduction during which each person shared what work he or she loves doing. Remarkably, most of those present love farming and rearing of animals.

During his opening remarks, the Executive Director, Rev. Fr. Dr. James Ngahy (M.Afr), emphasized that ‘May Day’ or Labour Day “is a celebration of labourers and the working classes which is promoted by the International Labour Movement which occurs every year on the first of May”.

He gave a historical overview of labour day, recounting that it is an ancient European spring festival. He emphasized on the importance of valuing our labour, describing how countries like Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Switzerland pulled up their socks after World War II, and hence, moved from ‘rags to riches’.

He lamented that ‘while most of these countries have excelled, we in the third world countries or South-pole are still complaining and lamenting of colonial exploitation’. “The ‘Dependency syndrome’ is still on our shoulders!”, the Executive Director added.

Besides, he also lamented that many African countries, even some churches and organizations such as CfSC are still at a ‘baby seater level’, though grown-up but not yet grown.

He believes that ‘we need to work hard and creatively if we are to liberate ourselves from the chains of dependency. He added that, when we continue blaming the government for not doing its best and yet we ourselves do less than the minimum at our end, it contradicts the principles of social justice, distributive justice as well as commutative justice.

He challenged all those present to re-look at themselves inside-out and not outside-in. He questioned, “When we hammer the issues of ‘Transparency and accountability’ outside there, how do we live them ourselves from the grass-root level? How do we react when we are challenged ourselves on the same? Are we able to bring these values or aspects and internalize them in our own Families, in our own Communities, in our own Parishes, in our own Organisations or even in our Media profession?”

The Minister of Civic Education and National Unity, who was also the guest of honour, Honorable Timothy Mtambo during his presentation appreciated the great work that the Centre for Social Concern (CfSC) has done and continue to do here in Malawi. He expressed his joy of being part of this great family, adding that “I love everything this family does for the society in Malawi.”

The Minister highlighted the importance of labour in any economy saying, “A country, a community, a society cannot progress without a strong labour force.” He underscored the intrinsic value inherent in every human being saying ‘all of us are born with an inherent value, which is being human. Hence, no one is more important than the other.’ He, however, regretted that sometimes we look down on each other. Adding that we need to apply the golden rule of ‘doing unto others what we would have them do unto us,’ in our daily lives.

He emphasised that ‘For a country like Malawi or an institution like CfSC to move forward, there is the need to appreciate each other and to realise that everyone has a role to play and everyone is important.’ To illustrate his point, the Minister alluded to Plato’s view of the society as expressed in the Republic, where the society is looked at like the human body composed of different parts (Head, Chest and stomach), with each part having a vital role to play in the overall wellbeing of the whole body. “We are interdependent of each other; we are so important in so many ways.” He added. He also challenged all employers to treat their employees with dignity.

The Minister also said that, ‘to ensure that all workers live a dignified life, the Tonse Alliance government upon assumption of office did not only increase the minimum wage from Mk35,000.00 to Mk50,000.00, it also increased the free tax-band to MK100,000.00.’ Adding that these measures are not enough, hence they will continue to work at ensuring that everyone is appreciated for the work they do.

However, the Minister regretted that sometimes we give a lot of pressure to our employers to uphold our rights, while forgetting to do our own responsibilities. He encouraged all workers to work with passion and conviction no matter the work they do, because at the end of the day they are accountable to God. Besides, it is in so doing that we can build our country, he added.

The former Executive Director, Fr. Jos Kuppens (M.Afr) during his speech thanked the Centre for organizing such an event, and also thanked everyone for gracing the occasion and making the day worthwhile. He challenged everyone to work together to build up Malawi, adding that for Malawi to move forward we all need to come on board either as individuals, institutions or government. He, however, regretted that the kind of ‘big man’ syndrome which people are used to undermines people from taking their responsibilities, since through it they shelve their responsibilities unto others. ‘If we want to make people into real patriots, we need to help them to reach the point of realizing that “we can do it” not simply as praise singers but real patriots,’ Fr. Jos Kuppens emphasised. He ended his speech by reminding all that, “A better Malawi is possible but it needs all of us.”

The day was indeed a very reflective and joyful one on which the Centre for Social Concern appreciated the hard work and dedication of all its staff, which enables CfSC to continue impacting the lives of the poor and less privileged in the Malawian society.

By: Vitus Danaa Abobo (M.Afr)

JPIC-ED: A SAFARI WITH ‘LAUDATO SI’

Justice and Peace and the Integrity of Creation and Encounter and Dialogue (JPIC-ED) of South African Province (SAP) in its entirety has been up to date in living and journeying with the Encyclical Letter of Pope Francis, Laudato Si. Most, if not all of our confreres or communities, do understand and take to heart that our Mother Earth, who contains us, does also sustain us and govern us accordingly (cf. Laudato Si’ no. 1). At the same time, she expects us to be responsible of taking care of her according to God’s command. “God blessed them, saying to them, ‘Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven and all the living creatures that move on earth.’ God also said, ‘Look, to you I give all the seed-bearing plants everywhere on the surface of the earth, and all the trees with seed-bearing fruit; this will be your food. And to all the wild animals, all the birds of heaven and all the living creatures that creep along the ground, I give all the foliage of the plants as their food … God saw all he had made, and indeed it was very good” (Gen. 1:28-31). Pope Francis, in his wisdom and on behalf of the Church, emerged with the Encyclical Laudato Si‘ (LS) in response to such God’s command, while looking at the signs of the times. A timely moment of publishing it when human beings who are created in the image and likeness of God himself begin to abuse the Mother Earth; hence, endanger human species and all that she inhabits.

Most of our communities in the different Sectors of our Province have embraced this Encyclical not just from a ‘sermon point of view’ but also from a ‘pragmatic point of view.’ Many of our communities are engaged in different activities to making this exhortation a reality. A good and authentic reference can be found in our last JPIC-ED report to the Provincial Council, whereby it was clearly stated that most of our Communities/Parishes are engaged in planting pine trees, eucalyptus and cyprus trees, some fruit plants as well as up-grading mission compounds ecologically to a good standard while curtailing soil erosion. All this has not been done in isolation, but rather working hand in hand with the local or Parish Justice and Peace Committees or Commissions. This explicates clearly that Missionaries of Africa are not working in isolation but rather in collaboration with the local Church. The spirit of ‘I am because we are’ is very much integrated in implementing Laudato Si! This is very encouraging, and the larger communities in which we work are very appreciative of our approach.

Laudato Si‘ is a prophetic Encyclical as conflict in the future may be mainly caused by the exploitation of natural resources. In fact, the document has become highly influential and widely shared document of the Church as it urges humanity to have an attitudinal change towards the Mother Earth. It is for this reason that LS embraces three key words namely, respect, responsibility and relationship. Respect for each other as human beings who are created in the image and likeness of God; responsibility for what is entrusted to us, human beings, by the Creator; and positive relationship between the earth and human beings, among human beings themselves as well as between human beings and their Creator. “As Christians, we are also called ‘to accept the world as a sacrament of communion, as a way of sharing with God and our neighbours on a global scale. It is our humble conviction that the divine and the human meet in the slightest detail in seamless garment of God’s creation, in the last speck of dust of our planet’” (LS, no. 9).

It is clear that this document as we try to implement it in our own context as Missionaries of Africa within the communities we serve, needs to be understood not as a scientific document. It is a justice document applied to the Ecology. In other words, this document, can only be appreciated and understood if engaged as a social justice document as an expression of Catholic Social Teaching in its practical sense of the word. It follows Pope Francis’ prism based on encounter, dialogue and solidarity. It is realistic and pragmatic. It envisages “A word of paradigm shifts leading to centrality of justice, empowerment from below, a dynamic interaction between deductive and inductive method, interplay between the contextual and the universal” (Peter-John Pearson, Reflection on LS, p. 1). In a sense, LS follows a katabatic approach. It is justice document as it is the constituent of the mission of the Church. It is critical not only to Church’s life, but also to all who value and care for our common home just like us Missionaries of Africa who have taken it to heart. It provokes the sense of redeploying social power and the transformation of the social system. As a justice document, it is not a paracetamol pill or a tranquilliser document as W. Brueggemann states: “Justice is not some romantic social ideal for another world. It is the hard work of redeploying social power and the transformation of the social system. Those of us who benefit from inequality in the world are susceptible to blind spots and generally we struggle to keep those spots blind. But one must conclude from Micah and the whole prophetic tradition that the redistribution of social power is a crucial element of the Gospel, and that is a summons to justice.” Justice demands not only the avoidance of unnecessary pain, but fostering care and responsibility for the other, for the ‘Mother Earth’.

Based on the Social Catholic Teaching, while reading and interpreting the signs of the times, Laudato Si expresses a deep sense of the communitarian vision. This emanates from the Trinitarian principle which begins with the sign of the cross, expressing God who is Trinity. And of course, the Trinity is relational, is love; three in one, making part of the systematic theology. Surely, LS coheres around a theologically inspired communitarian ethic. Thus, it decries “… the classical liberal model where society is understood as an artificial contract between autonomous individuals undertaken for self-interest rather than fraternal reasons” (Schuck, p. 187). Its approach, therefore, takes a wider scope compared to other documents of the Church. Pope Francis quotes not only other Popes but also other different documents as well as individuals who compliment the care of our common home. This shows that the Church is not an isolated entity. She is part and parcel of the planet entity. This fits perfectly well with Charles Cardinal Lavigerie’s principle of Community Life.

The concern of Pope Francis to bringing out LS is a provocative challenge to us Missionaries of Africa. It is a serious call or invitation to us to look at all the signs of the times and find out not only short-term solutions but also long-term solutions to our ‘Mother Earth Crisis’ such as global warming and climate change, for which the future generations of Missionaries of Africa will appreciate us, and not condemn us. This implies that individuals alone cannot do much, the communitarian aspect of it at both local and global levels (i.e., Sectors, Provinces, Society and the Church at large) have necessarily to be engaged. Care for the common home is, indeed, our business as Missionaries of Africa!

By: Fr. James Ngahy, M.Afr.