On Sunday 8th of September the community of Naturomoe gathered together to celebrate the blessing of the first buildings and the first stone of the new Church at the Prince of Peace Catholic Mission.

The celebration was attended by many people and it was very colorful. Those in attendance were South Sudanese rebels and refugees, representatives from Kakuta community, regional authorities, MCSPA members and mission staff.

The occasion started with the celebration of the Holy Mass presided by Bishop Dominic Kimengich, accompanied by Bishop Markos Gebremedhin. During his homily, Bishop Dominic expressed his happiness of seing that, what started as a dream during his first visit to the area 6 years ago was now becoming a reality.

He also stressed that it was very important that people from three different countries were present, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Kenya. And that if not brought together by God, we could have been fighting and calling each other enemies. However, thanks to the realisation of the mission, we can now stay together as brothers and sisters.

At the end of the Mass Lourdes Larruy explained the pre-history of how the mission started: 20 years ago it began as a suggestion of Mons. Silvano Tomasi, the then Apostolic Nuntio to Ethiopia, to Fr. Paco and the MCSPA members. The Nuntio said that if our community had missions in the north of Kenya, and in Wolega, Ethiopia, we could easily open a mission half way. Then this became also the dream of Fr. Paco, our founder, as he envisioned having missions as centres of life, in the style of our missions in Turkana, from Turkana to Alexandria.

After the mass the community proceeded in procession to the site where the future church will be built. The first stone was blessed and the church was dedicated to Mary Mother of the Church. Afterwards, we proceeded to the blessing of the technical buildings and staff houses.

We hope that these buildings will give the necessary logistic support to the missionaries and staff of the mission, to carry out apostolic work from Naturomoe, aimed at spreading the Good News through practical help.

We give thanks to all the friends and benefactors especially to Misso Aachen and the Nazareth Trust for supporting this project, and for all those who in one way or another have been part of this dream with your help and prayers.

Fr. Angel Valdivia MCSPA

On the afternoon of 7^th September 2019, Bishops Markos Gebremedhin from Jimma-Bonga, Ethiopia, and Dominic Kimengich from Lodwar, Kenya, blessed the new St. John XXIII – Ekisil (Peace) Day care Centre for Small Children in Kakuta, Nyangatom, Ethiopia.

The celebration was very colorful and joyful as the people of Kakuta gathered to receive the two bishops, the fathers and the representatives of the MCSPA team who attended the celebration, with dances and songs.

The Day-care centre will cater for children from 3 to 6 years of age through different activities such as pre-school education, songs, health and higiene, agriculture, nutrition and peace education.

In addition the centre aims to be a place of encounter with the parents of the children, where relevant information will be shared with them, especially towards improving the education of the small children.

The new school is still in the process of being constructed. So far we have been able to complete one classroom, with a second one under construction, and the fence. We thank all the benefactors and friends who have been supporting this project, especially Trekking for Kids, Fundación Kyrene and Ekisil Group.

We continue asking for your prayers and support to be able to provide a better life for the children of Kakuta.

Fr. David Escrich MCSPA