Greetings from the Prince of Peace Catholic mission at Nyangatom, Ethiopia. It is our hope that everybody is happy with the celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are also very happy to share with everybody the great news of the opening of our newly built Assembly Hall, built on the top of Naturomoe Hill, and the dedication of the mission to the Prince of Peace and Our Lady of the Embrace. The new building has been blessed by His Lordship Markos Gebremedhin, Bishop of Jimma-Bonga Apostolic Vicariate. Also in attendance were the Apostolic Nuncio to Ethiopia, Archbishop Antoaine Camillieri, and Msgr. John Mbinda CSSP, Bishop of Lodwar Diocese, Kenya.

The name Naturomoe is a Nyangatom word that means “the enemies have escaped”, and indeed, up to recent times, this was a place of violent conflict and a corridor used by cattle rustlers from different communities such as the Turkana of Kenya, Nyangatom of Ethiopia and Toposa of South Sudan. They could meet in this place just to fight.

Thanks to God’s divine Mercy, this reality has been changing for the last two years.

Today we are so happy because the blessing of the new Hall and the dedication of the Mission to the Prince of Peace and Our Lady of the Embrace gives the peace of God a chance to be well rooted in this area where before nobody dreamt of building a permanent house.

The goal of our mission is evangelization and fostering peace and development.

It is our hope that with the new building of the local community will be able to gain cohesion and peace that comes from the heart.

Our sincere gratitudes goes to those who have helped us achieve such a milestone.

We wish everybody a very happy and blessed holidays and a prosperous new year 2024.

The church of Ave Maria in the Catholic Diocese of Tombura Yambio (CDTY), South Sudan celebrates a hundred years of faith in Rii-Yubu payam on the 10th of December 10, 2023. This celebration marked a hundred years since the Comboni Missionaries arrived in the village of Ngboko in 1923. The Comboni missionaries came from Mupoi to Ngboko because there was a widespread of sleeping sickness in the area of Rii-Yubu, as they were treating the people who were suffering from sleeping sickness, they were also evangelizing, and the people of Rii-yubu welcomed the faith and have kept it burning for a hundred years now.

Prior to the launching of the centenary celebration of Ave Maria were two major events; the first event was the Diocesan mutual relation and the second event was the rededication of Ave Maria church. The first mutual relation in the catholic diocese of Tombura Yambio (CDTY) started on Tuesday the 5th of December 2023 and ended on Wednesday the 6th of December 2023. This incident took place in the Ave Maria Mission run by the Missionaries Community of Saint Paul the Apostle (MCSPA). The second event was the rededication of the church of Ave Maria church after the renovation. The rededication of the church of Ave Maria took place on the 8th of December 2023 by the Bishop of CDTY.

In attendance of these events was the bishop of CDTY, the bishop of the catholic diocese of Torit, the vicar general of Bangasu diocese (Central Africa Republic), the parish priest of Obbo parish (Central Africa Republic), the parish priest of Lobur mission (Fr. Joseph MCSPA member), the priests and religious in CDTY, and the Christians of the Catholic Diocese of Tombura-Yambio.
The people of the Catholic Diocese of Tombura Yambio especially the Christians of Ave Maria Catholic Parish were very excited to celebrate a hundred years of faith, they also appreciated the members of the Missionary Community of Saint Paul the Apostles residing in Ave Maria Mission for the great work of evangelization they are doing among them. The Christians of Ave Maria Catholic Parish will be very happy to welcome more people for the closing of the centenary celebration in December 2024 as they have already planned the events for the closing of the centenary celebrations.

Ronas Garden is the squatter area with probably the worst conditions among the depressed areas of Barangay Loyola Heights in Quezon City. This area is between Xavierville Avenue and Apostol Street. The only entrance and exit gate is a narrow pathway between the two high cement walls. The number of families in this slum area is recorded as 350 adults. The majority of these families are young mothers who gave birth at an early age. Most of them are unemployed while some secure casual jobs as cooks, caregivers, gardeners and drivers (for the men), offered by some well-to-do families in the neighbourhoods. 

It is in this context that the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostles (MCSPA), under the guidance of Fr. Francis and Fr. Alex saw the need to engage the community in some ways that could help to boost their basic needs. We devised a programme of milk distribution to supplement the diet of the malnourished children in this slum. The programme involves supplying specific powdered milk recommended by the paediatricians on a monthly basis to the children, and as well as monitoring their growth and giving moral support to the mothers. The quantity supplied is enough to last them till the next supply. The genuine smiles of both mothers and children during the distribution signifies their appreciation and that acts as a source of encouragement for us to keep this programme going.

The resilience, hard work, and determination of the young mothers striving to raise their children gives us motivation to reach out to this community and share with them the little we have, as we have seen and believe that there is more joy in giving than in receiving. Currently we have a total of twenty children in the programme aged between 4 and 7 years old who have carefully selected from the most needy families. We intend to increase the number of the beneficiaries in the near future depending on the capacity and the available resources.

Zackayo and Teddy.