Today, on the solemnity of the birthday of Saint John the Baptist, June 24, the MCSPA and the Catholic Church in Turkana rejoice with the gift of the newly ordained missionary priest Zacchaeus Okoth. The ordination ceremony took place at a beautiful church of St. Paul the Apostle in Nariokotome, Kenya. The atmosphere was filled with happiness and prayer, with family, friends, faithful and well-wishers who came to witness the great occasion as Zacchaeus, who has undergone years of formation, is finally ordained priest by Msgr. John Mbinda, Bishop of the Diocese of Lodwar.

The ordination ceremony was followed by a cheerful celebration, during which the newly ordained priest received the congratulations and blessings of the priests, members of the MCSPA, family, and friends. It has been a graceful day of celebration for the MCSPA, as it welcomes a new missionary into its fold, who will carry on the charism of the community in the style of Saint Paul, and spread the word of God to the ends of the earth.

The celebration ended with the thanksgiving procession and a reception for everyone. We wish Zacchaeus well in his mission, praying that the spirit of God will be with him always. We also pray to God, through the intercession of St. Joseph, that the example of Zacchaeus may inspire and touch the hearts of many young people, to be brave to leave everything behind and follow a missionary vocation.

Michael Mwangi Aprendiz MCSPA

Yesterday we started a procession with Mother Mary in preparations for our centenary celebrations of Ave Maria Parish, in South Sudan, on the 1st of May. The image of Our Lady will visit all our outstations in the two parishes, Ave Maria in Ngboko and St. Thomas in Source Yubu.

Enjoy some photos of our 3 hour rosary procession at Ave Maria.

Let’s Join our hands in prayer and ask God to grant us peace in South Sudan.

Lillian Omari MCSPA

We have recently returned from Ethiopia, from the project that the MCSPA is carrying out in Muketuri and that MOSSolidaria NGO supports, supporting the kitchen and checking the nutritional status of children under 7 years of age, pregnant and lactating mothers in the village of Gimbichu.

World Food Day is celebrated every year on October 16th, the anniversary of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) which was founded in 1945. This day aims to promote healthy eating and eradicate hunger, according to the 2030 agenda, by this year world hunger should be eradicated. I am very afraid that, although it could be achieved, it will not be so.

There are large pockets of poverty and a lot of hunger, for the few people who work on the ground, from the base. We have to be there, but also make known what the missionaries do, here, without our moral support and solidarity, it is very difficult that they carry so much forward. It is sad to know that, while some Western countries allow us to waste food, because we can pay for it and we have it within reach, others suffer from diseases derived from an insufficient and monotonous diet, which prevents them from developing their most essential capacities.

Boys and girls are born with low weight and suffer from the deficiencies presented by the wasting, that their mothers suffered. Then, their babies suffer, due to the lack of such basic and essential nutrients as proteins, vitamins and minerals.

The MCSPA mission in Muketuri, and its responsible, Lourdes Larruy, make an effort to maximize the feeding of the more than 370 boys and girls who attend the Muketuri mother and child center, plus the soup kitchens in the surrounding villages. The combination of the food is properly done, so that it is sustainable and provides the maximum of varied and complemented nutrients. This is not an easy task, if we take into account that to obtain milk you have to feed and care for the cows. To offer eggs you have to buy corn for the hens and that to provide vegetables you have to take the water to the garden, plus complement it with rice, pasta, vegetables, bread etc. Even so, the missionaries achieve it. In the kitchens they prepare delicious stews, which fill the atmosphere with a special smell, a traditional home, all of us, young and old, enjoy those delicious meals, simple but complete and well accompanied.

But hunger is not only alleviated with bread, it is also satiated with love, lots of love, with hope, with assistance and listening, with faith, a strong and powerful faith that is contagious and brings more faith and conviction that a more equitable world is possible. Because of that faith the missionaries continue there and in so many other difficult and hostile places, which they soften with their iron conviction, because they know that they are not alone, that God protects them and that other men and women are attentive to their needs. To continue with the mission of assistance, listening, health, personal growth, which they offer to those who request it. Thank you for enabling us to  hope that hunger can be alleviated!

Mari Olcina (10/16/2022)

Today in Lobur mission, the Furrows in the Desert marked the 17th Graduation Ceremony. This time, 14 graduates completed the 6 months of training which marks a full course.

The invited guests including our people from Lobur witnessed the colorful ceremony. Few members and guests were given a chance to say a word of congrats to the trainees, encouraging the graduates.

The term Food Security kept on being repeated by several speakers. The graduates promised to bring to reality what they have been learning at FID in the regions where they come from. Those who graduated came from different parts of Turkana county and one trainee from Nyangatom in Ethiopia, this made a great impression on everyone including government officials who were present during the graduation. May the Peace continue to reign in our region as we all work together in order to produce our daily bread.

Let’s make a green Turkana!!!

Fr. Joseph Githinji MCSPA

October 2022 will mark 10 years since the start of the Furrows in the Desert (FID) program. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the MCSPA program management has convened a participatory evaluation to assess the performance of the project during these 10 years, as well as to discuss the direction the program should take in the years to come.

The evaluation took place from 24th to 28th January, during which a team of MCSPA and FID together with external evaluators from the Turkana County, Utawala, Baraka College and others, visited different places to meet with farmers.

We had a very successful mission where the farmers shared their challenges and successes through open discussions about all the different aspects relating to farming, water, irrigation, infrastructures, and marketing among others. So far there are 221 farmers have been trained and 16 additional assistants have been installed in the last 10 years.

The evaluation ended and was crowned with planting trees in the model farm of Furrows in the Desert in order to mark the 10 years for the FID existence in Turkana.

Thanks to all the team involved in the assessment, and especially the Lobur Mission team plus Arava Institute, our Israeli partners for all of these years of effort, that has helped many families begin to realize that fruits can grow in the desert, to produce and improve life.

Fr. Joseph Githinji MCSPA Lobur Mission

Last week we held a workshop on peace and non-violent communication in Kibish. The talks were conducted by Fr Fredrick Rubbino from the Philippines and two other facilitators from Nairobi. Those who attended the workshop were only the Turkana community.

During the workshop, the elderly, both men and women, expressed their deep longing for peace. Some seem tired of these wars, and they are now pleading for peace. The ongoing violent conflict is emotionally affecting the people of all communities living in the area. At the sound of the gun, a life or livelyhood could be lost from either one of the three confronted communities, Turkana, Nyangatom, or Toposa. Young herders usually carry out the raids, and unfortunately, youth from both sides were absent during the peace talks. So those who attended agreed to share what they learned before bringing them together.

After the conference, we had a peaceful pilgrimage to the Ethiopian side. We were highly welcomed by the elders from the Nyangatom community and the security forces from the Ethiopian side. During the encounter, elders from both sides shared the pain the constant killings and raids among the three communities. Elders were also informed that clearing the bush from the Kenyan side of the border towards the Ethiopian border has started. The opening of the way is meant to benefit the two communities, especially to enhance peaceful interaction and trading.

We started a dialogue, which has to continue, and we pray that that they will reach some agreement and attain peace in this wonderful and fertile region. Let’s keep on praying and working for peace since this is the only way of bringing together the three communities for their common good for the generations to come.

Fr. Joseph Githinji MCSPA

Yesterday, 11th June, in Lobur Mission, we celebrated the 15th graduation of Furrows in the Desert.

Every graduation confirms the success of this program as a way of making a difference in Turkana. Today there are 13 new farmers ready to be self-reliant, producing food and generating income for their own families from agriculture.

We want to thank all the support from the guests, especially from CEC Agriculture Philip Ebei, CEO Agriculture Dr. Jacob Loleia, Director Veterinary Services Dr. Benson Long’or, Ekwakai Lobek Sub-county Administrator, David Lonoko patron Kokuro elites, chief area Ezra, MCSPA Kokuselei Alexy, and Fridah, and the representatives of World Relief and Concern.

Also, to the ones that they were not able to be present, however, they are giving so much support to the graduates through TIPA project from Rotary International. Thanks to them the graduates will be able to start their own farms in their original place.

Thanks to all other partners, Turkana County Government, Arava Institute Israel, Emalaikat Spain, DKA Germany, New Ways UK and others at the local level that support furrows in the desert programme since the beginning, 9 years ago.

Congratulations to the new farmers, and wishing you a good future.

Maque Falgás

In the recent days the community of Ebur Angataruk, one of the places under the care of Kokuselei Mission, has been saying goodbye to Paulina Lokaale. She was a Catholic Turkana woman who always served her community with joy, as the in-charge of St. Moses Mother and Child Centre.

The missionaries of Kokuselei thank God for the gift of finding people like Paulina in Turkana, ready to serve generously every day the persons who need it the most. Her decision to dedicate her life to others without expecting anything in return, has made a dignified life possible for hundreds of children in Ebur for the last 14 years.

We rejoice for having had this great friend in our midst; she shared our mission and always welcomed us with great affection. We celebrate our friendship with a person who has been shining among all due to her faith, hospitality and generosity.

Paulina, you have left an unforgettable mark on those who knew you. You decided to follow Christ and you have planted a seed of love in your community. Your life has left a message in our hearts: Serve, smile and sing to God!

Diana Trompetero MCSPA

What Africa do you want to know? Ancestral Africa, the one that hides the history of the origin of life? Or modern Africa? Which awakens the world of technology, glass and steel buildings, and high-end cars.
In the day of Africa, I am left with beautiful Africa, the Human and that of the great fauna, the one with the colors terracotta, orange, blue and green, the immense, majestic, spectacular, and soft Africa. The Africa that everything envelops and excites us and makes us fall in love and tears our souls to shreds. That Africa of its people, its nature, its landscape made of greens, reds, blacks, and yellows, like the colors of its flags, its clothes, it is their patient and abrupt lives.
When you open your mind and let Africa envelop you with all its strength, you will never forget it, and you will always return. It will always go with you wherever you go.
In the day of Africa, I find myself in this land that slips through my fingers like a handful of warm and moving sand.
All of Africa is the spectacle of life, survival, beauty, penetrating music, intense smells, sour flavors, bitter beer, and life on the street, among the people. African so punished by some and so loved by others.
What does Africa have that subjugates us and makes us fall in love until we understand that we are insignificant?
I am left with young Africa, which will save the world from ending up dying of old and stubbornness. The one that will renew its history and will be the Africa of the African men and women, the Africa that will return to its origin, will wake up one day and say that life grows in it!
From Ethiopia, Africa, with respect to this great continent and especially its people.

Marí Olcina

05/25/2021

From MOSSolidaria NGO, we thank the MCSPA for the opportunity to participate in their projects MAY 25, INTERNATIONAL AFRICA DAY.

It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing to a better life to the bosom of our heavenly Father, of Peter Chege, a student of theology of the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle.

Our brother Peter, has passed on this morning in Nairobi Hospital after battling with a long illness. He is gone with the angels!

He was a loving, cheerful person, he will be dearly missed.

Let’s join hands praying for his eternal repose.

May his soul rest in peace.