My name is Carolin Auer, I am 27 years old and was born in Farchant –  a small city deep in the south of Germany. I work as a nursery and a religious teacher. Right now, most of my time I spend working as a community assistant and religious teacher I two parishes around Münster and Freising. After finishing my university degree and a year of working I decided to go abroad for a longer time to get to know a new culture and pastoral work in different countries. Luckily I was able to spend close to three months in the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle, to be exact in the Benga parish in Malawi, and become part of a great family. Here I was allowed to share faith in everyday-life, get to know the work in the different communities and find a culture which I ended up loving. This time changed me, and I will never forget it.

Starting the day with mass and ending it with a collective prayer, the vesper, and the daily pastoral work included me into the community. Even further, the people here turned into a family for me where I could feel safe and at home.

For two weeks I was able to work in the nursery and primary school which are located in the community itself. I was impressed how well the teachers were able to teach with little material to a lot of students. Education is key to a successful life, and it especially gladdened me how many schools are supported by the mission here to enable the kids to have a great future.

The masses in the different villages were impressive again and again. I could feel the strong connection in the prayer and the faith of the people. Singing, dancing and music turned the masses here into a visible and audible celebration of faith.

Time and time again I was able to visit elderly people in the villages. We brought basic food, celebrated communion with those who wanted and prayed with them. These visits were a gift to me. I was moved by joy of the people when Brian visited them and how thankful they were. Despite the basic living conditions, the joy in their faces gave me a reason to think about pastoral work and the life in Germany. Being there, just listening to them and giving them a smile is worth more than big words.

This is one of the things I want to take back into my own work, not spending the whole day behind a desk coming up with concepts and ideas. No, I want to go out, like in Malawi, to the people and be with them.

Something very special and very new for me was when I was allowed to help build a house for an old and sick lady. Carrying bricks and water, digging out a foundation and learning how to build a house without big machines but only by human work was a great experience. Seeing the joyful face of Belita, opening the house with a blessing by the priests and giving her a new home was one of the biggest gifts of the entire time I was here.

I was able to learn a lot from Fr. Manuel, Fr. Fernando, Fr. Steven and Brian who live for their work, for their calling. Accompanying them for most of the time and exchanging experiences with them enriched my stay in Malawi by a lot.

I suggest to everyone who has the opportunity to spend some time there, even if it is only for one or two weeks. It is not about changing the country, the structure or the pastoral work. No, I believe we all can learn from the people in Malawi, from their way of life and from their way of sharing faith. I was allowed to do this, and I am incredibly thankful for this time.

I found a home there, and this home as well as the people and interactions there I will keep in my heart forever.

Even across continents I know that I will be connected to the people in the community and Malawi by our prayers and faith.

I would like to thank Fr. Manuel, Fr. Fernando, Fr. Steven, Brian, all the people in the community and the surrounding villages in Malawi who welcomed me to their country with an open heart.

May the spirit of God be in the projects and his blessing with everyone.

Carolin Auer

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

As part of his pastoral visit to the Lake deanery, Bishop Dominic went to St. Phillip Neri, Maisa outstation, where he blessed the chapel and visited the nearby farm initiated by the project “Furrows In the Desert” which is run by the MCSPA from Lobur Mission. He addressed the congregation and urged them to have faith and be prayerful. “It is through faith and prayer that great things are achieved”. The outstation which is under St. Joachim and Anne Kibish Parish is run by members of the Missionary Community of St. Paul (Frs. Alex and Joseph). We pray that the young seeds of faith planted in Maisa will grow into a big tree for all to enjoy! Amen.

Fr. Wycliffe Ochieng MCSPA

Missionaries from Kokuselei and Teachers from the public and private pre-primary and primary schools of Riokomor and Kokuselei enjoyed recently an exposure trip to Our Lady Queen of Peace Integrated Centre in Todonyang. They learned from the educational work that both teachers and children are carrying out at the border. Especially the dedication and commitment they put.

We thank the entire team of teachers from the mission school and our MCSPA missionaries in this place for their warm welcome.

There are many teachers with a lot of talent teaching in Turkana, who contribute a great deal to improve the situation of the vulnerable children where they work. We hope to continue sharing more experiences such as this to grow together and make quality education possible in Turkana.

Diana Trompetero, MCSPA

From 8th-10th May 2019, the directors and heads of all Catholic schools under the Diocese of Lodwar underwent training on leadership skills at St. Teresa’s Center in Lodwar. The workshop was organized by the Missionary Community of Saint Paul the Apostle in collaboration with Strathmore University, on behalf of the Diocese of Lodwar. The sessions were conducted by a group of facilitators from Strathmore University in Nairobi. The key area that were looked at were:

a) Leadership and what it entails.
b) Catholic schools identity.
c) Mission and Vision in our schools.
d) Teaching, learning and assessment.

These key areas were looked into for the three days of the training by different facilitators, Fr. Steven Ochieng being one of them.

The last day of the workshop was graced by His Lordship Bishop Dominic Kimengich, who urged the directors and teachers to focus on the mission and vision of the Catholic private schools in the diocese for the betterment of the Diocese and Turkana county at large.

Fr. Andrew Yakulula MCSPA

Over the weekend we went on pastoral visitation to the villages around Dingimo, in Ave Maria Parish, in Tombura-Yambio Catholic Diocese, South Sudan.

Some in the group thought it was good to carry food if we were to spend the whole weekend. However, some of us knew better by experience that people would feed us and we would not be able even to finish all the food! Indeed, in every village we went people expected us to eat.

We were six in the party and they had arranged for us to sleep in the headmasters office in the Dingimo Primary School. In the afternoon we had a meeting with the school committee in the presence of the Sultan (chief). Then, towards the evening people started arriving with their sleeping mats. This is because, once the priest comes, people have to leave their houses in order to spend the night with us in the school and pray the Rosary together. We started with the Rosary at 9 pm, after supper, and it went on until almost 10:30 pm!

During this weekend we had baptisms in several villages, First Holy Communion and a Wedding.

People in Dingimo show that their Faith is Alive, since God is always with us in everyday life.

Fr. Avelino Bassols MCSPA

The children and families of Riokomor community celebrated on April 29th the blessing of their new preschool, St. Teresa’s Mother and Child Center.

This educational center is one step forward in a long journey of hope. This was already started by our founder the late Fr. Paco Andreo and the Missionary Community of St. Paul in this area of Northern Turkana many years ago. For this reason, the members of our community thanks those who, for almost twenty years, have accompanied the families of Riokomor in improving their living conditions through water infrastructures, health care, nutritional care of the young ones, the support of primary education, and all those initiatives that have allowed us to bring the Good News in this place.

Thanks to all this and to Sta. Teresa’s Mother and Child Center, the youngest children will be able to consolidate the foundations of a more dignified life for all their families. We thank our benefactors and friends who are making a better future possible for all of them.

Diana Trompetero, MCSPA

The children and families of Riokomor community celebrated on April 29th the blessing of their new preschool, St. Teresa’s Mother and Child Center.

This educational center is one step forward in a long journey of hope. This was already started by our founder the late Fr. Paco Andreo and the Missionary Community of St. Paul in this area of Northern Turkana many years ago. For this reason, the members of our community thanks those who, for almost twenty years, have accompanied the families of Riokomor in improving their living conditions through water infrastructures, health care, nutritional care of the young ones, the support of primary education, and all those initiatives that have allowed us to bring the Good News in this place.

Thanks to all this and to Sta. Teresa’s Mother and Child Center, the youngest children will be able to consolidate the foundations of a more dignified life for all their families. We thank our benefactors and friends who are making a better future possible for all of them.

Diana Trompetero, MCSPA

Kokuselei – School children’s Mass in the New church and meal.

The MCSPA Members at Kokuselei celebrated the feast of St Joseph with style. All the children of St. Joseph primary school and the whole village attended mass and shared a meal together. Let St. Joseph be the role model of the school.

Nariokotome – Celebrating the feast of St Joseph with plenty to eat!!

‘The children at St Joseph Mother and Child Centre – Nariokotome celebrated the feast of St Joseph with plenty to eat. Imitating the foot steps of St Joseph, a father to all, who provided for his children the same happens at the centre in Nariokotome. Let’s give the best to our children.

Muketuri MCC Ethiopia – Drawing to St Joseph

The children at St Joseph Mother and Child Centre – Muketuri Ethiopia, celebrated the feast by making the best drawings dedicated to St Joseph. Lets help these children develop their talents.

Feast of St Joseph – Andode Mission Ethiopia

The children of St Joseph Mother and Child Centre – Andode, were not left out for the feast of St. Joseph. It was great to see the children sing hymns to St Joseph. They shared the little they had together, but the best was the smiles on their faces.

Lillian Omari MCSPA