El día 7 de enero llegaron a Etiopia 19 voluntarios de Chile a colaborar por dos meses en las cuatro misiones del país: Angar Guten, Muketurri, Nyangatom y Mizan Teferi. Los voluntarios apoyarán el trabajo en las guarderías, programa de pozos y agricultura, aula con niños con necesidades especiales, centros de salud y en todo lo que haga falta. Hasta la fecha 89 chilenos han venido apoyar los proyectos de nuestra Comunidad, estamos muy contentos con su visita y valoramos mucho su tiempo y energía en pos de las comunidades con las que trabajamos.

Valentina Correa

On December 12^th, Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Deacon Wycliffe Ochieng was ordained to the priesthood at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle at Nariokotome Mission, Diocese of Lodwar (Turkana), northern Kenya. Wycliffe, who is 33 years old, is a member of the public association of the faithful Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle and Mary, Mother of the Church (MCSPA).

The ordination mass was presided by Rt. Rev. Dominic Kimengich, Bishop of Lodwar, who emphasized the tremendous work of the Community in the north-eastern part of this vast diocese in bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ to the people of Turkana. He praised the number of local African vocations in the MCSPA and asked the faithful to support and pray for them.

In typical Turkana way of celebrating, the mass was very colourful with exuberant singing and dancing. The joy of the people could not have been more apparent! After the mass, there was food for all the people, who came from the different settlements by the lakeshore and the mountains, some a whole night’s trek away. There were visitors from Spain and the UK and also from Mombasa on the Kenyan coast where Wycliffe comes from.

The following day, Sunday 13^th December, Fr. Wycliffe celebrated his first mass. The MCSPA asks that you keep him in prayer as he begins his journey as a priest in this mission land.

Fr. Francis Teo

La Comunidad misionera de San Pablo Apóstol hace frente a una Emergencia alimentaria en Malawi. La MCSPA a través de la parroquia de Benga ha comenzado una campaña de emergencia para la distribución de alimentos que pretende paliar la hambruna que afecta la zona donde trabaja debido a las malas cosechas de este año. A través de la campaña de emergencia y con la colaboración de diferentes entidades internacionales un mínimo de 1700 personas recibirán alimentos durante 4 meses hasta que los beneficiarios puedan volver a cosechar alimentos de sus campos.

Manuel Hernández MCSPA

Every Monday and Wednesday 4 of our collaborators take the jeepney, the local filipino public transport, after their classes at the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, to Parola, a sprawling slum area at the Pier District of Manila where thousands of families live in deplorable conditions.

After braving the traffic for hours in the heat and humidity, they arrive to a windowless chapel with a falling roof to wait for the children whom they teach Basic Education and English. With no fans still available and sweating profusely, the children run towards the Centre with a great excitement to learn. It clearly shows in their little faces that it is a day they have been waiting for – they are so eager to learn. It is a challenging task but the collaborators show diligence and patience with the children as they go through the lessons.

Learning and conversing in English, they build up confidence among these children, educating them in a positive way as they gradually become aware of their possibilities and passion for education.

Fr. Steven Ochieng

Healthy mind leaves in a healthy body, so they say! This is what happens at St. Joseph Mother and Child Centre in Nariokotome Mission. The children attending classes everyday in the morning are given a healthy bowl of porridge before kick-starting their day in class. The program is meant to give them a balanced capacity to concentrate in class. The help from people of good will and our benefactors have seen the success of this noble work. We sincerely thank them for their efforts and continuous support.

Lillian Omari

On 30th Sept 2015 Fr. Avelino and Deacon Wycliffe, through the invitation of the village elders, went to Kokuselei for prayers on rain. It was such a wonderful celebration; real inculturation (a mixture of Catholic faith and Turkana culture). The prayers included marching to the top of the mount and invoking the intercessions of St. Scholastica (the patron Saint of Rain). After the prayers, three goats were killed and we had the Akiriket. That same night we had some rains in Nariokotome and light showers in the mountainous region of Kokuselei. It was a real blessing and we pray that God sends us more rains in this land of Turkana.

Deacon Wycliffe

From the 25^th to the 28^th of August, 120 youth from the Lake Deanery area gathered at Nariokotome Mission for their annual youth festival.

This year’s theme was the Eucharist. The speakers for the event were Fr. Albert Salvans who spoke about “Eucharist and Communion”, Joseph Ekutan about “Reverence for the Eucharist”, and Diana Trompetero on “Eucharist and Friendship” and finally Bishop Dominic Kimengich about “The Eucharistic Congress”.

Most of the youth participated on the talks and lots of interesting points were shared.

There were also sports, music  and drama competitions, where all the parishes showed their talents and most of them went back with lots of certificates.

On the 27^th afternoon we all went to Lodwar to attend the Diocesan Eucharistic Congress. This started with the vigil at St. Augustine’s Cathedral and on the 28^th, the feast of St. Augustine, about 500 people made a procession from the Cathedral to the Jubilee Shrine carrying the Blessed Sacrament. It was a very emotional and joyful procession with all the Pontifical Missionary Children and the Christian faithful singing at the top of their voices.

We would like to thank all the youth from St Joseph the Worker Lowarengak Parish, St. Denis Kataboi Parish, St. James Kaikor Parish, St. Paul Nariokotome Mission and St. Mark Lokitaung Parish who attended the festival. Also our sincere appreciation to the ones who organized the festival: Fr. Avelino Bassols, Lillian Omari, Deacon Wycliffe Ochieng and Peter Chege.

Lillian Omari

MCSPA