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

Last Friday, at Startup Lions ICT Hub Loropio, we MCSPA missionaries of the Kokuselei mission held a two-day workshop with the 40 women volunteers of the committees responsible for our eleven Mother-Child Centers and the child-care agents of each centre. This celebration marked 15 years since the nutrition program was firmly established and has been running throughout in the mountain area of Nariokotome Parish. Two days in which we celebrated the generosity and perseverance of many people who have participated in concrete ways to the success of the program: hundreds of Turkana children every year who can eat twice a day and grow up healthy!

Our special thanks to the men and women of the committees of our mother-child centers, who have voluntarily and cheerfully served and unconditionally loved the children. All the families in more than 14 communities covered by the Kokuselei mission appreciate that these volunteers take on the daily responsibility of preparing breakfast, lunch and assisting in the daily hygiene of the children in a part of Kenya where hunger is still the main challenge to be solved.

We all thank the benefactors who have been part of starting and maintaining these children’s centres, thanks to which infant mortality caused by hunger has been reduced in this area. Our thanks also to the child-care agents, young women and men who help us to monitor the nutrition and health of the children and with various educational activities in each centre.

As missionaries, we want to continue to serve the most vulnerable and respond concretely to the needs of the children of Turkana.  And we trust that these children’s centres will continue to encourage their communities to transmit the virtues of generosity and perseverance, both essential to achieve true development.

Diana Trompetero MCSPA

Members of the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle and Mary Mother of the Church, have recently started a presence in the Eparchy of Endibir. Located 4 hours southwest of Addis Ababa, a place inhabited by people from the Gurage community, and where there is a big number of Ethiopian Catholics, who follow the Ethiopian eastern rite.

On 16th April 2023, hundreds of catholics, young and old, gathered at Holy Trinity Church, in the village of Dakuna, to celebrate Easter Sunday. During the feast, people celebrated the resurrection of the Lord as well as breaking from the 55 days fasting from animal and dairy products.

Apart from its unique mix of fascinating history, deep-rooted identity, incredible natural wonders and rare wildlife, Ethiopia is well known of maintaining the use of its own calendar which is very similar to the Julian calendar. Most of the Christians in the world celebrated Easter Sunday a week earlier, following the Gregorian calendar.  However, things were different in Ethiopia. Their Easter followed one week later.

Prior to Easter, many Christians commit themselves to extended periods of both personal and communal prayers. This is done with the sole purpose of growing closer to God and to remember Jesus’ life and death.

On Easter Vigil, all Christians of Dakuna had their candles lit to express their faith. Then drums came. And then, the joy of the Risen Lord illuminated the face of all the faithful who were gathered at Holy Trinity Church.

Following the Ethiopian tradition, most people invite their family and friends for a common meal on Easter Sunday. And of course they cannot miss the presence of traditional dishes like injera, dorowot, kitfo and kocho, which altogether give a sweet fragrance to the celebration.

By Lydiah Obok.

La Pascua estuvo llena de vida en la iglesia de Mombo, parroquia de Benga, Malawi. Los cristianos cantaban con alegría que “Ha resucitado”. “Ya no está en la tumba”! Luego tuvimos 37 bautismos que incluyeron confirmaciones. Fue emotivo ver a una pareja de ancianos recibir los sacramentos. Sus débiles rodillas me recordaron nuestra fe floja. Pero con la alegría que vibraba en la iglesia abarrotada, nuestra fe se elevó y los sacramentos dieron a esta pareja de ancianos una esperanza renovada. Que la luz pascual nos fortalezca en nuestra fe débil.

P. Steven Ochieng

MCSPA

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

Recently, in Ave Maria Parish, South Sudan we conducted a workshop for all the traders and business people of the area of our two parishes. Forty-two women and men attended. They participated very keenly in our SWOT analysis. Fr. Avelino Bassols explained to them the Gospel of Zaccheus, and how he had to climb the tree in order to come out from his petty little things and view his life from a wider perspective. Then he met Jesus and his life was turned inside out…

We usually run all kinds of workshops for catechists, teachers, health workers, water committees, apostolic movements, and youth… but we had never tried with the business community. So we decided to try and see what happens? Maybe they feel their profession has nothing to do with Christian life … Let us open the road for them to experience that they can live their faith whilst doing business.

The response was really overwhelming, people were so happy to share and talk!

Fr. Albert Salvans MCSPA

Yesterday, we had a whole day from 9 am with activities, singing, races, dancing, plays, football, riddles, you name it. All participated: the elderly, the children and the young adults. The activities were still going on at night and we finished at 3 am!

It was great to see all our Christians and the refugees come together to celebrate the Risen Christ.

We also were fund raising for our centenary that will be in October this year.

You are all welcome to Ave Maria Parish and celebrate with us the 100 years since the parish was formed. We will be having such activities and more again!

Lillian Omari MCSPA

Religious superior association of South Sudan organised one week workshop for all the religious living and working in South Sudan and have been less than 2 years in the country. Our community and Tombura Yambio Diocese was also represented by Lillian Omari.

We were also briefed on the Pope’s visit from the 5th to the 7th of July by Monsignor John Paul, the Pope’s representative in South Sudan.

We had also the privilege to have the closing mass from the Archbishop of Juba, Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla.
We thank the Religious Superiors Association of South Sudan for organising this interesting meeting.

Lillian Omari MCSPA

On Saturday 19th of March, are delegation of all the departments of the local government of Nyangatom Woreda travelled to Turkana north, accompanied by the team of the MCSPA working in Nyangatom and Mr. Abdi Adam from the Turkana County. The purpose was to visit the different mission of the MCSPA in along the border and the projects we are carrying out there.

The aim of the visit was to take advantage of the peace situation between Nyangatom and Turkana for the last one year, trying to foster father links of collaboration between the two communities, by visiting the different projects that the MCSPA is carrying out in Lobur, Todonyang, and Nariokotome missions. 

In Lobur the team visited the school and the Furrows in the desert project, and it was an amazing experience to see the trainees, women and men from different ages, including one from Nyangatom, fully equipped and ready to learn about the wonders of growing fruits in the dessert. On Sunday, the team was welcomed by the christian community during the lively mass at Lobur chapel.

In todonyang, the team visited the project at Nakinu, where the mission drilled several boreholes to provide water for the pastoralist communities at the foot of the Lapur mountains, helping shepherds and herds who before had to travel long journeys in search for water every other day, to places where they used to class with the Dassenech. Now, as the water is near the pastures, they can stay confortable by the mountain side. In addition, the boreholes provide sweet water to the mission through a pipe 10 km long.

The following day we visited the Todonyang integrated school, where Fr. Andrew Yakulula explained how the school was initiated as a Peace initiative. The main objective is that children from both conflicting communities, the Dassanech and the Turkana, learn and grow together in the same school, and establish bonds of friendship that change their negative cultural assumptions about each other’s communities into positive ones.

Fr. Andrew also explained that the botany project carried out by the mission is helping fishermen in their livelihoods and giving them an opportunity to send their children to school and give them proper education. 

It is amazing to realise how all three projects, water, education, livelihoods, intermingle to improve the lives of the people and give peace a chance in the Turkana-Dassanech corridor. It was a wonderful learning experience.

On Monday morning, the team headed for Nariokotome mission. There we visited the health centre, and Kaitoo kindergarten. In the afternoon, we visited the mission and ended with mass and dinner. Nariokotome offered a whole different experience to the crew, whereby they saw how the mission has shaped, along its thirty years of existence, an entire barren and arid region, improving the lives of so many vulnerable people through health, nutrition and provision of all basic resources such as water, livelihoods and education, necessary for human life. 

The trip ended with a visit to Lodwar, where the delegation was received by the Turkana county commissioner and the county secretary. On the way back we also had the chance to visit Loropio IT school and also discussed about possible cooperation in the near future through training of young people.

Throughout the whole exchange trip ideas about how development is possible in such remote areas through securing water and the basic human needs, gave the whole team encouragement and hope. It was a re-assuring journey of discovery and strengthening bonds of cooperation between the Nyangatom local government, the mission in Nyangatom, and the Turkana counterparts.

Let us enjoy the fruits of peace!

Fr. Angel Valdivia MCSPA