Today on the feast of Corpus Christi, Fr. Avelino Bassols celebrated the Mass and did a solemn procession at Ave Maria Parish, South Sudan.

He was accompanied by many the parishioners and the children from the parish schools. The Holy Sacrament was adorned with beautiful traditional ornaments made from palms and branches from the surrounding forest. The community of South Sudan always keeps their faith as the most important thing in their lifes, in spite of being affected by so many hardships.

In this important feast of the Body and the Blood of Christ, let us celebrate Christ who gives himself really and truly to us every time we receive him in the Eucharist. What a great gift and opportunity to become better human beings and better Christians!

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.

Despite the heavy rains that we received yesterday in Turkana and more so in Todonyang Mission, huge numbers turned out to witness the baptism of 36 young adults at Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, Todonyang. The best gift mothers received.

“For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink”. 1 Corinthians

Lillian Omari MCSPA

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.

Kindermissionswerk, Aachen, Germany, in collaboration with the Missionary Community of Saint Paul the Apostle (MCSPA) in Malawi, organized a two-week training in project management concept in order to equip members of various religious and non-religious organizations with essential skills required in project development, implementation and reporting.

Development projects are a necessity in uplifting the lives of the most deprived and marginalized. In this regard, Kindermissionwerk and the MCSPA deemed it an imperative to train various members of religious and non-religious communities who are engaged in different development projects.

The training was convened at Nkhotakota Safari Lodge, situated along Lake Malawi. The breeze from the lake and the tranquility of the site provided an ideal condition for the training. Fr. Manuel Hernandez of the MCSPA facilitated the training. His proficiency and wide experience in running projects were put at the disposal of everyone. Among those who attended the training were members of the Missionary Community of Saint Paul the Apostle, the Society of Montfort Missionaries, priests from the dioceses of Lilongwe and Karonga, Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Sisters of the Holy Family of Bordeaux, Carmelite Sisters and a representative of Tikondane Organization. These are people running various projects in Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Zimbabwe and Malawi irrespectively. The training was divided into two phases of one week each. The first phase was conducted in December 2019 and the second phase in April 2021.

Speaking after the training, Fr. Bernard Maganga said, “This training has helped me know what matters most in writing a project, implementing and giving a reporting. The sessions have been very informative and inspiring. I am very grateful to Kindermissionswerk and the MCSPA in Malawi for considering Montfort Missionaries in this training. What I have learned about project management shall be of immense benefit to the whole Montfortian family and the people of God at large. Zikomo Kwambiri!!” In addition, Fr. Angel Valdivia said that the training will help in preparing sound projects, matching with the requirements of various donors.

Lastly, the training ended with a beautiful ceremony in which every participant was awarded with a certificate of participation.

By Innocent Letasi Phiri.

The Valencian Communication Agency Alberto Pla premiered on April 15th the documentary “I want to be like Genet” for the Valencian NGO Moss Solidaria and the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle in Ethiopia.

The project of this documentary arose after many conversations in Ethiopia about the strength of Ethiopian women in the face of adversity. What today would be called their resilience.

In this documentary, Genet, a 22-year-old girl, tells her story of overcoming adversity and her vision of how some of us can bring out the best in others.
Mari Olcina, from the NGO Moss Solidaria, and Lourdes Larruy, from the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle, present the activities carried out by MCSPA in the region of Muketuri, on the Ethiopian high plateau, together with the women who are at the forefront of each activity:

Enat, in charge of the educational classroom for children with disabilities and responsible for the program of care for children with malnutrition; Friwot, preschool teacher at the San José Mother and Child Centre; Yitayish, a former student at the “Maite Iglesias” students’ residence and Deribe, responsible for one of the children’s canteens in the area.

All of them women full of strength and with a great sense of solidarity, who, over the years, have grown and have become references of hope and strength for everyone.

Many volunteers, visitors and supporters have been moved by watching this documentary, recognizing familiar faces, and seeing the evolution of the projects in the 13 years since the MCSPA began its presence in Muketuri. 3,000 views in just one week of the documentary being available.

We hope that this documentary will contribute to the culture of solidarity proposed by Pope Francis in “Frattelli Tutti”, to put us in the place of those who have been born in a part of the planet where survival is a daily struggle.

We would like to thank all the people who have collaborated with their intellectual and economic means, volunteers from Spain, Chile, Mexico, and so many people from numerous places who have us in their prayers.

Lourdes Larruy, MCSPA.

The documentary is available at the following link: https://youtu.be/MPHNO9z8m9c

We miss you Raphael Ngare and Boniface Chinnappan, two wonderful missionaries who worked at Todonyang and Nariokotome Missions respectively.

With these words from Scripture below, we remember your lives and your work. You left your homes in Eldoret and India, respectively, to come serve the Lord in Turkana.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” Jn 14:27

We have two angels ? in heaven!

We also remember their families who freely gave their sons to come and serve the Lord.

Lillian Omari – MCSPA

And it is one of the most needed commodities in our day to day living. Now in this time of the Covid-19 pandemic, water should be available at the entrance of every building, be it an office, house or public space.

We need water to wash our hands before doing anything. 
In some places in Kenya many communities are forced to walk for kilometres in search of water for their daily basic needs.

 
The MCSPA has made, and continues to make this precious element available to some of the most impoverished communities.

 
Today – World Water Day – we would like to thank all those who have supported our efforts at developing water resources for the people we work with in Africa.

Lillian Omari MCSPA

Never stop believing in one’s capacity which could rise like bread that rises from simple dough to become something delicious.
On 13th of March 2021, we inaugurated a Bakery at Nariokotome Mission, Turkana.

The celebration was presided over by Fr. Fernando and also present were Frs. Antonio and Denis among the other MCSPA members.

This is a project we had dreamt to initiate for long time. It is in line with the Late Fr. Paco’s dream (founder of the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle), of creating as many initiatives as possible in order to avoid that neither children or people would ever go hungry. He used to go around always carrying a basket fully of bread to give to the nomadic children and the elderly in Turkana.

With this project we hope to empower the women through baking bread and pastries at very low and affordable cost to distribute to the children in the Mother and Child Centres.

Baking bread is like a miracle to me. Through the alchemy of fermentation, the dense mass of wheat magically rises and transforms into a fragrant loaf. Bread was the ancient food for our ancestors as seen in the Bible. After all, when the Israelites escaped from slavery into the desert, the Lord rained down bread on them from heaven (Exodus 16). It was a reminder that even if they would go through trials, they were not forgotten.

The same applies to the process of bread baking which is long and slow thus requiring patience. We mix the flour and yeast to make dough after which we pound it and place it in the oven to bake. When ready, we feed as many people as we can. The miracle of bread is like a metaphor in our lives in which we wait patiently for a miracle to unfold.

The women are enthusiastic to participate in this project and we hope to create more initiatives to transform their lifes and that of their families for the better.

Thank you to the entire Cantabria Labs family and many others who have made this dream a reality!

Lenny Jilo and MCSPA Nariokotome team