Hoy, en la solemnidad del nacimiento de San Juan Bautista, el 24 de junio, la MCSPA y la Iglesia Católica en Turkana se regocijan con el regalo del recién ordenado sacerdote misionero Zacchaeus Okoth. La ceremonia de ordenación tuvo lugar la hermosa iglesia de San Pablo Apóstol en Nariokotome, Kenia. El ambiente estaba lleno de alegría y oración, con familiares, amigos, fieles y simpatizantes que vinieron a presenciar la gran ocasión cuando Zaqueo, quien ha pasado por años de formación, ha sido finalmente ordenado sacerdote por Mons. John Mbinda, obispo de la diócesis de Lodwar.

La ceremonia de ordenación fue seguida de una alegre celebración, durante la cual el sacerdote recién ordenado recibió las felicitaciones y bendiciones de los sacerdotes, miembros de la MCSPA, familiares y amigos. Ha sido un día de celebración lleno de gracia para la MCSPA, ya que acoge en su redil a un nuevo misionero, que continuará el carisma de la comunidad al estilo de San Pablo, y llevará la palabra de Dios hasta los confines de la tierra.

La celebración finalizó con una procesión de acción de gracias y recepción para todos. Deseamos a Zaqueo lo mejor en su misión, orando para que el espíritu de Dios esté siempre con él. También roguemos a Dios, por intercesión de San José, que el ejemplo de Zaqueo inspire y toque el corazón de muchos jóvenes, a ser valientes para dejar todo atrás y seguir una vocación misionera.

Michael Mwangi Aprendiz de la MCSPA

Today we were privileged to have had the visit of Mons. Marvyn Maceda, DD, the Bishop of San Jose de Antique (of the Philippines) at Nariokotome Mission.

Bishop Marvyn has supported the Diocese of Lodwar by sending priests from his diocese to Lodwar as fidei donum (Gift of Faith) priests.

Bishop Marvyn has a missionary vision and says that when one is blessed we must not keep the blessing to ourselves but share it out with others.

At present, there are 3 sisters from the filipino congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Lord’s Table working at Kaaleng Mission and 4 fidei donum priests: 2 at Kaikor from Bishop Marvyn’s diocese and 2 others from the Archdiocese of Jaro for Kaaleng.

The Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle will continue in its efforts to act as bridges between Asia, America and Africa, to bring in different congregations and missionaries to work in the different African dioceses where we are present.

“Go to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to the whole of creation”
[Mark 16:15]

Lillian Omari MCSPA

Never in my youth did I plan on visiting Turkana, and even less did I imagine that I would be living here. I did not even think that I would be able to speak and write in other languages apart from English and Kiswahili. And this was an absolutely new world that was opened to me thanks to the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle (MCSPA) and especially Fr. Francisco Andreo, the founder, and Fr. Francis Teo, who invited me to participate in their vision and experience. Thus I was able to see things differently and discover in my life the value of directing my gaze towards others and to help them, in small gestures, to discover Jesus in this way: “Because I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me to drink; I was homeless and you gave me a shelter; I was naked and you clothed me; sick and you visited me; in prison and you came to see me.” (Mt. 25:35-36)

In those times, travelling for two days by road was something unimaginable which only a few crazy people would have done. In addition, it was very adventurous to go to a place like Turkana taking into account that people from the southern part of Kenya, like me, do not know its history or culture, and that most of us find it difficult to recognize it as a part of Kenya.

I grew up in Nairobi and was fortunate enough to belong to a generous and very Catholic, middle class family (as they are described these days). My parents had to work very hard to make sure that their children enjoyed a decent education, have food on the table every day and that they grow to be good and God-fearing people.

Living in this environment, I grew up believing in certain values: there was need to study hard, get good results, look for a good job, help our parents and siblings so that they have a good life, get married and continue doing the same with our children, and they with their children. I did not think that I could see things from a different perspective. But this journey to Turkana helped me to undo the prejudices that I had, including towards my own family, like for example, that we were the poorest in the neighbourhood because we did not own a car or did not eat meat every week. It was only when I saw the poverty that was in Turkana, I realized that we were very privileged indeed!

I knew about the MCSPA through my cousin George Ouma, who in those days was living with the missionaries, with Fr. Francis in particular – and he wanted to be a priest like the other missionaries. He came to my home and narrated to us what he was doing in Turkana and from then on, I felt a great urge to go there too. This was only to know this interesting but strange place called Turkana.

The journey was very, very long. The two days of travelling appeared unending and I thought that we would never arrive. Fr. Fernando Aguirre was driving a 4-wheel drive vehicle. It was my first time to ride in a 4-wheel drive vehicle apart from only seeing them in movies! The car, filled to the brim with foodstuff, medicines, furniture, chicks, saplings with only a little space in which we fit four people in the pick-up. We travelled with some Turkana boys namely, Napocho, Ekalukan and Morita. They explained to me little details about Turkana. These stories gave me the morale and illusion to continue with the journey and slowly by slowly, I overcame the initial fear and prejudices about this very remote area.

I remember we stopped somewhere during the journey and Fr. Fernando, Natalia, one of the lay missionaries, and the boys brought out a basket, and all of a sudden we made a wonderful improvised picnic with Spanish omelette, bacon, mangoes and water – a complete meal! This was another small gesture that made me change my way of thinking and helped me look at things in a different way. I never thought of carrying food during a trip, I always thought that one could stop and go to the shop and buy it. To my surprise, Fr. Fernando told me: “Even if you had the money, where are the shops to buy? If you want to be a good missionary, you have to be prepared to think of others first before yourself.”

As we approached Turkana, I realised that the landscape had become very dry and sparse as we could only see some camels and goats crossing the road once in a while and small groups of huts made of sticks and branches. The boys explained to me that those were the houses of the people, and I thought to myself, “But where are they taking me? This appears like the end of the world!” 

Finally we arrived at Nariokotome Mission. There, after two days of travelling, I said: “Finally we are at home”. We offloaded everything from the car and I was taken to a house by one of the women missionaries who told me, “This is your room, please take a shower. We will have lunch in an hour’s time and later you will go to rest.” I gave a sigh of relief … and retired to my room!

Some few minutes later, I heard a call of “Emergency! Emergency!” When I looked out through the window, I saw Natalia, who was a medical doctor as well, running towards the car. I went out and inquired what was happening. She told me “Board the car and let’s go! We are going to see to a pregnant woman who is unable to give birth.” I went into the car and she drove – like one doing the Safari Rally competition – up to Riokomor in the mountains. It was a very bumpy ride. On arrival, we met a pregnant woman who had been in labour for two days without delivering; she was very anaemic and did not have much strength. Dr. Natalia took the “basket” of the car and prepared tea with a lot of sugar, gave it to the lady to drink, and we then put her into the vehicle and hurried back to Nariokotome Mission because the main dispensary is located there.

After forty minutes bouncing along on the track, those at the back of the pick-up shouted to us to stop. When we alighted to see what the commotion was all about, we discovered that the baby had already been born! I understood nothing at that time, but I was just very happy because the lives of the mother and baby were no longer in danger. When we arrived at Nariokotome, Natalia explained to me that thanks to the cup of very sweet tea that she had given the mother to drink and all the bumping around of the car, the mother was able to gather sufficient strength to muster the contractions and to give birth.

Since small details such as these occurred severally during my stay there, they definitely made me look at things in their proper perspective and see things differently from how I did before.

I was in the mission for two months helping in whatever way I could: in the kitchen, in the garden, at the mobile clinic and nutritional centre, cleaning etc. In summary, I was doing many things that I had not done before in my own home. From the first day, I felt more as one of the community rather than a visitor, despite the fact that they were people from different countries: Kenyans, Colombians, Venezuelans, and Spanish. There was something that united them: they all loved.

I went back to Nairobi and began to study. Six months later after my experience in Turkana, when I had already forgotten that way of life that I had experienced, my cousin George arrived again and asked me if I would like to go for a Mass in which the missionaries had invited me. Although I had already been for mass, I went again. There, I met again Fr. Paco and Fr. Francis. It was a simple Mass with a few persons. However, I felt something that I do not know how to explain. Something happened within me that took me back to the same happiness that I experienced during those first two months when I was in Turkana.

At that moment, I could not tell whether I had a missionary vocation. But this happiness, the importance of learning the concerns of others and directing one’s look towards the other were things that made me think again as to what I wanted to do and be in life. Through these small experiences that I have narrated, I discovered the treasure that was in Turkana with the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle. The invitation to the Mass in Nairobi that weekday, the motivation from Frs. Paco and Francis to think of me and being concerned about inviting me, and later the spark that lit this flame inside me, and which slowly by slowly was fanned alive by people who thought not only of themselves, but rather wished to share their happiness with me and others. I believe that the combination of these small gestures, people and motivations ended up awakening this missionary call in me. If they would not have invited me to this Mass, I think I would have ended up doing what everybody else does: study, work, help the family, get married and have children. I thank Francis for inviting me to that Mass which eventually moved something in me!

This call within me, intensified by the people who have surrounded me during these 20 years, has been the motivation that made me into who I am and be where I am now, in the Mission of Nariokotome. 

I would wish that God illumines and gives me the strength to be able to share all that I have learnt along this road, as it is said in the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi: “Make me a channel of your peace.”All that I do is first of all to thank God for giving me life, to my family, to the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle and also the support and help that comes from my friends in Spain, Kenya, Singapore, Malaysia, Germany … They support us with their friendship, prayers and material assistance in order to do all these works.

During these years I have lived a multitude of experiences, sometimes good and sometimes bad. I have visited and lived in many different countries (Ethiopia, Colombia, Germany) with different people. I speak different languages, and all these have made me into a humble and, I would like to believe, a better person. It has also moved me to try and share my happiness with other persons of encountering Jesus in others through small gestures. I hope that my experience will help others encounter this same happiness, always carrying God’s smile to all places.

Lillian Omari, MCSPA

Pope Francis has declared this October the Extraordinary Month of Mission. Every 3^rdSunday of October, the Church celebrates World Mission Sunday. The theme this year is “Baptized and Sent”. These words commemorate Jesus’ exhortation to his disciples when he sent them, in twos, to go and preach the Gospel. And they set out, placing their faith firmly in God. A missionary is one who is sent out, he or she leaves country, family, friends and many other things. And yet we all know that we are never left alone, for the Holy Spirit will always accompany the community we serve and us.

I met the Missionary Community of Saint Paul the Apostle (MCSPA) in March 2001; I was in the final year of secondary school and preparing for the final examinations. I was busy and worried about passing the exams and being able to join university or college, so that I would be able to pursue my dream in life and have a bright future like most others. Two priests from the MCSPA – one of them was Fr. Steven Ochieng – were invited by a classmate of mine called Lillian Odembo to our school to give a talk to all the Catholic students on vocation. They spoke about the missionary life and what it meant to be a missionary. They also explained about Turkana where the missionaries were living and working. All that they explained sounded interesting to me, but during the talk I kept asking myself, Why Turkana and not other parts of Kenya that also needed our help? I gave my contact, so that they would contact me whenever the priests or any other member of the Community would come to Mombasa.

I come from Mombasa, which is in the southern part of Kenya along the coast where the climate is tropical. Fr. Francisco Andreo (Paco) used to go to Mombasa often to buy seedlings of fruit-trees, such as coconut, date palm and cashewnut for planting in Turkana along the shore of Lake Turkana where the mission had opened some small plantations of fruit trees. In one of his trips to Mombasa in August 2001, I had the chance to meet him. I remember Lillian Odembo coming to my house in the evening to tell me that Fr. Paco was in Mombasa and if I wanted to go and meet him. I went the next day with Lillian Odembo and other girls who had given their contacts. After this first meeting, whenever he came to Mombasa, he called us prior to his arrival so that we would look for seedlings of coconut and cashewnut at a good price. In one of his trips to Mombasa, Paco invited us to go to visit them in Turkana and see the work that they were doing there.

At the end of November the same year after my final exams, I decided to go to visit Turkana together with other girls who were in touch with the MCSPA in order to see what the missionaries were doing in that semi-arid land. I was impressed with all that I saw and with the Turkana people as well. I also got the chance to finally see where Fr. Paco was planting all the tress he asked us to buy for him in Mombasa. We used to go out with him to the lake shore to work in the shamba(or gardens), look for places where to build rock dams and earth dams. We went for masses on Sundays in different places within the parish/mission territory. Whenever we went out, we used to prepare a big basket packed with food, especially bread and tea. Whenever he met a child or woman, Paco would stop and give a piece of bread. This impressed me a lot and I wondered how someone from far could come to help our people in Turkana. I felt challenged as to why I was not the one doing it and yet I am from the same country as these people. 

I went to Consolata Primary School in Likoni, a school run by the Consolata Missionary Fathers and all I knew about missionary work was what I saw in the work of these Consolata missionaries. I was also in the parish youth group and each month we would go visitNyumba ya Wazee (the home for of the aged) in Tudor, Mombasa. 

My days in Turkana went by so fast. After the Christmas celebrations, I travelled back to Mombasa. I had wanted in my mind to go return to Turkana whenever I would have holidays. I also had the idea of inviting other youth from my parish to organize and go to help as we used to do with the elderly in Mombasa. Upon arriving home from Turkana, I kept explaining to my family and friends what I had seen and done in Turkana. Back home I could not stop thinking and talking about the missionaries, the Turkana people and the work of the missionaries among them. In February 2002 I decided to forget all that I had desired to do after my studies, and made a firm decision to return to Turkana.

I first explained my decision to my elder sister but she could not understand why I would want that. Then I decided to explain to my mother, but she was completely against me being a lay missionary. I come from a Catholic family and I thought that my mother, being a good Catholic all her life, would not hesitate or have any objection to me following this vocation as a lay missionary and serving the Church. She refused to give me the fare to go back to Turkana; my elder sister helped me pay the transport and she told my mother to let her daughter do whatever she liked as she would come back in the end. That is when my mother cooled down, and I called Fr. Paco to say that I had decided to go back to Turkana to live there and be a lay missionary.

I first lived in Turkana, and then in Ethiopia, and afterwards I went to live in Mexico. This meant that I had to learn Spanish. It was not easy for me, but with the help of other missionaries like Lourdes, Rosa, Eleni, Pauline and others, everything became so much easier. I gained and learnt a lot all those years living in Mexico. We used to work in the outskirts of Mexico City in an area called Ajusco. The majority of families that live in this place are immigrants from other countries of South America. There are also other families from Mexico who come from rural areas with the hope finding an elevated lifestyle in the city but then the reality turned to be different and so they have no choice but to opt to live in this poor neighborhood. The reality in Mexico really impressed me. In Ajusco, we worked with children, young people and women and many companies as well as private people would always help by responding positively whenever we asked for support. People would donate for the smooth running of the nutritional centre. I also studied a three-year Diploma Course in Nursery School teacher, and it was very difficult for me to study in a foreign language but thanks to one teacher, Mrs. Maria Eugenia Roch, a music teacher, I was able to understand the course and finish it. After getting used to Mexico and its people, I had to leave and come back to Africa, Ethiopia in particular. This meant learning a new culture and new languages: Amharic and Oromo.

In my experience as a missionary, I have experienced several paradoxes in life: light and darkness, happiness and sadness, certainty and crisis, but most of all, a continuous transformation and learning. Missionary life makes one feel united with humanity and one discovers and learns to value everything, even when that which one does may appear insignificant in the eyes of the society.

I would like to thank everyone who helped me in my vocation, especially Fr. Francisco Andreo for inviting and giving me the chance to follow Christ through him. Also to all those with whom I have lived the many years in this missionary journey of a life: Lourdes, Rosa, Scholastica, Eleni, Pauline, Josephine, Luz Maria and the other women in the Community; to all my family, my elder sister and my mother for understanding my vocation. I thank Lillian Odembo too, who really encouraged me to continue in this journey, even though she eventually left to do something different in her life.

I would also like to invite all the young people to be open to the call of God, that they should not be carried away by the unnecessary storms of the world and shun the call of God. They should leave some space for God to enter into their life’s dreams. If they feel a call from God, they should not doubt it and, instead, realize that there are also greater opportunities in life as a follower of Christ!

Lydiah Obok , MCSPA

I am not entirely sure whether it was I who was seeking Jesus or it was He who found me… maybe both.

As far back as I can recall my own conscience, I remember a deep desire to never fall into the worldly race: university, a well paid job, start a family, all that lifestyle stood up like a huge mountain. Panikkar’s reflection works well here because he substitutes the more traditional fuga mundi (escaping from the world) by fleeing from the system. The system, the world, as it appeared to me, just was not my thing. And the Church would not have seemed it either, given the fact that I was the son of a militant communist.

Today, from the perspective acquired through the passage of time, I subscribe to Panikkar’s words: “Since my early youth I have always felt like a monk, but one without a monastery, or at least without walls…, without a habit, or at least without vestments other than those worn by the human family. Yet even these vestments had to be discarded, because all cultural clothes are only partial revelations of what they conceal: the pure nakedness of total transparency, only visible to the simple eye of the pure in heart”. But, where to go? Who to go with? I felt somewhat lost. 

In my case, I felt this need to change, when I was in high school. I was a bad student mainly due to a lack of drive, and, why hide it, also lack of wit. So when I failed three subjects at school my parents got alarmed and, I am not entirely sure how, against my wishes, I ended up in a parish with a group of students who met to review their pending subjects. It was there that I first met Paco and others, with whom we now form the Missionary Community of Saint Paul the Apostle. I remember that, in spite of my prejudices against the Catholic Church, mine was a love at first sight. This was what I had been seeking and I was staying put. Thus began a long adventure, taking me to Turkana, Kenya famously acclaimed in bold travellers’ books as one of the remotest places on the planet. There I stayed for nearly 20 years and now I am in Malawi the “warm heart of Africa”, where I assist to run a parish reaching to 49 communities trying to get involved in they personal and community development

What seduced me? I like the words of Cardinal van Thuan “I have left everything to follow Jesus, because I love Jesus’ defects”.  His first defect, he has a terrible memory and forgives the sinful woman who anoints his feet with perfume (Lk 7,47) and praises the father who welcomes the prodigal son after he had squandered all his inheritance (Lk 15, 18–24). His second defect, Jesus doesn’t know maths, he abandons the 99 sheep to look for the lost one (Lk 15, 4-7). Third defect, Jesus doesn’t know logic. The lady who lost a drachma spends much more in celebrating that she found it (Lk 5, 8–10). Fourth defect, Jesus is a risk-taker; he promises trials and persecutions (Mt 5, 3-12). Fifth defect, Jesus doesn’t understand finances: he pays the same to those who have worked the whole day in the vineyard as to those who came at the last hour (Mt 20, 1–6). But why does Jesus have these defects? Because he is love, “Real love does not reason, does not measure, does not create barriers, does not calculate, does not remember offenses, and does not impose conditions”.  

The Gospel is something that, if not shared, withers. If in some way Jesus and his defects seduced me, it was through the mediation of specific people. Along my way, I have met many others who at one level or another are also searching. I think that when we, the labourers, live in love, and strive to awaken longings which gush forth from the treasure of living the Gospel raw in the flesh, Jesus will then seek out many others who set themselves on the road. That is why I desire to love and keep going ahead till my days come to an end.

Fernando Aguirre, MCSPA

References 

1. Raimundo Panikkar. Elogio de la Sencillez. Estella: EVD, 1993. p. 148

2. Ibídem. p. 14

3. Francis Xavier Van Thuan Nguyen. Testigos de Esperanza. Madrid: Ed. Ciudad Nueva, 2001. p. 26

4. Ibídem. p. 25-31 

On 5th October 1995, a group of young men from Kolping Vocational Training Centre at Kilimambogo (Thika, Kenya) were sent to Nariokotome Mission (in Turkana) to build some houses and I was among those who were selected for this work experience. I never thought that in my life-time I would leave Thika, my home place, and find myself in this semi-arid land which I had only learnt and heard about in school. I remember vividly my first night at the mission; I could not sleep because of the tremendous heat that had me almost surrendering and heading back to Thika. Only the lack of means of public transport made me change my mind and stay! 

A year later, in 1996, I found life totally different mainly because of the people working at Nariokotome Mission. For instance, Patrick Cheseto and Julius Wanyama together with their families were signs of humility for me and this made me feel quite at home. I also had several encounters with Frs. Avelino and Fernando. Through them I discovered that a priest can also work in the garden and irrigate the plants! All these experiences touched my heart and I found myself accompanying them whenever they would go out for masses on Sundays or any other activity. 

I was always silent simply because I could not express myself well in English, like most of my colleagues. This, however, did not keep me away from Avelino and Fernando, after a busy Sunday with masses at the outstations, they would give me a loaf of bread and a packet of milk to carry back to my room. They would also invite me to go for a swim whenever the opportunity arose. My relationship and attachment to the mission and the two priests grew stronger and it is through this that my vocation began. Eventually, I stopped working in the construction site and declared my desire to become a priest. 

My journey towards the priesthood started in January 1997, when I began studying Philosophy and Theology, and ended on 8th December 2008, when I was ordained a priest at St. Mary’s Catholic Parish, Tombura County in the Catholic Diocese of Tombura-Yambio in South Sudan. This was one of the happiest moments in my life. I shed tears of joy. I could not believe that my long and winding journey to the priesthood had finally reached its course. I shared my joy with those who spent seven days on the road driving from our different missions in Turkana to attend my ordination in South Sudan that is one moment I will never forget. 

Many people keep asking me: Why South Sudan and not Kenya where I discovered my vocation? My answer is al-ways the same: “God calls and sends, as we read from Scripture.” In this context, I therefore believe that He called, and later sent me to South Sudan in order to continue with His mission; I have no doubt about this. 

I only knew Sudan through the news about the war that was raging there and truly it was not easy for me to gather the courage needed to enter this country. But, as the saying goes, where there is a will there is always a way! And after crossing the two borders of Uganda and Sudan (before the South separated from Khartoum), the late Bishop Joseph Gassi, the first Bishop of Tombura-Yambio, received me. He thought I was mad when I told him that I wanted to remain in Sudan. I spent two years in the Catholic Diocese of Tombura-Yambio learning the Zande language and culture. This was the moment when I decided to leave everything and make my final leap towards the priesthood. I did not know anybody save the few seminarians I met in Uganda during my theological studies and the Bishop who accepted me as a candidate. That period of my life’s journey unfolded during the time when war raged between the two tribes in the region as well as the invasion by the LRA (The Lord Resistance Army) rebels from Uganda. 

When I shared about my going to Sudan with Avelino his feedback was positive and encouraging. It was then that the official settling down and taking root in Sudan began, in May 2005. I also thank Fr. Paco who neither objected nor raised any doubts about my going to this strange country. His acceptance was a sign of blessing to me. In one of our conversations over the phone, he gave me strong words of encouragement and he kept doing so whenever we met; this happened continuously until the day he left us. I realized about his passion for the mission in Sudan because of his insistence and optimism that he would be brought to visit me in South Sudan, even though he was sick and weak. May his soul rest in eternal peace! 

Some of my brother diocesan priests thought that I only came to be ordained and then leave the country. But after their visit to the mission where I had been assigned, and seeing the effort and work that had been done, they now realize that I came to stay as a missionary and not only to be ordained. This is Ave Maria Mission, the second oldest mission founded by the Comboni Missionaries in the diocese in 1922 after Mupoi Mission. Though little and with still a long way to go, we are happy with all that has been done and still being done in the mission. 

Agriculture is one of the ways through which our mission is growing and becoming self-reliant. Within the last two and a half years, the mission has supported the returnees of the LRA war and displacement with tools and seedlings, and by drilling 7 water points with the help of our partners: Adrian from IRT and Anne and Jeff from JUM TRUST, both from the United Kingdom. They also built a school for the children in the village of Ave Maria in order to promote early stages of education before joining primary school.

Accepting the call and leaving everything in order to follow Christ is not an easy task. Whenever I look at my background, I see many things that would have made it impossible for me to reach the priesthood. 

I knew that one of the requirements to become a priest was a high qualification in secondary school, which I did not have. With time, and after the doors were opened for me to begin my studies for the priesthood, I came to realize that when God calls you, He does not consider a grade or qualification. The first apostles of Jesus were men without academic grades, and this thought gave me courage during the time of my studies. The key I am totally convinced to this journey is the deep awareness that the mission I am carrying out is for Christ. He uses me as an instrument to accomplish his mission and therefore provides all that I need for the effective fulfilment of this very mission. 

I joined the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle (MCSPA) family without the grade that could allow me to begin my studies for the priesthood in any other religious congregation or diocese. The MCSPA, through Avelino, put their trust and confidence in me and that is why I am what I am at this very moment. The seed of my vocation was discovered, planted and nurtured and for that reason I consider myself fruit of the work of the MCSPA. 

Fr. Joseph Githinji, MCSPA 

I want to briefly share the testimony of my vocation in this Extraordinary Missionary Month, especially with so many young people in the world who have had the good fortune of growing up in countries and families that have given us so much. I am Colombian, and I grew up with wonderful parents and brothers with whom I joyfully lived my Catholic faith since I was a child. In addition, I grew up in one of the many parishes of the Archdiocese of Bogota, where the example of good priests attracts many to follow Christ unconditionally.
However, in spite of having so much love from people close to me, a strange dissatisfaction filled my life during the years I lived at the university. The pain of so many people in my country in permanent war and the suffering of so many people in the world, made me feel grateful for everything I had, but at the same time left my heart thirsty, hungry. Nothing satisfied me. My psychology studies did not quench my thirst for justice, my thirst to wanting to be part of God’s plan of goodness for all. Many books, much theory, but little practice, little love. Those were difficult moments: intense longings to want to change the world and not knowing how. Amidst so much confusion and dissatisfaction of a young woman from Bogota who had had everything, God put my happiness on my path, and in the most unexpected way.
A woman, a nurse and missionary in Africa for many years, invited me to be part of an exceptional family: the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle. With Cecilia’s enthusiasm, and that of many other missionaries in the group, my life found a living Jesus: transformer of a world that cries out for justice and love. I cannot forget Father Francisco Andreo – Paco-, who revolutionized all my schemes since I met him. With him, the Gospel began to be for me something alive, active, concrete, thanks to his exceptional love for those in most need and especially for Africa. The way he committed himself, from beginning to end, to those who suffer marked my vocation forever. His trust in God was amazing, and his faith in the transformation of people and places oppressed by despair continues, even today, to impel my life.
There are no words to say thanks for those moments (17 years ago) when God filled me with strength to say, “Yes, I follow you, unconditionally and for life to go where you need me”. And here I am, in a corner of Africa called Turkana, full of amazing people in the midst of extreme poverty, hunger, lack of water and scarcity of opportunities, who are slowly building a more dignified present and future, despite the countless challenges.
What a blessing to have received the mission of turning this remote place of the Turkana desert into a garden! What a joy to be part of a missionary family that wants to commit itself completely to the most underprivileged, accompanying them in a permanent way to announce to them a Christ who loves them here and now. And what a joy to find on this journey, so many generous people who help us to build the Kingdom of God.
I recognize that the faith in God of the people from Turkana and maturing together our faith in Christ, has been my great joy and an enormous responsibility that I share with my companions on the road in the mission of Kokuselei. Lay missionaries like me, with whom we are building a living and young Church in the midst of numerous people full of enthusiasm for making God present in their lives. People who need to be accompanied, shepherded, towards paths of hope, faith and love.
Here in Africa, hundreds of people are in need of good shepherds who will take them where there is life, where Jesus is. But we lack hands, missionary priests and missionary women who want to leave their own land to reach so many who are waiting for the concrete message of God’s love. Young people who want to leave everything to follow Christ and who are willing to be sent where they are needed. Young people who want to overcome ties and who are ready to walk against the direction of a world that often closes the doors to true love.
I am happy and I know that whoever follows Christ one hundred percent is happy. As a missionary, I hope that this Extraordinary Missionary Month will sow in the hearts of so many young Catholics around the world the seed of a fearless love and a love committed to the proclamation of Jesus among those in most need. I pray for vocations that will cross borders and join the universal mission of the Church.

Diana Trompetero, MCSPA

Growing up it never occurred to me that one day I would be a missionary, my understanding of being missionary was shaped by what I learned in school, to me a missionary was someone who had come from Europe to spread the good news of Christ’s salvation in Africa. 

This totally changed when I met Fr. Alex Campon a Spanish missionary priest of the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle (MCSPA), most notable thing I remember in those early days when I began my missionary vocation in Turkana was waking up early in the morning preparing land for growing crops and planting trees with the local nomadic Turkana people in the almost barren land of Turkana which I thought was “madness” at that time little did I know that God was calling me in that way, now I trust that God writes straight in crooked lines. Going for “round masses” as we used to call them helped me hear the life stories of struggle of the local poor nomadic people and I came embrace the invitation that Christ was calling me to follow him through Fr. Alex Campon. It was not only to follow and remain dormant rather it was an invitation to share my life, capacities, and talents consequently from these experiences the Lord planted in me a great desire for missionary vocation.  

Even though at times the work, traveling around in an unforgiving terrain felt like a “punishment” and exhausting, at the end of each day I felt more refreshed and full of life than ever before. In Turkana I became aware of the adventure and the difficulties inherent in following Christ and in the midst of this spiritual transformation of sorts, I was learning and observing first-hand the ministry of long-term development being guided Fr. Alex Campon and the wider community of the MCSPA.

As a missionary in my own country among the poor nomadic people of Turkana, I have come to learn that direct service to the poor requires serious, consistent self-examination, deep prayer, and willingness to be converted and unlearn many things. No one serves perfectly, gives completely or works flawlessly. What is important is that a person knows and experiences the call to missionary vocation as a call from Christ, I don’t serve because it is good to do so, but I serve because I have been called in love and my response is to choose to return love.God created me in love, and has called me to life in service of others. In the poor, in those I work amongst, I see and know the Lord. I see the crucified, suffering Christ more often in the person broken by hunger and struggling to feed themselves, in that elderly person who has no one to take care of him or her, in that abandoned child and in many cases of desperation.

Through these experiences I have developed a burning desire to be more than just a participant in life, but to understand a spiritual calling to serve the Church. The strong presence of God actively working in my life has led me to seek a deep understanding of my personal spiritual growth. I am filled with joy to have responded to the call of Christ to become a missionary and now that I am in my final year of theological studies at Loyola School of Theology (LST) in Manila, almost being ordained deacon it gives me pleasure that I will further my life rooted in Christ and at the same time understand God’s intention for God’s creation and human potential, proclaiming and becoming an authentic witness to the Word of God in an intelligible manner as a future priest to the People of God, in the blessed land of Turkana where my missionary vocation was born.

Victor Otieno, MCSPA.

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My journey towards the missionary life started in 2007. I was still at Lodwar High School when I first encountered real missionaries. That is when the whole idea of missionary life began to take shape in me. 

My encounter with Fr. Francis Teo in 2007 was when the seed of a vocation was planted in me. It all began as a friendship that grew day by day and helped shape my vocation as a missionary today and this decision to journey towards the priesthood which I am walking along now.

In 2009 after finishing high school studies, Fr. Francis extended his invitation to me to join him at St. Augustine Cathedral, Lodwar. He was the Rector of the Cathedral at the time. Living with the priests of the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle (MCSPA) helped me to see life from a different perspective. I was 19 years old then, and I started asking myself so many questions to which I could not find answers!

I was born in the western part of Kenya near an agricultural town. From there, I moved to Turkana to study. I never really experienced much hardship, at least nothing compared to the challenges that I faced later in the semi-desert of Turkana. Though born and raised in a Catholic family, it never occurred to me that one day I would journey on this missionary life.

Life in the semi-desert of Turkana was a very big challenge for me. Though I am Kenyan, I found it hard to cope up with that and I always wished to return to my hometown. However, I asked myself, “How I could look away from the same people of my country while here was someone who had come from very far and has committed all his life for them?”

This kept on ringing in my head and I felt that I could do something about it. And the way I figured would be for me to be part of the missionary community and do my little part.

My life with Fr. Francis and other priests of the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle who were then residing at the St. Augustine Cathedral was a learning experience. I remember Fr. Manuel Hernandez and Fr. Angel Valdivia with whom we shared much time together. Together with Fr. Francis, they helped me mature in my vocation.

Accompanying Fr. Francis for masses to the outstations of the Cathedral Parish and helping to attend to the lines of people who came looking for help at the Cathedral, instilled in me a sense of service. This was part of the whole conversion process that I was undergoing deep within me.

I got exposed to other missions of the MCSPA. Thus I learned many things from the priests and other missionaries. I also learned to love. This was the most interesting part of my vocation. Learning first-hand from the missionaries was one big adventure!

I remember meeting the founder of our community, Fr. Paco, who made an instant impact in my life. From the first encounter with him, I saw a father figure in him. The love and care he showed at the first meeting was something that left me wondering what on earth did he see in me! He encouraged me to search for what would give me real happiness.

In 2012, there were some changes and new plans. Fr. Francis was on his sabbatical and he was to venture into Asia. I left with Fr. Francis to the Philippines where we started, from scratch, to slowly establish our house of study in Metro Manila.

The same year, together with other apprentices, I started philosophy studies at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila. I also registered in a language school for Spanish. We also got involved in, very practical ways, with outreach at the slums of central Manila, at Parola. This also played a big part in the journey of discovery in my life as young missionary.

Nine years have gone by and I find my life changing and the zeal to serve as a missionary increasing. I think I have found my vocation and reason for my happiness, and I look forward to this missionary life.

Now I am in the second part of studies towards the priesthood. I have started theology studies at Loyola School of Theology in Metro Manila. I pray that through God’s grace, the work the Lord began in me on the day I said “Yes!” to this call may be accomplished in His time.

Brian Werunga, MCSPA.

When I finished my Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) in 2008, I joined my family business. My family runs a small hotel and restaurant business. I worked for a while at the hotel and that helped me develop business skills that have helped me to be aware of expenditures and how it is important to take care of small things in order to cut costs. However in 2010, my life changed drastically when I met Fr. Antonio Aguirre of the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle (MCSPA) through a family friend.

My vocation as a missionary was born in Turkana where the MCSPA carries out much of its apostolates. I was deeply touched by the dedication and care that the missionaries gave especially to the sick, hungry and needy nomadic people of Turkana. As I accompanied Fr. Antonio Aguirre with whom I lived and worked in the Community, my life was immensely changed. I began to attend daily mass, and this helped shape my faith, the homilies and conversations that we had were like food for my soul which ignited a spark for the missionary life.

My experience in the Community enhanced my spirituality and my human formation to the point where I began to consider the priesthood. These thoughts burned in my mind and in my heart. When I gave a helping hand to the needy, I always felt so fulfilled. I also admired how the priests of the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle touched concrete lives in their work, all of which had its inspiration and strength in values of the gospel. I saw how these values are translated into concrete and tangible realities. 

After 4 years in Turkana, I enrolled for philosophy studies at the Spiritan Seminary at Arusha, Tanzania. I was enriched with a wide philosophical spectrum of ideas that encouraged me to question many things that I had taken for granted. I was very much challenged not to take things at face value. This led to inquisitive moments of my life that also helped to reaffirm a commitment to my vocation. 

After the philosophy studies, I went for missionary experience out of my country, Kenya, to Malawi, a country in the southern part Africa, where MCSPA is running a mission. In Malawi, I was also struck by a couple of experiences that left a deep mark in me. I accompanied Fr. Fernando of the MCSPA as he carried out his pastoral duties. I saw how, despite their poverty, the local villagers offer the little they have to the priest. It was beautiful to see this spirit of generosity coming especially from people who have little. Fr. Fernando also impressed me; he addressed the community’s challenges and problems by checking the wellbeing of their domestic herds, their spiritual needs and their physical needs by drilling boreholes for the local communities. 

Thus many persons and experiences helped developed my deep desire to journey towards the priesthood. Through the concrete examples that I have seen from other priests, they have demonstrated to me the true meaning of a shepherd of the flock of Christ. It is in the encounter with the people in concrete ways that we touch their very lives and become true witnesses of Christ.

I have just enrolled at Loyola School of Theology in Manila, Philippines, to pursue theology studies with the intention of ordination. I continue the practical formation in this missionary charism of the MCSPA at our Formation House in Manila. 

Taking all the above into account, I am fully convinced that I may obtain a quality formation and develop a better understanding of my faith. I am certain that the theology program, practical formation and personal experiences will provide a better and deeper understanding of the Gospel values, so that I may be competent to transmit my faith effectively, in theory and practice, to the societies to which I may be called to mission in the future.

Sammy Gitau Muchiri, MCSPA

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