Today, on the Feast of the converstion of St. Paul the Apostle, members of the MCSPA present at Nariokotome Mission celebrated the day with a solemn mass followed by a communal dinner. During the homily, the celebrant priest, Fr. Alex, encouranged all to emulate the missionary zeal portrayed by Saint Paul. Since today marks the end of the week of prayer for Christian unity, Fr. Alex encouranged the congregation to pray for the unity of all Christians. May Saint Paul help us to be courageous and true missionaries ready to give it all for the betterment of God’s glory and Kingdom!

Lillian Omari

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

About 10 years ago, in north-eastern Turkana County (coterminous with the Diocese of Lodwar in northern Kenya), Frs. Paco Andreo and Albert Salvans (of the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle and Mary, Mother of the Church or MCSPA) were perched atop a heap of huge boulders on a cliff overlooking the flat plains of Kokuro and Meyen and the grey Loriontom Range in the horizon that stretched all the way to the border with Ethiopia and South Sudan. There they dreamt of a new mission …

10 years on, the Mission of St. John the Evangelist at Lobur is a thriving centre of pastoral and socio-development activities; at all the surrounding settlements and beyond, there are nutritional centres (to counter-act the effects of malnutrition among children), earth and rock dams and boreholes (which are so necessary for the mainly pastoralist families that live in this vast area), catechists and centres for the celebration of the Eucharist and sacraments, training in family vegetable farms through the “Furrows in the Desert” programme, cross-border peace initiatives, scholarship funds for students etc.

Hence, it was with great reason and joy that on the 29^th of December 2015, a lively celebration was held at the chapel of Lobur Mission to commemorate the 10 years of its founding. Members of the MCSPA from Kenya and Ethiopia were present, together with the faithful from the villages around Lobur Mission.

Let us continue praying for missionaries over the world and the missionary work of the Church especially that of primary evangelization in places where the mercy of God needs to be shown in terms of food, water, shelter, peace, health and education.

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

Hemos comenzado un comedor para 50 niños y para 3 mujeres embarazas registradas hasta el momento en el poblado de Gimbichu, a 13km de Muketurri. En 2008 algunos campesinos de Gimbichu vinieron a pedir semillas porque habían visto el huerto del Centro Materno Infantil de Muketuri. En 2009 se organizaron los primeros cursos de agricultura para hombres y mujeres fuera del centro y se construyó una presa con la cual se puede regar el huerto experimental y dar de beber al ganado. En estos años se han excavado 11 pozos lo que ha permitido a 50 familias de campesinos cultivar cebollas, zanahorias, remolachas, espinacas, col, para el consumo familiar y también para la venta.
Para completar este trabajo y asegurar la buena alimentación infantil, dado las graves consecuencias que tiene la desnutrición en edades tempranas, propusimos a la población hacer un comedor llevado por las madres. Ellas construyeron una cocina local y se comprometen a traer la leña, cocinar, servir y lavar. Por su parte, el Ministerio de Agricultura, nos facilita sus instalaciones y nosotros aportamos la comida. Hemos confeccionado un menu de legumbres y verduras que aseguren un aporte calórico y proteico suficiente para un buen desarrollo.

La comunidad local está muy contenta, al igual que nosotros, de poder alimentar mejor a sus hijos. Esperamos que esta iniciativa se pueda replicar en otros poblados, y así, entre todos, conseguir que la población infantil que crece, se desarrolle plenamente para afrontar con Fortaleza y dignidad su futuro.

Lourdes Larruy
MCSPA

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