Fr. Wycliffe Ochieng celebrated yesterday his thanks giving mass at Our lady of Mercy Mtongwe Parish, Archdiocese of Mombasa, his home parish.  It was a colourful celebration that lasted for several hours. Fr. Wycliffe is the first priest from this Parish. The mass started almost like a wedding! in a procession through the village. This attracted many people.

Let us pray that through his example he may lead others to follow the vocation to priesthood.

Last week he was at his traditional home in Ugunja for thanks giving mass, and there he was made one of the Luo elders.
Thank you all for journeying with him.

Josephine Amuma

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

The members of the MCSPA would like to give thanks to God, on this day of the Assumption of Our Lady, as 18 years ago Fr. Antonio Aguirre, Fr. Francis Teo and Fr. Manuel Hernández were ordained priests for the Diocese of Lodwar. They have been working for many years in Kenya especially in Turkana going to the remotest areas to bring the Good News. To date, Fr. Antonio is in Nariokotome mission, Turkana – Kenya, Fr. Francis is in Manila – Philippines and Fr. Manolo is in Benga Parish – Malawi. We give thanks for their perseverance and example in following the call to which they said YES to, some 18 years ago: “Go out and proclaim the good new to the poor”.

Lillian Omari

Yesterday on the feast of the Assumption of Our Lady, the Diocese of Lodwar celebrated the priestly ordination of Gabriel Nakamu Emuria, a member of the Apostles of Jesus at Mary Mother of God Church, Kalokol Parish, Lodwar Diocese. It was a colourful celebration presided by Rt. Rev. Dominic Kimengich, Bishop of Lodwar. Members of the MCSPA joined other Christians from all parts of Turkana in this graceful occasion. We sincerely extend our best wishes and prayer to newly ordained Fr. Gabriel Nakamu Emuria!

Lillian Omari

Durante este mes de julio cinco estudiantes de la Universidad de Addis Abeba han venido como voluntarios a la misión de Muketurri. Junto con las maestras de la guardería han diseñado un programa de reforzamiento de inglés para las profesoras y de ciencias, matemáticas e inglés para nuestros niños. Por las tardes, junto a voluntarias españolas, han apoyado el curso de inglés de verano dirigido a niños de primaria.

Los voluntarios, tres mujeres y cuatro hombres, cursan distintos estudios; planificación y diseño urbano, ingeniería civil, ingeniería química e ingeniería eléctrica. Ellos son parte del grupo fundador de una organización llamada Abet que en amharico quiere decir “responder a una llamada”. ABET es una organización civil de voluntariado que intenta responder diferentes necesidades sociales en Addis Abeba y han participado en actividades recreativas para niños con autismo, campañas para recoger fondos para entregar alimentación a una escuela primaria, acompañamiento de enfermos en el Ethiopian Cancer Institute, entre otros. Durante agosto nos acompañarán a la misión de Andode para continuar su voluntariado.

Ha sido una sopresa mutua el conocernos y compartir el sueño común de dar más oportunidades a niños de Muketuri y alrededores; Para los jóvenes etíopes ha sido un reto ver cómo viven tantas personas en su país, una realidad, para ellos, bastante desconocida desde la capital;

Para los lugareños ha sido una sorpresa también, conocer a jóvenes etíopes, igual que ellos, que de forma voluntaria pasan sus vacaciones apoyando a niños de zonas más necesitadas. Se han creado entre ellos puentes de amistad, en los que, todas las partes se enriquecen. Hemos empezado a hacer planes de que los jóvenes de Abet vengan a Muketuri un fin de semana al mes durante el año. Esto puede ser el inicio de un movimiento de la sociedad etíope, que, desde un cierta clase media que crece timidamente, se acerca a la realidad masiva del país de tanta gente que no tiene ni sus necesidades más básicas solucionadas.

Estamos contentas y agradecidas de encontrarnos con jóvenes etíopes interesados en cambiar la realidad de este país. Creemos que juntos podemos hacer mucho más.

Lourdes Larruy