Category: Pastoral Ministries

Mtoni Parish by John Waldrep "Mambo iko huku!" This is a new phrase in the slang of Dar es Salaam that one of our radio announcers has made popular. It is heard all over Dar these days and means roughly: This is where the action is. I think that is certainly true with regard to Blessed Josephine Bakhita Catholic Church in Mtoni, Dar es Salaam: Mambo iko huku! There are a number of things I could point to, but I will mention just a few of the ways in which I think we have something special in Mtoni. First off, ever since I began to minister in Mtoni in February of 1995, I've been impressed by. and proud of the...

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Safari to the Nuba Mountains by Thomas Tiscornia A.J. Cronin's Keys of the Kingdom tells of when Shen fu finally got to his mission he found that the Church had survived many years because of the care and dedication of the catechists. This very same situation I encountered when I recently visited the area of the Nuba Mountains in Sudan during Holy Week. For twelve years the Christians, who are scattered over the many mountains, were encouraged, instructed and ministered to by over thirty catechists. They had received basic training themselves when the parish of Heiban was functioning and staffed by a priest. Due to the civil war in the country these people were left pretty much on their own,...

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Metangula Parish Niassa Province, Diocese of Lichinga, Mozambique by Kenneth Thesing The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers assumed responsibility for this area in January, 1998. We came to begin this new mission project at the request of the Bishop, Dom Luis Gonzaga Ferreira da Silva, S.J. He lacked the personnel to name a resident pastor/priests to this parish which area is the same as the Lake District. The parish runs well over 150 kilometers (more than 100 miles) north to south and about 50 kilometers west to east (30 miles) along the east side of Lake Niassa (Lake Malawi) and starting at the Tanzania-Mozambique border in the north. Originally started in the 1950s the first parish was constructed at Cobue. It...

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Building New Sudan by Sean Sprague; From the pages of Maryknoll Magazine Dec 05, 2008 Catholic aid agency gives war-ravaged South Sudanese new hope through education Nine-year-old Josephine carries not only her books and pens to school, but also balances on her head a small wooden stool to sit on when she gets there. Her classroom has no furniture. After walking four miles along a dusty road past tiny farms, she joins 140 other enthusiastic students crowded into one schoolroom. A few, like Josephine, sit on their stools, while most sit on the concrete floor, but they don't mind. The amenities in this typical South Sudan school might be frugal, but the children want to learn. This community in the...

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Youth Ministry in Mombasa by Francis TenHoopen My work is rather simple. I run an office of Youth ministries for the Archdiocese of Mombasa on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya. We do leadership training; education for life (AIDS Awareness but better). There are retreats all over the diocese and bible education. There are a lot of things and events that happen. The archdiocese is large. We have 42 parishes and 85 secondary schools to take care of. I cannot do it myself, so I have teams of young people who do this for me. This is the key in this work. I enable young people to minister to each other. I am an enabler or animator. I joked once...

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Spiritual Food by Thomas Shea My life as a priest in East Africa has been one constant thought: I am the one bringing Mass and sacraments to people in this very rural area. I am so glad and feel blessed when I go to an especially difficult area to reach because of the rainy season and bring Communion to someone. Their thanks to me for bringing spiritual food is a blessing to me. [catlist categorypage="yes"]

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Corpus Christi Wins in Africa by Edward J. Quinn originally printed in Maryknoll Magazine (November 1999) When I started learning about liturgy decades ago, I was shocked that my favorite feast, Christmas, ranked only third in liturgical importance, behind Easter and Epiphany. Despite the Church's official emphasis, however, Christmas remains the favorite feast of most Western Christians. I know people in the pews do their own ranking, but I was still surprised by which feasts most appeal to African Christians. At least in Tanzania, where I serve, the feast of Corpus Christi is far and away number one on the hit parade. Fervor and emotion carry the day, and rightly so, when a celebration that coincides with the Sukuma people's...

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Mary's Love Beads by Daniel Ohmann originally printed in Maryknoll Magazine  June 2000 It's now two years since I left my ministry with suffering exiles from Burundi and Rwanda in the refugee camps in western Tanzania. Since then I've been working in the Shinyanga region with the Watatulu people, dwellers along the Rift Valley for some 300 years. I live in a tent among these seminomadic people. I've been working with them very patiently, longing for the day when they will see that the teachings of Jesus in the Gospel complement the many positive values they have in their traditional religion and eliminate some negative aspects, such as the fear of evil spells. I've had little success so far-in fact,...

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Chaplaincy, Slums, and Water by John Lange I am chaplain to the Little Sisters of St. Francis in their Regional House and Spiritual Center in Kasarani, Nairobi. I am very happy in this work. The Sisters have been wonderful to me. They spoil me and I love it. My duties, so far have been very light. Morning Mass from Monday Through Saturday. On Sunday the parish priest comes here for an outstation Mass. That leaves me free to continue my 8-year ministry in the Mukuru slums of Nairobi where I usually have two Masses. During the week, I keep busy by visiting the slums and following-up on several development activities. In the slums I have 11 community health workers from...

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