Comboni Lay Missionaries

Missionary retreat in Balsas (Brazil)

LMC Brasil

Retreat with the theme “Comboni Spirituality and the social commitment of the Church” in the diocese of Balsas/Maranhão – Brazil.

The Comboni Missionaries have left the diocese of Balsas in 2017, after 65 years of presence, marked by many achievements, both in the life of the communities, in the formation of leaders, as well as in the social part and in the infrastructure of the city itself.

Dom Valentim Meneses, the current bishop who took over the diocese in 2020, after the death of the previous bishop, invited the Comboni Missionaries to organize a retreat for the leaders of the communities, highlighting the social commitment of the church.

Thus, the Comboni family present in Piquiá/Maranhão, with the support of the Comboni spirituality groups (GEC) present in Balsas, organized the retreat in 2 different locations, to enable better participation.

On September 17, 2022 (Saturday), the first one was held in the city of Pastos Bons (280 km from Balsas), with the participation of about 25 persons. It was a very rich day of sharing and remembering the journey of the communities, and rekindling the commitment of faith, inspired by the Comboni charism.

On the following day (Sunday) the retreat was held in the city of Balsas, with the participation of more than 50 persons, with the assistance of the diocesan bishop in the reflection of the theme. He encouraged that the spirituality that we assume as Christians, regardless of what it is, should lead us, more than having faith in Jesus, to have the faith of Jesus. This makes the difference, since it prevents us from creating a logic that serves our personal interests and wills, keeping us in the logic of the Kingdom of God.

In both moments we had a video of Regimar and Valmir, sharing their first 5 months of presence in Mozambique and the challenges faced by the population with the Gombe Cyclone.

The GECs of Piquiá, Pastos Bons and Balsas shared about their meetings and invited those present to be part of the journey of deepening of faith and missionary commitment, as a concrete gesture of this retreat.

It was a rich moment of missionary animation, inspired by the charism of St. Daniel Comboni!

Did you like the idea of having a Comboni Spirituality Group (CSG) in your community or parish? Would you like to know how to organize one? Contact us through our email leigosmcbrasil@gmail.com or by the WhatsApp of the Comboni Missionaries +551197956-8317.

CLM Brazil

Engagement of the first CLM in Togo-Ghana-Benin

CLM TGB

After a quite lengthy training period, three of the CLM candidates in the Province of Togo-Ghana-Benin were accepted to make their engagement. Frank Amenyo, Benjamin Amekor and Justin Nougnui were invited by the Chaplain Rev. Fr. Leopold Adanle to come for a day recollection at the Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Mafi-Kumase (Rep. of Ghana) on the 8th October, 2022. The recollection was facilitated by Rev. Fr. Achille Dansou, MCCJ in Mafi-Kumase Parish. He shared with us the theme of the World Mission Sunday proposed by the Holy Father, “You shall be my witnesses”. We had adoration in the day and also a Rosary with the Church Community of Mafi-Kumase. We ended the recollection with Sunday Eucharistic Celebration presided by the Parish Priest who is also our Chaplain.

On the 10th October, the Feast Day of St. Daniel Comboni, the MCCJ of the Province gathered at Mafi-Kumase for the occasion around the Provincial Rev. Fr. Timothée Hounake. After the profession of faith, we were called and presented to the Provincial. And before the Provincial, one after the other, we took our engagement to be CLM. We were received into the New Family. After the mass and taking of pictures, we were invited to the MCCJ gathering where we were made aware of the happenings in the Province in particular and in the Comboni Family in general. After this, we shared a family meal together with the MCCJ and our families.

We thank the Lord for the celebration. We thank the MCCJ family and our families and friends who have been with us. May we become “saint and capable” CLM.

St. Daniel Comboni, pray for us.

For the three, Justin Nougnui (CLM).

Visit to Peru (IV): Arequipa

LMC Peru
LMC Peru

Back to Lima where I spent a couple of days. Spending the night in a bed is always appreciated. I was also able to celebrate Mario’s birthday with the family.

But soon it was time again to take another bus, this time to Arequipa where our international CLM community is located.

Arequipa, in the south of the country, is about 18-20 hours away from Lima. This time I did not travel alone but I was accompanied by Rosa and Rosalia, two CLMs from Lima.

This time I could stay a whole week in a row, a real luxury.

Again we stayed at the Comboni Missionaries’ house where we were very well received. Most of the time we would be with Ewelina but we also spent time with the Comboni missionaries to get to know in depth the work they do in the very large parish they are in charge of.

The week in Arequipa was also quite intense. In these trips, time is always short to get to know everything.

In the first place, I would highlight the extension of the parish. We, in particular, develop our missionary service in Villa Ecológica where Ewelina and Rossie live. But in Villa we should distinguish many sectors. Villa is a newly settled neighborhood where the asphalt has been left at the gates and public transport only enters through the main avenue regularly and to reach one of its ends you must do it at rush hour or it does not compensate them, so that the rest of the day you are isolated and the only thing left is to walk.

In these neighborhoods people come from the interior of the country looking for a better life, a job in the city with which to get ahead. When you arrive you have to look for a lot (piece of land) that you can afford, pay for it and build a small house to show that you own it. This money goes to the community who will use it for common work. Saturdays or Sundays are the community work day because if the community does not do this work things will not get done. They have to make terraces on the hillsides, open streets, make sure that water reaches everywhere, build retaining walls to prevent landslides when there is an earthquake or heavy rain….

Life in these neighborhoods during the pandemic has been very hard. Most of the inhabitants make a living from small businesses. What they sell one day gives them enough to eat the next, but when any possibility of going out to sell was closed, the situation became very difficult. At that time the common cooking pots began to proliferate (we saw the same in Lima and other cities). Two or three women cooked for 50, 60 or 70 families. Many of these pots are still maintained because the population continues to need them. And in the organization and support of these pots was always the parish, collecting aid and supporting with food to alleviate this difficult situation.

For us the work has a lot to do with visiting the families in their homes, getting to know their needs and accompanying them. From the work of the cradle (school for children from 2 to 5 years old) we also support and do important work, not only with the children, but also with their families.

Education is the engine of development and dignity of all peoples.

One morning we went with Fr. Conrado and Fr. Valentin to visit the parish by car and we needed 3 or 4 hours to go around and get close to some parts of it, not even all, to know the different sectors, the challenges that are opening as people continue to occupy and reach new lands. The last chapel will be at almost 3000 meters above sea level at the foot of Misti (emblematic volcano of 5800 meters above sea level that guards the whole city of Arequipa).

During the week we were able to accompany Ewelina in her work in the cradle, in the catechetical groups, where 50 adults were confirmed and new groups continue to be opened. Her work with the youth, with the elderly we were not able to be there because it did not coincide.

We were also able to visit his home in Villa where together with Rossie (who was in the USA that week to settle some legal and medical matters) they share their daily life with their neighbors and the many dogs that occupy the streets of Villa. There was plenty of time to talk and understand the day to day life of the community.

We also took some time to visit the city, especially the center, with the cathedral, the Plaza de Armas, the Jesuits, etc. A very beautiful historic center, with a colonial character, which makes Arequipa an increasingly touristy place.

In Arequipa there is also the possibility of opening a new group of local CLM, which for the moment will be animated by Rossie and Ewelina but which Rosa and Rosalia attended in the presentation to present how they are organized in Peru and to establish a first link with the candidates and an awareness that being in one place or another we all belong to the same CLM family and we have a common mission.

Undoubtedly an intense week from which I bring back many images and knowledge to share with those who are preparing in the future to continue our international presence in Peru.

I leave here another video of the reality in Arequipa, it is already some years old but it also orients us in the reality of Arequipa).

On the way back to Lima and after 20 hours of travel I went out to buy some handicrafts to give as gifts on my return and above all to do missionary animation in Spain.

To finish the trip I had a meeting with all the CLM of Peru, those of Lima in person and those of Trujillo or Arequipa by internet, to talk about what the continental meeting has meant and to see how to continue advancing.

I spent the last day with Fr. Joselín, provincial of Peru, to talk about my stay during the month, to learn more about Peru and the Comboni presence and to take a walk for a while.

A month that has flown by between meetings and trips. Now it is time to digest and pray all that I have experienced and I hope it will be of benefit to all the people with whom I have been able to share this time.

Kind regards

Alberto de la Portilla, coordinator of the CLM Central Committee.

Project “Memory of Africa”: Milagros Zabalza

Milagros

We continue this series of testimonies with Milagros Zabalza.

Comboni Missionary Sister and nurse, Milagros has dedicated a large part of her life to work with patients affected by Hansen’s bacillus (leprosy), both in Egypt and in South Sudan, when the country was not yet independent. In this interview, recorded expressly for Proyecto Memoria, she narrates her life journey, linked to the African continent, during the outbreak of the Second Sudanese Civil War.