Comboni Lay Missionaries

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Formation

CLM International Economy Meeting

by
Tesoreros LMC

Last Saturday, 21 June, we gathered online for the first international economy meeting since our international assembly last December.

The assembly requested that a global meeting be held around the middle of each year to jointly assess the progress of economic issues in each country and in each of our international communities.

Representatives from 13 countries and 2 international communities were present, including treasurers, coordinators, and members of the coordination team. Due to the language challenge, we were able to count on the support of two volunteer translators, Ana Cris, CLM from Guatemala, and her son Esteban.

It was an important moment of information and clarification, where proposals for joint next steps were presented. One of these was to hold two more online meetings this year, in three smaller groups, according to language, so that we can facilitate greater interaction between participants and the development of practical tools to aid our quest for economic autonomy.

We appreciate everyone’s commitment and participation!

See you at our next meeting!

Flávio, treasurer of the Central Committee

Meeting in Nuremberg

by
LMC Alemania

This time, the focus was on designing the Comboni family’s joint stand at the Church Mile of the Catholic Day in Würzburg. Together with Father Günther, Father Michael, and Brother Hans, we gathered ideas on the theme “Have courage – stand up!” in a constructive brainstorming session and were able to assign the first tasks. Nine missionaries will represent the Comboni Family in Nuremberg.

We also discussed feedback on our peace exhibition in Mellatz, arrangements for Brigitte Kreiter’s participation in the provincial assembly, and plans for the planned visit to the Comboni Missionaries’ community in Graz. We were very moved by Hans Eigner’s report on the situation in the diocese of Bentiu in South Sudan, where he will be involved in development work starting this fall.

We held a small barbecue to thank him for his involvement in our group over the past years and to “bid farewell” to him and Father Günther as they embark on their next missionary assignments.

Barbara Ludewig, CLM

The importance of communication

by
LMC Kenia

We are grateful for the wonderful meeting we had together as CLM members, we had an amazing and fruitful weekend together.

We interacted, bonded and shared responsibilities together creating one community

Our formation sessions were based on the topic of communication.

Communication is a vital component of our living as missionaries for in this we are able to reach those we are called to serve

We learn from our Lord Jesus how He communicated the message of the Kingdom of God.

With his messages he spoke to the hearts of people bringing them close to God, He spoke the truth without fear even of death, John 5:18-47

Christ knew and understood his audience he used different strategies to pass on his messages to people and separately to his disciples

He used parables, stories silence etc. to pass on information.

Many instances he gave people chance to express their perspective, Mark 10:51

As we read the letters, articles and magazine written by saint Daniel Comboni we understand his passion for the mission.

This encourages us to use the tool of communication appropriately in our missionary lives to spread the gospel to far ends and to coming generations

With effective communication we bridge the human connection creating healthy relationships and building our communities and also the local communities that we serve.

Belinda Awino CLM

Our growing Ecuadorian community

by
LMC Ecuador

In mid-2021, together with Fr. Joseph Ng’ang’a from Kenya, who was our Comboni chaplain, we invited people known within the mission and others who shared our charism to continue their formation and become part of our lay community.

Thus, after completing the formation and accompaniment, our aspirant Carlos Enrique Zamora Medina was accepted as a Comboni Lay Missionary on Sunday, June 1, 2025.

During the days leading up to the ceremony, there was an atmosphere of nervousness and tension due to the organization and development of the program to be carried out, which fortunately received the support and collaboration of several people who did their part to ensure that everything went according to plan.

The Mass was held at 10:00 a.m., together with the community of the Parish of “Our Lady of Fatima” in El Empalme, Province of Guayas. In addition to Carlos Zamora’s family and guests, those present at this celebration were attentive to every moment of the Mass celebrated by Fr. Seraphin Kakwata, our current Comboni advisor, who kept everyone very attentive at the moment of signing the commitment as a Comboni Lay Missionary. It was a very special moment, which was also shared with the lay missionaries who collaborate in the Pastoral Integration that is taking place at the Divine Word Missionaries in Guayaquil.

Later, in a sharing meeting, Carlos Zamora said that he had faced many obstacles in his life due to health reasons, which he had been able to overcome through the efforts and prayers of his mother. Despite this situation, he always showed a desire to be a missionary and do something for the Church and for God. He made the phrase “Life is giving time” his guiding light to discover God’s timing, resuming his sacramental formation and his high school, university, and pastoral studies, which he had put on hold.

Despite everything, he said that he was still not sure what the future held for him, but that this process had been a blessing from God for him and, above all, a good decision to follow Jesus’ call to his pastoral and lay life, and that together with his community he had been able to consolidate this desire for the Comboni mission.

With this important moment for our lay missionary community, we feel very happy and encouraged to follow the charism of our Founder, supported by one of his phrases, “Providence guided my mind and my heart,” and to continue trusting that these moments are from God and that he will help us to consolidate our community. (PHOTOS 6,7)

Greetings in Christ.

Abg. Susana Ortega Delgado, CLM

Running to the aid of those in need (In the footsteps of the Risen One V)

by
Resucitado
Resucitado

In the second meaning of the word RESUCITAR (to resurrect), the RAE dictionary tells us that colloquially it means “to restore, renew, give new life to something.”

This summer I had a missionary experience in Mozambique with five other companions. During this experience, I met Mrs. M., a widow with a deep faith who had spent her long life working as a teacher. She had a very warm personality and cared deeply about all her neighbors. A few years ago, in her desire to help others, she gathered a group of people, members of the Songo parish, to start the Caritas group from scratch.

Thanks to her efforts and those of her collaborators, Caritas Songo was launched with the fundamental objective of restoring dignity to all those in need in the village.

Every day, she would go out on foot with her group to visit, accompany, distribute, listen… always with a smile on her face and a transparent gaze that showed the merciful Jesus she carried to everyone.

I could talk about many of the experiences I shared with Mrs. M., but the one that impressed me the most was the day we went with the group to respond to an emergency call. An elderly man had been left on the street because he had been kicked out of the house where he lived. He took refuge in an abandoned, dirty, dilapidated room with no door. The neighbors alerted her to the situation, and Mrs. M., without hesitation, came to his aid, taking money out of her own pocket to cover the old man’s basic needs, mainly food and water. She asked the community to mobilize to find a solution to the problem of the missing door, and they quickly managed to bring one that solved the old man’s lack of privacy and security. And just as the Good Samaritan did, she left more money with one of the man’s neighbors so that she could buy more food and whatever else he needed.

Her generosity, selflessness, and humanity, in the style of the Gospel, made us think about our own attitudes and behaviors in the society in which we live. Would we have acted in the same way? Probably not.

Two months ago, I received the news of her death. The same Jesus who was present in her charitable work called her to reward her and thank her for being Good News.

Mrs. M. was determined to restore, renew, and give new life, that is, to RESURRECT, all those who came to her for help. Nor did she forget to go to those who could not or did not want to come to the parish. Those were her chosen ones, the same ones whom Jesus approached because he knew that they would not take the first step.

Now she enjoys the RESURRECTION that she gave to so many people in Songo.

Faina Toledo, CLM