Comboni Lay Missionaries

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Missionary Experiences

UP AND DOWN

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LMC RCAMbi bala ala…
Greetings to you in Sango…
Here also begins Lent… prayer time!
Listening to Combonis stories one of the problems of Central African Republic is that it does not exist! It is not in the news, it is confused with Congo or it is thought to be a LAND in Africa not well defined, nevertheless it exists and it is a LAND with clear limits and a history. When I have been told, although myself had to search for information in the atlas, because I did not know of its existence, it seems strange, but in this globalized and technological world we discover in the SKY new planets similar to EARTH, but in EARTH there are corners of HEAVEN ignored!… we do things UPSIDE DOWN we look at the SKY… and we forget the EARTH…
For two Sundays I went with Fr. Gabriele to Mass in the convent of the Benedictine Sisters where we celebrated in Sango (local language), and as we can imagine it was a party with drums, guitars, songs, as a concert, but during the Our Father’s Prayer is sung a cappella, clapping hands, almost out of place in the midst of everything else, is like a lament, a heartfelt prayer of a people dwelling in this EARTH and that it will not be forgotten by the Father who is in HEAVEN … a cry that goes from DOWN to UP… and a bread that descends from ABOVE to DOWN…
On the first Sunday of Lent, on the other hand, I went to Mass in the Cathedral of Bangui, where Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of the Jubilee of Mercy. Here, also the heavens (roof) and the earth (the ground) have the same color… almost like a sign of UNITY… RED LAND of Africa! In the cathedral there are no paintings, no gold, no picture frames, no luxuries, very simple (see photos)… the House of HEAVEN like the houses of the EARTH, built with red clay, a sign of communion between EARTH and HEAVEN…
“Today Bangui becomes the SPIRITUAL CAPITAL of the WORLD”. The Holy Year of Mercy has advanced on this Earth. A LAND that has suffered for several years from war and hatred, misunderstanding, lack of peace. Bangui becomes the SPIRITUAL CAPITAL of PRAYER for the mercy of the Father. All of us pray for peace, mercy, reconciliation, forgiveness, love. For Bangui, for the Central African Republic, for the world, for the countries that suffer the war and seek peace, and together we ask for love and peace. “Doye Sirirí!” (Pope Francis at the Opening of the Jubilee of the Mercy on November 29, 2015 in Bangui).
Even here, tomorrow is women’s day… on the grass in front of the cathedral they have placed a stands (I heard that will remain for some days), to raise awareness about the plight of women in the Central African Republic… They also ask not to be forgotten in this EARTH … where even the moon grows from UP to DOWN …
A greeting, a hug, a kiss, a prayer and a thank you … (in particular to women in their day).
LMC RCA
Simone CLM Central African Republic

María Augusta writes from Mongoumba (Central African Republic)

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Maria Augusta LMCDear CLM, friends, family …
Anna and I are fine, thank God. The fathers in Mongoumba have malaria; we hope that with the medical treatment they will recover soon.
Fr Jesus has been in Spain. The first fifteen days accompanying the Cardinal and the Imam of Bangui who were receiving the prize of “Fraternity” offered by the Comboni magazine “Mundo Negro”. He also takes advantage of the journey to make missionary animation and sensitize about the reality that we are living here. He has also spent some time with his family.
The small Merveille returned on the 13th of this month after two months of hospitalization. I was impressed because of the way she came back. She has recover the weight she had with four months 3.5 kg when she already weighed almost 5… She suffered a lot! They have also found her tuberculosis and are treating it. I hope she quickly regain the lost weight. May the Lord do what is best for her.
The stay of the CLM Irene, from Congo, was very good. She wants to return to share her life with this people for a longer period. I learned many practical things with her on health issues, with medicines and products from nature. I liked being with her, I think she’s a real comboni. On January 2, when she had to return the barge broke in the middle of the river and went down the river with four cars, stopping after two kilometers. Only after three days it returned to its place and we were able to recover the car. Irene had the plane on day 3 so a father from Mbaiki had to come for her. She managed to pass the river by canoe. That night she slept in Mbaiki and very early in day 3 she left for Bangui, getting thus to travel to Kinshasa. It was a great adventure!
From January 23 to February 15, Anna’s father and sister were with us. They came to visit her. Communication was difficult because they only speak Polish. Through gestures and with the translation of Anna we made ourselves understood. How nice it would be if there was a language that everyone may talk…
In the month of January, we sent to Mbaiki to 5 young fellows from the parish to take training and then teach children around 3-5 years old (pre-primary). If it goes well, we will open three classes in three villages.
Yesterday, I brought from Mbaiki 3 couples, responsible for the chapels, with their 8 smaller children, they leave everything… The Lord will reward them!
We are helping a pygmy woman who has breast cancer. We took her to Bangui, stayed in the hospital for two months, where they did many tests and finally brought her to Mongoumba worse than she was. Every day he comes to eat with the Pygmy students who come to school. We also took the time to heal the breast. We give her tea that she says is helping her. Only a miracle can save her, pray for her, please. May Mary intercede for her along with her son Jesus!
For two months I have not left Mongoumba. Traveling tires me a lot because the roads are in very bad condition, full of bumps.
I wish all the laity and the family a good Lent and a holy conversion.

Maria Augusta LMC
Always united in prayer.
A Missionary Embrace.
Maria Augusta. CLM in Mongoumba.

Aguilectores in Sahuayo 2017: living the values in the family with Black Smoke

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Aguilectores

Last weekend, the Aguilectores (readers of the Comboni´s missionary magazine for children) annual meeting was held in an atmosphere of joy, sharing moments of prayer, games, dynamics, food and topics of current interest, which led them to become aware of their reality.

It was inaugurated with a moment of animation with songs and dances for children. This help to integrate them in teams with missionary colors to begin the contest of drawings, whose theme was the values ​​in the family. This motivated them to join as a team, to get points and be the winning team, their prize is to publish them in our magazine.

In their analysis of reality, Internet, social networks, as well as mobile phones that have been addictive for most of them, could not be lacking. Therefore, they agreed to select three rules to use them properly, recognizing that they are useful today for our life. The rules are as follows: 1) make a schedule to use them, 2) obey at the first moment to our parents / guardians, 3) use internet in the company of an adult.

The main theme of our day was “LIVING THE VALUES IN THE FAMILY WITH BLACK SMOKE”, teacher Rosita and her children explained some of the values ​​that have great importance for a healthy family coexistence, such as: Belonging, faith, forgiveness, honesty, curiosity, respect, flexibility, communication and generosity. All the children participated very kindly giving contributions of their own family experience, revealing to us how important it is for them to belong to a natural family.

At noon, we celebrated the Eucharist for the children, at the end we continued with a march through the streets near the park. The prayer of the rosary was interspersed with songs and batons. Concluding the event with a fraternal meal among the children and collaborators making alive the joy of the gospel.

Because of the affluent of participants, we have started a new project of missionary formation for children every Saturday from 09:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., with headquarters in Uganda Martyrs’ Park.

We will wait for you!

Carlos Manuel Castillo Villanueva.

Missionary Animation in El Salvador

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LMC Centro America

The CLM community of Central American Province, would like to be present in Guatemala, El Salvador and Costa Rica, because in these three countries there is a Comboni presence.
We are currently present only in Guatemala. In 2016 American meeting in Mexico, Guatemalans committed to work in order to extend our presence in El Salvador and Costa Rica, and become a Central American Province. Last December 2016, we made our first experience of missionary animation in El Salvador.
On December 10 and 11 and invited by the MCCJ, Father Máximo Huamán, Brother Humberto Rua, Mireya Soto, Miriam Herrador and Lily Portillo traveled from Guatemala to El Salvador, (almost 7 hours by bus). He had gathered a group of people interested in knowing this part of the Comboni Family. There were very positive reactions, several people were interested. And during this year 2017, they will begin their Comboni formation, with the support of Fr. Máximo and ours.
We are definitely sure that God wants the charism and missionary identity of St. Daniel Comboni reach more people. We, by His grace, are His simple instruments.

Blessed be God!

We are in Ethiopia!

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Ethiopia

A few days ago we arrived to Addis Ababa. Magda is with us – she helps us in getting to know the city in these first days. Our time has been quite intensive. After a few first days of adjustment and getting to know Addis Ababa we started our Amharic course. It is good that after a short course in Poland we know some basics of the language. Thanks to that we can go on with the course faster and we don’t need to spend time on getting to know the alphabet.

We have met many interesting people and visited many places in the capital city. Among others, we were in the center for street children run by Salesians as well as in the house of Mother Teresa of Kolkatta. We met with the cardinal, who blessed us for our missionary work. We also took part in the celebration of Timket (baptism of Jesus), which is celebrated in Ethiopia very solemnly.

Ethiopia

Tobiasz and Adela CLM in Ethiopia