Missionary Experiences – Page 66 – Comboni Lay Missionaries

Wonder of God

1 April, 2016 by Alberto de la Portilla

Wonder of God is the name of our smallest protected, was born with 1.400kg, orphan, her mother died after giving birth. Her Grandma came to ask for support to the Mission during one of my visits to Bangui. As Mongoumba has no milk for babies in the hospital she was sent to the Nutrition Unit, where she was fed with adapted milk for malnourished children, for fifteen days; began to gain weight, but Grandma was eager to leave, one day went to the camp and did not return, leaving the little to the care of unit staff …

As soon as I returned to Mongoumba the first question that was put to me was “What to do with the baby? It can not and should not continue in the hospital!” The whole family had gone to the forest and with no family is impossible to carry the baby to the Sisters of Charity of Mbaiki, they will not accept it. In the Community started thinking about the possibility of seeking someone who could take care of the orphan and that someone was very close. One of the aides’ staff of the unit had said she did not mind staying with the girl, the only problem would be extra expenses since she is a widow with small children and unsupported. We talked and agreed that she would take care of the baby and the Mission would pay the cost of food and clothing. The Wonder also called Elisabete has adopted mother! Now she have six months, it is big and beautiful! These are the small, large, wonders of God that encourage us to continue to serve the mission.

With friendship

Élia Gomes CLM in Mongoumba

Missionary Land

21 March, 2016 by Alberto de la Portilla

We leave here the program “Missionary Land ” created by Vida Misionera Ecuador, where we can see the work that as Comboni Family we are doing in Açailandia, Brazil.

In this video we can hear Xoancar (Comboni Lay Missionary) serving for 16 years in Brazil.

Greetings

Photos of the history of the CLM of Brazil

18 March, 2016 by Alberto de la Portilla

Today we share with you this video of the Brazilian CLM with many of the pictures in its history.

Greetings

Arequipa, mission in southern Peru

13 March, 2016 by Alberto de la Portilla

We leave under these lines another video recorded by the Spanish television with the Comboni Missionaries in Peru.

In this Comboni parish is also working the Comboni Lay Missionaries for the last 9 years. At present time we are Kike Garcia (Peruvian CLM), Matt and Karissa Misner (CLM from US) with their two daughters.

We hope that with this video you can get close and understand better this missionary reality.

Greetings to everyone

A bed is a bed if it is a bed to you

8 March, 20168 March, 2016 by Maggie and Mark Banga

The Borana people are a group of semi-nomadic pastoralists in the far south of Ethiopia whose lives revolve around tending their herds of livestock – cows, camels, goats and sheep – travelling with them in search of grass and water. Their pattern of life is very similar to what it would have been hundreds of years ago. Over the last years, I (Maggie) have visited the Borana area multiple times, including working there on short-term basis on health outreach programs with the Sisters of Charity (SCCG) congregation who serve among the Borana in the rural outpost of Dadim. I have found my time in Dadim both beautiful and powerful, and often I think of the Borana people I have met and the experience I have had there. There is something magical about the pastoralists, their lifestyle and the rugged terrain of their lands that really draws one in.

Perhaps it is witnessing moments like this:

Once when I was working in Dadim, I went with Sr. Annie Joseph (an Indian missionary sister) on a Friday evening to the clinic to see a mother and her 9 month old daughter, who were both admitted with pneumonia. When we entered the room, the mother was sitting holding her child awkwardly on the edge of the bed. Sr. Annie asked for my help to move the mattress to the floor, where the mother might be more comfortable. After moving the mattress, the mother sat on the edge of it just as awkwardly as before. It is likely she had never seen a ’bed’ (as we know them) before. A moment later two boys strolled in with animal skins tucked under their arms. Sr. Annie looked at them and then turned her face towards me and whispered ‘no problem, let them do it their way’. We watched silently, as the mother took the animal skins, spread them out on the floor next to the bed and then laid down on them with her child. In a moment they were both peacefully asleep.

Such a different way of life!

We can all adapt to many different places and people, but how much we find comfort in our own familiar things, foods, language and habits that will always fill our hearts with peace. I had shared this story with a friend and she commented what a gift it is if we can pause and step back – then we truly get to see the world from another’s view not ours. How easily we often jump in with eagerness to talk or share something of ourselves, our thoughts, our ideas but how much we may miss in doing that.

-Maggie & Mark Banga

Comboni Lay Missionaries serving in Awassa, Ethiopia

Pictures of the Borana people in Dadim: