Missionary Experiences – Page 74 – Comboni Lay Missionaries

What are the Comboni Lay Missionaries engaged in?

6 June, 2015 by Alberto de la Portilla

The answer is a bit complex, for now I will just tell you what Caro and Mine (two CLM) do in the mountains of Guerrero, in Na’Savi culture, officially known as Mixteca.

They are located in the village of Huexoapa, in the municipality of Metlatónoc, and the parish of San Miguel Archangel, Diocese of Tlapa. In Huexoapa live about 200 families, their language is tu’un savi or Mixteca, although some also speak Spanish.

The CLM have a missionary presence in this town for six years, eight have been the missionaries who have served in this mission, in different periods. Each has shared part of their being, their knowledge, their faith with the people and in turn, the people with them.

Caro came to this mission in September 2014 and Minerva in February 2015 to take over the companions who were there. God willing, they will be for three years in this town. Although the time they have there is not enough to know and understand all the wealth and weaknesses of the culture they have tried to assimilate what it has been possible for them, feeling part of the people, enjoying and appreciating the good in it, and contributing to build a better place, each from their skills and knowledge.

Caro offers evening classes remedial education, for the moment 19 children of various grade levels are involved, and she take care of them at different times. The support is reduced only to read (12 children) and mathematics (7 children) primary level. It is very probable that the number of children increases, as more and more people are interested and come to her asking her to “help them to study.” Minerva teaches knitting and sewing, but now informally, since she just came to the place, the ladies are just beginning to learn about their work, but those who have already approached have shown great interest, and not only ladies but also some of the young, who learn very easily.

Other activities they perform, is the accompaniment of children, youth and adults participating in some pastoral activities, such as support for the three catechists of the community in the preparation of the catechism for confirmation, first communion and presented sacramental talks; weekly meeting with young people in which human and Christian formation occurs; formation in values and catechesis to children; Holy Hour on Thursdays; support in the preparation of the Liturgy of the Word to the young person who is going to chair, or in the organization of the liturgy when they have Eucharist, which is most of the times. They are also having guitar lessons, and have a quasi choir, two mandolins, a tambourine, three guitarists (two women and a man), and two more persons interested, but they have failed to learn because of lack of instrument, although all are just learning, they are encourage to play some songs at Mass or at the Liturgy of the Word.

Also they spend one day a week to visit families so we can know them more closely, some of the time accompanied by a young or a child from the community that helps as a translator, since they do not speak the local language, and not all families speaks Spanish. They are striving to learn, both in daily life, trying to memorize the words that people taught, and in the hours they devote to study, with the help of a young lady from the village.

They are also trying to cultivate a small orchard, on the back yard that is part of the house that the community gives them to live. For this, as for other activities that they perform as well as the needs that are presented to them, they have the support of the people involved in the above activities and who do willingly.

Caro and Mine know that work is hard and sometimes things do not go as they wanted. Although there are many the signs of life found in this culture, there are also present signs of death, coupled with this their personal limitations and defects, however they know that “the works of God are born and grow at the foot of the Cross” (St. Daniel Comboni).

Being with this people they realize that they receive more than they give, but I will speak on that subject later.

I conclude making you an invitation to join in the building of the Kingdom of God, from what you feel called to provide: counseling, financial support, prayer, giving part of your time or giving your life to the service of the mission.

“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few” We have lack of you!

CLM Mexico

Mission-field Metlatónoc, Mexico 2015

17 May, 2015 by Alberto de la Portilla

This year 2015, the mission team have consisted of ten people, we went on Friday March 27 to Sunday April 5 to six communities in the mountains of Guerrero, all of them belongs to the parish of Metlatónoc: Llano del Nopal, Cocuilotlatzala, Buenavista, and San Pedro and San Pablo Atzompa. Carolina, who is on a mission permanently, participated accompanying the community of San Juan Huexoapa and Minerva (who is on community experience with Caro) went to El Paraiso.

Besides this week celebrations, we visit the families and share their joys and sorrows, leaned with alternative medicine in the community of Llano del Nopal. There was no lack of gathering with football matches or trips to the river, enthusiasm and youth participation, tolerance and support of the elderly, and the joy of children painting and sharing the material we prepared for them.

It was a great experience of openness, respect, teamwork, dialogue. A great moment to be available to the meeting and knowledge of other ways to celebrate Easter.

And the opportunity to be attentive and listen to what God wants to say to each one of us in a particular way, but also to his “Church” through this simple Church that allowed us to accompany and enrich each other.

We thank God for this beautiful experience and also for all the people who went to mission in different parts of Mexico, all the families of the communities that welcomed us, especially those who treated us with love, for all the Comboni family.

We share with you the celebrations and gatherings of this week in images.

CLM Mexico

“Take off your sandals, for the place where you stand is holy ground”

3 May, 2015 by Alberto de la Portilla

This land is called Pau-Brasil, Irajá, Comboios, Caeiras, Olho d’Água, indigenous villages in the state of Espíritu Santo.

I spent nine days with great intensity, important days, beautiful, full of friendship and sharing, we as Comboni Family (priests, religious, laity, scholastics) and the Tupinikim indigenous people, people of this holy land.

The simplicity, humility, sharing, hospitality, are words that I remember celebrating those days.

The availability, tenderness of the families we met, visited, lived, brought forth the beauty of true and sincere principles that value the encounter with the Other and the sacredness of knowing how to welcome.

The Tupinikim people, as all indigenous peoples, fought for the recognition of the land that was always theirs and they lost with colonization, besides losing the right to be resident.

Indigenous land, holy land.

A fight that began in 1979 until 1981 for a territory increasingly exploited by another colonization, a foreign multinational, supported by the lobbies of political and economic power.

Many attempts were made by the police with guns and threats to the Tupinikim in order to leave their land. Many were the processes, finding letters and documents to prove it was an indigenous land and finally in 1993 came the land demarcation and recognition that protects the indigenous territory, their communities and villages.

The struggle for life, fight for rights, respect for a culture that is being lost and resist the increasingly dominant homogenization that wants to treat everyone as objects and consumers.

Threats ended and the law has confirmed a truth that has always existed, now is the time to recover a territory exploited by a (foreign) industry that planted eucalyptus trees at each site by market interests, for the manufacture of cellulose.

The problem is that these trees grow faster and take water from the land, impoverishing the soil and occupying the space of the native forest.

When the weather due to drought does not help, everything becomes difficult and complicated for those who live from agriculture.

Restart, caring for the earth and its fruits, through an indigenous tradition that always respect the Pachamama, living with essentials, is a beautiful lesson of life that indigenous taught us.

In this land we were welcomed, we felt at home and there is no more beautiful thing for a foreign pilgrim that being accepted and taken in hand.

Comboni Family: Father Elias, Father Savio, Sister Josephine, Emma, Wedipo, Cosmas, Fidel, Grimert.

Emma Chiolini (Italian CLM in Brazil)

Letter from Gulu (Uganda)

12 April, 2015 by Alberto de la Portilla

Here in St Jude (Gulu), we are a community of 4 CLM who live and work here. We are very lucky, because around us live some Ugandan CLM, Comboni brothers, sisters and fathers who are much opened. We know that all the time we can count on them, when we need something they always help. We feel a big big support from them. Even when we had difficult time here, when we were a bit down, they came to us to give us a good word, to speak, to be with us. This particular moments showed us that we are really a family not only when is a big feast, celebration but we are together also in difficult and sad time. It was very nice to feel it.

We organised our community life, which is very important for us. Every day we discover how big blessing community is for each of us. It is nice to come back from work and speak, talk about doubts, about nice and bad moment, it is very nice to have this opportunity to share. Every one of us is involved in many things but we have our own community moments. We pray together every day. Each of us is responsible for one day per week and prepare evening prayer. We have our own small chapel in the house, so in the evening we gather there to pray, share and give thanks for every day, praying also for strength and love for next day. Wednesday is our community day what means we go together to the Mass that we offer for our community. Another time when we are together are during the meals. This is time when we can share our work, experience, ask about something, discuss and received advises.

Once a month we have a retreat day that is in Layibi. Sometimes we ask father to prepare something for us and sometimes we just go to think, to be calm and to pray in peace. Usually is half a day and later we have a chance to speak with fathers in Layibi to ask about a lot of things, to compare our experience, to received some advices from them, because they have long experience working among Acholi people.

We have created our first community project. We created this educational project for children to give them opportunity to go to school or to continue education. Education in Uganda is very expensive, parents must pay a lot of money and really, they do not have. So we decided to make this project for this kind of families, children. We included also our workers. Each of them could choose one child from family and we paid one term of school year. The same situation is with our mothers. Other part of our project is to support children for whole year. With the help of one of our worker, we chose 11 children from very poor families and we decided to support them for whole year. Of course, we chose children who are really good, whose results were good and who wanted to continued learning. All of them they are from Secondary School and their situation at home is very difficult. Most of them they are orphans, another with father who is drunker, another with many children so studying is impossible. So we support them paying them school fees and other requirements (like exams fees, uniforms).

About our work… I (Asia) still help bro. Elio to keep properly administration and account department. This kind of work I do it up to lunch break. Later I am a teacher and special need’s teacher. I try to introduce English, because our children have a big problem with that. I also work with one autistic girl, I try to find a communication channel with her. I want this lessons to let her grow up, spread horizons. I work also with older children. I prepare them to exams, the last exams in the school.

Ewa spend much time with the babies while their “mothers” work in the barn (before they were alone by the compound doing all sorts of “dangerous” things for them).

Also put some movies to the older kids that are a little “off the hook” for the kind of life that has been here more focused on the kids. Ewa is very in touch with everyone, and that we “drag” to play basketball, volleyball or whatever with them…

An institution level she is responsible for workers, to bring some control schedules. Also enjoys working with mothers in the physical work every day, putting corn, millet, beans and other things to dry, then you put them into the silos.

With older boys we have a beautiful project, we want together to put in order dormitories and prepare an special place for them inside with tables and chairs to allow them to read, draw and talk instead find them every time around the compound with nothing to do.

Carmen is ordering (with them) to “whitewash” the rooms, we painted the lockers, they were very old and faded colour, with the colours of the Ugandan flag, who elected them, and now we will put the names with “cool” letters.

After we want also to paint a scene (or some sports or movie) on one of the inside walls. We will use the projector to copy the image because of that all of them can help (obviously, everyone wants to participate).

I help with the organization of storage and distribution of food, clothing and other necessities for children. Everything is posted to better manage resources.

I like to work in the store like Ewa, we are very proud of how foods are perfectly placed, after much work, for use it in the dry season.
In our free time we enjoy sharing with children with mobility problems, for all of us they are very special.

Monica is doing a great job with them, physiotherapy to try to remove some of that rigidity that has blocked the majority. She is also doing gymnastics with children who have trouble mobilization but well “head” and they love it.

All enjoyed when sat together with them in the fresh atmosphere, with music, toys, changing position, with the help of lots of colourful cushions we have done with the old foam mattresses.

We felt at home despite some misunderstandings arising from the difference in our cultures, but the will is good and we are taking good care of each other. In times of difficulty, we greatly appreciate being together and being so well, we thank the community that we are.

As you can see, we are involved in many activities. Every day we try to find something different to do with children to change some routine. Every day we try to do our best to our best to make their lives better, happier and more interesting.

CLM in Gulu-Uganda

What are Acoli people waiting for?

7 April, 2015 by Alberto de la Portilla

Last Sunday we’ve started a very important time in catholic Church- Holy Week. Today is Holy Saturday and the great waiting .

We’re very excited and very happy that we can spend this beautiful time among Acoli people.

Here the way of celebration any Feast is incredible. Making a start on Palm Sunday. The church was full of people, each of them (from the youngest to the oldest) is keeping a sprig of palm and waving it. It was amazing, because you felt like during the entry of Jesus to Jerusalem. Incredible!

On Palm Sunday the priest asked all of us: what are you waiting for? What are expecting from this Holy Week? What are Acoli people waiting for? People here know how important the Resurrection is. They’re waiting for Him, who has risen from the death. They’re waiting for Him, who suffered to conquered our sins and give us a new lives. They’re waiting for Jesus, who brings joy and hope.

And we wish you all this things. We wish you to meet Jesus who is risen from the death, we wish you stop and think of this big Mistery, think of a great God’s love who gave His Son to die for us and our sins. Let Jesus give you strength on your mission ways, strength to follow Him every day, fill your hearts joy, peace and hope.

Happy Easter!!!

CLM from Gulu