Missionary Experiences – Page 85 – Comboni Lay Missionaries

Mission from the fragility

25 November, 2013 by Alberto de la Portilla

It’s the first time I get to the mission of Boda. We decided to celebrate the feast of Comboni with our brothers in Boda who have had a difficult time with the Seleka conflict, as they have repeatedly been ransacked the house and stolen almost everything. In Boda live these three Comboni brothers tested by the Mission: Adelino with 70 have very poor health, Berti with 74 remains an off road in the parish of Boganangone, and Claude, a centralafrican of 45 years.

Sister Margarithe, from La Martinique, tells me the suffering of her people. She works at the hospital in the city, but in August the doctor and the midwives fled because of the violence of the soldiers and now many women give birth in the jungle and not few mothers and children die. Each day in the hospital you have to face the inhuman conditions in which these people live.

It is in this context of insecurity and suffering that, to celebrate the feast of Comboni, Adelino invited us to meditate this morning on the “Mission from the fragility”. Based on the experience of the Church of Algiers proved twenty years ago with many martyrs as their Bishop Pierre Claverie, the seven monks of Tiberine or the four white fathers and many other missionaries and Christians… we reflected what it means to live the mission in our particular situation of pain and suffering, a Mission from the fragility.

In this moment we are called to live the mission with bare hands. It was not us who have chosen this time of trial, was our Lord, the Suffering Servant, who has brought us this far.

When we do mental cabals asking “What would be the ideal time for the mission?” we mess ourselves with utopian future events away from the heart of God. That ideal time of the mission doesn´t exists; the best time is today, the present… The four white parents murdered in Algeria were aware of their vulnerability and so had chosen “the fragility as the language of love …”. This time invite us to a second election they said, move from “a spirituality of development to a spirituality of presence and dialogue.” Definitely it is not but follow the model of Jesus in the flesh to live the life of men. “Learning our helplessness and be aware of our radical poverty, of our radical being naked in front of God, cannot be more than an urgent call to create no power relationships with the other; having recognized my own weakness I cannot just accept the weakness of the others, but I can even live my invitation to make mine this weakness imitating Christ poor” (Cristel, White Father).

The real dialogue is located in the no power, rooted in the weakness and fragility; there is real dialogue only when everyone is confronted with his own vulnerability and fragility. This requires a change of perspective in the style of St. Paul (1 Cor 2: 1-5) which boasts of its own fragility in order to approach the other with the strength of the weakness…

It is true; the weakness is not a virtue, but the expression of a fundamental reality of our being that has to be constantly shaped by faith, hope and charity to conform to the weakness and poverty of Christ. Jesus did not choose strong media; the Church cannot lean on its power or its strength. In these testing times of crisis and trial we are invited to escape from a self-referential Church, a Church that is an end in itself; when the Church touches the weakness and the frailty of men, then, from his own weakness can become mystery of salvation.

Throughout this pedagogy of fragility, following the steps of Comboni, we have seen how prayer is our only strength, so we have meditated on three temptations of our prayer in this time of crisis:

1st) The fear for the future… think that there is no future. We fear that God would open our eyes and undress, we are afraid because we know that when God ask for a hand he takes the whole arm…

2nd) The evasion… Live in a hypothetical future that does not exist, “if we had lived in another time, in other circumstances, with other people …” Avoidance is the fear and the denial of God´s present in my life.

3rd) The impatience… Want everything now, immediately… The logic of God’s patience goes in the other sense… the logic of the cross, of the wheat grain.

No, we haven´t chosen this time of pain and trial, was the Lord Jesus who lovingly led us here in order that from our own fragility and vulnerability, maybe, we can get into real contact with these people humiliated and outraged.

“Why do you stay?” were asked those in Algeria. This is the place of the Church, the Cross of the Lord.

By Jesus Ruiz (MCCJ in Mongoumba).

“God loves me so much”

21 November, 2013 by Alberto de la Portilla

Dear friends,

Let me summarize what has happened to us and what we are experiencing. On day 6 I fell down an embankment while walking and I have a cracked vertebra. I should be in bed at least 1 month, until I do another x-ray. They excluded neuronal damage and internal organs.

Thank goodness is only that. From the first time I realized what had happened, I also realized that the Lord had taken care of me. I fell down a slope of rocks, sand and broken glass and I only make myself superficial wounds. I have even recovered my eyeglasses untouched.

Many times I’ve walked out there, shortening, knowing it was dangerous, but trying to do as everyone here. Why do I fall down now?

Now we spent every day with strength. Children notice it a lot, they are very anxious, scared of what could have happened to me. And all the work falls on Isabel. Life tests us.

We are trying to deepen this experience. We know that only in the Lord we can walk through this stage. This painful occasion is an opportunity to feel the Lord’s tender love and admire how He opens new paths.

First of all, the maternal host from the Comboni fathers. From the bottom of the gorge I called them by phone, in addition to Isabel, and two of them came down in a hurry through the same risky path that I went. They bring me water, fruit, comforted me and prayed with me. I felt in family. In these early days, as I strengthen a bit, the fathers have welcomed us into their home; they are more equipped and closer to the hospital. Children, with their concern, are also a joy in this house usually so quiet. They go around giving hugs and tickling the tummy of the fathers.

Then, the visits of the neighbors and friends, especially the poorest of Villa Ecológica. The clinic guard warned Isabel that it was coming suspicious people asking for me. In the three days of hospital I felt that I had no ability to receive more love. The neighbors gave me the soup carefully while Isabel conversed with the doctors. The fruit and yogurt they brought spending what they had gained in the day. Those who opened the Bible and prayed for me, as we have done in their homes when they have needed.

And the experience of stopping the activities, such beautiful projects that we were carried out, as adult catechesis, just one week ahead of the celebration of Confirmation. Trusting that this is a new time of the Lord where He is giving us new lessons that we need to be happier. Knowing that He will monitor the task because they belong to Him.

Thanks always to be near us, and a lot of encouragement to your missionary work.

Gonzalo Violero

It’s been over a year since I’ve got to Africa

18 November, 2013 by Alberto de la Portilla

Sometimes people ask me if I miss Poland, family and friends. Well I reckon it is absolutely normal to miss. There are those days that I wish I could see my family or friends and talk with them, but then comes the thought that I would like it only for a moment, after which I would come back here, to Africa. Those thoughts don’t come too often though as I rarely have time to sit and think and it’s always better to live here and now, because time flies mercilessly. I am writing about longing because few days ago I had my first anniversary of my arrival to Africa, so lots of memories flew over my mind.

To sum up, this year has been rich in new experiences, new people, places and cultures. It was beautiful and impossible to describe to the fullest all the situations, feelings and memories. Anyway most of them you might find on this blog. Thank God for this time!

I’ve spent last couple of weeks working, as usual. The physiotherapy’s area got so much better. During my time here everyone got used to it and now cooperation with doctors and nurses is smoother. It helped me so much to receive the equipment from Poland, for which I thank you once again!!!

Ethiopia CLMs: Maggie, Mark & Emebet Banga

15 November, 2013 by Maggie and Mark Banga

Greetings to you from Ethiopia! We are Mark, Maggie and our daughter Emebet and we are Comboni Lay Missionaries (CLM) from Canada, serving in Awassa, Ethiopia for 4 years now. The Comboni Fathers, Brothers and Sisters here in Ethiopia have welcomed us very warmly and truly we feel part of the Comboni “Family”. We joined the CLM motivated by our faith and our desire to make more room in our hearts for God. We felt called to give of ourselves more abundantly in this specific way in cross-cultural mission. We felt this invitation as a new husband and wife, and quite simply, we were excited to say ‘Yes’. Our missionary life has been full and we are gracious to God for all the blessings he has given us. The biggest blessing has been our daughter Emebet, whom we adopted here in Ethiopia. She is now 2 years old and we are aware everyday of the tremendous gift of Emebet into our lives, and of us into hers.

Maggie served during our first years here at Bushulo Catholic Health Centre, about 7 km south of Awassa, employing her training in Naturopathic medicine in clinical practice and public health activities. Now, Maggie is a full time Mom staying at home with Emebet (the most noble and fun of ministries!). Mark serves at the Awassa Catholic Secretariat, the main coordinating office for the diocese of Awassa which covers the south of Ethiopia. He is the manager of the Catholic Church’s social and development programs, including education, health care, water, women’s promotion, emergency response and other social services to the poorest. Together as husband and wife, we also have other ministries on the side, including working as mentors with the Catholic College and University Students Association in Awassa, facilitating retreat programs at Gethsemani Retreat Centre, teaching an art class at a local orphanage and teaching Theology of the Body.

Where our work begins and personal time ends is blurred and we are thankful for this. This is a consequence of the missionary life – where our work is our life, our life is our work and both we’re trying to give to God.

The environment around us is one of severe poverty and destitution with seemingly endless needs. The demands of this context and the faces of the people living in it are real and challenging to us, and we have no ‘ready made’ answers. Sometimes we laugh and sometimes we cry and sometimes we look at each other with wide eyes not knowing what to do. But through all these encounters we are growing and changing as we try our best to live “shoulder to shoulder” with our Ethiopian brothers and sisters. It is our daily cheerful struggle. The blog posts and reflections we will share with you are the story of our CLM journey. We pray that God continues to transform both you and us into the people we were created to be.

Maggie, Mark and Emebet

Comboni Lay Missionaries

Awassa, Ethiopia

Dream of God in Us

13 November, 2013 by Alberto de la Portilla

“The position of a missionary disciple is not the center but the periphery.”

Pope Francisco

I find myself in this immense periphery of Contagem since six months continuing the mission that Jesus has entrusted to us as CLM’s. When I came here I was scared thinking how I could help, because I realized that the community walked pastorally well, each area with its coordinator, everything flowed.

“But when we silenced the heart, God speaks!”

Of course there wasn´t monitoring for the possible vocation to be CLM, but as we know the winds are not to have many vocations, especially in this new context through which it passes our economy in Brazil. But when we silenced the heart God speaks! There is a saying of the Macua people of Mozambique that says: “Yakhala enokhala mmurimani, ekoma khoniwa” (When there is noise in the heart you do not hear the beat). Then, one beautiful day of prayer, I put myself in God’s hands and asked the Holy Spirit, with my permission, to place me at the service of the brothers in these outskirts of Minas Gerais.

Therefore it would be necessary to seek new skills. Then I studied Massage Therapy and got some notions of Biomagnetism with Father George and Regina who happily led me.

“In small gestures I found myself with the reality of the people…”

Today, attending people in the Comboni House and in the Study Center of the Sisters in Pampulha, I feel that I just need to surrender and the rest is up to Him. The Pastoral of the Child is also subject to this call, these days we are finishing a training course for new leaders, this time not so worried about the child underweight, but children with obesity from Zero to Six years old. Right now we are working with 8 groups, assisting 200 families and about 300 children are been accompanied by the Pastoral of the Child here in the area of the parish. In small gestures I found myself with the reality of people who seek happiness, health and safety, life in abundance!

The mission today is no longer just the desire to be a missionary, but also training for the rapid changes that are happening and we are not always willing to open our mind, sit down on the benches of the preparatory school to better serve the brothers.

Of course I could not stop talking about the Pope Francisco. I’ve been in Aparecida do Norte for a meeting of the Pastoral of the Child and I could see him pretty closely, at the feet of the patron saint of Brazil. And in the emotion of the words of our pastor I prayed for all who were lost in drugs, families and to have more vocations in the Church. Thus we continued to walk; together!

By Maria de Lourdes Vieira – CLM Brazil in Ipê Amarelo