WORK AND HUMAN DIGNITY
A young farmer holding a hoe in a field of cassava plants. In Africa, cassava is the second most important staple food after maize, providing the primary energy source for approximately 40% of the population. Due to high levels of unemployment, small- scale farming provides a dignified way of self-sustenance.
MISSION IS FUN
The Joy of the Mission
BY By Fr Charlemagne Sitou Dossavi MCCJ | Vocation Promoter
ORDAINED IN 2020, Fr Abraham Amuzu, a Comboni Missionary from Togo, was assigned to the Republic of Central Africa for his pastoral ministry in the Catholic Mission of Grimari in the diocese of Bambari.
Reflecting on his pastoral experience, Fr Abraham notes: “The mission has taught me some good lessons. Firstly, it helped me to experience the presence of God who keeps watching over me. It also helped me to grow personally in the sense that I live peacefully with the people I was sent to, because I have come to know them. I have grown accustomed to their food and I enjoy mingling with them. I can speak and understand their language, share their struggles and walk alongside them, seeking the will of God in their lives.” He continues: “It gives me joy, courage and perseverance when I realize that the mission is moving forward. Being close to them, I realise that they are good people. The struggles I have been through have strengthened my missionary zeal and quenched my fire of missionary passion.” Fr Abraham reflects further: “The feeling that I had initially of wasting my time and doing nothing started changing very gradually. I now feel useful and joyful in all I do because what matters in mission is the joy of the Gospel which a missionary conveys to the people he has been sent to.” He adds: “The warm welcoming I receive when I visit Christians in their communities makes me feel a part of them as though we are one Family. I am learning so much in this mission. I have also cultivated the virtue of patience in my work. I ask the Almighty God to continue to strengthen me in this mission and to fill my heart with joy so that I may share this joy with people who have lost it. I treasure being among them as a servant of God who cares for their spiritual needs.”
The Mission needs you as well!
A STORY THAT REVEALS A SILENT CRISIS
Once, a young man was walking along the banks of a mighty river. The torrent was so strong that it carried away everything in its path: people, leaves, branches ….