A sad day filled with hope

Thursday, October 24: 

Today must be recorded as the saddest day of our Pastoral Visit to our "sister Diocese"----and yet, a day that has also been filled with cause for joy and hope in the light of the great work of the Church here in this most destitute part of the Diocese of Lodwar. 

   As you may recall from yesterday's post, we are in the northern-most part of the Diocese visiting one of the parishes which is staffed by priests and committed lay members of the Congregation of Missionaries of St. Paul the Apostle (CMSPA).  Where we spent the night is an "outstation" of this parish, known as Our Lady Queen of Peace, which is situated near Lake Turkana, and near the Ethiopian border.  Due to years of conflict, surrounding fishing rights on the Lake and a number of other issues, there is a sense of distrust, and there are occasional violent outbreaks between these two nations.  Because of that, we encountered a much greater police and military presence in this area; we also saw individuals---shepherds, fishermen, regular parents of children----armed with guns in light of these tensions.  The Turkana people living in far northern Kenya refer to the Ethiopians as "the enemy.”   The Church's role has been to be peacemakers/reconcilers/teachers of the true meaning of the Gospel of love, forgiveness, and peace. 

 

   Following a challenging night's sleep due to the heat that never seemed to subside (and of course no fans), we arose for the celebration of Mass with the 45 or so boys and girls who attend the boarding school here.  It happened to be "Parents' Day,” and so a large number of the parents of these children also came for Mass, and then they participated in a number of meetings organized among themselves, to discuss school issues; kind of like a School Board.  (The big difference is that most of them came with their guns.)  The children participated beautifully in the Mass, which Bishop Dominic celebrated, concelebrated by myself, Father John Peter, the two CMSPA priests, Fathers Stephen and Andrew, and Father Lance who is a Maryknoll priest who was visiting the parish but who normally teaches at one of the universities in Nairobi (and is an American from New York).  Following the Mass and a nice breakfast which followed, we visited the classrooms.  At present, there are only three grades here, but the hope is that this school will grow into a full 8 grades, and perhaps someday, a secondary school.  We also visited all the various projects that these priests have organized here in this "compound":  they have built a windmill to harness energy to pump water from the nearby Lake Turkana to bring for irrigation of the crops and plants that they are growing; they have created a process whereby they turn cow dung into gas to power the "compound" (which is still in process, but has great potential); they have large numbers of trucks and other vehicles to help them in the big projects of building sand dams and drilling for water holes; and they operate a medical dispensary to provide medicines and other treatments for the people.  These priests and committed lay members not only "teach" the Gospel; they truly put the Gospel into daily practice.  

   After visiting throughout the compound, we began a trip to the Ethiopian border.  Along the way, we stopped to visit at several of the military "check points" along the way.  Father Stephen has built up strong relationships with the military/police on both "sides", and helps them to see that the Church does not take sides, and is only interested in helping whoever is in need.  We finally reached the village which is actually just over the border in Ethiopia.  Before meeting with the people, Father Stephen drove us around the outskirts of the village.  Due to a lack of food, and no grass for grazing, the cattle are all dying.  We saw dead carcasses everywhere; the stench (and therefore the serious health risks to the people) was overwhelming.  We saw one cow, still alive, but clearly about to die, right before us.  The people themselves are sick, weak, and distressed.  Outside the village, under a shade tree, still on Kenyan soil, the elders/men were waiting for us.  They were tired, dejected, and discouraged; they barely recognized our presence.  However, when we got out, they respectfully paid attention while Father Stephen spoke to them, and then invited Bishop Dominic, Father Lance, and me to address the men to try to offer some words of encouragement.  As we were completing our time with them, a group of Ethiopian officials arrived (with armed guards) to have a pre-arranged meeting with the elders.  I'm not exactly sure what the nature of that meeting was supposed to be, but it seemed to be cordial.  The leaders were all extremely warm and respectful, as we met each one of them. 

Having completed our visit, we began to return to the compound for lunch before beginning our return trip to Lodwar.  It was quite sad to see the plight of these people, and to realize that no one----except for the Church----is doing anything to help them.   We should all feel quite proud of the work that is being done by the members of the CMSPA, in the name of the Church, under the direction of dear Bishop Dominic. 

   After lunch, we packed up and began our 4 1/2 hour drive back to Lodwar.  The "roads" in this part of the Diocese are pretty much non-existent; they are more or less "paths" through the sandy desert, and through the dried up river beds, with stones/rocks everywhere as far as the eye can see.  There were many camels in this part of the Diocese, and of course, the omnipresent goats.  We arrived back at St. Teresa's Diocesan Pastoral Center around 6:30 p.m. and were happy to see Msgr. Mike feeling a bit better.  Covered with dust and grime from the trip, we were anxious to freshen up before dinner, and then, a good night's sleep. 

   I know that my prayer list is growing each and every day that I am here, as is my awareness of the extremely harsh realities of life that so many of the members of our human family----brothers and sisters in Christ---live each and every day.  May God bless each and every one of them, and may God strengthen those here in the Diocese of Lodwar, from Bishop Dominic, to all the priests, and committed/devoted lay faithful, who are doing the work of Christ in bringing the Gospel to the least of our brothers and sisters.  Amen.

Photos sent from Fr. John Peter: