Next Sunday, please buy a package of tea for yourself and another as a gift for a friend. ... The tea is grown in a perf
NEXT SUNDAY IS MISSION SUNDAY Here is a practical was of supporting the Mission of
the Church in Africa. The Oblates of Mary Immaculate Lacombe Province Canada have brought the gospel to Kenya for the past seventeen years. We now have three Kenyans ordained as Oblate priests and one Oblate brother in final profession. There are seventeen other young men in various stages of formation. We ask your prayers and your financial support. Next Sunday, please buy a package of tea for yourself and another as a gift for a friend. The packages of loose tea are 80 grams of the best of tea and
we are asking $10 each as a donation to our Mission. Thanks to those who are assisting in this distribution. We’re grateful to be able to share the finest Fair Trade teas from Meru Coun-
ty in Kenya while supporting humanitarian efforts in the region. Your purchase of Tea will support a long history of accompaniment of the Merian people that has already helped them to build several schools, medical dispensaries, bakery, and Mt. Kenya East Water Project serving 2500 families on small tea farms. In addition it will support the Seminary Studies of young Kenyan men wanting to join the Oblates in their service to the poor and marginalized.. This product is produced by the Kenya Tea Development Agency, an internationally recognized Fair Trade member. The Kionyo factory, just a halfkilometer away from the Oblate Mission, serves 7,746 tea farmers. The tea is grown in a perfect environment at 1610 meters above sea level with rainfall of approximately 1600 mm annually. Your purchase enables the Merian people to take pride in their products and enrich their communities.
KENYAN MISSION: VISITATION BY OBLATE PROVINCIAL KEN FORSTER OMI I visited Kenya from January 8th of this year returning on January 20th. The schedule of my visit was well or-‐ ganized, with both time to visit our two parishes and the many small communities served by the Oblates. I also visited many old friends on the way and visited our houses of for-‐ mation both in Meru and Nairobi. I was present for the renewal of vows of Cosmas Kithinji, one of our scholas-‐ tics present in Kenya at the time but preparing to return to Cedara in South Africa later in January to con-‐ tinue his studies. There are presently eleven Oblates who serve in Kenya although one is on sabbatical studying at this time. All are very active but pushed to their limit as we staff two formation hous-‐ es, are engaged in prison ministry, serve an orphanage and have just taken on the responsibility for a new parish Kisaju, about an hour and a half south east of Nairobi. Fr. Gideon Rimberia, an Kenyan Ob-‐ late ordained less than two years will be the pastor of this new parish. They have many needs. Kisaju which is a fast growing community relatively close to Nairobi has been chosen as the place to establish the parish cen-‐ tre. Without a church, the community celebrate Sunday Mass in a Nursery Classroom that is overflowing. They are negotiating to get a few acres of land from the Catholic Sponsored School. The Oblates are presently renting a house as their residence in the mother parish but will move shortly to Kisaju itself, and look to rent there. They will be working with many tribal groups but predominantly with the Masai.
The area is very dry so water will be a major concern. Their collection from this emerging parish has been 300,000 ksh in the last six months or about $3600, but they often receive considerable food and vegetables in the Sadaka (Offering). They often have enough to share with a shelter for women that is run by nuns and served by the Oblates weekly.
Kionyo. There is a new tarmacked road from Chogoria through our Kionyo Parish to Meru town. Big change from the roads we drove on sixteen years ago. Traffic is very heavy on the highway from Nairobi north. Pray that we don’t lose any of our Oblate brothers as people are impa-‐ tient and pass in dangerous situa-‐ tions.
A newly ordained Oblate from the Mission of South Korea, Fr. Sam Hong, has received his first obedience from the Superior General to serve in Ken-‐ ya. He will arrive in April.
The Kenyan Mission has been fi-‐ nanced in its formation programs, its community needs and its Develop-‐ ment Projects which assist the poor, by a few major sources.
All members of the mission communi-‐ ty met in our formation house in Ka-‐ ren, Nairobi, for three full days. It was a time of prayer, sharing of ideas, wrestling with choosing a common path, planning the future and discern-‐ ing leadership for the mission. Fr. Jim Fiori has been re-‐appointed for a se-‐ cond term at the last Provincial Coun-‐ cil in Vancouver. His two Councillors are Fr. Faustin Litanda and Fr. Gideon Rimberia.
We recognize that these sources will not be sufficient as the number of Oblates and the ministries increase, so much discussion centred on pursu-‐ ing some self-‐sustaining options. Some of our major costs have to do with the education of our seminari-‐ ans. Approximately half of their train-‐ ing takes place in Kenya. The remain-‐ der though takes place in an Oblate School of Theology in South Africa. We want our men to have solid inter-‐ national training with other Africans to enrich their missionary awareness. This is expensive.
We discussed concerns regarding Formation. We have three seminari-‐ ans in Theology, one in Novitiate and six in pre-‐novitiate Philosophy. We project that we may have ten young men joining as Postulants in Meru in March. How can we give them the best formation as wholesome young men, as Oblates to become saints as St. Eugene desires? There are many development projects taking place in Kenya. Highways and major circular roads in Nairobi are being built with Chinese government grants. There also seems to be the development of a middle class able to purchase vehicles, especially motor-‐ cycles, even in the rural areas like
How can we create a source of in-‐ come from within Kenya to sustain us into the future? Perhaps some of you might be willing to walk in friendship with the Oblates by making a bequest or donating shares to support the growth of the Kenyan Mission. Great things have been accomplished to date and there is no reason to believe we will fall short. “God never tests us beyond our strength.” (excerpts from INFOLacombe – June 2014)
