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CONGREGATION OF THE MISSIONARIES OF ST. FRANCIS DE SALES

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Fransalians (MSFS) Province of East Africa We are a Religious Missionary Congregation founded by the Servant of God Fr. Peter Mary Mermier on 24th October, 1838 at Annecy, France.

In Africa we are in many countries in order to give God’s gentle love as lived by St. Francis de Sales, our patron who says, “Everything is by love and nothing by Force”.

Our Charism is to live joyfully as a Missionary of love by radiating God’s love to all by becoming all to all people.

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THE MARA SIX: As we crisscrossed Ngong diocese to bring you this month’s stories, we found ourselves in Lemek Conservancy, inside the Maasai Mara National Park.

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The team could not resist registering this rare experience. From left, Naserian Kantai, Lourine Oluoch, Fr Daniel Mkado, Henry Onyango, Sharon Korir and Stephen Mukhongi.

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A MAGAZINE OF MISSIONARY CONCERN

Jan / Feb 2017 | Vol 29 | No. 1 Issue 293 www.seedmagazine.co.ke

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OOK NEW L NGONG DIOCESE: Mass in the Mara Bishop ole Owaa, the herdsman of herdsmen

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EDITORIAL Introducing the New Look

L

et me be honest with you. I am trembling with excitement as I pen this editorial!

It is with great pleasure that I present to you the new look of The Seed magazine. It’s big, it’s better and it’s fresh as we had promised.

You will remember that we carried out a survey on what you, our readers, wanted improved in the magazine. Your opinions were taken into consideration and now, we present to you, your favourite magazine as you had wanted it.

We debut a number of subtle cosmetic changes designed to create a more fluid reading experience: beautiful, clear fonts and a variety of image fields that make the articles a joy to read.

We have also introduced new columns including: The Big Issue, Faith Clinic, and Family Matters.

From the survey, we learnt that many readers wanted the magazine to tackle issues of how to deal with their Catholic Faith, issues that they grapple with as ordinary Christians.

The segment on Faith Clinic will be responding to some of these questions and doubts you have as a Catholic. Feel free to send us your request on topics that you want handled. We shall be engaging different writers for different topics and this will help create variety of ideas.

The section on Family Matters will be dealing with issues faced by Christian families while The Big Issue will be giving you the latest and hottest news in the Catholic Church.

The new look comes with a new price. Our new cover price is KShs 200 which means that the subscription rates have also gone up. We ask you to kindly bear with us. We believe that the cost is worth the quality of the magazine.

Send your feedback and comments to:

I would also like to communicate that we shall be publishing the magazine every two months.

This new look of The Seed was made possible thanks to the heroic efforts of our editorial staff and the creative geniuses in our design team.

They managed to complete a truly herculean task under immense pressure.

I am extremely grateful for all the time and energy they have poured into the project.

We hope you find value in each page.

Happy reading!

************************************ The Seed mourns Bishop Colin Davies, emeritus of the Catholic Diocese Ngong. The news of his death got to our newsroom just a few hours before we went to press for this edition that vastly talks about Ngong, the diocese that he helped build.

We collected the information for these stories in November last year and the community and the priests of the diocese talked well about Bishop Colin Davies.

While he was in the country the late bishop was an avid reader of The Seed. He even wrote me a handwritten letter of congratulations when I was appointed the new editor in 2009 -- a note I still keep to date.

Our heartfelt condolences go to Bishop John Oballa Owaa, the Mill Hill Misionaries and the entire Ngong diocese for the loss of this great apostle.

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CONTENTS EDITORIAL

4 6 7

EDITORIAL

FEEDBACK

TALKING POINT

MAIL BOX

FEATURES 8

NGONG DIOCESE: EVANGELIZING IN THE MAASAI LAND

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MEET BISHOP OBALLA, THE HERDSMAN OF HERDSMEN

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MARIE ADELIDE GIRLS RESCUE CENTER: SAVING YOUNG GIRLS FROM HARMFUL CULTURE

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MASS IN THE MARA: EVANGELIZING TO MORE ANIMALS THAN MEN

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OLCHEKUT SUPAT APOSTOLIC SCHOOL – MINOR SEMINARY: EVANGELIZING THROUGH EDUCATION

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THE INTERVIEW: with Fr John Fortune, an Irish missionary and member of the Institute of Charity otherwise known as the Rosminians.

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08 16

PROFILE

#YOUTHTALK The Game Ranger

COLUMNS

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THE BIG ISSUE Cremation Censured By Vatican: Congregation For The Doctrine Of The Faith

46

FAMILY MATTERS Financial Responsibilities in the Family

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FAITH CLINIC Jesus and the Tithing Controversy

NEWS

52

VATICAN NEWS & CHURCH IN THE WORLD

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SMART KIDS

57

CROSSWORD PUZZLE & JOKES

INSERTS

28 48

Talkingpoint The countrywide doctor’s strike has left millions of Kenyans without proper health care and has also overwhelmed some of the country’s private hospitals.

What is the best way to address challenges facing our ailing health sector?

Seed Consolata The strike from the medical point of view and ethics is illegal. Nowhere in the world are patients left to die as it is happening in Kenya. Emergency and urgent cases are supposed to be covered no matter what. Many people and even the government may not grasp the gravity of the doctor’s actions. In fact the Cabinet Secretary for health should have already stopped any talks with the doctors till they report to work.

Susan Anyango The government needs to put more effort in improving our health sector by building more hospitals, employing more health workers and of course paying them better than they are being paid currently.

Njoki T Githinji

@MagazineSeed - #RecklessMatatuDriving Sharone Njeri @SharoneNjeri @MagazineSeed doctors’ demands have become just so ridiculous, 400 percent increment looks like a little bit farfetched. They need to be sober.

Scovia Hellen @HellenScoves @MagazineSeed the government must sit down with doctors and agree to implement the CBA at the earliest time possible to save this country.

Find us on Facebook as Seed Consolata, Twitter @MagazineSeed and share your opinions.

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For more information contact us on: P.O. Box 14861 - 00800 Westlands Nairobi, Kenya Cel: +254 724 256 853 / +254 722 591 091 Email: info@cisanewsafrica.com To subscribe, visit www.cisanewsafrica.com and submit your email address.

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Mail Box From: Antony Kamindo- Franciscan Brothers Novitiate- Molo To: editorial@seedmagazine.co.ke

By Their Wounds We are Healed

W

henever I think of our ministry in uplifting the living standards of those we serve, I see a symbiotic relationship between the poor, sick, marginalized and the one who goes out to reach to them.

You can see Francis helping up the leper but at the same time Francis lost in the embrace of the leper.

Through their needs and situation, the poor help us realize our dependence sharing of the mystery of love.

In the theatre of the ordinary life, the kingdom of God is lived out in an extraordinary awakening experience.

They make Christ’s message pragmatic and they heal the very wounds that ruin our spiritual health with a contrite balm.

Take for instance when Saint Francis of Assisi was moved by the leper and he embraced him. He puts it very clearly that what was once bitter had now become a sweet experience.

Anyone remains needy and depleted until they share the love. It is not found in what you give but in how you give; it is in the attitude not the matter.

It is exactly what happens whenever selfless love is shown to others. It becomes a moment of healing and transcendence for both the giver and the receiver; a vocation of exchange is established.

It is not in the response you get, but the desire that drives you to do it. It is the sick who require the physician. In sharing the remedy healing is realized.

From: Sharone Njeri Njuguna To: editorial@seedmagazine.co.ke

T

Good Job

hanks The Seed team for the good job you do all the time. I have never taken my time to tell you what I think of the wonderful stories you often run in this beautiful magazine.

I was personally touched by some stories you did, First the story on Gender Based Violence was a replica of what I have gone through as a person, I had been traumatized by a man I called my husband until I had to report him to the area assistant chief then later to police when the chief showed no sign of help.

That woman, Rebecca Achieng story is exactly what majority of women endure and it is not very right. You need to continue enlighten the society and also tell the Catholic Church to help when it comes to such heinous acts that threaten lives of innocent young women and girls all of a sudden.

I also loved the Kyumbi shrine in MachaKos story.

I have always wanted to go there-yes that hill of faith and now think that the right time has come for me and my family. Keep doing the good work you do all the time.

Dear Esteemed Reader, Write brief letters to the editor (not more than 300 words) on issues you feel strongly about. We especially welcome feed-back (comments, critiques on stories published in this magazine). Talk to us about issues that affect your life as a Christian. This is your forum, where your voice can be heard.

E-mail us on: editorial@seedmagazine.co.ke / info@seedmagazine.co.ke We appreciate you.

Editor.

VOL 29, No. 1 JAN/FEB 2017

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Main Story

Ngong Diocese: Evangelizing in the Maasai Land

By Stephen Mukhongi

W

hen the Mill Hill Missionaries began evangelizing the Maasai, they found a community that was already deeply

spiritual.

Traditionally the maasai have always known God. They call him Ngai - the giver, the creator, the one who gives cows, rain and even drought.

They believe that when Ngai created the earth, He created man and woman, and He gave them cows. That is why they believe that all the cows on the earth belong to the maasai people.

They will pray every day thanking Ngai for the rain and for the grass.

They however did not know about Jesus Christ: that God had a son who accepted to be born as a human being like them.

The Catholic Church had for many years attempted to evangelize the Maasai with little success compared to other parts of the country.

They faced a myriad of challenges mainly because the British colonialists pushed the Maasai people from the Highlands which were left for the white settlers into closed districts.

According to Kenyan history, the Maasai were evicted from about three quarter of their lands to make room for settler ranches, subsequently confining them to the plains – the present day Kajiado and Narok counties.

“The Maasai were restricted to particular areas.

Even to go to Maasai land, one needed to have a passport,” Fr Anthony Shayo, the oldest priest of the diocese and currently Assistant Parish Priest at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Rongai, tells The Seed.

He explains that the colonial, and later local governments, both in Kenya and Tanzania, through treaties and land reform programs,

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transformed Maasai lands into group ranches, privatized settler farms, hunting areas, national parks, and game reserves.

“This is how Amboseli, Nairobi, and Maasai Mara in Kenya and the Serengeti/Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania were created,” he explains.

Catholic missionaries also didn’t find it easy to settle among the Maasai since the British colonial administrators preferred working with the protestant churches that were already in the area especially the Church of England, the African Inland Mission, and Presbyterian Church of East Africa.

The formation of Ngong diocese in the late ‘50’s can be attributed to Fr Ferdinand Fent, a Mill Hill Missionary from Kisumu Diocese, who worked at Kaplong and would occasionally visit Kilgoris, where he began the first mission.

He saw the need of penetrating the interior of Maasai land which had been left out by other missionaries during the colonial times.

Fr Fent through the Mill Hill Missionaries requested Rome to create a missionary area in the region which at that time was under Kisumu Diocese.

In 1959 the Holy See accepted the request and a year later appointed John De Reeper, then Bishop of Kisumu to take care of the new Prefecture Apostolic of Ngong, hived from Kisumu Diocese.

“Bishop De Reeper appointed five Mill Hill missionary priests to oversee the area. Among them was Fr Colin Davies who would later become first bishop of Ngong.

They later brought other missionaries like Fr Terry Bugatin and Fr Frans Mol who wrote many books about the Maasai and their culture.”

In 1964, Fr Davies was appointed by Holy See to take over from Bishop De Reeper as the Prefect Apostolic of Ngong diocese. Since there were no local vocations in Ngong he encouraged young men from the neighboring dioceses in Tanzania to join seminaries and become priests to serve the Prefecture of Ngong.

“I encountered Fr Davies between 1964 and 1966. He would visit our parish during his numerous trips from Ngong to Rombo where he was constructing a parish. I was an altar boy and I asked my parish priest about missionaries working in Maasai land, my vocation developed from there,” narrates Fr Shayo who was among the very first to take up the call.

“A Comboni missionary priest from Machakos used to come to evangelize along the railway line in Sultan Hamud, Emali, Kima up to Kwanza.

He showed films in the market and came in our primary school. We were fascinated to see a mzungu with a big beard. It is through that priest that I was attracted to the Church,” he explains to The Seed.

Fr Ntiyesia describes Bishop Davies as a shepherd who was very tough especially on pastoral issues.

“His focus was on creating good Christians; how many children had been baptized? How many couples had received the sacrament of matrimony? Things like that.

“I was taken to St. Joseph’s Minor Seminary in Kitui by Fr Davies because at the time we didn’t have a minor seminary in the prefecture,” he says. He later joined St. Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary in 1972.

In 1977 the Prefecture Apostolic of Ngong was erected a Diocese under its first shepherd Bishop Colin Davies. The following year the new bishop ordained his first two priests including Fr Shayo.

“We were ordained on December 8, 1978 at a time when there were only ten other missionary priests. Being the first African priests, people were so eager to see us and consequently the bishop tried to appoint us to various parishes across the diocese,” Fr Shayo recalls The ordination of the two African priests opened the door for many others including priests from the local Maasai community such as Fr John Ntiyesia, Vicar General Catholic Diocese of Ngong.

“I was ordained on August 19, 2000 and was among the last priests ordained by Bishop Davies before he left,” says Fr Ntiyesia a Maasai who hails from Sultan Hamud Parish.

Fr Ntiyesia who was brought up in a protestant family says that having Catholic vocations in Maasai land was something new in the community.

VOL 29, No. 1 JAN/FEB 2017

9

He used to say that if you wanted to develop the diocese, create more faithful and the rest will come.”

Following his retirement in November 23, 2002, Bishop Davies was succeeded by Bishop Cornelius Schilder also a Mill Hill Missionary.

Fr Shayo reiterates Fr Ntiyesia’s sentiments saying Bishop Davies’ tenure was characterized by priestly ordinations and establishment of about 26 parishes.

“Bishop Schilder followed the footsteps of his predecessor by focusing on the people. He spoke the language well, valued the Maasai culture and was very keen on helping the community sustain themselves by coming up with better breeds of cattle,” says Fr Shayo.

“A unique aspect of Bishop Davies is that wherever he wanted to start a mission, he would identify and initiate friendship with locally well known families and seek their collaboration. He often visited the people and related well with the chiefs and the leaders of the communities,” states Fr Shayo.

Bishop Davies also encouraged the priests to learn the local language by initiating the Maasai Cultural Centre in Lemek Parish.

“As seminarians we would go to the people and stay in the manyattas especially during our pastoral experience. We spent a whole year before going to major seminary learning the language and culture of the people,” he says.

Photo by Stephen Mukhongi 2016

Fr John Ntiyesia, Vicar General Ngong Diocese. He says having Catholic vocations was something strange in Maasai land.

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Bishop Schilder’s main message however, was that the Church should be ready to start supporting itself, explains Fr Ntiyesia.

“This message, though not new, was a bit strange for the people. To hear a mzungu bishop say that there is no money! That enlightened the people and made them begin to strategize on how to be self reliant,” says Fr Ntiyesia.

“Unfortunately before we could embark on anything the Bishop went to Rome for appeals but later resigned on August 1, 2009 due to ill health,” he adds.

The diocese remained without a bishop for about three years during which John Cardinal Njue, the

Photo by Henry Onyango 2016

Fr Anthony Shayo, the oldest priest of the Catholic Diocese of Ngong. He saysamong the first priests to be ordained by Bishop Colin Davies. When he could not find local vocations Bishop Davies went looking in Tanzania and other neighbouring dioceses

6

Photo by Fr Daniel Mkado 2012

Ngong diocese is home to about 100,000 Catholics out of approximately 1,011,000 people, predominantly from the Maasai community.

Archbishop of Nairobi acted as the Apostolic Administrator.

It was during this period that the diocese implemented the idea of bringing all the parishes in the diocese together under the Family Day. The diocese set development targets for the parishes and on the first Saturday of December 2008, all the parishes gathered together as the family of Ngong and contributed towards the support of the diocese.

This included contributing towards projects such as the construction of the new cathedral in Ngong town a project that was initiated by Bishop Schilder. “That year we managed to raise about Ksh 8.9 million and the Family Day has now became a

Photo by Fr Daniel Mkado 2012

The late Bishop Colin Davies. He served as the first bishop of Ngong diocese from July 9, 1964 to November 23, 2003. He always insisted on respect for the maasai culture.

tradition with the contribution increasing in the subsequent years, example in 2015 it reached about Ksh 29 million because now people own the idea and the spirit of self reliance,� states Fr Ntiyesia.

Today, the Catholic Diocese of Ngong has grown to be a robust church that continues to flourish under the leadership of its third bishop Rt Rev John Oballa Owaa who was ordained on April 14, 2012 - the first African Bishop of the See. The expansive diocese, located in southern Kenya covers an area of 47,000 square kilometers, boasts 33 parishes, with approximately 100,000 Catholics out of a total population of approximately 1,538,232 people (Census, 2009), predominantly from the Maasai community

VOL 29, No. 1 JAN/FEB 2017

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Meet Bishop Oballa, the Herdsman of Herdsmen

By Fr Daniel Mkado

I

f you are introducing the bishop of Ngong diocese, remember to call him by his full name: Rt Rev John Oballa ole Owaa.

So when did Ja Kisumo (Son of Kisumu) suddenly become ole Owaa?

“I adopted this name on the day of my ordination as bishop. On that day I was made a Maasai elder and they gave me the name ole Owaa that is son of Owaa. That is why I am very faithful to it; if you introduce me without the ole Owaa I will add it!” he says.

Ja Kisumo is now the shepherd of a flock more than 300 kilometres from home, something that he is still trying to get used to.

“I never dreamt of working in Ngong, leave alone becoming a bishop,” he tells me during an interview at his residence.

The call to be bishop of Ngong found him in the weirdest of places: inside a garage.

“I had gone to Karen to repair my car when the Nuncio called asking me to see him as soon as I could,” he reminisces.

Nothing had prepared him for what was to come.

The then Apostolic Nuncio to Kenya, Archbishop Alain Paul Leabupin, announced to him that the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI had appointed him as bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Ngong.

Could he please say if he was ready to take up the call or not. He can’t keep the Holy Father waiting!

Fr Oballa Owaa asked to be given time to pray over the decision. Time flew so fast inside the chapel, so much so that the impatient Nuncio started pacing outside the door.

The question was simple yet difficult would Fr Oballa Owaa accept the Holy Father’s call to become bishop?

“At that time, inside that chapel, what came to my mind was the experience of Our Lady when the angel

“Since I was the then rector of St Thomas Aquinas National Seminary, I thought he was calling to inquire about the seminary or to let me know that some donations had arrived from Rome,” he chuckles.

He drove to the Nunciature, prepared to give the Nuncio an update on the status of the major seminary.

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Photo by Lourine Oluoch 2016

announced to her that she would be the mother of the saviour,” he recounts.

After careful thought and prayer, Fr Oballa made up his mind, “If it is God’s will let it be,” he told the Nuncio.

“It was a long drive back to the seminary,” he says.

When the news of his appointment reached his friends, many wondered how he would survive the transition a fisherman turned herdsman.

His answer was simple: “When our lord sent out his disciples, he asked them to eat what was set before them and that’s exactly what I will do” It’s been close to four years now, and today, he identifies more with the Maasai than with his Luo community back home. His court of arms bears the image of a Maasai herding cattle.

“Coming to Ngong is like being a herdsman of the herdsmen,” he says.

He credits his predecessor the late, Bishop Colin Davies, for his rapid positive transition.

“Bishop Davies witnessed my consecration and I still recall the words he whispered in my ears during the kiss of peace.

He said, ‘Karibu sana (You are welcome),” he recounts.

Bishop Colins Davies would stay with the new bishop for a couple of years before retiring to his country Ireland.

Bishop, Oballa took advantage of this stay to get to know the mind of the indefatigable old man.

“He was very passionate about what he called Maasai Apostolate. He told me not to abandon that because we are still in primary evangelization and many of the people have not heard the word of God,” he says.

The Irish bishop passed on a gem of wisdom that Bishop Oballa treasures to date: respect for the Maasai culture.

It was Bishop Colin Davies who impressed upon the young bishop the need to learn as much of the Maasai culture as he could and to do so quickly.

As a result, the diocese has maintained the Maasai Cultural Centre that was founded

by Bishop Colin Davies in Oltrepessi.

Here, the bishop sends seminarians and newly ordained priests to learn the language and Maasai culture.

Well, has the bishop learnt the maa language?

Photo by Fr Daniel Mkado 2012

The late Bishop Emeritus Colin Davis, first bishop of Ngong diocese, congratulates Bishop John Oballa during his consecration ceremony at Ngong Traffic Police Training College. Bishop Oballa remembers the very words the late bishop whispered in his ears as he embraced him: Karibu Sana.

“Well enough not to starve,” he says He admits that he hasn’t found time to sit down at it. He wishes he could spare even a month for it but his many responsibilities at the diocese and at the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) does not leave him much time to master the nuances of the maa language.

According to Bishop Oballa, navigating around some of these traditions--some of which are at loggerheads with Christian teaching-- is a delicate affair: Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), early marriages, polygamy and a deeply masculine society that still largely looks down upon women and girls.

The fact that he cannot speak the local language pains the bishop as he often wishes he could preach in the local language.

“That is why we have rescue centres for girls.

These enable the girls to go to school because by marrying them off, they are denied access to education, this pains me,” he says.

“When you speak to people in their language, it is incarnational. When I visit remote parishes, I preach in Swahili and someone translates, but you are not even sure of the quality of translation,” he says.

The bishop also has to contend with long distances between parishes and outstations, usually through terrains so rough, even off-road vehicles struggle to get through.

He notes that even though slightly more than a half of the population is Maasai, Ngong diocese also hosts other tribes.

So vast is the diocese that is hosts some unique kind of diocesans wildlife. The diocese straddles four wildlife parks: The Tsavo West, Nairobi National Park, The Maasai Mara and The Amboseli.

The enormous challenge of running this vast diocese is that a bigger part of it is still immersed solidly in African traditions.

For instance, he has to cover close to 800Kms to reach Rombo parish from Ngong.

Coming from the archdiocese of Kisumu where the archbishop could give the sacrament of Confirmation to close to 700 Christians on a day, the bishop was surprised when he got only a few candidates the first time he went out to the parishes in Ngong.

“In the beginning I could not hide my shock but later I came to understand the diocese.

Photo by Fr Daniel Mkado 2012

The newly consecrated Bishop Oballa is being made a Maasai elder. On this day he was given the name ole Owaa. Bishop Oballa says that if one introduces him and omits the the name Ole, he will add it.

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Photo by Fr Daniel Mkado 2012

Offertory procession during the consecration ceremony of Bishop Oballa at Ngong Traffic Police Traning College. Among the gifts offered were Omena and Obambo from Lake Victoria. .

I learnt to accept it and appreciate that even the few candidates were duly prepared,” says bishop Oballa who once served as the Vicar General in the Archdiocese of Kisumu.

Then there is the enormous task of convincing the local community that has for decades viewed the Church as a separate entity owned and run by generous white missionaries, to own the church “Christians here have not realised that the help that used to come from abroad is no longer there and that they have to contribute towards building the Church. The time for receiving is over,” he says.

Self reliance is the main song he has had to sing to the Christians and indeed it is bearing fruits.

He says that through Gods grace, constant education and lots of patience, this perception is slowly changing.

“Going by the history, Family Day contribution is rising every year,” he says.

According to Bishop Oballa, the future hope of evangelising the Maasai lies with the children.

“When they are baptised and confirmed, they acquire a certain worldview that their parents to do not have. There is the hope, that growing up they will be able to rise above some of the ‘values’ that their parents have held on to,” he says.

Like many other dioceses, Ngong is facing a shortage of priests. It has only 53 priests, serving in 33 parishes.

“For the first time, I have appointed a full time vocations director to follow up on vocations, and it is bearing fruits. Since we appointed the Vocations Director, we have managed to have five young men join the seminary in 2016,” he says.

So, what where does Bishop Oballa see Ngong diocese in the coming years?

“I dream of a self evangelising diocese. I want to move it towards self sustainability,” he says.

“Families migrate is in search for water and pasture for their animals. This migration the interrupts education of children therefore brings a lot of anguish,” he says.

The good bishop wants to see a diocese where clean drinking water is available for both human and animals.

He plans to put up income generating projects, top among them the renovation of the diocesan pastoral centre and putting up a petrol station in Narok town.

These two major projects, the bishop is confident, will give a major financial boost to the diocese

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Marie Adelide Girls Rescue Center: Saving Young Girls from Harmful Culture

By Kantai Naserian

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t 5 o’clock on the Sunday morning of December 4, 2011, Fr John Fortune’s attention was drawn by the insistent barking of his dog at the gate.

“I was quite shocked because in this area we still have hyenas and different animals roaming at night. It’s not that safe for a young girl that age to be walking around,” Fr Fortune tells The Seed.

There stood a young girl of eleven or twelve years. She had run away from home. Her family was preparing her for circumcision and marriage and she had travelled quite a distance through the night to come to this rescue centre that she had heard about.

On that Sunday, the priest, who had, for the time he worked in the parish, avoided speaking against the culture, was forced to speak up.

The rescue centre at the Ewaso Kedong parish had just been built by Fr Fortune at the insistent request of the area chief. It had not even been inaugurated when it got its first guest.

Photo by Lourine Oluoch 2016

“I said during homily; ‘I don’t know your culture and even if I studied it, I would not understand the depths of your culture but if a little girl has to run away from her mother and father, from her family in the night because of fear, something isn’t right!’ the priest recounted.

The Marie Adelide Child Rescue Center was inaugurated on December 11, 2011 primarily for the purpose of rescuing Maasai girls

Photo by Stephen Mukhongi 2016 Grace Sekento, a local crusader against harmful culture. She believes more girls could be rescued from FGM and early marriages if the Maasai leaders were more vigilant.

from forced early marriage and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

Previously the chief would keep rescued girls at his own home or in bomas that no thought were safe so that their families couldn’t take them back.

To date the center has rescued girls as young as nine years old from FGM and early marriages.

As Grace Sekento a local crusader against harmful cultural practice and matron of the Child Care organization explains such rescues often create friction with the victims’ parents and the government has to be involved to provide security.

“You can imagine a scenario where your parents have planned to take you through FGM. You’ve been shaved and everything is ready. The morans and everyone else have assembled in the manyatta. Then all of a sudden you are nowhere to be found. That will cause chaos. They’ll hate and curse you,” says Grace.

Sr Mary Karei, coordinator of the Marie Adelide Girls Rescue Center hails from Emali in Kajiado County and is very familiar with this practise. She says cultural beliefs encourage FGM.

The Maasai community has for the longest time practiced Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) -- the partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.

Young girls undergo the initiation as part of an elaborate rite of passage ritual called “emuratare” a ceremony that initiates the young girls into adulthood and then into early arranged marriage.

The Maasai believe that female circumcision is necessary for it will prevent the women from immorality and undergoing the ‘cut’ is a symbol of one being a brave complete woman.

Although the practice is illegal in Kenya, FGM remains deeply rooted and valued by the culture. So much that Maasai men may reject any woman who has not undergone it as either not marriageable or worthy of a bride price because they’re considered ‘big girls’ (‘Entoyie’) and not being mature enough to be taken seriously.

Partakers of such cultures have devised ways to ensure the government does not get wind of their activities.

In the past, they would formally announce homesteads that would be celebrating the initiations.

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“They used to say ‘tomorrow we are going to enter so-and –so’s boma. When you hear that saying you automatically know an initiation is about to happen,” says Grace.

“Nowadays they would say they’re holding prayer sessions to prevent the government from knowing.” She adds.

The World’s Health Organization (WHO) records that FGM has several side effect on its victims such as severe bleeding and problems urinating, and later cysts, infections, as well as complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn deaths.

Apart from rescuing girls and providing them with basic needs, the Marie Adelide Girls Rescue Center gives them spiritual guidance, hope, and mentors them in the Christian way of life.

“They come to the centre traumatised because of the much they had gone through. We therefore give them counselling, and treatment, for those who are wounded from circumcision,” says Grace.

The center also provides education and health care to the rescued girls and works on reconciling them with their families.

“We work towards peace and reconciliation, to mend the broken relationship between children and their parents,” says Grace.

“We request parents to visit their children and we give time to parents to emotionally heal,’ she adds.

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Photo by Fr Daniel Mkado 2016 Girls of Marie Adelide Child Rescue Center weaving beads, part of the talents they have learned in the centre. The centre also provides education and healthcare to the rescued girls.

During such visits the children showcase the talents they have learnt in beading and other artwork to their parents. They also show them their school results to show them how they perform academically.

“This is also a form of reconciliation because when the parents witness what their children I’ve been doing, they get motivated and they start to understand that their kids are actually productive in a good way. They get to see their kids as people of importance not just being worth of a few cows and goats,” says Sr Mary.

Before being released back to the community, the centre visits the children’s homes to ensure the girls would be safe if they returned to their parents.

“Some girls would go back to their homes, become stigmatised and eventually are circumcised and given off for marriage,” says Grace.

Grace says if the Maasai leaders were vigilant enough, a lot of girls could have been rescued.

Our Journalist Sharon Korir is taken through the basics of bead making by some of the girls at Marie Adelide Child Rescue Centre. The girls make rosaries, rings, table mats, necklaces and bracelets from the beads.

Photo by Fr Daniel Mkado 2016 According to Grace, few men have stood up against FGM and early marriage.

“The issue of ‘Ushemeji’ is the root of it all. If a chief hears a girl is about to be ‘cut’ in a certain boma and he happens to be related to that family in terms of him marrying from there or his daughter getting married there, he turns a blind eye because he doesn’t want to break that relationship,” says Sr Mary.

“You find that even women in the church are involved in this practise. When time comes for circumcision, they beautify themselves and wear the traditional attires for ‘fund raising’. This is because in Maasai culture when you circumcise your daughter, people come to adorn you wealth. Your age mates bring you goats, sheep and money. They want to maintain that slavery culture in the name of acquiring more wealth,” says Grace.

Photo by Stephen Mukhongi 2016 Sr Mary Karei, coordinator of the Marie Adelide Girls Rescue Center. She says retrogressive cultural beliefs encourage early marriages and FGM.

She adds that there are those mothers who still don’t understand the importance of educating their girls. The centre’s future goals are to eradicate FGM and early marriages among the Maasai people.

“When a girl is educated she gets to understand her position in the society. She becomes enlighten and is able to avoid all this temptations of dropping out of school and getting pregnant,” she concludes

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Mass in the Mara: We also Pray as we Welcome You to the Mara

By Henry Onyango

T

One of the camps is the Mara Sarova Camp, located 90 kilometers away from the Lemek parish which has a Small Christian Catholic community of 16 people.

It is a favourite tourist destination among both local and international tourists and tourists plan for months and even years to be able to visit and see the animals.

The Christians come from different parts of the country but come together as Catholics at their place of work. They hold meeting with or without the priest and are entitled to one Mass every month conducted by the parish priest.

he Maasai Mara national reserve is one the world’s renowned wildlife reserves. It is especially known for the Wildebeest migration from the Mara to Serengeti between the months of June to September.

Fr Patrick Arusei has been there and seen it all. His parish – St Mark Lemek is located within Lemek Conservancies in the vast Maasai Mara National Reserves.

He is so used to seeing the wildlife– he passes a lot of them on his way to pastoral work -- that he could easily qualify for a tour guide. He knows the animals by name and even knows the best time to visit the Lemek conservancy and get the best view of the animals.

His parish covers several tourist camps and hotels in the Mara. Some of the workers in the tourist camps are Catholics and therefore require Mass every Sunday. Such Catholic communities usually attend Mass in the evenings when the tourists and their guests are out for game drives.

“We are about 16 people consisting of people who work in the tourist hotel. People come around here specifically for game drives and to enjoy the appealing nature of the park but those who work here and are Catholics enjoy spiritual nurturing by the local priest,” Cornel Mkongo, Chairman of the Small Christian Catholic community at the camp tells The Seed.

“The parish church is located many kilometers away from here and therefore it is not easy to have Mass every Sunday but we appreciate the efforts

by Father- In-charge to bring us Mass once a month,” he says.

The Christians come from different parts of the country but come together as Catholics at their place of work.

They hold meeting with or without the priest and are entitled to one Mass every month conducted by the parish priest.

Other camps covered by the parish include, The Fig Tree camp and The Governors camp – the oldest in the Mara. Before the government amended the Marriage Act, 2014, the priest would be invited to conduct weddings in the camps, but this has changed.

“I was often invited to officiate weddings inside the camps before the Marriage Act was amended to state that the venue and places of marriage must be in the church,” says Fr Patrick.

He notes that the camps however often invite him to preside over weddings in the camps as a licensed official.

“Sometimes getting a Deputy County Commissioner to conduct the weddings is always difficult so they opt for me in some camps that would otherwise not allow me conduct Mass.” He notes.

Fr Patrick notes that it is not always rosy in the Mara.

While The Fig tree camp has over the years been one of the best breeding grounds for faith in the Mara, the small Christian community there has suffered the dangers posed by the fluctuating number of tourist to the Mara in the past few years.

Workers in the hotel had to be transferred to other places due to low tourist season and this greatly affected the Catholic community.

“The group had more than 20 people but currently has two or three people. They had initially organized themselves to even record and

produce a music album but all had to stop after they were transferred to other places,” says Fr Patrick.

However at the biggest and oldest camp in the Mara-The Governors camp with over 30 Catholics still continue to thrive despite the usual mass transfers experienced in the camp.

They have maintained the usual Mass conducted by the priest every Sunday and in some occasions when they have events.

He also notes ability to have Mass in the camps however depends on whether the camp managers allows. He says that he sometimes finds it hard to have Mass if the manager is not Catholic or a Christian.

“I sometimes travel the many kilometers into a camp to offer Mass only for them to tell me that they are busy. At this point I have no option but to go away,” explains Fr Patrick adding that “Sometimes I even plead with them for a 30 minutes Mass but they just can’t get time.”

But the challenges of evangelizing at the camps are the least of his worries, the bigger challenge lies with the normal pastoral work at the parish.

“The parish is big --the furthest outstation I can go is 150 kilometers away from the parish and the roads are in terrible state. I have to have a proper plan in order to cover every outstation in the parish and to ensure each has Mass at least once in a month,” he says.

He wakes up at 4 am every Sunday to travel long distances to offer Mass.

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Photo by Henry Onyango 2016

Fr Patrick priest-in-charge, St. Mark Lemek Parish. He says the Church is encouraging more Maasai’s to own the Church despite their strong stance on their culture.

“I always have Mass with the students by 8 am in various schools located far apart and then rush to the tourist camps in the evening for another Mass as well with the faithful,” says Fr Patrick.

“But there are some that receive Mass after two or three months because I may simply be committed with other activities or it could be during the rainy season when the roads are impassable,” explains Fr Patrick.

He further notes that language barrier is a big challenge in evangelizing especially when priests who are not locals are posted in the parish but are unable to express themselves in the Maasai language.

“The Maasai enjoy listening to people who speak their mother tongue and in this case it has not worked well for us,” says Fr Patrick who has served as a parish priest of Lemek for three years now.

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Photo by Henry Onyango 2016

Philip Ole Tinka, Chairman of Lemek Parish Council. He says the Maasai community have always wanted to preserve their culture and this makes many shy away from church.

According to Fr Patrick, language barrier has resulted in the thriving of evangelical and Pentecostal churches in the area since these churches have local pastors who can speak the language and therefore easily connect with the people.

“When you go to places where you certainly expect to have many Maasais in church, it’s interesting that just a few of them are Catholics.

They were the first to be evangelized but of late have shied away from the Catholic Church,” says Fr Patrick.

The early missionaries went to the region in the 1940’s but the parish was officially opened in 1978 by Bishop Cornelius Schilder, the second bishop of Ngong, who was then the parish priest of Lemek.

Later another missionary priest Fr Frans Mol built a Maasai centre at the parish. However, explains

Fr Patrick, Fr Mol was more interested in learning the Maasai culture and even wrote the first Maasai dictionary written by a foreigner.

“Fr Mol was not so much concerned with evangelization in the area. His was more on understanding of the Maasai culture. He opened other far interior places where he was able to meet more Maasais and further built schools within the parish where he would learn the Maa language,” explains Fr Patrick.

The Maasai centre was later transferred to Ole Tepesi in Kajiado leaving the parish as a pastoral and safaris centre.

Fr Patrick says that the early missionaries did not concentrate so much in evangelizing the Maasais instead they offered gifts and presents to lure them attend Mass and even be baptized.

“The Maasais would always come to the Church because of the gifts and presents whenever they come to church so when these things stopped, they stayed away. The early missionaries did not take their time to make them aware that sometimes they will be the owners of the church.

This is the task we have been left with and we are bound to achieve,” he tells The Seed.

He however points out that the Church is already trying to encourage more Maasai to join and own the Church despite their hard stance cultural practices such as polygamy.

“Many a times the community (Maasai) have wanted to preserve their culture. This has made some of them shy away from coming to church in fear of losing their way of life and practices,” says Philip Ole Tinka, Chairman of Lemek Parish Council.

He however notes that more people have since started coming to church.

“The number of faithful is steadily growing. We now have over one thousand faithful and the church even helps us in taking our children to school amongst other development projects,” says Ole Tinka who also doubles up as the chairman of the Holy Family Aitong Catholic Outstation.

Photo by Fr Daniel Mkado 2016

Cornel Mkongo, Chairman of the Small Christian Catholic community at Mara Sarova Camp. He says the community greatly appreciates Fr Patrick’s efforts to offer them monthly Masses.

He notes that the outstation offers catechetical lessons to the willing students from some schools near the outstation and even in the parish.

Even though the local community has not been at the forefront in the growth of faith over the years, the parish has been able to grow in numbers of Christians

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Olchekut Supat Apostolic School – Minor Seminary: Evangelizing through Education

By Stephen Mukhongi

A

first time visitor to the Olchekut Supat Apostolic School – Minor Seminary (OSAS) is greeted by a large canopy of the iconic African Acacia trees which give the huge school compound a beautiful tranquil environment.

Located in Lemek, Narok County in a wildlife corridor just few kilometers from the Maasai Mara National Park, OSAS holds the true definition of schooling in the wild.

Being in Maasai land where coexistence between people and wildlife is a way of life, the school has made environmental conservation an integral part of formation of the students.

“Most of the boys come from this area and they are attune to living peacefully with the wildlife. We have a very active wildlife club in the school, through which students learn and practice conservation work such as taking care of our indigenous trees in the compound,” explains Fr Benson Salonic, Rector of the minor seminary.

The success of the wildlife club has not gone unnoticed Lake Victoria Basin Group, which takes care of the catchment area within East Africa especially the Mara River, during Mara Day celebrations in September

Photo by Henry Onyango 2016

15, 2016, recognized the school as the best in East Africa in environmental conservation.

OSAS was established 30 years ago by Bishop Colin Davies to provide secondary education for the Maasai boys living in the Mara.

“Bishop Davies discovered that there was a problem in Mara because the Maasai boys couldn’t access education. There was no single secondary school in the area. He came up with a community school founded on Christian principles to assist the Maasai boys with the support of the Roman grant,” explains Fr Anthony Chege, Education Secretary Ngong Diocese.

In 1984 Bishop Davies and his consultants informed the local elders of this intention and requested for a place to put up the school. The leadership of the day and the community at large, appreciated the idea and gave the school an ample piece of land.

“A local group ranch donated a 75-acre piece of land in Lemek located strategically between the National Park and Narok town so that the school could be accessible to everyone,” explains Fr Salonic.

Photo Courtesy Bishop John Oballa, priests and students of Olchekut Supat Apostolic School – Minor Seminary during the confirmation ceremony of 14 of the students in 2016. The school was established in 1987

by Bishop Colin Davies.

Having the school in the area was also a way of completing the Lemek Mission which already had a hospital and a public primary school.

The construction work in the new school was done by among others, Fr Cornelius Schilder (who later became the second bishop of Ngong diocese).

Bishop Davies then wrote to Rome, and the school was recognized as an apostolic school situated in the mission land. It was opened in 1987 and named Olchekut Supat (the Good Shepherd) under its first principal Fr Symon Peter Ntayia, a former Vicar General of the diocese.

“Today OSAS has become a big blessing not only to the local community but also to the diocese as a source of vocations.” States Fr Salonic.

today and even in the early years come from the community. The school is also important as it has been providing young men who join the major seminary towards priestly vocations,” he says.

Consequently, over the years OSAS has produced many priests for the Catholic Diocese of Ngong and beyond, as well as working professionals and civic leaders in the region.

About 18 local priests in the diocese are alumni of the school including the Vicar General, Fr John Ntiyesia. Another notable alumnus is Edward Karaya, Assistant Manager of Equity Bank Narok, and many leaders in the County Government of Narok.

At first the school admitted students from Lemek Parish before getting others from other parishes.

“The first direct success was the provision of education as the majority of students here

“....There was no single secondary school in the area. So his (Bishop Davies) idea was to come up with a community school founded on Christian principals to assist the Maasai boys with the support of the Roman grant,” - Fr Anthony Chege,

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Fr Benson Salonic the Rector of OSA. He says the school has provided quality education to the community as well as provided vocations to the diocese.

Photo by Henry Onyango 2016 “Today our catchment areas include Kericho, Bomet, Nakuru, Nairobi, Muranga, Machakos, and Mombasa,” explains Fr Salonic.

Being located in Maasai land, the school sometimes admits boys who have not gone through catechism.

“When they come here, we have a program for catechism where they are able to get the sacraments of First Holy Communion and even Confirmation,” says Fr Salonic.

For many years since OSAS was the only secondary school in the Mara until the advent of free primary education which led to emergence of other secondary schools in the area.

Today the diocese of Ngong intends to transform the school into a fully fledged minor seminary.

“After other education institutions came up in the area, OSAS began losing relevance. In 2010 John Cardinal Njue, who was our Apostolic Administrator, proposed the idea of transforming the school into a junior seminary. He initiated the process which Bishop Oballa is currently implementing,” explains Fr Anthony Chege, Education Secretary Ngong Diocese.

The school then embarked on putting up structures of formation enable the provision of quality holistic education.

OSAS is a single streamed school with a capacity of about 160 students, with around 40 students per class.

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“That small number of students is manageable and enables the teaching and management staff to easily journey with the students explains,” Fr Salonic.

“You get to know the boys one-on-one over the four years and you can gauge their improvements. We have a monitoring system where for example we look at the entry behavior of a student and then we monitor whether they are declining or going up the ladder,” he says.

Today OSAS is a household name in Narok County. When it comes to good academic performance it always features among the top 100 schools nationally.

In 2014 it emerged the best performing school in the sub county.

The school is also renowned for its discipline record.

“Discipline is part and parcel of life in this school,” states Fr Paul Ngeno, the Vice Rector of the school.

“For anything to be successful in the school, discipline is vital as it will impact the students not only during their time here in school but also in their future life,” he adds.

Fr Ngeno a teacher of Mathematics and Physics is an alumnus of the school and believes that “when discipline and spirituality improves in any education institution, the academics also automatically improve.”

Fr Paul Ngeno Vice-rector of OSAS. He says discipline is important as it impacts on students beyond their time in school.

Photos by Henry Onyango 2016

The soft spoken teacher practices what he preaches; he was a student in the school between 1996 and 1999 and scored grade B+ of 73 points with a mean score of 10.4285, a record that still stands to date in the school.

Following his ordination, he was posted back to the school in 2010 and two years later he enrolled in the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) to pursue a Bachelors Degree Program in Mathematics Physics, where he graduated last year 2016 with first class honors.

Fr Ngeno has become a mentor and a living example of what he is offering the students; discipline, prayer, and hard work.

He has guides the students in forming the right attitude towards education and life.

“Most students used to believe that Maths and Physics were the worst things to ever happen to a student in secondary school.

I decided to take up the subject both as a student in the university and a teacher here in school, and I would share my experiences with them. As a result, Maths became the most passed subject since,” he states.

“As a student or a citizen out there if you don’t organize yourself properly and have discipline of doing the right thing at the right time then you are bound to fail, because education is for life not just for exams,” he adds.

OSAS joins Apostles of Jesus minor Seminary, Kiserian as the two junior seminaries that are part of the 11 secondary schools established by the diocese to provide much need education in the region.

In 2016 OSAS was recognized as the best school in East Africa in terms of environmental conservation.

“Education is supposed to leave a mark in your life so that in the future you may be able to respond to the challenges that are going to come your way.” concludes Fr Anthony

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Profile

The

Interv ew In December 2016, The Seed visited the Catholic Diocese of Ngong. As we moved towards the interior parts of the diocese, it slowly became clear that the region is still in the first stages of evangelization.

At Ewaso Kedong’ Lourine Oluoch had an interview with parish priest, Fr John Fortune, an Irish missionary and member of the Institute of Charity otherwise known as the Rosminians.

As he shared his experience working among the Maasai, we couldn’t help wondering if perhaps the region needs more missionaries to go work there. We bring you excerpts from the interview.

Who are the Rosminians The official name is the Institute of Charity but we are known as Rosminians. The congregation was founded in 1828 in Italy by Fr Antonio Rosminian. That’s how we got the name Rosminians.

Our charism is universal charity or universal love.

Our vocation is open to any call: universal love, universal charity. That if God wanted to use us for any work He would let us know. He would call us to it. We have two parishes in Kenya: Kibiko and Ewaso Kedong’.

What is the population of Ewaso Kedong’ parish?

It’s difficult to say because it’s nomadic-seminomadic community; people move. Right now our numbers have reduced enormously because of the drought, so you’d get around 700. It’s a

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big area but very sparsely populated with small pockets of people.

The area is predominantly Maasai but with a mixed population of other minority tribe groups who come to our church probably because our services at the parish are in Swahili rather than in maa.

Have you learnt the maa language?

No I haven’t. I can understand a little as I have been here for 12 years.

The former Bishop Cornelius Schilder always insisted that people learn the maa language but when he gave me the mandate to come here, he wanted a parish to be built immediately.

He said he felt the maasai in this area had been told for so long, “ngoja kidogo, ngoja kidogo, tutakuja, tutakuja” (wait, wait, we will come, we will come) and nobody ever came.

We however can never know what God has in mind because it’s been over 12 years later and I’m still here.

How do you see the faith of the Maasai people?

I would say they have a much more simply routed faith. They are naturally spiritual people, the Maasai. That is probably changing with the advent of mobile phone and internet for the younger generation, but certainly the ones you meet here because they haven’t been influenced very much by the cities.

Does the culture interfere with the faith?

Some of the negative parts of the culture like female genital mutilation (FGM), early marriages, and polygamy interfere with the faith.

Culture wise there are those elements which are slowly changing with development. Today FGM and early marriages are more common in the interior.

How do you treat your Christians when it comes to culture, this person who has many wives and wants to become a Catholic?

There are the rules and then there’s reality. We have a chairman of one of the outstations in the interior who is polygamous. He’s baptized, he received the First Holy Communion but can’t receive the Eucharist because he’s got two wives.

Photo by Lourine Oluoch 2016

I shared with him my experience of working in other places since I joined the Rosminians in 1980 I had never spent more than three years in one place. I had worked in Tanzania, Kenya, India, Italy and it was always three years maximum. He said that if I spent a year learning the language, then there would be time wasted; he insisted that I continue building.

The people still chose him as the chairman of the church and he is really involved in church activities but that’s it.

There was a mass wedding in 2004 just before I came here and notably all the men here who had a wedding in the church have never taken a second. They have gone on to the leaders of the church.

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How influential is the Catholic faith in the area?

In my years here, I have encountered people who consider themselves Christian Catholics and they follow this religion but they have never been baptized.

This area wasn’t very well serviced by the Catholic Church for many years. The parish was carved from Ngong’, which means that they maybe got Mass at Christmas and at Easter depending on the availability of the priest, the weather and the conditions of the road. The predominant denomination here would be Presbyterian.

Fortunately, the Catholic faithful have increased and grown since the parish was handed over in 2004. Older people and children are being baptized.

While talking to Bishop Owaa Oballa it came out clearly that parts of the diocese are not self reliant and still need help. Would you say your parish is self sustaining?

One of the things that have held back my congregation from sending anybody else to work here is the fact that this parish could not support a priest. He wouldn’t have enough to live on unless he gets support from outside.

A lot of the work I have done here has been funded by people from outside. With the bishop and John Cardinal Njue -- who was standing in before the bishop was appointed -- the greater emphasis has been on kujitegemea (self reliance) for every parish and we are pushing for that here.

Last year the parish held a fundraising and raised 2.3 million that started off their effort at self sustainability.

As time goes, they will have to become self sufficient and support their priest.

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I have come up with some income generating activities like rearing dairy cows, dairy goats, producing honey, vegetables, tomatoes and things like that for sale. I think eventually will be source of income to let the parish run itself.

Do you think more missionaries should come to the interior regions rather than staying in towns such as Nairobi and its environs?

[laughs] I don’t want to be judgmental.

But do you see the need?

Definitely yes.

Some people when they get used to places like Karen and Nairobi find it difficult then to go out into the bush.

That was something that Bishop Cornelius foresaw. That’s why he absolutely insisted when we took over that parish, that nothing be built in Kibiko (from which this parish was carved) until there was a centre here in Ewaso Kedong’.

Even our own priests find it difficult to come down here. They look at the road -- which has greatly improved, it was recently murramed and graded by the county council because the Chinese needed to come in to build the Standard Gauge Railway.

Sometimes I think the bishop finds it difficult to get people to take interior. I think it’s still a problem because the congregations want to have their centers for education in town to be able to go to colleges such as the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) and places like that.

However it’s important to note that there are Congregations that are still interested in taking interior parishes

YouR TAKE What are your New Year 2017 resolutions?

My New Year resolution is to stop procrastinating. I resolve to worry less and to focus on improving my character and my physical appearance.

Allan Wahinya, 20 years old

My New Year resolution is to help empower young girls in urban and rural areas and help reduce the number of teenage pregnancies in Kenya through the initiative Teenage Pregnancy Awareness.

Annastanzia Kimbio, 24 years old

I have resolved to be less stressed without the extra craziness presented by work and family obligations. I will not be carried away by the existential crisis like wondering whether I bought the right shoe colour for my dance crew.

Faisal Karanja, 22 years old

I have resolved to get out of debts and to enjoy life more. I will learn new things and make more friends.

Nashipae Sarah, 26 years old

over heard

‘

It’s amazing how the amount of news happening in the world every day always fits the newspaper.

’

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Cremation Censured By Vatican: Congregation For The Doctrine Of The Faith Instruction Ad resurgendum cum Christo regarding the burial of the deceased and the conservation of the ashes in the case of cremation

1. To rise with Christ, we must die with Christ: we must “be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Cor 5:8). With the Instruction Piam et Constantemof 5 July 1963, the then Holy Office established that “all necessary measures must be taken to preserve the practice of reverently burying the faithful departed”, adding however that cremation is not “opposed per se to the Christian religion” and that no longer should the sacraments and funeral rites be denied to those who have asked that they be cremated, under the condition that this choice has not been made through “a denial of Christian dogmas, the animosity of a secret society, or hatred of the Catholic religion and the Church”.[1] Later this change in ecclesiastical discipline was incorporated into the Code of Canon Law (1983) and the Code of Canons of Oriental Churches (1990).

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During the intervening years, the practice of cremation has notably increased in many countries, but simultaneously new ideas contrary to the Church’s faith have also become widespread. Having consulted the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts and numerous Episcopal Conferences and Synods of Bishops of the Oriental Churches, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has deemed opportune the publication of a new Instruction, with the intention of underlining the doctrinal and pastoral reasons for the preference of the burial of the remains of the faithful and to set out norms pertaining to the conservation of ashes in the case of cremation.

2. The resurrection of Jesus is the culminating truth of the Christian faith, preached as an essential part of the Paschal Mystery from the

very beginnings of Christianity: “For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures; that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures; that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve” (1 Cor 15:3-5).

Through his death and resurrection, Christ freed us from sin and gave us access to a new life, “so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Rm 6:4). Furthermore, the risen Christ is the principle and source of our future resurrection: “Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep […] For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor 15:20-22).

It is true that Christ will raise us up on the last day; but it is also true that, in a certain way, we have already risen with Christ. In Baptism, actually, we are immersed in the death and resurrection of Christ and sacramentally assimilated to him: “You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead” (Col 2:12). United with Christ

by Baptism, we already truly participate in the life of the risen Christ (cf. Eph 2:6).

Because of Christ, Christian death has a positive meaning. The Christian vision of death receives privileged expression in the liturgy of the Church: “Indeed for your faithful, Lord, life is changed not ended, and, when this earthly dwelling turns to dust, an eternal dwelling is made ready for them in heaven”.[2] By death the soul is separated from the body, but in the resurrection God will give incorruptible life to our body, transformed by reunion with our soul. In our own day also, the Church is called to proclaim her faith in the resurrection: “The confidence of Christians is the resurrection of the dead; believing this we live”.

[3] 3. Following the most ancient Christian tradition, the Church insistently recommends that the bodies of the deceased be buried in cemeteries or other sacred places.[4]In memory of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord, the mystery that illumines the Christian meaning of death,[5] burial is above all the most fitting way

to express faith and hope in the resurrection of the body.[6] The Church who, as Mother, has accompanied the Christian during his earthly pilgrimage, offers to the Father, in Christ, the child of her grace, and she commits to the earth, in hope, the seed of the body that will rise in glory.[7] By burying the bodies of the faithful, the Church confirms her faith in the resurrection of the body,[8] and intends to show the great dignity of the human body as an integral part of the human person whose body forms part of their identity.

[9] She cannot, therefore, condone attitudes or permit rites that involve erroneous ideas about death, such as considering death as the definitive annihilation of the person, or the moment of fusion with Mother Nature or the universe, or as a stage in the cycle of regeneration, or as the definitive liberation from the “prison” of the body.

Furthermore, burial in a cemetery or another sacred place adequately corresponds to the piety and respect owed to the bodies of the faithful departed who through Baptism have become temples of the Holy Spirit and in which “as instruments and vessels the Spirit has carried out so many good works”.[10] Tobias, the just, was praised for the merits he acquired in the sight of God for having buried the dead,[11] and the Church considers the burial of dead one of the corporal works of mercy.[12] Finally, the burial of the faithful departed in cemeteries or other sacred places encourages family members and the whole Christian community to pray for and remember the dead, while at the same time fostering the veneration of martyrs and saints.

Through the practice of burying the dead in cemeteries, in churches or their environs, Christian tradition has upheld the relationship between the living and the dead and has opposed any tendency to minimize, or relegate to the purely private sphere, the event of death and the meaning it has for Christians.

4. In circumstances when cremation is chosen because of sanitary, economic or social considerations, this choice must never violate the explicitly-stated or the reasonably inferable wishes of the deceased faithful.

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The Church raises no doctrinal objections to this practice, since cremation of the deceased’s body does not affect his or her soul, nor does it prevent God, in his omnipotence, from raising up the deceased body to new life. Thus cremation, in and of itself, objectively negates neither the Christian doctrine of the soul’s immortality nor that of the resurrection of the body.[13] The Church continues to prefer the practice of burying the bodies of the deceased, because this shows a greater esteem towards the deceased.

Nevertheless, cremation is not prohibited, “unless it was chosen for reasons contrary to Christian doctrine”.[14] In the absence of motives contrary to Christian doctrine, the Church, after the celebration of the funeral rite, accompanies the choice of cremation, providing the relevant liturgical and pastoral directives, and taking particular care to avoid every form of scandal or the appearance of religious indifferentism.

5. When, for legitimate motives, cremation of the body has been chosen, the ashes of the faithful must be laid to rest in a sacred place, that is, in a cemetery or, in certain cases, in a church or an area, which has been set aside for this purpose, and so dedicated by the competent ecclesial authority.

From the earliest times, Christians have desired that the faithful departed become the objects of the Christian community’s prayers and remembrance. Their tombs have become places of prayer, remembrance and reflection. The faithful departed remain part of the Church who believes “in the communion of all the faithful of Christ, those who are pilgrims on earth, the dead who are being purified, and the blessed in heaven, all together forming one Church”.[15] The reservation of the ashes of the departed in a sacred place ensures that they are not excluded from the prayers and remembrance of their family or the Christian community. It prevents the faithful departed from being forgotten, or their remains from being shown a lack of respect, which eventuality is possible, most especially once the immediately subsequent generation has too passed away. Also it prevents any unfitting or superstitious practices.

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6. For the reasons given above, the conservation of the ashes of the departed in a domestic residence is not permitted. Only in grave and exceptional cases dependent on cultural conditions of a localized nature, may the Ordinary, in agreement with the Episcopal Conference or the Synod of Bishops of the Oriental Churches, concede permission for the conservation of the ashes of the departed in a domestic residence. Nonetheless, the ashes may not be divided among various family members and due respect must be maintained regarding the circumstances of such a conservation.

7. In order that every appearance of pantheism, naturalism or nihilism be avoided, it is not permitted to scatter the ashes of the faithful departed in the air, on land, at sea or in some other way, nor may they be preserved in mementos, pieces of jewelry or other objects.

These courses of action cannot be legitimized by an appeal to the sanitary, social, or economic motives that may have occasioned the choice of cremation.

8. When the deceased notoriously has requested cremation and the scattering of their ashes for reasons contrary to the Christian faith, a Christian funeral must be denied to that person according to the norms of the law.[16] The Sovereign Pontiff Francis, in the Audience granted to the undersigned Cardinal Prefect on 18 March 2016, approved the present Instruction, adopted in the Ordinary Session of this Congregation on 2 March 2016, and ordered its publication.

Rome, from the Offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 15 August 2016, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Gerhard Card. Müller Prefect + Luis F. Ladaria, S.I. Titular Archbishop of Thibica Secretary

Being Smart is knowing & growing

Bible Story • Moral Story • Brain Teaser • Riddles of2017 the Month VOL 29, • No.Faces 1 JAN/FEB 35

Lifes Lessons

A little kindness goes a long way Mr. and Mrs. Kobia were a rich couple that loved people. One day as, Mr. Kobia was getting ready for work when he remembered that his wife had asked him to bring ripe Bananas. As he was walking along the way, he saw an ill-looking old lady across the road. She was selling fresh bananas on the street. Mr. Kobia usually bought bananas from a grocery shop few blocks away from his office but since he was in a hurry to get home, he thought of buying them from the lady.

He went across the road to the lady but the lady’s price was slightly higher the grocery. He tried bargaining but the lady only reduced the price a little.

Mr Kobia told her, “never mind” and drove his car towards the usual grocery shop.

On reaching the grocery, he found that the price had doubled. He tried to bargain in vain.

“Sorry Sir but our prices are fixed, we do not bargain.” Mr Kobia thought for a second and put the bananas back. He went back to the old lady. She recognized him instantly and told him, “Sir, I can’t match that price, I won’t be able to earn any profit.”

Mr Kobia told her, “Don’t worry about the price; I will pay you Ksh 100 per kg! Now, give me 2kg.”

The old lady got very happy, she packed 2kgs of Bananas and said, “I can’t take Ksh 100 but I will take Ksh 70 per kg that’s my price. I appreciate your kindness.”

She also told him, “My Husband used to own a small fruit shop but he got very sick. We

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have no child or any relatives to support us.

We had to sell his shop to cover his medical bills but he did not survive.” Tears were flowing from her eyes as she talked. She said, “But now to support myself I am trying to sell what I can afford to buy and sell, so I can survive for what’s left of my life.”

Mr Kobia told her, “Do not worry, you are doing good and from tomorrow on, I will only buy bananas from you.” He pulled out his wallet and gave her Ksh 100 extra and said, “Take this, Bring more different fruits to sell tomorrow, consider this an advance payment for fruits I will be buying from you. You can earn more if you have more choices of fruits to sell.” The Old lady thanked him.

Later, he commended many of his colleagues to buy fruits from the lady which they did. With the support from Mr Kobia and many other buyers, she made a better living.

Moral: Think wisely. Always be helpful and supportive to someone who works hard to earn.

Hi Auntie Stella, I have been trying to be nice to my parents but everytime I find myself in problems with them. What could be the problem?

Javan Ododa - Sori

Doughnut Hole Breakfast Skewers

Ingredients • Non-stick spray • Doughnut holes (glazed) From a supermarket • Fresh strawberries (large) • Fresh blackberries (large) • Wooden skewers • Salted caramel sauce • Chocolate sauce • Shredded coconut Method Spray each skewer generously with non-stick spray to prevent ingredients from sticking to the skewer.

String all ingredients on skewer until the entire skewer has been filled.

Line/pile skewers on a platter, lined with paper towels (to absorb any juice from the fruits).

Prepare the dipping sauces. Pour the salted caramel and chocolate sauce into individual small bowls.

Pour the shredded coconut into a small bowl.

Yummy! It’s now ready for breakfast.

Dear Javan, You don’t have any problem. Most of the times we try to be good but we end up hurting the people we love. You should sit with your parents and talk to them. Tell them you wish to be the best son they want to have and ask them to give guidence on how you can all cope together.

Auntie Stella.

Hi Auntie Stella, I have been dreaming of serving God as a priest but I face many challanges. How do I overcome them?

Darwins Adakha Chrispius - St. Marks Parish Dear Darwin, We all face challanges in life but the best weapon is to face this challenges. Talk you your spiritual father/priest for advice and guidance.

Auntie Stella.

Dear Kids, do you feel you have any question you want answered? Ask Auntie Stella send a TEXT MESSAGE/WHATTSUP on 0717098477 or Email: smachimbo@seedmagazine.co.ke and Write your name and location ans read your answers in the Seed Magazine.

Auntie Stella has studied Christian Counselling & Physchology at Daytar University

Faces of the Month

Q. Feed me and I live, yet give me a drink and I die, who am I?

Answer : Fire

Brain Teaser WHICH ONE IS THE ODD ONE OUT

SPOT 6 DIFEFERENCES

Wearing headphones for just an hour could increase the bacteria in your ear 700 times.

Listen to the tongue twister and practise saying it. How fast can you say it?

Sounding by sound is a sound method of sounding sounds.

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Ruth and Boaz BARLEY BETHLEHEM BOAZ ELIMELECH

FIELDS FOOD GRAIN HARVEST

MARRY MOAB NAOMI RUTH

VOL 29, No. 1 JAN/FEB 2017

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Bible Story

Wake Up Your god!

By Shealla Nekesa

T

he people were worshipping Baal a false god. Elijah said to King Ahab, “Bring 450 prophets of Baal to Mount Carmel today. I want to talk to them.”

Ahab did as Elijah asked.

Elijah said to all the people there, “If the Lord is God follow him. If Baal is god then follow him. Today we will have a test.

Let the prophets of Baal put

The class teacher asks students to name an animal that begins with an “E”. One boy says, “Elephant.”

Then the teacher asks for an animal that begins with a “T”. The same boy says, “Two elephants.”

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some meat on your altar and I will put some meat on my altar.

All of you call upon Baal, I alone will call upon the Lord. The god who answers by burning up the meat is the One True God.” They all agreed, they liked the test. All the people danced around the altar and shouted, “Baal, hear us!”

Maybe your god is sleeping.

Dance more and shout louder.

They shouted louder and louder and still there was no fire.

Elijah said, “Maybe your god is sleeping. Dance more and shout louder.”

The people danced and danced.

The people shouted and shouted.

They danced and shouted for the whole day. There was no fire.

Now it was Elijah’s turn. He built an altar out of 12 big stones. He put the meat on it. He asked the people to fill four barrels of water

and pour over it.

Then he asked them to pour four more barrels of water over it.

When they had finished the second time, he said, “Now once more.”

There was so much water there.

It was all over.

It filled a trench beside the altar.

Everything was just soaked.

Elijah prayed, “Lord, let these people know you are God.” Suddenly, fire flashed down from heaven.

It burned up the meat, the altar, and the 12 stones.

It even evaporated the water in the trench.

The people bowed down to the Lord and shouted,” The Lord is the One True God!”

The teacher sends the boy out of the class for bad behavior. After that she asks for an animal beginning with “M”.

The boy shouts from the other side of the wall: “Maybe an elephant!”

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#youthtalk The Game Ranger

By Kantai Naserian

P

eter Gilisho was born and raised in Aitong’ a community that neighbours the Lemek Conservancy in the Northern part of the Maasai Mara.

Although he missed out of formal education, Gelisho realized his dream of becoming a game ranger in 2009 at the age of 24. He one day attended a recruitment session for rangers in the Mara and got selected for training.

“I grew up knowing every corner of the

conservancy. I admired the game rangers and wished that someday I would become one of them,” he tells The Seed.

“In 2011 I attended The Mara North International Recruit Academy Headquarters, for training.

Two years later I pursued a promotion course for three months at the same training center as a corporal,” he says.

He later pursued further training at the Manyani Kenya Wildlife Training College in Voi and is now a professional in matters concerning wildlife.

Today the 31-year-old is a corporal ranger at the Lemek Conservancy; his primary duty is to protect the conservancy eco system that consists of the wildlife, the vegetation, the tourists and the communities living around the conservancy.

Gilisho, who lives in a base camp located within the Lemek Conservancy, arrives at work at 6am and joins other rangers in patrolling the conservancy, to make sure all the animals are accounted for (especially the endangered species).

He ensures the wild animals do not go into people’s farms Photo by Stephen Mukhongi 2016

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and that human beings do not interfere with the vegetation (grass, shrubs and forest).

The conservancy has rules and regulations. The tourists can only tour the conservancy from 6am to 8am and 4pm to 6:30pm.

“I check for poachers, passersby and cows that might have entered the conservancy,” he says.

He also ensures that the tourists who visit the conservancy follow the set down rules.

“This is for their safety and for the safety of the wildlife. Tourists are not allowed to go too close to the animals. They are not supposed to make noise or litter the environment in which these animals live,” says Gilisho.

“Sometimes tourists get stranded in the park.

Their vehicles break down in the middle of the forest and some even get stuck in the mud. My work includes helping them out of such situations and directing them back to their camps,” he says.

Whenever there are n strange occurrences such torches or lights seen within the park at night Gilisho and the other rangers are alerted to make sure the animals are not endangered by poachers.

He is also a mediator between the conservancy and the communities living around Lemek.

“Usually, there are conflicts between the communities living around the conservancy and the wildlife. When conflicts arise we talk to the communities and find peaceful solutions so that they don’t come to harm the wildlife and the animals do not go out of the conservancy and harm the people,” he says.

Such conflicts, he says happens especially during the dry season when the communities try to let in their animals to graze within the conservancy.

“It’s my duty to protect the plants and vegetation from mishandling by people and cattle grazing.

The lions depend on other animals as food and if those animals don’t get enough food, the lions will lack food to eat,” says Gilisho.

“I’ve been born and raised around this wildlife.

I’ve known these animals since I was a child, so

I really understand the kind of challenges they encounter especially during the dry season when they lack food and water which leads to their deaths,” he says.

He notes that tourists too can also be in conflict with the wildlife and end up getting hurt or hurting the animals.

“The animals depend on us for safety, that is why we have to be keen on the external forces,” says Gilisho.

According to Gilisho very few local tourists visit the conservancy unlike the foreign visitors who come in large numbers.

A common challenge Gelisho faces as a ranger is battling with poachers. The Mara River separates the Lemek Conservancy from the other conservancies. According to him the animals in Lemek outnumber those in other conservancies hence attracting the poachers.

“The poachers come from the other side of the Mara River and hunt wildlife from our side. If we don’t do proper patrol in certain areas, the poachers will definitely invade the conservancy and poach,” he explains.

His best moment in the conservancy is when the animals are in good shape, the vegetation is green and productive and the number of tourists visiting the conservancy is up.

He advises young people who would like to be rangers to go on and pursue their passion.

“Being a ranger is all about passion because you spend your whole day with wildlife and tourists,” he says.

When asked if being a ranger pays Gilisho says it provides for his basic needs and that of his family.

“Being a ranger pays because it puts a roof over my head, food on my table and clothes me and my family,” he concluded.

Above all he enjoys his work, “I’m constantly surprised by my surrounding. I pass around the same spot daily and it has different animals at different times. It’s amazing,” he concludes

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Family Matters

Family Matters

Financial Responsibilities in the Family

By Samuel M. Njuguna

W

hen I was growing up, The Beatles (a popular music band in the ‘60s) sang an appropriate, song, “Money can’t buy me love”.

During the first years of Kenya’s independence, some people ventured into coffee smuggling business remember Chepkube episodes?

Chepkube Market in Mt Elgon was known for the lucrative business of smuggling coffee from Uganda into Kenya.

They made so much money from the coffee sales that some husbands bought their wives BMWs “Be My Wife” cars as gifts.

Such emphasis on money led to breakages in families confirming the fact that too much money or the lack of it is not synonymous with love or stable marriages. Money should support and build marriages not lead to stress and breakdowns.

All married couples therefore should spend time together discussing their income, and responsibilities at home.

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Openness and Trust When couples enter into marriage, they encounter challenges on how to handle their resources. They need to always have open dialogue regarding available resources and liabilities.

The first meetings should be very open and honest and be held in an atmosphere of trust, remembering that each spouse is a stake-holder in the other’s income.

That means that each spouse should openly declare how much they will bring to the table.

It should be an honest open meeting revealing gross income and net-worth of each spouse.

The meeting analysing income and expenditure of a spouse reveals his or her financial income and commitments e.g. mortgages, car loans, and any family expenses such as taking care of sick parents, siblings or even education commitments for self or for siblings.

The above revelations should be followed by financial statement for the family needs e.g. basic needs like

rent, food, clothing, electricity, water, mortgages, loan repayments, school fees etc.

It is at this juncture that the couple identifies their needs and wants. It is important to always keep records of the first meeting or any subsequent meeting on finances.

There should also be a discussion on the responsibilities and roles that each spouse will implement. The whole exercise on financial management calls for strong discipline to ensure that the couple lives a dignified lifestyle within their income.

When shopping remembers to strictly adhere to the budget and to avoid impulse buying, excesses and not to be influenced by promotions and advertisements.

Saving and Investments Each family is unique and sources of income differ from family to family. The expenditures of each family should reflect the income.

Whatever the circumstances each family should endeavour to set aside some savings for emergencies, unforeseen debts, and for acquiring assets such as vehicles, houses and household items as deemed necessary for the family.

Wherever possible, they should invest in longterm investments like bonds, fixed deposits, stocks and shares that will form start-up capital for any future business upon retirement or cater for necessary expenses in old age.

Notably most couples these days are professionals, in which case they individually hold personal bank accounts. In addition to this, it is necessary that couples hold a joint account with both husband and wife as signatories.

Such arrangements ensure that in case of sudden death of any spouse the remaining spouse will not suffer and the family will be comfortable during such difficult times and are assured of dignified future.

Remember that in marriage all spouses are stakeholders in each other’s finances and this call for total respect trust and understanding.

Employed spouses should start saving and planning early for retirement to ensure a comfortable retirement.

Insurances It is important that each family keeps necessary insurances; domestic packages covering the house-hold items, electronics, furniture, clothing against fire and theft; personal accident cover; comprehensive insurance cover for the; health insurance cover for the family; education insurance cover for the children’s education; public liability cover and retirement benefits.

This becomes an operation account for the family so that even when one spouse is away the other will continue paying for various family expenses like, electricity bills, water, school fees shopping and other family requirements.

Finally, it is important to write a will soon after marriage. The will should be deposited with your lawyer who can always amend it as required when you acquire or sell assets. It is not a rigid document and if you are not sure how to do it, your lawyer should do it for you professionally.

The other joint account for the family should be an investment account, i.e. fixed deposits, stocks and shares etc, that take care of long term investments.

Financial matters are very personal and each family should hold such issues with total trust and secrecy. Lastly entrust your life to God, who will take care of all circumstances in your life

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Jesus and the Tithing Controversy

By Fr Joe Babendreier

“H

ow much do we have to give?” That is the burning question. Many Christians seem to have confused ideas on the issue. Probably because one priest says one thing, and another priest says something different.

And Lord have mercy on the poor soul who attends church in town and then, from time to time, travels upcountry.

“Do I have to tithe in both churches? Can I split my tithe in half and give 50-50? What about 7030?”

St Paul spoke at length about giving money and being generous. He reminded us of our Lord’s words: “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor 9:7).

He never mentioned the need to pay a tithe.

Neither did any of the other apostles.

Today the official teaching of the Church on this issue is stated in the Code of Canon Law. It does not mention tithing. Nor is the term tithing used in any of the other church documents written by popes in the last fifty years. Does that mean we should never use the word?

I am not saying that. Just remember that, in some places, Christians would find it strange to hear you use the word “tithing”. Many view tithing as an Old Testament practice (see Numbers 18:21).

What does Canon Law say? Church law consists of a collection of “canons” (from canon number

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The generosity Jesus wants from us cannot be fixed by a rule.

The person who pays full tithes may be no better than the Pharisees that Jesus condemned. Giving ten percent of all they owned did nothing to please God because their money came from “swallowing the property of widows, while making a show of lengthy prayers” (Mk 12:40).

1 to canon number 1752). None of the canons use the word tithe or tithing. Only one canon, out of the 1752 canons, addresses our obligation to take something out of our pockets and hand it over to “the Church”.

The Code states: “Canon 222 §1: Christ’s faithful have the obligation to provide for the needs of the Church, so that the Church has available to it those things which are necessary for divine worship, for apostolic and charitable work and for the worthy support of its ministers.”

Note that, in the next paragraph of that same canon, the Code goes on to point out our obligation to help the poor. Pope Francis has spoken about this repeatedly from the first day of his pontificate. The Code states: “Canon 222 §2: They are also obliged to promote social justice and, mindful of the Lord’s precept, to help the poor from their own resources.”

WHAT WOULD JESUS DO? The Gospel never mentions Jesus paying a tithe.

It does, however, imply that he kept the Mosaic Law and that he expected other Jews to do the same. So he probably did tithe and would ask other Jews to tithe.

The most striking “tithing” episode in the life of Jesus features a poor widow. She put two copper coins into the Temple treasury (the equivalent today of two shillings).

Jesus called his disciples and said to them, “In truth I tell you, this poor widow has put more in than all who have contributed to the treasury; for they have all put in money they could spare, but she in her poverty has put in everything she

possessed, all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:4344).

We can argue till the Kingdom comes about percentage of this and percentage of that.

But did Jesus do that? Should we be talking “percentages”?

The generosity Jesus wants from us cannot be fixed by a rule. The person who pays full tithes may be no better than the Pharisees that Jesus condemned. Giving ten percent of all they owned did nothing to please God because their money came from “swallowing the property of widows, while making a show of lengthy prayers” (Mk 12:40).

God sent John the Baptist to prepare the Jews for the coming of Christ. John told them, “If anyone has two tunics he must share with the man who has none, and the one with something to eat must do the same.”

Peace demands justice. Love demands generosity.

In my experience, a lot of Christians want some kind of hard and fast rule. All I can do is ask: Where in the Gospel does Jesus give us a fixed percentage?

What Jesus said is actually more frightening— to be honest, even somewhat frightening to myself personally. Our Lord said: “None of you can be my disciple unless he gives up all his possessions.”

At this point, you may want to ask, “What, are you kidding me? I have to take all my money out of the bank and dump into the coffers of the Church?”

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Jesus never talked about “giving money to the Church”. He certainly never made any statement implying that we had to give everything to priests and bishops. He was emphasising something different when he talked about “giving up all possessions.”

God doesn’t need our money. He asks us to be generous with one another. He is trying to teach us to love. Here lies the great mystery of love.

It tells me that I don’t really love if I hold back. I love only when I am ready to give to the one who needs my help.

Everything we own must be used to serve God. If we ever waste money on vanities—trying to impress others with how rich we are—God will not be happy with us, no matter how much we tithe.

HOW MUCH TO GIVE?

REAL GENEROSITY The story of Ananias and Sapphira remains one of the most chilling accounts in the Bible. Saint Luke narrates the event in the Acts of Apostles.

The couple was willing to give a lot more than ten percent. But they were cheating when they handed over the money to the Apostles. They gave fifty percent. Fifty percent! But they gave it pretending to give the whole price from a plot of land they had sold.

Fifty percent didn’t save Ananias and Sapphira.

Ananias dropped dead, and then Saint Peter said to Sapphira: “You hear those footsteps? They have just been to bury your husband; they will carry you out, too” (Acts 5:9). And instantly she dropped dead at his feet.

Does the death of Ananias and Sapphira make God seem like a cruel tyrant who won’t be satisfied till he has squeezed every coin out of our pockets? Anyone who sees it that way doesn’t understand the Gospel.

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How much do you have to give the Church this year? First, get rid of the idea that being generous with God starts and ends with giving money to the Church. Christians serve God in many different ways. Giving money to the church is only one. A family with many children may give next to nothing to the Church in cold cash, but that family may do more to serve God’s kingdom than all the rest of us put together.

Even so, a lot of Christians want a simple answer to a simple question: “Father, just tell me what percentage I have to give!”

I realise that I am disappointing some readers by failing to spell it out. And yet, I ask: If the bishops have not given a specific answer to that question, who am I to answer it?

Let me conclude by going back to the words of St Paul that were mentioned earlier: “Each one should give as much as he has decided on his own initiative, not grudgingly, or because he is forced to, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor 9:7)

January 2017 Universal: Interreligious Dialogue That sincere dialogue among men and women of different faiths may produce the fruits of peace and justice.

Evangelization: Christian Unity That by means of dialogue and fraternal charity and with the grace of the Holy Spirit, Christians may overcome divisions. ________________________________________

February 2017 Universal: Care for Creation That we may take good care of creation–a gift freely given–cultivating and protecting it for future generations.

Evangelization: Asia That opportunities may increase for dialogue and encounter between the Christian faith and the peoples of Asia.

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ROUND UP

VATICAN ALTHOUGH TRIPS CAN BE TIRING, POPE SAYS PEOPLE MAKE THE EFFORT ‘WORTH IT’ In a new interview published January 8, Pope Francis said that though his many papal trips are often very tiring, both from a physical and mental standpoint, the people he encounters and the testimonies he hears make all of it worthwhile.

The interview is part of his new book on the Pope’s trips published on January 10.

In the interview, the Pope explains that he doesn’t really like to travel much, saying that when he was a bishop in Buenos Aires, he preferred to stay in the area of his archdiocese. “Honestly, no. I never liked to travel,” he said. “And I would never have imagined doing so many trips...”

His first trip as Pope was to Lampedusa, an Italian island, on July 8, 2013. This trip was not planned, nor were there any official invitations. But, being moved by the news of migrants dying at sea there, he felt he “had to go,” he said.

Pope Francis’ next trip was to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil for World Youth Day at the end of July 2013.

CNA

MUSEUMS RESTORERS SAVE ARTWORKS IN ITALY’S EARTHQUAKE ZONES “I always carry with me the faces, testimonials, images, experiences...” he said. “An unimaginable wealth, which always makes me say, it was worth it.”

The Pope’s comments on traveling were made in an interview with Italian journalist Andrea Tornielli of the newspaper La Stampa and the online outlet “Vatican Insider.”

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Five restorers from the Vatican Museums are working to salvage works of art in churches and towns damaged in recent earthquakes in central Italy, Barbara Jatta, the Museums’ new director said.

At a press conference December 21, 2016 Jatta said most are working in Umbria, between Norcia and Spoleto.

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The Vatican Museums’ first woman director said some 20 of the institution’s 65 experts have offered to collaborate with local municipal arts departments to secure fresco cycles and important works buried under the rubble.

The Vatican newspaper, L’osservatore Romano, reports that many of the works will be brought to the Museums’ restoration labs to be cleaned and repaired.

VATICAN RADIO

HUMBLE FAITH IS GOOD FOR THEOLOGY, SAYS CARDINAL MUELLER The ideological efforts to change Catholic doctrine after the Second Vatican Council were deeply misguided, said Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and a leading interpreter of Benedict XVI. “Ideology,” he said, “is always a proud attempt to subject the Word of God and the doctrine of the Church to the prejudice of one’s own thoughts, with the aim to obtain a manipulative power over the faithful and their lives.”

Cardinal Mueller spoke at the Pontifical Gregorian University for the December 14 2016 presentation of the Italian edition of the seventh book in a series of Joseph Ratzinger’s complete works.

CNA

AFRICA AFRICA

DRC BISHOPS COMMEND POLITICAL DEAL BETWEEN GOVT AND OPPOSITION National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) has lauded the deal by the political parties calling for election at the end of the year.

Archbishop Marcel Utembi Tapa, President of CENCO hailed the progress but acknowledged the challenges in implementation of the deal.

“It’s one thing to have a political compromise but putting it into place is another,” said Archbishop Tapa.

The parties signed a deal December 31, 2016 that calls for President Joseph Kabila to leave power after an election that will be held end of the year instead of mid-2018 as his party originally proposed.

The Bishops mediated the talks to reach a compromise. Initially, the Bishops had imposed a Christmas deadline.

President Kabila was elected in 2001 after the assassination of his father and was constitutionally barred from seeking another term after his mandate expired on December 19, 2016.

However, no presidential election was held in November, and a court ruled he could stay in office until such a ballot could be organized.

VATICAN RADIO

MALAWI CHURCHES SAY NO TO ABORTION AND SAME SEX MARRIAGE BILL Members of the Catholic Church and Evangelical marched on the streets of Malawi to demonstrate against the proposed Abortion and Same Sex Marriages Bill.

The Christians came out through their mother bodies, Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) and Evangelical Association of Malawi (EAM), on December 6, 2016 from all the 28 districts to speak against the proposed bill.

Speaking to the multitude that turned up for the march, Secretary General for the ECM Fr Henry Saindi noted that Malawi is not a secular state but rather a God Fearing nation with no need to legalize abortion and same sex marriages.

The march was celebrated by members from different religious beliefs such as Quadria Association of Malawi, Church for Central Africa Presbyterian and the Rastafarian community, was under the theme ‘Lighting the Candle’ dubbed Citizens March for Life and Family.

ETHIOPIA CHURCH CALLS ON CATHOLIC SCHOOLS TO HELP IN ERADICATING FGM Ethiopian Catholic Church Social and Development Commission (ECC SDCO) in collaboration with Women and Family Affairs has requested the Ethiopian Catholic Schools to integrate the issue of fighting FGM to their system.

Speaking at the end of a threeday workshop held between December 12 -14, 2016, for school directors and teachers in Addis Ababa on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and other harmful practices Solomon Abebe, ECC SDCO Education Team Leader said that teachers were best placed to eradicate harmful activities in the society.

“Teachers and education workers have direct contact with student everyday and they meet parents a minimum of three times a year. They know the challenges in the everyday life of student thus if they are committed they can influence change in attitude towards traditional stereotypes,” he said.

He urged Catholic Schools to consider integrating the issue of reproductive health into their systems as schools are closer to the society through students and parents.

CISA

CISA

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EUROPE TURKEY

CATHOLICS FEARFUL, DEPITE GOVERNMENT’S SUPPORT BISHOP SAYS Bishop Ruben Tierrablanca Gonzalez, apostolic vicar of Istanbul on January 5 said Catholics are fearful about attending church after recent terrorist attacks, but insisted local Christians can count on government protection.

“Although we can move around freely, people are understandably afraid of coming to Mass and there’s been a drop in participation,” said Bishop Tierrablanca.

“But all churches have been given police guards since a coup was attempted last July, and security officials have shown great kindness to us.

Christians, Muslims and Jews are talking together and sharing the same anxieties, although the future doesn’t depend on us,” he said.

The Mexican-born bishop spoke as a car bomb killed four and wounded 11 outside a courthouse in Izmir, while a police hunt continued for the perpetrator of a January 1 attack on Istanbul’s Reina nightclub, which left 39 dead and at least 70 injured.

Bishop Tierrablanca said Turkey’s minority Catholic Church was thankful no resident members had been hurt or killed in the atrocities.

POLAND

MEETING OF MISSIONARY FORMATION AND PRAYER VIGIL AT THE SHRINE OF JASNA GORA More than 400 people gathered on 3 and 4 December 2016, for the feast of St. Francis Xavier, at the Sanctuary of Jasna Gora for the missionary study meeting and prayer vigil.

MOVE TO FURTHER IMPROVE SAFEGUARDING STANDARDS IN COUNTRY The bishops of Scotland are implementing measures in order to further improve the standards of safeguarding the welfare of people involved with the Church.

The meeting promoted by the Pontifical Missionary Union (PMU) of Poland wanted to celebrate the centenary of the PMU in a special way.

Bishop Stanislaw Gadecki, President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, presided over the opening Mass, on December 3 Recalling the missionary work of the Patron of missions, he stressed the value of the PMU for the spread of the missionary spirit in the universal Church.

In the missiological session, Bishop Henryk Hoser of Warsaw-Prague a former missionary in Rwanda presented a speech on the current challenges to the PMU. On his part Fr Marek Tatar, professor at the University Card Wyszynski, illustrated the theme “From baptism to mission” and Fr Stanislaw Urbański focused on the missionary ministry of Holy Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

FIDES

CNA

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SCOTLAND

The Bishops’ Conference of Scotland has recently established an independent Review Group that will consider the Scottish Church’s existing safeguarding policies, with an aim of making any possible improvements.

The appointment of the first chairperson of the Review Group was announced early in December last year. Baroness Helen Liddell is a veteran member of the UK Labour Party and was a member of former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s cabinet. She will appoint the members of the group and oversee the Church’s efforts to take care of survivors of abuse.

The announcement came after members of the McLellan Commission suggested that recommendations from its 2015 report were not being implemented appropriately.

VATICAN RADIO

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ASIA

India’s top court on January 2 banned politicians from using religion and caste to garner votes, a verdict that could force political parties to change their strategy in upcoming elections.

“No politician can seek vote in the name of caste, creed or religion,” said Chief Justice T.S. Thakur in an order, adding that election process must be a “secular exercise.”

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

SYRIA

INDIA COURT BANS POLITICIANS FROM USING RELIGION, CASTE TO WIN VOTES

OCEANIA

HEADS OF CHRISTIAN CHURCHES PRAY TOGETHER FOR PEACE

THE CHURCH HAS FAITH, BUT IN DANGER, SAYS CARDINAL RIBAT

In Aleppo, at the beginning of the New Year 2017, on the occasion of World Day for Peace, Patriarch Mar Ignatios Aphrem II, Primate of the Syrian Orthodox Church, presided over the prayer for peace in Syria at the Syriac Orthodox cathedral dedicated to St. Ephrem.

Cardinal John Ribat, Archbishop of Port Moresby has said that the church in Oceania is growing but the citizens are living in danger.

India is officially secular but political parties have traditionally used religion and caste as the main criteria to select candidates and to appeal to voters.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has for years fought elections on a Hindu nationalist agenda, with party members in the past being accused of making anti-Muslim statements to polarise Hindu voters.

The court ruling comes just weeks ahead of a state election in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state where the two issues of religion and caste generally dominate campaigns.

The Supreme Court, ruling on a petition filed by a politician in 1996, wrote in its opinion that the secular ethos of the constitution had to be protected.

VATICAN RADIO

Speaking during the eleventh plenary assembly of the Federation of the Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC), held in Negombo (near Colombo) in Sri Lanka,Cardinal Ribat thanked the Asian countries for the missionary work.

The common prayer, besides Bishops and priests of the Syrian Orthodox Church, was also attended by Maronite Bishop Joseph Tobji, Chaldean Bishop Antoine Audo and Reverend Ibrahim Nseir, of the Arab Evangelical Church.

The Patriarch, the Bishops and all those present prayed together for peace in Syria and an end to violence, and during the prayer they even asked for the return of the two metropolitans of Aleppo who disappeared in April 2013, Greek Orthodox Boulos Yazigi and Syrian Orthodox Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim.

FIDES

“The Church in Oceania is vibrant in faith. We are committed to a permanent formation for our faithful. We have to thank the Churches of Asia, who have sent missionaries. But today we are concerned about the social condition of our people, affected by climate change” he said December 6, 2016.

With regards to current issues, the Cardinal told Fides: “Today an important issue for the populations in Oceania is that of climate change. Although we are not responsible of this problem, we are strongly affected,” he complained.

The negative effects, he explained, include increasing sea level, acidification of the oceans, rains in unusual periods, all of which seriously damage the fishing communities and farmers of the region.

FIDES

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AMERICAS TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO CHURCHES CONDEMN MISUSE OF WEAPONS Churches have condemned the excessive of drugs and misuse of weapons in the country.

“There is a lot of anger in the country along with an excessive amount of drugs and weapons which are easily available,” said Archbishop Joseph Harris of Port of Spain and Anglican Bishop Rev. Claude Berkley and Rev. Daniel Teelucksingh, of the Presbyterian Church in a statement December 28, 2016.

“A murder is already very serious, therefore more than 400 murders is a terrible fact. We cannot live like this, “denounced the church leaders, after the publication of the report of The National Joint Action Committee (NJAC) informing of the more than 400 murders and more than 100 road deaths.

“The message of the Scriptures is that the people who walked in darkness saw a great light.

We, however, seem that we are still in the dark and we do not see the light of Jesus Christ.

We have tried all kinds of ‘isms’ ... communism, socialism, capitalism but no one helps us in the way of life. We must move away from these ‘isms’ and look for Christianity,” said Archbishop Harris in the statement.

FIDES

USA

RACE RELATIONS IS CHURCH RESPONSIBILITY, BISHOPS SAYS

PRESIDENT CALLS FOR RESPECT IN DIALOGUE AFTER ATTACKS ON CHURCHES

The Catholic Church can be a force for healing race relations, the US bishops’ task force on racism and peace has said in a newly released report.

“The work of all, facilitated by Bishop Vargas, is allowing in a framework of respect and dialogue, to build future plans for Araucanía, so everyone can have rights and opportunities,” said Chilean President Verónica Michelle Bachelet after the meeting with the “Commission for Araucania” on December 26 2016.

“We find ourselves at a critically important moment for our individual communities and our nation as a whole,” Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta said in the report’s introduction.

Efforts to “root out racism” and “create healthy dynamics in our neighborhoods” are long-term projects, said the archbishop, who had served as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops from 2001 to 2004.

He wrote the introduction to the report of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Special Task Force to Promote Peace in Our Communities, released January 5.

The report follows several highprofile incidents in past months in which African-American men died during encounters with police officers.

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Bishop Hector Vargas of Temuco, in his role as “facilitator” of the table of dialogue, said he was “very pleased and grateful that each member worked hard and the proof is that we have reached consensus on each process step. The main thing is the common good of Araucania, and this should all unite us.”

The Prelate added that the Commission has destroyed the “prejudices” and allowed “to verify that there really are many more elements that unite us than those that separate us.”

The Bishop announced that the work will continue in January without any postponement, although unfortunately arson attacks caused by Mapuche extremist groups who seek to impose in this way the ancestral rights of the indigenous have not stopped.

FIDES

ACROSS 1

2

6.Archbishop Martin Kivuva’s jurisdiction 12.The seventh king of Israel 13.Can 14.In the Old Testament, a Moabite widow who left home with her mother-in- law and went to Bethlehem, where she later married Boaz 15.A condition of active antagonism or contention

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26

24 30

28.Artificial Insemination ( abbr) 30.God 33.A book of the bible

30

8

21

32

28

33

33

34 38

44

45

40 46

54

62

58

61

67

66

67

64 62

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52 57

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64

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53

11

23

27

46 49

10

22

37

43

9

14

26

31

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7

18 21

25

36

19.A famous bird in New Zealand

27.A descendant of Aaron through Ithaner ( Lev. 10)

6

17 20

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42

24.Eucharistic celebration

5 13

16

19

18.America Automobile Association (abbr)

23.Tuberculosis (abbr)

4

12

17.The father of Tobias ( Tobit 1)

21.A person authorised to work for another

3

With John Njoroge Rerai

1.Capital city of the Solomon Island

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69

70

73

74

36.Year (abbr)

1.A bird declared unclean by the Law of Moses ( Lev. 11 )

37.A paralytic of Lydda healed by Peter ( Acts 9)

2.A Scandinavian country

46.Acronym of “Universal Tuberculosis Assessments”

3.Intramuscular ( abbr )

50.Acronym of “Level of Consciousness”

4. Skill

51.Archbishop Okoth’s jurisdiction

5.Unrestrained merrymaking; revelry

52.Everyone, everything

6.A bishop’s headdress

54.The son of Nathan ( 11 Sam. 23 )

7.Above

57.Abraham’s nephew whose wife was turned into a pillar of salt for disobeying God

38.Internal Audit ( abbr) 39.A serve that one’s opponent fails to return 40.A big online retailer 42.A liquid measure about the same as a pint ( Lev. 4)

45.Ethiopian language

8.The loud, harsh cry of a donkey

44.One of the Epistles writers

9.Aruba Universities Association ( abbr )

47.Automobile

10.Saint

48.Period

11.This king’s wife introduced baal worship into Israel

49.Mountain 50.Zambian capital 53.Also known as Dorcas, she was raised from the dead by St. Paul (Acts 9) 55.Acronym of “ Orthopaedic Research Society” 56.Sick 58.To pull with difficulty 59.America Colleges Association (abbr)

59.Adminitration Police ( abbr ) 60.A wide sash worn by Japanese women as part of the traditional dress

13.Gratuity

63.Also

16.Objective

64.The hardworking insect

18.A line

67.Temporary Leave ( abbr )

20.Biblical promised son

69.Tuberculosis ( abbr)

22.The Maasai word for “son of”

70.Brother ( abbr)

23.Draw 25.In the bible

Crossword Solution for Dec 2016

26.Area under the Pope’s jurisdiction 28.The son and successor of Jotham, king of Judah ( 11 king 15 )

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65.Bargaining Unit (abbr)

29.A small hole edged with embroidered stitches as part of a design

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66.Overtime ( abbr)

31.World News (abbr )

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68.The part of the side and back between the ribs and pelvis

32.Word of praise to Mary, mother of Jesus

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70.Swahili word for “Insurance”

34.The triple crown worn by the Pope

72.Like no. 56 above 73.A month dedicated for Rosary

60.Norwegian capital 62.A Persian official in control of a province (Ezra 8)

74.Father of Geber, one of Solomon’s officers ( 1 Kings 4) DOWN

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35.South African currency

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39.This prophet warned Paul of trouble if he went to Jerusalem ( Acts 21 )

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40.Type of car

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N O N

41.Like no. 24 Across

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43.By mouth

M A H

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JOKES galore!

GLASS OF WATER Son: “Dad, there is someone at the door to collect donations for a community swimming pool.”

Father: “Okay, give him a glass of water.”

HAGGLING Two young men are travelling to Kenya. Before they leave home, one of their dads gives them both a bit of advice: “You watch them the Nairobi cab drivers. They’ll rob you blind.

Don’t you go paying them what they ask. You haggle.”

At the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, the two catch a cab to their hotel. When they reach their destination, the cabbie says, “That’ll be two thousand shillings.”

“Oh, no you don’t! My dad warned me about you. You’ll only be getting fifteen dollars from me,” says one of the men.

“And you’ll only be getting fifteen from me too,” adds the other.

CRIPPLED A completely inebriated man was stumbling down the street with one foot on the curb and one foot in the gutter. A cop pulled up and said, “I’ve got to take you in pal. You’re obviously drunk.”

The wasted man asked, “Officer, are ya absolutely sure I’m drunk?” “Yeah buddy, I’m sure,” said the cop, “Let’s go.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, the wino said, “Thank goodness. I thought I was crippled.”

CHURCH BELLS Minister was walking to church one morning when he passed one of his members working in his garden. “Can’t you hear those bells calling you to church?” asked the minister.

“Eh, what’s that?” said the member.

“Can’t you hear those bells calling you to church?”

“I’m afraid you’ll have to speak a little louder!” said the member.

“CAN’T YOU HEAR THOSE BELLS CALLING YOU TO CHURCH?!” shouted the minister.

“I’m sorry,” said the member, “I can’t hear you because of those darned BELLS!” WHO’S THERE? “Knock, knock.”

“Who’s there?”

“Nobel.”

“Nobel who?”

“No bell that’s why I knocked.”

SADDEST STORY Jim, Scott and Alex have travelled all day and decide to check into a hotel. When they get to reception, they find out they’ll have to walk 75 flights of stairs to get to their room because the elevator is out of order.

Jim suggests that they do something interesting to pass time while they walk the 75 flights. Jim will tell jokes, Scott will sing songs, and Alex will tell sad stories. So Jim tells jokes for 25 flights, Scott sings songs for 25 flights and Alex tells sad stories for 24 flights. When they reach the 75th floor, Alex tells his saddest story of all, “Guys, I left our room key at reception.”

DEAD CHURCH A new Pastor in a small town spent the first four days making personal visits to each of the members, inviting them to come to his first services.

The following Sunday the church was all but empty.

Accordingly, the Pastor placed a notice in the local newspapers, stating that, because the church was dead, it was everyone’s duty to give it a decent Christian burial.

Morbidly curious, a large crowd turned out for the “funeral.” In front of the pulpit, they saw a closed coffin, smothered in flowers. After the Pastor delivered the eulogy, he opened the coffin and invited his congregation to come forward and pay their final respects to their dead church.

Each “mourner” peeped into the coffin then quickly turned away with a guilty, sheepish look.

In the coffin, tilted at the correct angle, was a large mirror.

To share your Jokes send them to seedstudio@seedmagazine.co.ke 58

VOL 29, No. 1 JAN/FEB 2017

A K M M

We are missionary priests who are inspired by the words of Jesus; “I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).

Our concern is for everyone, but especially for those whose lives are touched by poverty and deprivation.

ST. PATRICK’S MISSIONARY SOCIETY Vocations Director, P. O. Box 13316 - 20100, Nakuru, Kenya.

Email: vocspsea@gmail.com Tel: 0708 661 916

Franciscan Auxiliaries Lay Missionaries of Mary Immaculate F.A.L.M.I

A radical call to leave everything and get it back one hundred fold (Mk, 10: 28-30) following the example of St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi.

An invitation to young ladies; teachers, social workers and medical professionals willing to proclaim the good news and to serve Jesus in the most vulnerable brothers and sisters as lifetime missionaries.

We, “FALMI,” are lay missionaries, fully committed to God by prayer and self-giving, but also fully involved in the life of every man.

Through our professions and loving service we aim to communicate Christ and be a sign of his presence, especially among Christians.We wish our evangelical witness be the main way by which to be recorgnised as missionaries.Being this our purpose ,we dont wear a special uniform to be distinguished among people.

We live together in small communities ,sharing life and work in a variety of fields.We are involved in education of children,medical,pastoral,social and charitable activities,according to the requests of the local Church.

We started in Italy ,but it is in Africa that we spend most of our life .We are present in Kenya and Malawi ,working in Hospital and Health centers, Nursery Schools ,Prisoners’ Assistance.

To become a missionary today is not an easy choice , but it is a challenge in which it is worthwhile to involve one’s life.

If you are ready to say “YES” come and live life to the full with personal involvement, simplicity and joy. If you want to know more about us, please, contact FALMI missionaries at: Archer’s Post Parish P.O. Box 359 Isiolo, falmiarcherspost@gmail.com, 0725205310, Kenya.

Mlambe Hospital P.O. Box 45 Lunzu, falmi@malawi.net +265999397393 Malawi.

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