Tuesday, 17 October 2006

  • Pray for the protection of missionaries

    David has a friend who is a missionary in Kenya. We received the following note from him on Sunday (He is originally from Guatemala, his English is not the best):

    Greatings in the name of Jesus the Lord and the company of Mary be your strength. I just am pleading for prayers from you that God may protect, care and save us from the hands of our unkown enemies.
    Today I'm coming back from the place where I was because I received a masage in my phone from my
    companion telling me that I am urgently needed because on last wenesday He celebrated a mass when He
    opened the church he got a warnning letter telling him that he will be killed, today I am going there because
    he has to be alone. I don't know very much about more details, tomorrow I may give you more news, I trust God that he is going to care for us, we are very young to be dead, and our mission is still going on so I
    think when many people pray I believe the prayers have more strenghth, tomorrow we have an apointment with the bishop only because of that, because on the same day the bishop received a coppy of the same letter
    .
    May God bless you. Fr. Selvin Garcia

    We have known Fr. Selvin for two and a half years. He came to visit with our pastor while he was on leave from his mission. Since then, we have been exchanging email. He tells us about the conditions in Kenya.  They often meet for classes and church services under a tree. There has been a drought for several years. The people live in abject poverty. We hear about his wonderful success at saving souls. Each Easter, 30 or more people of all ages join the church. He helped to start an orphanage. He loved to spend time with the children of the orphanage -- he said they brought such joy into his life.

    For some time now, he has been telling us of the dangerous situation in the country where he has missions. In April, he sent us this note:

    Last week on thursday I was in a seminar about the Rights of Children, the last day I went out to scout my friends of my community to their home, as I was coming back an arab muslim atack me intentionally when I was driving a pick up, even to explain is very difficult to me because at last they won the case I was found in the wrong. because when I was turning to right the car still was a litle far so I turn and he added speed and he knocked our car in the side when I was driving. I thank God that there was none injured. The arabs wanted me to pay a Ksh 100,00.00 that is almost $800.00 but I preffered to go to court so I filed the case and payed only Ksh 3,000.00=$50.00 but now I have to repaer the damages of the car because the ensurence can demand a lot for the execess so I just took it to the garage. and the other one will demand execess from our insurance, so that is the way things complicated with me; I trust God that He is with me and will not forsake me. Pray for me and may God bless you, yours in Christ Fr. Selvin

    In May, when we were hearing reports about priests being killed in Kenya, I wrote inquiring about his safety and assuring him of our prayers. This is the response I got:

    Thank you, because I need your prayers so that God is with me and I will be ready all the time for anything, here things are not very bad in terms of peace, but muslims are there to disturb us, and we love them in the Lord. My situation is not hard now, because I have followed things the right way; only that I have debts, but within 3 moths I will pay. Now I want to improve our pastoral plan for evangelizing, especially with the youth and catechessis for more christians who are persevering in their faith; in your prayers also include my apostolate. God bless you, greetings to all. Fr. Selvin Garcia

    And in August, he sent us this report:

    I've been two weeks ago in another diocessis called Garisa that is a semidesert area at 300 kms from the boundaries of Somalia. The place where there is internet is like 100 kms from St Jude's Bura Parish. Still I will be there until the end of october.

    The experience that I have had is some how hard since is a place where Jesus is rejected by the local muslims, there are some christians but most of them are not permanent because they are working and when they are transfer to another place and they go. there is only dust everiwhere and all we can see of vegetation are thorns' bush. Near the church there is a mosque at 30 mts from the parish house, so here they usually build especialy near so that they can disturb us, but I'm lucky that even with that noise I can sleep very well since we get tyred during the day.

    Today I have arived to the town of which I belong, but the journey was so tough, not because of the distance but because of the condition of the road. When I started to sleep in the bus, the bus entered into a big hole that it jumped high and everibody got scared and awoke, I felt that one of my gluns was painning and even thought that it was out of place.

    People are not very friendly there. In the parish there is a project that belongs to the diocesis of Garisa and is a must that there are body guards that care for the project and for the fathers that is me and another one from my community, at the begginning we realise that they instead of caring for us they are used to sleep. but one day we striked them as they were sleep until they got scared, nowadays they are more or less caring.

    I tell you it can take time for the local to be converted, but we have to try with the sthrength of Jesus to evangelize there. Please pray for me and our mission that it can be a successful work. there is one thing interesting from that place and is that the people who are staying there, but are not local they are from several tribes of Kenya, so people say all Kenya in that place. but the local are so primitive in their way of living, resistant to change. Non local people are christians and they are many but protestants and catholics. One protestant church was chased away because tried to convert a muslim until they converted him. But He was forced to continue as a muslim because they wanted to kill him, catholic has tried and has succeeded but few have become and they cannot chase away catholics because they are being helped. God bless you, Fr. Selvin Garcia.

    We know that missionary work, much like our military, means that people are put into situations where their lives are in danger. Still this is very important work. Let us pray for not only Fr. Selvin, but for all those whom God has called to work toward His harvest.


    Currently Reading
    Works of Love Are Works of Peace: Mother Teresa of Calcutta and the Missionaries of Charity
    By Michael Collopy, Mother Teresa
    see related

  • Choose Identity

  • Give eProps (?)

  • New! You can now edit your comments for 15 minutes after submitting.

Who recommended?