Kenya revisited - by Fr. Tom McGrath

Stephen was one of 17 Mill Hill priests ordained in the 12 month period up to the end of January - 3 more than my own class of 1969.

STEPHEN’S STORY – GREAT JOY AND SADNESS

Stephen, the youngest of six children, grew up in Esirome village in Luanda parish. His father, Dismas, died in 1992, when Stephen was only 6 years old, leaving his mother, Alice, a young widow. Alice herself died in 2002, so Stephen depended a lot on his siblings, Thomas, Michael, George, Syprose and Jane. Sadly, Thomas died early in January, barely 2 weeks after presenting Stephen to the Bishop for Ordination at the Cathedral. He had helped prepare for Stephen’s Thanksgiving Mass at home in Esirome on December 23 rd – such a joyful occasion.

Stephen completed his primary and secondary education in Ekwanda. He was a bright student with many life choices and careers beckoning, including university education. However, he had met Mill Hill students from the Formation Centre in Luanda and was curious about what motivated them. The students invited him to come and see where they lived and attend a youth retreat. At the end of their few days together, Stephen remembers being asked, “would you like to be a priest?” That was the moment Stephen felt that this was the Lord’s call to serve God as a missionary priest. He applied to join Mill Hill, was accepted and began his formation in Luanda, on October 6, 2010. This happened to be my last year in Luanda parish.

Stephen went on to study with Mill Hill in Jinja, Uganda, and also did some of his studies in India. He is well qualified with an MA in philosophy and a BA in theology. He spent two years in the Mill Hill parish in Mbikko, Uganda, as a student gaining pastoral experience. After ordination, Stephen was appointed to Mbikko and is now serving there as a priest. Please keep Stephen and our other young Mill Hill priests in your prayers.

Fr. Tom vesting Stephen with white chasuble during ordination ceremony

I returned to Labasheeda in the middle of January, never expecting the global pandemic that has made life so strange and difficult. While cocooning, I had plenty time to look back with gratitude to God for calling me to be a Mill Hill Missionary. I’m amazed at the way the Lord has been working ever so quietly and wonderfully in my life. The Virgin Mary’s beautiful Magnificat, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord” sums it all up for me.

ST. JOSEPH – A REFLECTION

Yes, most of us live uneventful and ordinary lives. We live out our days quietly, plainly and simply. The tasks that make up the hum drum of our lives draw little or no attention.

In our homes we do what has to be done: take care of one another, prepare meals, make the school lunches, go to mass, walk the dog, put out the rubbish, water the plants, commute to work, go for the shopping. We call it - routine. Yet, the common bits and pieces that fill and structure our days give purpose and meaning. They fill us with the silent presence of our everyday God, the one who turns up quietly in every little detail.

St, Joseph too was an ordinary man who quietly surrendered to Gods call. He lived from a place of absolute faith and was guided by it. He paid attention to the detail of life, noticed the intervention of the divine, and acted without delay. Joseph had an unexpected fearlessness – he even took on Herod and thwarted his plan. A skilled man, good at his craft - his workbench his altar

As a parent, he figured it out as he went along as all parents do. Putting the safety of his family first. Joseph reveals that nothing is lost in the eyes of God, that all of our little efforts make a difference. Joseph reveals that Faith is lived out daily - in the kitchens and workshops of ordinary men and women who put their trust in God. Even if you are only able to shuffle one foot in front of the other, you are doing good. You can live by faith and be guided by it, following the example of Joseph – the ordinary man who quietly surrendered to God’s call.

Devotion to St. Joseph gives us a chance to revisit our roots – to remember St. Joseph and all the good people who planted the seed of faith in us - and those who helped us yield its fruit in due season. Amen!

(Fr. Donie O’Connor, mhm)

‘Walk and Work’ - Iloilo, Philippines By Fr. Fons Eppink, mhm

Dr. Jessie with a child at the Centre

Renilde Heinink said to me: “Make sure you visit Dr Jessie at the ‘Prosthetics Centre’ in Iloilo. It is not far from Mill Hill Central House and the Mill Hill missionaries there are well acquainted with the Centre.” We had just concluded a board meeting of ‘Loop en Werk’ (‘Walk and Work’) - the Dutch organisation founded by the late Fr Jacques Derksen, mhm, to provide financial and other support for the Philippine project. Not that I needed much encouragement, as I was keen to meet Dr Jessie and visit the ‘Prosthetics Centre’ myself. The Global Editors meeting organised by the Mill Hill Missionaries in Iloilo to which I had been invited provided a perfect occasion to fulfil my longstanding wish.

Impressed by what I saw and heard

Fr. Domingo Arnaiz, mhm, dropped me off at the ‘Prosthetics Centre’ one day after we had finished our Editors meetings. Dr. Jessie was on hand and proved a most gracious host. As it happened, the day I visited, there were no consultations so I got a guided tour of the Centre. Particularly impressive was the workshop where qualified personnel, sometimes former patients, proudly produce artificial limbs and callipers for current patients. Dr. Jessie reminisced about Fr Jacques Derksen, mhm, the co-founder of the Centre who passed away in 2012. The ‘Walk and Work Foundation’ supporting the Centre was officially started in 2009 by the late Fr Jacques in close collaboration with Dr. Jessie, an orthopaedic surgeon. Fr Jacques used to come on regular visits to the hospital where Dr Jessie practised as a surgeon. He would regularly help disabled individuals who needed financial assistance. That is how the idea of building a specialised ‘Prosthetics Centre’ was born. In 2010, Fr Jacques and Dr Jessie decided to build a modern and complete prosthetics and orthopaedic centre in the Mandurriao area of the city of Iloilo. The building was finished the same year.

‘To date we have treated around 1000 persons with a wide range of disabilities’, Dr Jessie told me with legitimate pride. ‘People, often children, come from far and wide, some with missing limbs, others with all kinds of deformities. The causes may be congenital, or due to diabetes, or accidents, or may sometimes be caused by farm pesticides.

The ‘Centre’ also provides expert follow-up rehabilitation as persons with disabilities often experience social exclusion and various forms of stigma.

During my visit, I was impressed with what I saw and heard, but felt even more inspired when a little later Dr Jessie told me that his son was preparing to follow in his footsteps. His eyes began to shine. His son is already an accomplished surgeon and has opted to work at the excellent ‘Prosthetics Centre’ that has been built up through the selfless dedication of his father and the support of the late Fr. Jacques Derksen, mhm, who set up the Dutch ‘Walk and Work Foundation’.

Fr. Ephraim greeting the children at St. Joseph’s Centre

Helping Needy Children in South Africa

By Michelle Slater

(In Tumahole Township, Fr Ephraim Odhiambo, a Mill Hill Missionary, works with Mamie and others to help orphaned, vulnerable children.)

With little electricity or water supply and no money to keep livestock or grow vegetables, Tumahole Township experiences all the effects of poverty. Unemployment, drug misuse and alcoholism are common and make daily life a real struggle.

Back in 2009, a local woman, Mamie, set up a project to help orphaned and vulnerable children. With five volunteers, she created an outreach project to provide a safe haven, a meal and a place to make friends. However, by 2013, all the volunteers except Mamie had left, leaving her to run the project alone. It seemed certain it would close.

Feet that bring Good News

Thankfully, Mamie found support in Sr. Obebi (a Sister of Notre Dame), who found her a shipping container to run the project from; it is still used today as a kitchen. Around this time, Fr Ephraim, a Mill Hill Missionary, became parish priest. When he realised the impact the project was having on the children, he immediately offered to help Mamie find the funds to run it.

Fr Ephraim looks after two parishes: St John the Baptist and St Joseph’s. He encourages parishioners to get involved in their community. A Parish Development Committee determines which homes in the parish need support to which small teams distribute food and toiletries. They also offer comfort to those suffering by praying with them.

Every Saturday, Mamie’s team at St Joseph’s looks after up to 60 children. A sister project at St John’s helps similar numbers. The projects serve children regardless of their background or belief, and they rely on donations of food, clothes, books and money. Those donations mean children can catch up on their homework, read, and play in safety.

Modiehi, a volunteer at St John’s centre, explains that children often struggle to do their homework at home. Many of them still live with the consequences of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Orphaned from an early age, they live with grandparents or in households where older children look after younger siblings. Like all the volunteers, Modiehi cares deeply about the children and wants to make life better. She says, ‘I can do everything with Christ who gives me strength’.

The Parish Development committee