You may ask – where this heart of Christianity of All-Ireland is exactly? It is St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh.
Since the very first day my hosts in Drogheda took me there in autumn 1990, I fell in love with that place. It is not that it is the most magnificent church in the whole world. It is not that it is the most beautiful place I’ve ever been in my life. Frankly saying, I don’t know what it is! I cannot explain logically, reasonably...it feels that way. It is the most special place to me. Like a mysterious, sacred spot where I can understand myself and the roots of missionary vocations...And even these words are not doing justice to what I feel when I think about that place and what’s going on in my soul when I stand there at the altar of the cathedral...Yet never I was able to fulfill this dream...
I’ve always seen St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh as the most appropriate holy place to tell the people of this great land how immensely grateful I am as a simple human being and a missionary in Tanzania, East Africa, for the love and friendship of this great land, once a missionary territory for St. Patrick, to me; and to tell you that my love, gratitude, admiration and closeness to this land and people of Ireland has never faded away; to the contrary – it’s been growing and maturing throughout all those years...
I waited for 19 long years till good Lord, through the kind invitation of Father Eugene, the pastor of the cathedral, gave me that unique opportunity to celebrate thanksgiving Mass at the altar of my dreams, and to speak aloud about my gratitude and respect I cherished always in my heart for Ireland, for my dear friends in Drogheda, Armagh and elsewhere. It was my hope on that day, Sunday of May 17, 2009, that the Merciful Lord will know how to reward them all for their open and kind hearts to me and my missions.
Speaking about mercy: the message of Divine Mercy has been very close to my heart since the day I received First Communion back in 1972. I don’t remember any gifts I was given by my parents and relatives on that day. I remember vividly only one – a holy card of Merciful Jesus which shook me so deeply that I still have it with me and the devotion to Divine Mercy stayed with me throughout all these years till now and never faded away.
When I left Drogheda and went to Tanzania as a missionary in 1990, on my first trip to the village chapel located on top of the little hill in Kiabakari village to say Mass on Sunday, on the very first glimpse of the chapel and the hill from afar, I had this kind of mystical vision deep in my heart and mind, that the Lord wanted me to establish there an independent mission and shrine dedicated to Divine Mercy. This vision and this passion drives me still till now and everything I’ve been doing for the last 20 years as a missionary is nothing else, but a systematic and methodical fulfillment of this vision.
Since the beginning of the implementation of this demanding challenge, I understood that I must make sure that Divine Mercy in Kiabakari mission and shrine embraced the whole human person. This holistic approach demanded threefold approach – spiritual, corporal and intellectual. The human person suffering in so many ways in Africa, must be embraced in his/her wholeness which constitutes of spiritual, corporal and intellectual worlds.
After completion of the construction and opening of Kiabakari mission in 1991-1992 and official opening on 28 July 1992 done by Apostolic Nuncio in Tanzania, His Grace Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, I committed myself to the construction of the shrine of Divine Mercy. The works, supported by so many, including friends from Archdiocese of Armagh, were completed in 1997 and on 3 July 1997 the church was dedicated. On 17 August 2002 it was raised to the dignity of the Diocesan Shrine of Divine Mercy by Apostolic Nuncio, His Grace Archbishop Luigi Pezzuto. The first piece of the puzzle of the vision of Divine Mercy in Kiabakari has been completed. Two more to go!
Living in one of the poorest areas in the world, I am a witness to the sufferings of my people. The health center which would address their sicknesses, sufferings and desperation was absolutely necessary. How can you preach Divine Mercy to the people without taking care of them?! No one would understand me!
Since 1999, the construction of the health center was underway. It took us more than seven years to accomplish this enormous task mainly due to the lack of sufficient funding. The health center was opened officially on 30 December 2007. This is the only modern health center with quality service for some estimated 70,000 people living in the area between Musoma and Bunda towns. The second piece of puzzle has been completed. One more to go!
In 2008 the construction of the Center for Education and Formation commenced in my mission. This facility – quite sizeable – 40 by 40 meter with a courtyard inside and adjacent playgrounds will comprise of kindergarten for approximately 100 children, which will gradually expand into primary school in the near future, homecraft school for approx. 150 students (with preferential option for girls and young women from poor families – because of simple equation: woman + education = job = money = freedom to make decisions for herself and means to make dreams come true), conference hall for seminars, workshops and meeting, computer class, handcraft, secretarial courses etc. At the moment the project is completed in 30%. In my parish covering some 600 square kilometers there are more than 20 primary schools, 4 secondary schools, but not a single kindergarten, not a single technical or homecraft school! This is a worrying picture! Children from families that have no money to pay for school fees in secondary schools have nowhere to go. Boys running away from families to towns and cities, girls desperate to survive getting pregnant, or being forced to get married early! This issue is a big challenge to all of us there in Kiabakari, I put my trust in the Lord and commit my ways, dreams and visions to his Will. I do hope the Lord will provide! And the third and final piece of puzzle will be put in place and the whole picture of Divine Mercy touching the whole human person will shine in Kiabakari!
This facility and the health center are run by religious congregation – Little Servants of Mary Conceived Immaculate. Their charisma is to educate poor women from difficult families, run kindergartens, school and health facilities. Perfectly fitting to the job description in Kiabakari. I’ve been trying to bring Sisters to come to Kiabakari for 18 years, and finally, my patience was rewarded! Six Sisters arrived to Kiabakari on January 3 this year. Their convent is still under construction and hopefully will be ready in the foreseeable future. They are staying so far in the mission premises.
Still though, there is one piece of the puzzle missing. A very personal one. Since I came to Kiabakari, I have always felt I need to do something special, something visible, something permanent, to express my personal gratitude, respect and love to Ireland, Archdiocese of Armagh, to my friends there and the people of the land. From the very first days in Kiabakari, I decided that the northernmost located chapel in one of 12 outstations in my mission called Isaba, closest geographically to Ireland, will be dedicated to St. Patrick – as a token of my appreciation and gratitude to the land and its Church. Yes! St. Patrick’s cathedral in Isaba village in Tanzania. We have been using a small chapel made of mud bricks, dried in sun, with thatched roof and plastered in mud.
We have tried for several years to raise funds to fulfill this dream, sadly, due to constant needs of the main mission (mission headquarters, the shrine, health center and the school now) we were never able to do it. So, after blessing the corner stone of the future chapel in 1993, we were able only to put foundations and walls up to the window level. The chapel will be quite sizeable – 60x30 feet with an adjacent sacristy and a small classroom for religious instructions.
In Tanzania we have a beautiful proverb saying in Swahili – “Goti moja halimlei mwana!” Which means: “A single knee cannot raise a child!” A child needs a full family. The same story with St. Patrick’s cathedral in Isaba... So far many people, institutions and organizations got already involved in the fulfillment of the vision of Divine Mercy in Kiabakari. I have no illusion that the same applies also to the vision of St. Patrick’s ‘cathedral’ in Isaba village. And I have no doubt that this dream, yet another dream among my longest dreams to get fulfilled, will have its happy day once in the future, when we will gather there, this time with Father Tom and Eugene as main celebrants, to bless St. Patrick’s ‘cathedral’ in Isaba.
I have a dream... that is why I say: Jesus, I trust in You! St. Patrick, pray for us!
You are some dreamer, Woichiech - but you also make real your dreams which makes you different from most dreamers.I enjoyed reading the story of your mission in Kiabakari and how it has developed.There is so much energy in it all and such an embrace of the whole person centred on your vision of Divine Mercy reaching out to all;truly astonishing.You have been richly blessed and gifted as a missionary, but you have also been well trained in the school of patience and suffering having waited so long for some of the developments to happen and I am sure there were many setbacks along the way. Glad you are still dreaming - the idea of Tom and Eugene as co-celebrants in St.Patrick's Cathedral , Isaba, will require a deep slumber and I am not sure who will waken first!!! Great blogs- we love reading them ;I must pay more attention to the Sabbath.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to talk too much about setbacks and sufferings...it has been an intrinsic part of my life here. If I stop dreaming, my life will turn into nightmare. For God nothing is impossible, not even bringing Tom and Eugene to Kiabakari.:)))
ReplyDelete