WACOM 2014

Anyone who wants to join me on the journey to Bogota, Colombia in August 2014 for the World Apostolic Congress on Divine Mercy (WACOM 2014), especially pilgrims from Tanzania, please, contact me on my email through the contact page on WACOM website (click here). So far, I was blessed to attend the congress in Rome and in Kraków. I won't make it to Australia this year in October. but surely I would love to take part in Colombia in two years time. Let's go together!

My ID from WACOM 2008 in Rome

One Year

I wish to congratulate my classmate, His Excellency Bishop Grzegorz Ryś, auxiliary bishop of Archdiocese of Kraków, and his fellow auxiliary bishop Damian Muskus, for the first anniversary of their episcopal consecration which we celebrate today. I regret I was unable to participate in the consecration Mass as on that day a year ago I was in the air returning to Tanzania from Poland, and it was impossible to postpone the flight as I was rushing back to be present at the Centenary celebrations of Christianity in our Diocese of Musoma.

I celebrated Holy Mass today for both Bishops, thanking God for the gift of their apostolate and praying for them that Divine Mercy may shine through the service to the Church and the world. Auguri! Please, pray for them!

Bishop Grzegorz Ryś

Bishop Damian Muskus

Weekend? You bet!

Whenever I come across people excited by TGIF (Thanks God It's Friday) frenzy, I question myself if I am abnormal. To me, Friday is the beginning of the busiest time of the week. This 'weekend' is no exception to this rule...

First Aid Kits

The First Aid Project 'Huduma ya Kwanza' is going on very well in Kiabakari. Volunteers of our Foundation Kiabakari are doing exceptional job running courses for inhabitants of Kukirango ward and for teachers of primary and secondary schools in the area. Apart from teaching aids which Karolina and Agata prepared, now they finished preparing special first aid kits for each school - fourteen in total. every headmistress/headmaster will be presented with the kit for free at the end of the course for each school. Here are a few pictures of the prepared kits and its contents. Well done, Karolina and Agata!

The Road Map

Last evening we had a very constructive and fruitful meeting of the Parochial Executive Council. Planning the Year of the Faith and highlights of this time of grace. For us, in Kiabakari, this special period of the history of mankind means a lot as it coincides with a few events of heavy caliber which need careful and thorough planning and execution...

Beautiful Day

Unexpectedly beautiful day today. Students from Makoko language school coming for the second Mass and a chat, led by Resurrection Sisters. St. Cecilia choir 45-members strong coming from Musoma Cathedral singing both Masses and offering their condolences for the loss of my Dad. Heart warming. Gratitude!

Graduation

Just to let you know that I posted a new photo album on Facebook with pictures taken today at Chief Edward Wanzagi Girls' Secondary School on the occasion of the second graduation of the Form Four students. The link to the album is here. Enjoy!

Auf Wiedersehen! Kwaherini!

Time has come to say goodbye to Denise and Thomas. We wish them well! We pray for God's blessings in their lives - for their future family and good satisfying jobs. Till we meet again!

Our Kiabakari team at the moment:
Amon, Aurelia, William, Karolina, me and Agata

Herzlich Willkommen!

I guess Kiabakari is becoming an attractive tourist destination for German citizens. Since yesterday we welcomed parents of Thomas Back, our volunteer who together with his fiancee - Denise Carl, are getting ready to go back to Germany, after one year of voluntary work as teachers in our pre-school. When Denise's parents and relatives came, I was away in Poland. This time I enjoy the presence and visit of Thomas' parents, and am grateful for their coming, kindness and warm characters. So, before they live on Thursday morning for good, I say to them - Herzlich willkommen!

She Was Luckier Than Him

On September 17, 1939, Soviet Union invaded Poland, dividing my country among two powers - Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union. Seventy three years passed and it seems as if it is a dream, a story, a fairytale or rather - a nightmare - that never occurred. Yet it was real, and the outcome of that invasion we inherit till now, when Europe was divided, our country carved and new post-war communist Poland was born. My mother side of family land in Eastern Poland has been lost, now in Ukraine. So many relatives perished under Soviet oppression. My grandfather lieutenant Adam Jakubiec was executed in Katyn forest in April 1940. Here is a remarkable story of a girl luckier than him who survived and now tells her story. Read it here.

Such Faith

The Gospel of Saint Luke, chapter 7, verses 1 to 10, is read today. It is all about a simple yet powerful faith in Jesus and His tender merciful Heart, which is touched by the people's misery. It is all about Jesus' praise of such faith and His rebuke that He did not find such faith in the Children of the Chosen Nation:

The Word

Just to share with Polish readers the homily of my classmate and the chairman of the new evangelization program of City of Kraków during the Jericho prayer (I wrote about it a few days ago).

Demonstrate Your Faith

Saint Jacob Apostle in his letter which is quoted in today's Second Reading of the Liturgy of the Word of the Twenty  Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time Cycle B, writes the following profound words:

"What good is it, my brothers and sisters,
if someone says he has faith but does not have works? 
Can that faith save him? 
If a brother or sister has nothing to wear
and has no food for the day,
and one of you says to them,
"Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well, "
but you do not give them the necessities of the body,
what good is it?
So also faith of itself,
if it does not have works, is dead.

Indeed someone might say,
"You have faith and I have works."
Demonstrate your faith to me without works,and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works." (Jas 2:14-18)

New Milestone In The History

Today some of us witnessed a history in making, with a new milestone in the history of the Congregation of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ firmly laid down with the first vows of three novices in Kahangala, Archdiocese of Mwanza. These three young men are the first Africans to enter the Congregation. As a neighbor and a friend of the Resurrection Fathers since the very first day the first one of them arrived to Tanzania ten years ago, I could not miss this great opportunity to show my support and appreciation for their efforts in Tanzania.

IB Office In Pre-School

Thanks to the great dedication and creativity of Denise and Thomas, they created a fully equipped office for Internationaler Bund volunteers in the premises of our pre-school with all kinds of teaching aids, laptop I gave them (a gift of one young boy from Ulmerfeld in Austria), scanner and printer. I allowed them to use for this end one of the offices in the former pastoral center - now pre-school. They took this offer seriously and put a lot of effort in making sure that future volunteers of IB will have a secure and orderly place to keep their tools, stationary, school equipment being a property of IB in Kiabakari. It is my firm hope that the coming volunteers will appreciate this huge effort of Denise and Thomas and will contribute more to keep this office useful and fully furnished with everything that is needed for the volunteers-teachers work in our school.

Time Flies By Fast

It looks unreal, but unfortunately it is real. One year has passed since Denise and Thomas arrived to Kiabakari as volunteers-teachers from Germany to work in our Bl. John Paul II Center for Education and Formation. And now time has come to say goodbye to them as they get ready to go back home and pave way for the next couple who will arrive next Friday from the same organization - Internationaler Bund in Germany. We will welcome them with open hearts and hands. But today it was time to bid farewell to Denise and Thomas. Check the pictures from the farewell party organized by the school community in their honor. The link to pictures on Facebook is here.

False Prophet

While I was reading today's Gospel I felt uneasy. And I noticed that those present in the morning Mass were still and quiet and their face expression changed...

A Quiet Day?

Yeah, it was supposed to be a quiet day. An office routine day. As I am recovering from amoeba and fluctuating blood pressure, I wanted today just to stay home and be available to people coming to the office. And sure, they did come!

Uphill

It has been a bit uphill for me for the last few months this year, with all sorts of 'dark side of the moon' experiences. After recovering somehow, though not completely from flu / pneumonia, I had a bit of a rough time for the last week with efforts to stabilize my blood pressure. Today I felt unwell and after the first Mass I asked the doctor from our health center with a lab technician to have a look at me. They found out after lab check that I have amoeba. I wonder where exactly I got it. Not sure. So, I am on medication now, which roughs my feathers a bit, but luckily I have a visiting priest who came for a short retreat to Kiabakari, so he helped me with Masses today. Thanks be to God! I hope that drugs will kill off amoeba quickly and I will be completely fit for work in a short time. Prayers appreciated, homies of Kiabakari Snippets! Thanks in advance!

Misfire

Tomorrow's reading of the Twenty Third Sunday of the Ordinary Time, cycle B, highlights the issue of God's priorities in our lives. When we read all readings, in particular the Apostle Jacob's letter and Mark Evangelist Gospel, in the light of agendas and priorities of our own prayer, we will have to admit in honesty that God's priorities and ours differ quite significantly. Simply, we misfire badly in prayer. Most of us focus on earthly goods and possessions, instant solution for our needs and problems. But the Liturgy of the Word of tomorrow's Sunday tells us loud and clear that on the top of the list of God's priorities is faith which is the ultimate treasure we should go after.

Four Pillars

Just came back from the Holy Mass at Sisters' convent. After breakfast, I asked the local superior to sign the contract drawn between Ad Gentes agency of Polish Episcopal Conference and Blessed John Paul II Center for Education and Formation, on behalf of the Center. When I was in Poland in April this year, I went to Ad Gentes office in Warsaw and applied for funding for breakfasts for students of our pre-school and primary school for the period of two years, plus funds for salaries of two workers (a cook and a janitor) for two years as well...

Choose Wisely

This morning I read one my favorite passages from the Sacred Scripture in today's Gospel:

While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God,
he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.
He saw two boats there alongside the lake;
the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets.
Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon,
he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore.

The Last Shipment

Finally, the last shipment of remaining four items on the shopping list for the new delivery unit in our health center will be on the way from Dar es Salaam to Kiabakari by the end of this week. My supplier, Crown Limited from Dar, has notified me that the missing items have arrived to their showroom in Mikocheni and they are finally in the position to ship them to me. It's been a long wait since May when the first items started to arrive to the health center. I am happy now that the project generously supported by the Polish Foreign Ministry via Polish Embassy in Nairobi through the Small Grants scheme will be done and dusted. It will allow me to sit down with the staff of the health center and our volunteers and talk about the immediate needs of the health facility, so I could propose a new project to the embassy. A good news day today indeed!

Once Again On The Foundation Kiabakari Exhibition

I would like to draw attention of Polish readers of my blog (of course, nonexpendable Google translator can help readers of any language, to read in their native languages) to the nice article with photos of the exhibition ongoing in ŻyWa Pracownia in Kazimierz district of Kraków, prepared by Foundation Kiabakari. The link to the article is here. I would like to thank the authors of this article for their kind initiative.

Here We Go Again

Rainy season still some weeks ahead and we have just run out of water from our main tanks. So today the order of the day is to clean those tanks in expectation of the new intake - be it rain or the water from the village water pipeline system. Luckily, I have bought recently and installed five plastic tanks of various capacity - 3-4 thousand liters each - for harvesting rain water from the roofs of the mission buildings. Three of them are still full. So, while cleaning those main tanks with antiseptic chemicals, we will put 60 liters buckets in all bathrooms in the main house and St. Martha, with regular buckets for fetching water and plastic jugs to pour water over us while taking improvised showers. Then we will fill them with the rain water from outside plastic tanks.

Back to scout-camping-like ways of washing and cleaning for now. I hope it will not take long till the rains come and we can enjoy again proper showers.

Jericho In Kraków

All inhabitants of Kraków, reading my blog, I would like to encourage and invite to take part in Jericho in Kraków - six days and nights of continuous prayer for the people and the city of Kraków in the presence of the Eucharistic Lord in the church of St. Catherine of Alexandria in Kazimierz. This is a preparatory prayer meeting before the new evangelization of the city of Kraków which will take place in October this year. You can read more on this topic in the Facebook page of the new evangelization of Kraków here. May the Spirit of the Lord descend upon my beloved city and renew its face!

Cardinal Martini - Humble and Honest

I am sure most of you have already become familiar with the short interview the late Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini gave to his Jesuit confrere Fr. Georg Sporschill shortly before his death (August 31, 2012). If you Google for the text of the interview, you will find hundreds if not thousands of links to it (for your convenience I post two links - in English and in Polish). Sadly, almost all of these numerous links share the common sensational tone, focusing on a challenging statement of the Cardinal that the Catholic Church is outdated 200 years, missing completely or most of other valid points the Cardinal stresses in his humble and honest conversation.

Synodal Website

I would like to draw your kind attention, my esteemed readers, to the newly established website / blog of the diocesan synod in Musoma Diocese, recently announced by His Excellency, the Bishop of Musoma, Rt. Rev. Michael Msonganzila (July 11, 2012). The first meeting of the members of the synodal steering committee proposed the set up of the website of the synod and a bulletin/newsletter as well. I am happy to invite all of you not only to pray for the success of the Synod, but also to participate in it actively via the synodal website http://sinodimusoma.blogspot.com. I would like especially to encourage readers inhabiting/belonging to the diocese of Musoma - to take active part in the works of the Synod. Your prayers, comments, opinions, remarks, proposals, ideas and participation of any kind is crucial to the success of the first diocesan Synod of Musoma Diocese. God bless the Synod! God bless Diocese of Musoma! God bless all of you, my esteemed readers!

The Abyss Of Silence

My blogging has become more and more difficult to me these days. No wonder why the pace of updating you with my life, work, thoughts, reflection, narration of the daily life in Kiabakari - has become a trickle instead of a river like steady flow of communication. It is not that I have run out of ideas or inspiration. Not at all. The real problem, as I see it and as I would like to phrase it, would be a growing need of silence in me. The more I get involved in the daily struggle in Kiabakari, parochial and spiritual life of my community, demands of various projects and challenges at hand, needs of my volunteers, groups, movements, parochial institutions and individuals - the more I desire to dive deeper into the abyss of silence and pure presence of the Real One. I know that I cannot completely detach myself from the demands of my active life, my duties and responsibilities, not yet at least, but the thought I had in me, persistent to the extent of consulting my spiritual director in my first year in the seminary to discern this spirit if it was good or bad (and he said it came from the evil spirit, because I was destined to the active service in the Church), is coming back to me in full force, thirty years after, pushing me to desire contemplative life in all its fullness and uncompromising nature. For some time, let's say - four years - this thought is ever present in me. And I wonder, if this is what will happen to me in the future, living the last part of my life in total seclusion and silence. I don't know, I will need real discernment and help from professionals in these matters, but I do not say 'no' upfront to it. I accept this notion and if God wants me there, I guess I will be ready. Please, pray for me so His Will be done, not mine.

Photo Exhibition

Miss Agata Krupa, the volunteer of Foundation Kiabakari, has prepared - with the cooperation with dr Jadwiga Żyłka, also the volunteer of the Foundation, and her sister Magdalena Żyłka, the owner of Żywa Pracownia in Kraków - a photo exhibition entitled: 'Kiabakari - Afryka Obiektywem Malowana' (Kiabakari - Africa painted with the lens). I would like to encourage all readers of my blog, living in Poland, in particular in Kraków and its vicinity, to visit the exhibition. I would like also to commend especially the painstaking work of Miss Agata who prepared pictures, framed them and set up the exhibition. Thank you so much! My gratitude goes to both sisters - Jadwiga and Magdalena - for their kind thought to stage this exhibition in their workshop in Kraków and for their invaluable help in making it possible. It is my hope that this exhibition will find positive interest in many visitors and will help to open up Kiabakari, its joy and problems to the concerned sensitive hearts of people. God bless the organizers, visitors and all benefactors of Foundation Kiabakari (www.kiabakari.org).