Getting Things Right
A knock at the door of our residence. A woman makes a request, “Please contribute £2 for the care of abandoned pets.”
I want to rush back to my room, fish two precious pounds out of my school bag and give it to her. And add, “Could you please donate £1, with which I can feed a whole family, for a whole day and more, in a village called Mtakuja in Tanzania!” But I would seem too impolite!
A prayer moment in our church. The theme: Caring for Creation… or something like that! A melodious song with an accompanying PowerPoint of beautiful meadows and flowers. Perhaps there were also some photos downloaded from the website of National Geographic. The PowerPoint was followed by a scripture reading, a psalm, sharing…
I heard them say (perhaps they didn’t say, but I heard them that way!), “Destroy all the forests, throw some concrete and […]
Month: March 2011
A Politician’s Prayer
Lord God, the source of all power and goodness,
I praise you for your infinite yet wise plan for the universe.
I praise you for your powerful yet gentle presence in the world.
Lord God, the source of all love and kindness,
I thank you for the patient journey that you have walked with me.
I thank you for the impeccable way
you have prepared me for your mission here on earth.
Lord God, the source of all forgiveness and reconciliation,
May your compassion purify me of every trace of selfishness.
May your loving kindness strengthen me
to see others’ good in all my undertakings.
Lord God, the source of all truth and freedom,
Help me ever be open to dialogue in our search for the truth.
Help me assert the dignity of the human person in our fight for liberty.
Lord God, the source of all peace and joy,
Bring lasting prosperity to my nation.
Let ‘quality of life’ be the way we define […]
Indian Missionaries in Africa
Missionaries from India Karibuni Africa!
The other day I met Neema. She is a Tanzanian, and a candidate for a congregation of sisters who hail from South India and who have now some convents in Tanzania. She wears the churidar, speaks English with a strong Indian accent and shakes her head like a doll as she gives her assent. Whose fault is it? Is it the 18 year old Neema’s, who agreed to be Indianized, or is it that of those holy nuns who refused to be indigenized?
I heard from a fellow Indian missionary that in a convent in Tanzania, the local cook speaks very well one of the languages of South India. In fact I was told that on the one hand, the sisters are proud of their feat, on the other hand they regret that they are not able to speak any secret among themselves at table anymore. I […]
An Ugandan Prayer
Lord, We Pray!
Lord,
you give some cows long horns.
To others no horns at all.
You have a plan for every cow.
You have a plan for each one of us too.
Help us to be open to your plan.
That way we can truly be happy.
Lord,
you have the yam and the knife.
We have no yam.
Nor the knife.
We depend on you.
Unless you give us the yam,
we will have none.
So we beg you
provide us with what we need.
Lord,
you give beard to goats.
But to cows no beard.
You know what everyone needs.
You know what we need.
We trust you will give us
what we truly deserve.
Prayers by
Richard Kitimbo, Kamuli, Uganda
Interpreted from Lusoga
By Selvam, SDB
Weary Feet & Hopeful Eyes
What it means to be young in South Sudan Today?
February 2005. Under one of those mighty mango trees that dot the plains of South Sudan I sat. Waiting for a mango to fall. No one is allowed to pluck mangoes from the tree; you may only pick the mangoes that fall. No, I was waiting for the boys who were working at the nearby construction site to come back after their long lunch break. I wanted to pick a conversation with one or two of them, or if they did not know English, at least to say Cibaak! – that’s the local greeting. I have noticed that the boys of Rumbek relate to strangers very easily. So, language is no problem.
Then came my friend James Malouk. This was our second day of conversation. He wore a broad smile as usual. The Dinkas value white teeth, I came to learn. Most […]