Newsletter The Voice That cries out KOINONIA JOHN THE BAPTIST SOUTH AFRICA Nr 11 / August 2018 Trust in the Lord. Have faith, do not despair. Trust in the Lord. [Psalm 27:14] Site visits p.2 Youth workshop p.3 Computer class p.4 Christ is risen! Praise the Lord, my protector! He trains me for battle and prepares me for war. He is my protector and defender, my shelter and saviour, in whom I trust for safety (Psalm 144:1-2). There is a fierce spiritual battle going on, a battle to overcome darkness, lie, injustice, laziness, indifference, egoism, fear and more. Fortunately our amazing God gives us Victory in His beloved Son Jesus! He loved till the end, He never gave up, He overcame the power of darkness, He remained faithful and therefore He brought us Victory. We experience the power of this Victory here at Lourdes Mission in every single smile, gesture of love and friendship. These few words and photos are there in order to indicate some of the sparks of Lord s victory advancing day by day in our missionary work. It s also an opportunity to give thanks to all of you who make it possible helping us in countless ways. Fr. Michael Pretoria communityp.5 Priestly ordination p.5 New main gate p.6 The voice that cries out 1
Nr 11 Newsletter On the 12th of August some brothers and siters from the Mission had a chance to speak about the importance of oral hygiene. Sister Krystyna and Brother Emmanuel explained in a very practical way to more than sixty children and some of their mothers, how to brush their teeth and how often they must do it in order to prevent oral and teeth deseases. After the visual teaching each child received one toothbrush and one toothpaste. That was a donation from the Polish fundation Smile from Africa. When they finished with the distribution of the toothbrushes and toothpaste they continued distribution of Chicco babies products donated by MSC Company to the mothers present there. All of them expressed their gratitude for the generous donation and the instructions about the SITE VISITS hygiene. After this joyfull presentation all children and mothers with the babies on their backs, continued their gathering by participating in the House of Prayer.The atmosphere of joy,dancing and prayer was growing, because everybody was willing to convey their personal thanksgiving for the care and the goodness of the Lord. In this occassion I would like to express my appreciation to the Lord and to the community for the opportunity their have given me to be part of this event. Juan Ramon 2 The voice that cries out
Newsletter Nr 11 During the last school holiday, we as Koinonia Orphans Project(KOP) organised two training workshops for young people. We quoted the Bible just to remind them about God s plan for each one of them. Only I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for. (Jer 21:11) One of those plans, according to us, is the Christian marriage. In our rural reality this model is difficult to reach because the majority of our families are composed of a grandmother and grandchildren or a single mother and her children. It is unusual to see a father, mother and children living together. So, our aim is to promote this model of Christian family. YOUTH WORKSHOP We as Koinonia Orphans Project have identified many challenges wich young people are facing. This time we decided to focus on HIV issues, teenage pregnancy, usage of contraceptives, peer pressure and abstinence as a solution to most of these challenges. The most interesting part of these trainings for them was to learn about side effects of using contraceptives. Another topic that caught their attention was to hear about the greatest option of abstinence that leads to Christian marriage. With this topic we have just started sowing some new ideas and also new possibilities of Christian marriage and as well a Christian model of family. Krystyna The voice that cries out 3
Nr 11 In Lourdes Mission has just started a computer class which comprehend eighteen young people(grade 10 and 11) separated in two classes ; on Tuesday 07/08/2018 has taken place the test of admission to the computer class; many were the young people who came and gave their best to be admitted, about sixty students. Unfortunately some of them will have to try again the next term because only eighteen are those who are courrently admitted into the course. The lessons will be imparted every Wednesday from 3.00 PM to 4.30 PM and every Friday from 1.00 PM to 2.30 PM for a period of six months. The computer course will be combined with an English course, so that the young people will not only learn how to use the computer, but they will also have the opportunity to improve their communication in the English language. Already after the first lesson, our teacher Zoleka COMPUTER CLASS Mjoli was very positive about this group of young people, seeing them committed with enthusiasm and hope for their future. Many of them joined the computer class with the prospective that in few years they might attend the university, and so computer skills will be a very important tool to be required, as well as managing a fluent English language. Newsletter At the end of the six months term, those who worked really hard will receive a certificate on computer skills, officially recognized in South Africa. Our Young people are very excited and looking forward to the next lesson! Gabriele 4 The voice that cries out
Newsletter Nr 11 PRETORIA COMMUNITY The Lord said: People are saying that this place is like a desert, that it has no people living in it. They are right but in this place, you will hear again the shouts of gladness and joy and happy songs of wedding feast. You will hear people sing as they bring thanks offerings to my Temple, they will say: give thanks to the Lord Almighty, because He is good and His love is eternal. With this promise of the Lord on the 19th of September 2017, three of us left our beloved oasis of Lourdes Mission, for this new adventure in Pretoria. We have been working here in Pretoria for some years now, doing evangelisation courses, meetings and a small family community has been formed. With the support of the Archbishop Msgr. William Slattery, who always pushed and encouraged us to be present as a celibate community in his Archdiocese, now our presence is stable and we can see the fruits and the blessings of the Lord who accompanies us. Currently we live in a house that we have renovated in an isolated area typical of the African Savannah, 50 min. drive from the capital City. The house we received, as a gift from one of our friends, is part of a complex of facilities in a private retreat centre called Sanctuary. Every day we experience concretely how the Lord provides us from the smallest daily needs to the greatest ones, for example the material for the renovations of the house. The pastoral work that we do consists of monthly meetings called Agapitos, and Koinonia meetings open to everyone every three months in different parishes. We have many ideas of how to develop this place, as we have a lot of land around our house, an ideal place where we could develop a centre of evangelization, a training house for young people. Meanwhile, we dedicate ourselves to the formation of our brothers and sisters who have committed to the koinonia community, creating a community of friends, working on the houses of prayer and their multiplication. I take this opportunity to thank all those who have contributed financially and spiritually for this work of the Lord, so that together we can see this promise becoming true. Maria Grazia PRIESTLY ORDINATION On Saturday, 23rd of June our brother Ignace Mutombo was ordained to priesthood by Right Rev. Bp. Stanisław Jan Dziuba. The celebration took place at Lourdes Mission - the Cathedral Church of our Diocese, where the Koinonia John the Baptist community lives and works. It was a very beautiful experience of God s faithfulness and love. Family and friends from different parts of the world joined us in rejoicing together with the diocesan choir that made the ceremony even more beautiful. Praise God for His constant love and care. Michael The voice that cries out 5
Newsletter Nr 11 NEW MAIN GATE Lourdes Mission is becoming more and more beautiful! Slowly but surely the constructions in the mission are proceeding. After building eight external toilets, with walls of separation, we began to focus on the entrance of the mission, making a new fence of about sixty metres, made of bricks with pillars and iron bars in between, the old gate has been replaced by a swing gate for the cars plus a small one for the people. On the right side of the gate a place has been prepared for the writing Welcome to Lourdes Mission. The works started at the beginning of May. I remember that one day we were in the kitchen washing the dishes, and we started to dream about building a new main entrance gate with fence around, asking to ourselves who could do this job and in that exact moment, when we named the worker Richard, the phone rang and was just him demanding a job! We immidiately understood that it was the answer from the Lord: He wanted us to do it. So we started the work in faith, without money, trusting in God s provident hand, and with the help of many people we managed to proceed with it. Still many bars are to be put up in between the pillars, but we will keep on trusting God, in His providence, dreaming even more than that; the next goal we would like to achieve is to install a fence all around the mission, in order to make the people feel protected and to avoid the cattle to damage and dirt the mission. Gabriele Help YOUR Mission: (in South Africa) FIRST NATIONAL BANK Branch: IXOPO Account Name: KOINONIA JOHN THE BAPTIST Branch Code: 220223 Account Number: 62371489438 SWIFT Code: FIRNZAJJXXX (in Europe) UNICREDIT BANK Agenzia id Schio (VI) FEDERAZIONE DELLE KOINONIE GIOVANNI BATISTA Via Casale, 20 36010 Cogollo del Cengio (VI) Causale: Offerta PRO AFRICA IBAN: IT 54 R 02008 60755 000100318404 COD. BIC SWIFT (dal fuori Italia): UNCRITM1D38 CONTACT US: E-mail: koinoniafrica@gmail.com Tel: +27 72 059 3018 VISIT US: www.koinoniajb-sa.org 6 The voice that cries out