Mission is who we are as Catholics

Serendipity can be defined as the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way. Of course, I don’t believe things happen just by chance; the providence of God is mysteriously behind all graces.

It was providential, serendipitous, that upon my arrival at Mundelein Seminary in August 2021, one of the first persons that I encountered was Fr. Maina Waithaka, the Dean of Formation. I asked Fr. Maina where he was from. He told me he was a priest from the Archdiocese of Chicago and that he was a native Kenyan. I perked up. I told them that Kenya was the only country in Africa that I had visited. He perked up and asked, “When did you visit? Where did you go?” I told him that I had accompanied my bishop (Bishop John Kinney) to Kenya in 1992 and that we visited Nairobi and our mission in Bura-Tana. His face lit up even more saying, “I grew up in Bura! What diocese are you from?” I responded, “The Diocese of Bismarck.” He smiled and asked, “Then you knew Jim and Henrietta Nistler, Kathy King and Fr. Bruce?” Indeed, I did and do.

Fr. Maina then went on to describe what a difference that missionaries from Maryknoll and the Diocese of Bismarck made for him and how providential their ministerial presence was in his life. After our conversation, I truly sensed that Fr. Maina and I were meant to meet. Providence.

The first missionaries

The Bismarck Mission in Kenya is coterminous with my priesthood. Bishop Kinney formally commissioned our first missionaries on July 1, 1990, during solemn vespers on the eve of my presbyteral ordination. In the late afternoon of a very hot Sunday, we gathered in the Cathedral to prayerfully send them on mission in our name. To this day, we continue to serve the people in Kenya (now in Kisii) and, to this day, it is one of the more important things we do as a diocese.

Throughout last year, Fr. Maina and I began to discuss the possibility of a return visit. Finally, we agreed on three weeks in July. I really wanted him, a native Kenyan, to expose me to the Kenya that many do not see. I wanted to be with the people and experience the realities of their daily lives. I also wanted to make sure we went west to the mission in Kisii to visit Fr. David Morman, Wes and Kathy Pepple.

Return to the diocesan mission

And so, after a week visiting Fr. Maina’s family in Nyeri in the highlands north of Nairobi, we drove six hours through the Rift Valley to Kisii and the mission in Gekano. There, we spent a full week staying with our missionaries as well as Rogers and Grace, a Kenyan married couple, who work closely with the mission team. It was a thoroughly remarkable and memorable experience.

But, as striking as the beauty of the land, the beauty of the people far surpassed it. It is something that I remembered when I visited Kenya 30 years ago. Kenyans are joyful, gentle, engaging, faith filled. Their celebrations of Mass incorporate their rich culture. The Word of God is processed in with music and dance. So too the gifts, not only the bread and wine for the altar but other gifts in support of the mission of the parish. Those who are able offer monetary gifts, but the offerings also include daily staples: maize, wimbi (millet), goats, chickens, avocados (parachichi), bananas, detergent, to name a few. Time is never a consideration. The length of the Mass is not on people’s minds. They come to glorify God and to celebrate their common faith. Kenyans have a spiritual freedom that we in the West struggle to find.

I had the chance to concelebrate Mass with Fr. David several times. It was wonderful to see him in his element with the people and to marvel at his growing command of Kiswahili. It takes great courage to leave all behind to serve in mission so many thousands of miles away from family and the diocese. Fr. David, Kathy and Wes do such good work there and their presence is appreciated by those they serve.

Fr. Maina and I learned that Saturday mornings are very important in the mission. Each Saturday, the mission team goes to different parts of the area to visit with a variety of orphaned and vulnerable students the mission supports. Fr. David, Kathy and Wes speak with the students, pray with them and then, one by one, each student begins the ritual they have come to know: visiting with Fr. David about their grades and their experience of school, picking up a tuition check to take to their respective schools, and receiving a monthly allowance as well as a portion of maize for food. The children and youth range in age from first graders through high school. But, whatever the age, they know that they are supported and loved. Their schooling is crucial for their lives.

During the week, Wes and Kathy spend time going out to conduct water purification training sessions for the Water With Blessings initiative. Local women attend the sessions, and they receive the purification apparatus and the instruction necessary for its proper upkeep. Approximately two hours is needed, and the people are more than willing to give the time because of the benefit they will receive. We were all able to see the dirty water purified and then drink it, with all pathogens removed. Clean water is always a significant concern for many in Africa.

Of course, there are many other aspects that make up missionary life. It is not simply what our missionaries do; it is who they are. Their presence and the Lord they represent act as leaven to the people they serve.

Mission is not just one aspect of our life as Church. It is what Church is all about. At the end of Mass, we are sent to carry Christ to our families, schools, workplaces and the world. We are to do this not only individually but communally, as a diocese. The African Mission, therefore, is not simply something we do but is constitutive of who we are. Over the last 32 years, we have been blessed to have missionaries who are willing to sacrifice so much for the sake of the Gospel. We have been blessed to share what we have. We have been blessed to receive the beauty and gifts of another people and culture. A healthy Church is one where we grow and support one another on the road Christ asks us to walk. Our visit to the mission in July reminded me once again of this truth, of why we are Church.

Father John Guthrie has been a priest of the Bismarck Diocese since 1990. He is currently Director of Worship and Formation Advisor at Mundelein Seminary in Illinois.