Serving the people

To deepen their understanding of service to the people of God, diocesan seminarians have been visiting the Bismarck African Mission for the past few years. This year, it was Matthew Koppinger and Jacob Degele’s turn to make the trek to Kenya, East Africa to spend time serving the people at the nearby parishes.
 
The pair of seminarians arrived at the airport in Nairobi on June 30 and remained in the country for a month.
 
Father David Morman, administrator of the Bismarck African Mission, greeted the men at the airport. After Sunday Mass the next day, they began the six-hour journey by car from Nairobi, heading north and west to the Bismarck Mission in the Kisii region of Kenya. After staying the next couple days at the Mission House, the seminarians began the main part of their assignment.
 
Matthew and Jacob were assigned to two different parishes during their time. They also spent one weekend between parish assignments at the Bismarck Mission with Fr. Morman, helping him with anything he needed on one of the mission Saturdays. They were mainly there as observers and had the opportunity to interact with some of the orphans served by the Mission as they waited in line to meet with Fr. David to talk about how school was going, show him their report card and receive a small stipend and a ration of maize for the month. 
 
Served in two parishes
 
The first stop, where they spent eight days, is called Amasago. “Parishes are also much bigger in Kenya than they are in the United States. The organizational structure of the Church is very different,” Matthew explained. “Amasago parish covers a large area, and thousands of people. Each parish in the Diocese of Kisii has ‘outstations.’ These are churches that the pastor will travel to on a rotating basis to have Mass with the people, in addition to his work at the main church of the parish.”
 
This is necessary because people in Kenya do not have the same means of transportation as we do in the United States. Students, parents, and elderly walk everywhere. St. Joseph's at Amasago parish has about 20 outstations. Due to the large number, they all cannot be covered by the priest every week, so many of the people are only able to be at Mass once a month or sometimes less often. 
 
The pair of seminarians was assigned to the main church and lived in residence with the pastor. Every morning, they served Mass at 6:30 a.m. They then have some time for personal prayer in the morning, but also assisted at adoration on several of those days.
 
“We accompanied father to a funeral, which is a major event for Catholics in Kenya, often taking 3-4 hours or more. We also assisted at a first Mass of thanksgiving for one of the new priests of the diocese,” Matthew shared.
 
Matthew was also able to accompany one of their diocesan seminarians in residence at the parish for the summer as they walked around the town and visited Christians in their homes.
 
“These visits would include a reading from Scripture, some words of explanation or encouragement about some part of living a good Christian life, and a few moments of prayer and then we would move on to the next home,” Matthew explained. “Sometimes, what I said was translated, sometimes not, but it was almost always difficult to tell how my words were received, because, as I was warned, most adults have a very hard time understanding English at all. But, I spoke anyway and would simply pray that God would help the person to whom I was speaking receive whatever they might need in that moment. Regardless of the amount of communication that was able to take place, I was always warmly received as a guest into homes. The people of that region are very welcoming.”
 
Seminarian Jacob Degele agreed. “The people we encountered were incredibly hospitable. They also have a profound love for Our Lord in the Eucharist, some walking several miles to attend daily Mass.”
 
The pair was also able to visit a couple of the local schools in the area and address the student body. “For one of these, I spoke on the need for silence as an important part of prayer, and for the other I spoke about vocations,” Matthew said.
 
The other parish the pair served was the Kisii Cathedral for 10 days. There, they did much of the same outreach as at the other parish, but the Cathedral is also close to a hospital, so they made visits there and assisted the pastor with bringing Communion to some of the residents. They also visited more schools including college students at Kisii University.
 
Dedicated to the faith
 
Matthew explained that Catholics in Kenya are very faithful and dedicated. As an example, sometimes a priest will be running late for a Mass. “At one of the funerals we assisted at, I believe we were about an hour late. But, when we arrived, all the people were still gathered patiently waiting. The priests then told us that people would sometimes wait 2-3 hours for a priest to arrive for Sunday Mass, and then they would stay the whole time, which was at least another 2-3 hours, depending on how long the homily was. And, at this funeral the Deacon preached for 50 minutes. Naturally, this was difficult for us because we did not understand the language, but everyone else seemed to listen patiently.”
 
He couldn’t help but ponder how this differed from the faithful at home. “Part of me wondered what would happen if, in the United States, a priest was even 20 minutes late for Sunday Mass. Would the people go home? Or, what would happen if a priest preaches for 50 minutes? In America, we do not have the same sense of time that the Kenyans do. We measure things by minutes and hours; Kenyans measure time by events. Both ways of looking at the world have benefits, and both have drawbacks. We might say that people in Kenya could get more done if they were more timely. But, maybe they can show us that it is important to pay attention to the moment and to people with whom we interact, and maybe not to view every event as simply one more thing to get done. In any case, it is evident that the people take religion very seriously.”
 
Learning experience
 
The graces bestowed on each seminarian during this trip can affect each man very differently with the main goal of enriching their lives as they prepare to dedicate their lives to the service of God’s people.
 
“I personally learned how beautiful it is to live a life of celibacy. This was an unexpected grace I received,” Jacob explained. “It truly was awesome how the celibate heart can spend himself for people in a foreign country, thousands of miles away. I have a deep love for the people I was able to serve. I even have pictures hanging in my room of my time with them. “
 
For Matthew, it was the first time he had served at a parish setting and it just happened to be in one half way across the world. “At the time of our trip to Kenya, Jacob and I had just finished First Theology. And, for me, this was the first major experience of being in a parish. Even though it was in a different country, with a significant language barrier among other obstacles, it was an incredible experience just to be able to serve God's people in a concrete way for the first time.”
 
He also gained a new appreciation for the challenges faced by third-world countries, having witnessed them first-hand. “I received a greater sense of the Church as a worldwide body. Many practices change from place to place, yet the fact that all Catholics are one Body in Christ is not obscured. Each place has its own challenges, and each place does certain things well. I am very grateful for my experience in Kenya, and for the things that I have access to in the United States. Most of all, I hope that this experience might feed my priesthood someday, as I respond to different people here at home in the Diocese of Bismarck, with their own talents, needs, desires, and challenges.”