Malawi: Missionary life at St Thomas parish, Mzuzu

Writing in the Missionaries of Africa News blog, Fr Thomas Delwende Pouya MAfr describes his vibrant rural parish which is spread out over a large area. He also recalls his own childhood when, "the Catechist was the hero of the faith through his way of organizing the spiritual life of the people. The priest only came to the village once a year."

Fr Thomas writes:

Our Parish is named after St Thomas the Apostle and its Parish Priest happens to be Fr Thomas. St Thomas the Apostle Parish is a semi-rural parish in the Diocese of Mzuzu in Northern Malawi. The Parish was created in October 2013. It currently has 17 prayer stations, two in town and 15 in the villages. The rural outstations are characterized by their distance from the Presbytery, the low number of their Christians and the poor or inexistent structures. One of the churches is not accessible by car. Most of these churches have very lively liturgies where all members participate in praying, singing and dancing. Our main Apostolate rotates around the ordinary administration of the sacraments, teaching/training of the Christians in the context of primary evangelization, Justice and Peace and Integrity of creation, and development works.

As a child I grew up in a village which was not even an outstation. The Catechist was the hero of the faith through his way of organizing the spiritual life of the people. The priest only came to the village once a year, under a special request on the feast of patron saint of the Christian Community, St. Andrew. Sisters and seminarians occasionally came during the Lenten Campaign for two to three days of teaching. I guess this has affected my missionary approach to remote areas.

To read on see: https://mafrsaprovince.com/2021/08/02/missionary-life-at-st-thomas-parish-mzuzu-malawi/