BISHOP MHASI VISITS ONE OF HIS 140 "OUTSTATION CHURCHES" IN TANZANIA
John and Abel
What do you notice when you look at the first above picture? (1) I noticed the two little boys standing in front of Bishop Mhasi - the younger one has his back to the camera and the older one looks directly at the camera. Maybe they are brothers? The younger one, in the blue crocs, is looking back - maybe toward his mother. The older one, in the red shirt, looks ahead with a sad resignation in his eyes while holding onto his little brother's arm. As I looked at him, I wondered what his future will be! Most of all, I have seen that look on my own face when I see pictures of myself at his age - back when I was going through hard times myself! I have pictures to prove it! I, too, had a little brother.
(2) I noticed the three vulnerable young girls on the right, dressed in their home-made Sunday dresses. Growing up poor in the country in the 1950s, my mother used to hand-make my sisters' dresses. As I looked at those young girls, I worried about how hard their future lives will be!
(3) I noticed that no one was smiling. Did they not have anything to smile about even on such a special occasion as the Bishop's visit? If so, how sad!
Noticing them has driven me to "care" - to care especially about those two boys in front and those three young girls on the right! It moved me to want to pray for them. It drove me to ask Bishop Mhasi to find out their names and send them to me! It inspired me to find a way to send them and their friends a little bag of candy for Christmas! It made me wonder what they may have to go through as they grow up! It also made me be afraid whether they would even make it to adulthood!
I may not be able to help all of them, but I did notice them and in my retirement I am going to keep on trying to do what I can to help kids like them in mission areas of the world - like I have been doing in the past several years. I can't help every child in his 22 parishes and 140 "mission churches,", but I can help a few. I am going to try my best to send each of the 98 kids, Catholic and non-Catholic living in this one "outstation" village community, a little bag of candy for Christmas! (Growing up, I can still remember clearly my days during the 1950s when candy was a very special treat we kids enjoyed most of the time only on Christmas and Easter.) Bishop Mhasi said this in an e-mail response about my idea when I asked him what he thought about it, "They will be very happy and it will make their Christmas a joyous one!" He also told me that he would assign their local village catechist to help me buy and deliver my Christmas candy gifts!
The best part of this idea is that it will help make my Christmas "a joyous one" too!
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