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| Group of participants in the workshop |
The Catholic Diocese of Solwezi is huge, with more than 600km from one extreme to the other. However, the population is small and the number of Catholics is even smaller. Solwezi is a rural diocese, where most of the population are peasants farmers, hardly surviving on the land. This has made the Diocese dependent on external aid. Although being nearly self-sufficient in local clergy, the Diocese is lacking a well formed and committed laity. In all parishes, most of the Centres are entrusted to the pastoral care of lay people: the Catechists, who are at the same time Prayer leaders. However, their ability to transmit the faith and to help the community grow in faith is hindered by the lack of proper preparation and poor knowledge. The on-going formation of these lay leaders is paramount for the future of the Church.
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| Myself on the banks of Zambezi River |
A workshop in Zambezi
Fr. Ndumba and myself spent the past two weeks in Zambezi, conducting a workshop for 50 catechists. For me, it was a great experience, even though I could understand very little of Luvale. I contributed my share with the preparation of the workshop. And this workshop gave me the opportunity to go to Zambezi and to cross the river on the suspension bridge in Chinyingi. There, in the middle of nowhere, we find the mission, built for the service of the people. It is a witness of Jesus Christ and a proclamation of his Gospel. With its school (now in the hands of the Government) and its hospital, Chinyingi mission, like all other missions, was clearly at the service of the people.
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| Crossing the suspension bridge |
We must be where people are, sharing with them their pains and their joys; and we must help people to grow in all spheres of live. The more people are able to understand the Gospel, the more they are able to transform society, so that all can live in dignity of the children of God.
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