Yesterday we began our day with 7:30 a.m. Mass at the parish in Wanging’ombe (the parish where I am residing; also where the INUKA Hospital is located).

Last week, we traveled to a secondary school to celebrate Mass after the parish Mass. Yesterday, Fr. Nestor wanted me to experience Mass at one of the 15 Out Station Churches (located in villages) served by the parish. Each Out Station gets a Sunday Mass once per month. On the other Sundays, there is a catechist who provides a Liturgy of the Word Service with music, but no Eucharist.

We traveled some 30 minutes on dirt roads to reach the Out Station in Kijombe. I did not see any cars at homes along the dirt roads. When we arrived at the church, there were only two cars present (one car belonged to the catechist), which meant everyone walked to church. Fr. Nestor said some people own motorcycles, but to have a car would be unusual. He said that the people in that area are very dependent on growing their own food along with having some chickens and perhaps goats (if they could afford that).  

There is a bus from Makambako that travels down these roads one way dropping off passengers, while another bus travels once a day going toward Makambako. I did not see a single shop along the roads we traveled, so if someone needed something from the market, they would have to travel by bus to Makambako.

The small Church was filled to capacity (and beyond); some children sat next to the wall in the sanctuary. As was the case last week, we began our time at the Out Station Church by offering those gathered the opportunity to go to confession before Mass (remember, they only get visited by a priest once per month). I had forty people come to me for confession (they all spoke Swahili); last week I had 20 students come to me for confession. I later joked with Fr. Nestor that my reputation as a confessor is obviously growing in Tanzania!

I had forty people come to me for confession (they all spoke Swahili); last week I had 20 students come to me for confession. I later joked with Fr. Nestor that my reputation as a Confessor is obviously growing in Tanzania!

This is a very vibrant Out Station parish. In fact, the community has outgrown their church building, so they began building a new church next door to their present church (shown right). The financial offertory collection at the Out Station church was announced to be 64,000 Tanzanian shillings for the previous Sunday (about $31 US). That collection is actually more than is received at the parish in Wanging’ombe where I am staying. (The amount of collection is always announced the following week after Mass).

With such a small offertory collection, you can imagine that it will take years for this community to get their new church built. Fr. Nestor said that in 2019, they built the foundation for the church. In 2020, the community collected sand and made their own bricks. In 2021, they started building the walls.

All the labor is donated; the community has spent approximately $15,000 US for materials so far. Some parishioners cannot afford to make a financial gift to the Church, so they will bring an item from home and leave it at the Altar (corn, eggs, soap, lettuce/cabbage etc.).

When Mass is over, the community takes up a second collection for the building of their new Church. In addition to the second collection, Fr. Nestor then auctions off the eggs/soap/lettuce etc. left at the altar. The money realized from the auction then goes into that second collection. (A video follows with children singing; toward the end of the video, you will see Fr. Nestor holding up the lettuce for auction).
 
 
After Mass, Fr. Nestor introduced me and spoke of how he was a guest in the Saints Peter and Paul rectory and Parish community for 2 1/2 years. He then said we now have the opportunity to welcome Fr. Brad as a guest to our community. (Later, Fr. Nestor told me that the “Out Station” Parish community wanted to feed me a meal.  However, he explained to leadership that we can’t take the risk of Fr. Brad getting sick; easy enough to do here with the water/meat situation.)

So instead of feeding me a meal, members of the community came forward with gifts for me (a package of bottled water, beans, eggs, corn, salt, peanuts, firewood, and two live chickens (see brief video of me holding a white chicken). The second chicken was black in color and it tried to bite me! Things are not going to end well for these live chickens. . . In the Tanzanian culture, the highest form of respect that you can show a guest is to present the guest with a live chicken. And should you not receive their gift of a live chicken, they would be greatly offended.
  The whole procession of gifts was very humbling for me. It reminded me of the widow who gave two small copper coins (the widow’s mite in Mark 12): “She, from her poverty, has contributed all she had.”

When we departed, the bed of our pick-up truck was full of firewood that they had collected. The firewood and all other food contributions given to me were then given to the food services at INUKA.

Once again, I am touched by the gratitude extended to me by those I encounter; they are so grateful that I have traveled to experience their country, culture, and Church. Gratitude fills my heart as well.