Dear Friends of Makeni,
1. We hope you had a happy and blessed Christmas. Ours was pretty hectic with several services, one of them a two hour service in Mwembeshi Settlement Village. I had not been to Mwembeshi for ten years - so the congregation there maintains...! I can't believe that, but then I have, of course, just completed 9.5 years at the Cathedral and life was very, very hectic there....
I thought you may like to have a brief report on our visit to Mwembeshi: The roads to Mwembeshi Settlement Village were terrible - the tar road had broken up very badly with potholes, 30 cm deep, some of them stretching right across the road! Very dangerous. The Mwembeshi road itself was in a deplorable condition. Thank God we had taken the 4-wheel-drive vehicle; otherwise we would have gotten stuck several times!
The service was held in a small room of the Community Centre. It was packed with people and the heat and air difficult to bear. The long church service was made difficult by the congregation next door, in an other room; - this pentecostal congregation were going quite wild with allelujahs and "Praise the Lords!!" and very loud clapping, stomping, dancing and singing.... Not exactly the best setting for the first mass for the anglican congregation in over 6 months... I was quite hoarse by the end of the service.
Mwembeshi congregation have started building a proper church building after the pole and dried mud and grass church collapsed in the heavy rains. A donation of £150 was made from my late brother's trust fund, and we ourselves donated £120 towards the new building. This enabled church-members to make 200 concrete blocks,and to complete the foundations of the building. They have dug a well, also.
After the mass, there was a council meeting. Great progress was reported because the single Mwembeshi congregation I started in 1982 has now spawned 4 other congregations. Six crusades had recently been conducted which resulted in the birth of two new congregations, Kashimo A and B. A Mothers' Union Branch has been started as well as a Veronica's branch, enrolling many women. A Fathers' Union has also been started. The Boys and Girls' Brigades have not managed to get off the ground due to lack of facilities and materials.
The locally founded "Disabled Cooperative Society" had donated a sewing machine to the women of St Francis {Mwembeshi Paramilitary Camp] Church for self-help projects. The other four congregations have been promised similar help "as soon as conditions are met".
Attendance at Mwembeshi averages 45 a Sunday, not impressive, but then there are so many denominations in the village. The Roman Catholics have recently built a splendid church building on our land [we gave them 5 acres on lease]; sad that they will not allow other Christians to use it. The dividedness of the Church becomes a real pain in such a setting as Mwemmbeshi....
A concern is the poor giving in all five congregations - we were told that giving totalled each Sunday in each congregation K500 at the most [US$0.25...] I complained that the men [and some of the women] often appear to have money for beer at K1000 a bottle.... At this comment, offered by me half-jokingly, everyone burst out in laughter... No denials...
I was begged and urged to find financial help for two bicycles to be bought for the catechists who serve these 5 congregations [spread over a 50 Km radius], and for church buildings... I said I would pass it on to you, but that some of you are getting tired of begging hands being held up in Africa all the time.... I urged them to become serious about giving to God's work, and finding local men to offer themselves for training for the priesthood.
The Council Meeting closed with a resolution that the people of all congregations are "to build ourselves on faith ground and on financial ground" [sic]... Agricultural projects are to be initiated to raise funds for the church.
I came away overjoyed at the growth of the church in that area, and over the enthusiasm of some of their leaders, and the tremendous sacrifices they are making; I also felt sad and depressed - why? At church headquarters of the Anglican Church in Lusaka many millions of Kwachas have not been accounted for - some of which money came from the giving of just such simple and poor people....
2. CORRECTION: Mrs Christine Allen, the Administrative Manager of the Centre, apologises for giving the wrong information, the other day when we reported on the amount raised at Carols by Candelight for the work of Makeni Ecumenical Centre. The actual amount raised was K2,038,170 - not K1,367,000 as reported previously. She had accidentally onmitted the collection and the proceeds of candle sales.
3. Our currency is taking again a nose-dive: Br£1 = K4000 US$1 = K2,400 We remember the time when our currency was valued at Br£1 = K2 .....
4. Please visit our web site: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/antondil
Best regards,
Yours in Christ,
Fr Pierre J Dil