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Fr Joseph Panabang SVD

By Fr Joseph Panabang SVD

Viernes Santo to Easter Sunday
With a worried look on his face the catechist introduced a man to me. “What’s the matter with him?” I inquired. The man, almost on the verge f tears, confessed that he dreamt his newly built house was burning. To build the house for more than three years and now see it burning in your dream is no joke for a man whole believes so much in the reality of dreams as perhaps one legacy from his ancestors. “What is your job?” “Farmer”. “Are you married?” “Yes” “How long?” “Just three days ago, I found a woman I wanted to marry and I’m really and madly in love with her.” There you are, I told myself. “My friend, this is your dream. The house that was burning was your heart in love with that woman. Into your new, you shall bring the woman and the two of you shall live happily ever after. Both shall be burning with the fire of love. So, there is no need to worry. Instead, rejoice for you shall marry. “With that, the Good-Friday face of the man turned to Easter Sunday.” “You ‘obruni’ are like gods, you know everything,” he muttered but when he left, he said something to the catechist which I did not understand. Later, the catechist confided to me,” that man said you talk like a witch-doctor.”
***

By Fr Joseph Panabang SVD

Bread in Ghana
Linguistically, many Ghanaians find it hard to pronounce the letter R clearly. They pronounce it as letter L. Now, now with just half loaf of bread left on the table for our three visitors, I asked our mission boy to run like a leopard and buy some bread. In a few seconds, he came back grasping and handed me three small boxes or stainless blades. Aghast, I asked, “What are these for?” “You told me to buy blade Father,” he said convincingly. One of the visitors, a Ghanaian lady who perfectly knew of the problem was convulsed with laughter and almost dropped her tea.

By Fr Joseph Panabang SVD

To have the feeling
Going from Amsterdam, we stopped at Murtala Muhummed Airportm Logos, Nigeria. More than half of the passengers disembarked. Seeing that the more expensive section was almost empty, I ran and took a seat fro the remaining flight to Ghana. “Oh, just to have the feeling” I told the stewardess who was holding her breath questioningly looking at me.
***

By Fr Joseph Panabang SVD

Night-Walking
In a parish situation like mine here, walking to the villages is unavoidable but night-walking is something my village people would not normally do. I introduced it only as a way of escaping the blistering sun. One time my church helper and I were walking a distance of more that sixteen miles under the silver sheen of a moonlit night. Having covered more than half of the distance, we rested an I must confess I was so tired I wanted to give up. In a meditative mood, I found myself musing, “Lord, at this stage of world civilization, here I am, still walking.” And the Lord said, “Joe, how lucky you are; you have legs and you have health.” Since then I stopped complaining.
***

Journey to Asukoko

By Fr. Joseph D. Panabang, SVD

Ghana, West Africa

Red River
Last December, 1988, Patrick and I started our first missionary journey to Asukoko. “Asukoko” means red river. I jokingly asked my guide whether this red river had some connection with the Red Sea and he said emphatically, “Oh no, none at all.

By Fr Joseph Panabang SVD

On my way to the Philippines, I stopped at our Mother House in Steyl in the Netherlands. Fr. Antonio Pates, SVD, a Filipino missionary in Brazil invited me to accompany him to visit our Filipina Pink Sisters at the vicinity. Two cute Filipina Sisters entertained us. One of them was really an interesting and fascinating storyteller to listen to. At the end of our visit, Fr. Pates told them, “So this is Fr. Joe Panabang, a visiting missionary from Ghana.” “Panabang?” blurted the other sister and started laughing. She looked at me again, looked donw and laugh again. I was quite peeved. “So you are Barnabas? Hi...hi...”she continued bubbling with laughter. Only then did I come to know, as the two Sisters told me, they had been receiving copies of Misyon magazine which published the jokes. The mention of my name to them was provocative enough for them to laugh.

By Fr Joseph Panabang SVD

Money Can’t Buy it
While at Language School, we do not stay at the school itself but we live with a Ghanaian family for six months to facilitate learning Twi, the local language. In the family where I stayed, my cook unfortunately was divorced by her husband. Our conversation:

Me:      How long were your married?

Cook:  Three years.

Me:      In those years, how was your marriage?

By Fr Joseph Panabang SVD

When I arrived in Ghana, a veteran sister repeated the same advice I receive in the Philippines from other veteran missionary priest: “For the first three months, it is really hard. But do not worry; the coming months will be harder!”
* * *

Ntankoro is my oldest and the biggest village but it is plagued by the idea that the priest must support the, the laity by giving them food, clothing, money and such, like with the laity with not supporting him in return. The Church President of this village unfortunately did not have a good name. He is said to have consulted a fetish priest and killed sheep for the river gods when under pressure. He was very sick then.

During my visit, he said that he had a dream and wanted me to interpret it. This was his dream; he was holding a cup of water and he wanted to give it to me. But while offering the cup he was saying, “It is good or bad?” Now, he wanted to know the answer. “This dream is interesting, “I said. Then, like Joseph the Dreamer of old, I proceed: “The meaning of your dream is this: you must support you priest materially and spiritually. The water symbolizes the blessings the priest gets from your support and also the blessing for you in return. The question, ‘Is it good or bad? Is the voice of the devil tempting you? So then, obviously the answer is, ‘Yes, it is good.’ It is good to give the cup of water to the priest, for Christ said that he who gives a cup of cold water to one of his disciples will not go unrewarded.” Whew!

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