A Surprise Feast
Father Bunagan was ordained in 2005. Resources in the Diocese of Inongo Democratic Republic of Congo, where he is assigned, are very scarce.
Congo
The Day I Became A Refugee
By Sr Rosita Austria ICM
Sr Rosita Austria is a Filipino missionary working in a hospital in Congo, formerly Zaire. Three years ago, some anti-Angola government rebels followed into Congo and attacked the hospital where Sr Rosita and her fellow Sisters treated some Angolan soldiers who sought refuge after an encounter with the Angolan rebels. Below she tells us of that terrifying experience.
Revolution In Zaire (Or The Same Again?)
By Peng Reyes, cicm
Sometime ago we all watched Laurent Kabila as he advanced victoriously through Zaire and overthrew the dictator Mobutu and changed the country’s name to Congo. Fr. Peng Reyes is there now and tells us some of the inside story.
I was already at home in med-September 1996 when the Battle of the Great Lakes in Central Africa exploded. It was called the Battle of the Great Lakes because it involved at least five countries located near the great lakes of Tangayika and Victoria.
It Is The Little Communities Which Create Hope
By Fr. Melanio R. Viuya, Jr. CICM
Malaria Strikes
From December till April I was supposed to visit the 69 villages of the parish in order to animate their Basic Christian Communities. Looking at my list, there were still six villages left to be visited. But this present bout of malaria prevents me from going, for the moment. Since a coin always had two sides, this illness gives me much needed rest and opportunity to write some line about my experiences in the villages.
Christ is born black in ‘Zaire’
By Fr. Melanio Viuya Jr., CICM
Zaire, now called the Republic of Congo, is as big as Europe. We have all seen on Television the terrible internal civil war and the horrible plight of the Rwandan Refugees. But in the meantime life goes on. In a humble corner of the former Zaire, Fr. Viuya recalls his second Christmas away from the Philippines.
First Journey
It was my first journey to the village alone. My confreres were rather apprehensive. They gave me 15 liters of potable water, six hundred grams of rice, one hundred grams of sugar, some salt, a folding bed, a mosquito net, a loaf of bread, some medicines, and a petrol lamp. I was pretty ashamed to go to the village carrying all these. To be biblical or to be practical, that’s the question. However, I discovered later that I was necessary to bring most, if not all, of these things for in the village “there’s nothing”.
The Congo
Where have People have to Pray
By: Sr. Priscila Andaya D.C.
I am one of the ninety seven Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul missioned here in the province of Zaire- Congo. Let me explain. Since we are only twelve sisters working in Congo, we cannot be a province yet, so we depend to the Province of Zaire, hence, we call our province, Province of Zaire-Congo. Ours is an international mission of Sisters from the twelve different nationalities. I’m the only Filipino here in Congo. Before my assignment in Congo I worked twelve years in Zaire.