Vocation Discernment

           

This year in our diocese in Livingstone is dedicated to the youth. There was an official lunching of that year in our three deaneries. And part of the theme is known as vocation discernment. The young people have lots of questions and doubts, which direction to move and what kind of life God has prepared for them.  This work was specifically given to The Diocesan Vocation Team. The Team is composed of the representatives of all Congregations working in the diocese, Diocesan priest, Youth chaplain, one person representing single vocation and a married couple. Generally only half of the Team is very committed. This year we managed to visit almost all the schools and Institutions. Usually the time before their exams we more concentrate on the parishes. This is why last Sunday we visited Maramba Catholic Parish, known as Christ the King Parish.

          That Parish has many young people. During different sports, musical and picnic programs there are plenty of them. But when comes to religious programs the story is very different. Especially when we call them to our meetings concerning vocation program. Some of them do not want later to be called by their friends “priests” or “sisters”. Anyway most of them are very much interested in the marriage vocation.

         Our program was announced one week earlier. Also on the day of the program once more the announcement was brought to the young people. Some of the members of our Team were present there during that announcement attending that Mass. There was not so much enthusiasm upon seeing priests or sisters, but the moment the young couple appeared there was lots of joy and clapping hands. Their made our meeting very successful. Most of the questions were directed to the couple and to the priests only asking: when the priests going to get married? Also someone asked: who is a permanent deacon? None should be surprised to such atmosphere among the young people in Maramba Parish. There are a few diocesan priests, who got married and live within that parish. This time the young people look very realistically. Nevertheless there were few young boys and girls, who were also interested in religious life. We had done our part, now everything is in God’s hands.

Prepared by Fr. Romek SVD

Diocesan Vocation Team –Livingstone.

BLESSING OF ST. JOSEPH FREINADEMETZ

January is a blessed month for us sons and daughters of Arnold Janssen. Simply, it is because we celebrate feast day of two Saints, Arnold Janssen and Joseph Freinademetz.

Our Mission house community graced the feast of today with various activities within and with the people through the apostolates we are entrusted with. On outreach program, Fr. Romek in his sermon, he shared with Saint Theresa Parish and Prisoners about Life and mission of St. Joseph Freinademetz; while Fr. Theophan did the same with the parishioners of two Outstations belong to Dambwa Parish. Besides, there were two activities in the afternoon; a special talk on Joseph Freinademetz at 14.30 and the exposure of Blessed Sacrament at 17.30 in our Chapel, followed by an outing for supper together.

I was touched by the request of Fr. Romek to give a talk on St. Joseph Freinademetz to Vocation Club boys that was established here in Livingstone some time back. More than just sharing the facts about the life and mission of Freinademetz (simple catechesis), I reflected further on how I personally benefit from these two great saints in my 23 years missionary life undertakings here in Zambia. 

For me, Arnold Janssen and Joseph Freinademetz are more than founding fathers and models in life and mission. Personally I treasure them as saints and develop a special devotion to them ever since I came to know their journey of life. I plead God’s blessings through their intersession  for different purposes; may it be for spiritual welfare, or human development for better life of communities I live and work with, or pastoral plans and its implementations, more but a few to mention.

With gratitude I thank God for the many blessings I receive. As a respect and thanks giving, a Multipurpose Hall was built and dedicated to Blessed Joseph Freinademetz by then in Mukuni Parish; a Parish community was established and dedicated to Arnoldus Janssen protection also a Multipurpose Hall dedicated to St. Joseph Freinademetz, both of them in Mwandi Parish.

As we cherries Joseph Freinademetz and other SVD feasts, let us continue striving to share the gifts of our Founding Generations in our individual life, apostolates and parish ministries. We pray that Arnold Janssen, Joseph Freinademetz, SVD Blessed Martyrs and Patron Saints to intercede for blessings to the missions where we life and work.

By Klemens Amaunut, SVD

ZAMBIA MISSION

ZAMBIA MISSION Zambia and Malawi Official Language: English

Vision Statement “May the Holy Triune God Live in Our Hearts and the Hearts of All”

Mission Statement We the members of the SVD Zambia Mission, as an intercultural religious missionary community, strive to share in the daily dreams and struggles of our people. We embark upon a new chapter of evangelization, engaging in respectful prophetic dialogue with our people, we build faith communities through our four characteristic dimensions: mission animation, biblical apostolate, justice, peace and integrity of creation (JPIC) and communication.

1. Societal Setting

Located in southern Africa, Zambia is a land locked country. The country was born when the British colony of Rhodesia became the independent nation of Zambia in 1964. After some years of one-party rule, recent elections have been deemed free and fair although the harassment of opposition parties and other political turmoil continues. 

The population of Zambia is 17 million, composed of more than 70 Bantu-speaking ethnic groups. Among these, 95.5% are Christians (Catholics being 20.2%), Muslims 1%, Hindus, Bahai, Buddhists 1.7%, and those who do not have any religious affiliation are 1.8% of the population. The majority of Zambians are subsistence farmers who hold a blend of traditional beliefs and Christianity. The literacy rate is 63% (male 70.9% and female 56%). Some 66% of the population is under the age of 25 years, with a median age of 16.8 years. Life expectancy is 52.7 years.

Zambia had one of the world’s fastest growing economies for the ten years up to 2014, with GDP growth averaging roughly 6.7% annually, though growth has slowed in the last few years.  Zambia’s lack of economic diversification and dependency on copper as its sole major export makes it vulnerable to fluctuations in the world commodities market and prices turned downward in 2015 due to declining demand from China. Zambia was overtaken by the Democratic Republic of Congo as Africa’s largest copper producer. Widespread and extreme rural poverty and high unemployment levels remain significant problems, with some 60.5% of the population living below the poverty line. It is estimated that HIV/AIDS affects 12.4% of the population.

2. Ecclesial Setting

After 120 years of Catholic faith in Zambia, all the 11 dioceses concentrate on primary evangelization. In urban areas, the Church is very active and alive. However, growth is much slower in rural areas. Missionary congregations concentrate on areas such as these.

Faith formation is the aim of the Church in Zambia in both urban and rural areas. Even the older dioceses still concentrate on this area. Faith formation is done at various levels: adults, youth and children. Family and youth need attention in our rural and urban areas due to the evils that have invaded the traditional African society. Lay organizations are very active within the Church. Their participation and activities give life to the Church.  Religious materials are hard to find in Zambia. Catholic editions of the Bible are not available.

Zambia is a very fertile place for vocations to religious and priestly life. The number of diocesan priests is very good in some of the dioceses. There are also many religious vocations in Zambia, both male and female. But the missionary participation is crucial to all the dioceses in Zambia.

Zambia, being a poor country, makes the financial viability of the Church a distant dream. The contributions the faithful make is not enough. As a result the Church still depends on foreign donations.

There are many denominations in Zambia. The Catholic Church does collaborate with other denominations’ leadership, especially addressing issues that concern the whole nation. In cancelling the international debt, the Catholic Church played a very important role. The interdenominational Church bodies spearhead dialogue among political parties. 

The main ministries of Zambia mission are parish pastoral, formation, education, social and prison. Though these are areas where other religious congregations are also involved, confreres carry out these ministries knowing that it is special to the SVD. 

Characteristic Dimensions

Biblical Apostolate: The biblical apostolate is being done in our parishes by training the lay faithful in the Bible. However, it is happening in isolation. The biblical apostolate is a pressing need. There are no centers where special biblical programs are given now. Procuring Bibles is an urgent need too. Catholic Bibles are provided by a printing press in Ndola diocese only. However as Divine Word missionaries, our specific contribution would be providing Bibles and evangelization through a biblical apostolate. Dioceses look to us to help in this matter. Except in our own parishes, so far the SVD has not done anything remarkable in this area. This is a huge possibility. The mission assembly proposed that we begin a more comprehensive biblical apostolate in the Lusaka archdiocese.

Mission Animation: In three parishes there are already SVD lay partners established. This is still in its  early stages. Vocation and Mission Sundays are celebrated together with the help of the seminarians. This is making an impact in the community about the SVD religious family.

JPIC: Deforestation, rampant mining, poor waste management, conservation of water and energy are some of the areas where JPIC is involved. Parishes run by SVDs are spearheading some of these areas with the involvement of the parishioners on the team. 

Communication: Through different means, the communication coordinator aims to make the SVD known to a wider range of people. A large section of people are users of social media like Facebook and Whatsapp. Efforts are being made to set these up together with a Web page. A newsletter is already in circulation. The challenge is to find the right tools to reach people. Access to the internet is expensive and service is inconsistent compared to other countries.

Collaboration with SSpS and Others

We had hoped to have combined council meetings with the SSpS to plan some programs, but this has not taken place due to problems beyond our control. The SSpS cover three countries as one region while the SVD is only in Zambia. So the combined meetings have not yet been realized. However, we do come together to celebrate family feast. Collaboration with other religious congregations is through participation in the Association of Religious Men Zambia (ARMZ).

Spirituality: The integral well-being of each confrere is the aim. The communities have managed to gather for regular Bible sharing. Common retreats were planned and most of the confreres participated. An Arnold Janssen spirituality coordinator was appointed. A confrere was sent to Nemi for the renewal course.

Community Life: A strong sense of unity and brotherhood in our community is the aim. Two districts were erected.  Responsibilities are shared in the community. However, the resolve to have an intercultural competence workshop could not  be fulfilled.

Leadership: A flexible, collaborative, sustainable leadership model for mission is the aim. Friendly visits of the confreres and an evaluation of the past two years have taken place. Relationships with other religious orders have been kept. Participatory leadership is the model we try to follow. However, we could not have a leadership workshop conducted for confreres. We could not have combined district meetings.

Finance: Accounting and reporting have improved. Confreres follow standard book keeping procedures, and accounting and reporting systems. However, we could not put in place a finance committee. An annual inventory is done only in the SVD institutions. A health care and old age fund has not been created due to the lack of money.

Formation: Integral formation is the aim. Our program for initial formation is in two stages, pre-philosophy and philosophy. Every year we are blessed to have some candidates for initial formation. All the areas of their growth are being attended to. A formation manual was completed. There has been planning for formation personnel and their training. However, we could not raise local benefactors for formation. We have not succeeded in organizing a talk by the women’s lay group to talk to the formandi so as to ensure their collaboration. We have not managed to make a manual for new arrivals. We have lagged behind organizing ongoing formation.