Hello, it is good to be back…in oh so many ways!
As you know, my visitation to the Josephite Missions in Cameroon involved a very distressful incident. Please continue to pray for the safety of our Josephite confreres who work there and for those people who were killed or maimed in the attack. The nine Josephites working there are brave and dedicated men. May God bring peace and stability to that region.
The rest of the visit was excellent. The new school at Koza has started well with a hundred teenagers aged 12. They have very smart bright green shirts and black trousers or skirts and black bow ties! They even practiced their English with me. The new mission at Ouzal is buzzing. Lots of activities: kindergarten, school, library, professional center for adults to learn trades and a four hectare farm which needs to be restored. Fr Paulin, the pastor, is also an agronomist so he is keen to get it going again as a source of auto-financement for our Cameroonian missions. Your kind donations for the appeal are definitely advancing the kingdom of God, not only there, but in Gabon and Congo too. Bless you for your kindness.
As for me, well to paraphrase James Bond, I’ve been a little “Shaken but not deterred!”…and yes, I will have to visit there again in a couple of years. When you fall off a horse you have to get back up on it again. It is good to see your faces again and your kind wishes. It is also great to see our Patron, St Louis de Montfort, installed at the entrance to the church. May he watch over and protect us wherever we might be.
May God bless you, your families, and the week ahead,
Fr Aidan Peter