Nyamlell: Father Michael Barton's Sudan mission: Excerpt of letter from Father Michael, 11/03

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Excerpt of letter from Father Michael, 11/03

This is part of a letter was sent to Jane Lichtenberg, Indianapolis:

Nov. 25, 2003

Dear Jane,
It is the end of the rainy season and the start of the dry. I am very happy about it. I am so tired of walking through water and ponds, rivers and puddles everywhere.
I am seriously considering trying to get a little boat with an outboard motor for the next 2004 wet season.
On my last two pastoral visits I only had to carry my bicycle thrice instead of the miles of punishing the bike through water and mud.
The big event for us here was the canonization and feast day of St. Daniel Comboni. We started everything on Sept. 30 when I gave money to two catechists and a teacher and they went to buy two cows to be slaughtered on Comboni Day. The next day each class had to begin to prepare a skit or game or song or poem.
Then we started a novena in honor of the new saint. Oct. 4 was the celebration of vigil and it was for the catechists in Cielkou Center, Marial Baai Center and Makueci (sp?) Center. Then on the day of canonization Oct. 5, everyone went to Marial Baai, where we have a Comboni school. We had a huge crowd of thousands of people of all ages. There were plenty of confessions, a very solemn mass and a poster show on Comboni, 30 baptisms and some entertainment prepared for the pupils and a great meal.
I then went back to Nyamlell for the week of teaching.
Oct. 10 was the second Friday of October. It was Comboni's first feast day as a saint. Comboni died this day in Khartoum in 1881 and so it has been Comboni Day for ages for us here in Sudan.
Several weeks after, I heard a teacher refer to this as the "Day of the Million." Well, let me tell you of the day of the million -- Oct. 10, 2003, in Nyamlell. The bishop of the diocese of Rumbek had given us a portrait banner of our founder. The day was planned for the school and for Nyamlell Center, Adhal Center and Marol Center. Each center has up to 10 village chapels. Well, lots of us came and we hung that banner in our unrepaired parish church. Mass was packed to the rafters and outside everywhere in all the trees. I ran out of hosts. Once again, people of all ages. Here one finds very few old people in church, as most everyone in worship is young. Just the opposite from the European and American scene.
I gave all the catechists and teachers a Comboni T-shirt to commemorate the day of canonization. In the evening we had rosary and prize giving and the video "Titanic."
It has already been a month and lots of other stuff has happened. I am happy to have the rectory almost all done with only one more room to be repaired and the steps in and out. This Sunday is Christ the King and we are going to have a communal celebration of the anointing of the sick. Then we shall have a nice day safari. On Dec. 14 a communal penance service in Advent during the Sunday liturgy and the final exams and the ending of the school year, and then Christmas and a catechist course.
On Jan. 3, 2004, two boys are going to leave for the seminary and two girls for the pre-convent school and three for a year of catechist training and five for teachers training, all in Kenya. For me it will be lots of pastoral safaris.
Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Advent, and Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year 2004. Yours in Sacred Heart,
Michael

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Saint Teresa Parish

Comboni School

Nyamlell (Aweil West)

Northern Bahr el Ghazal State

South Sudan

The permanent school and the Activity Center that serves as the Saint Joseph Church, as well as a block of four classrooms in the Comboni School in Marial Baai in Aweil West in Northern Bahr el Ghazal, were completed and the Church is used for two classes of Comboni School there. Until further plans or possibilities present themselves, the Marial Baai Community will have to maintain two locally built classrooms. However, in 2009, six classrooms were built – two of them in the first permanent Church built in the entire state since the 1950s.

The Science Laboratory and two more classrooms were roofed and completed in Nyamlell, also in 2009

We celebrated the 75 years of foundation and of existence of the Catholic Church in Nyamlell, which is the second mission built by the Comboni Missionaries among the Dinka. It began in 1934 for the first evangelization of the Dinka Malual so there have been 75 years of the gospel and the sacraments in our state. It was a very big celebration and many thousands of people came and so much preparation went into it.

There was a drive to get donations from the local Christians especially by the youth, and to my amazement the youth and the elders responded marvelously and most of the costs was covered by the Catholics of the parish; the OLSH sisters helped so much in organizing so many details. It was a Christ-centered celebration of Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus and a strengthening of the Church for continued preaching of the gospel in this parish, state and country of the South Sudan.

Our school did very well and got first place in the whole state of Northern Bahr el Ghazal in the state-run class eight leavers certificate examination in 2009. Our best was first in the state and our worst was 99^th out of 1,568 class eight leavers. The best went on to high school and the worst became a policeman. The class eight in 2010 should be sitting soon for theirs and we shall see how they will do.

A non-governmental organization (NGO) in Juba had promised $50,000 when the Activity Center was being built in Marial Baai, but when finished they said that it looked like a church to them and in the end did not give a red cent or piaster of any kind. So all this was done by money that had been donated by people like you.

There are NGOs who have built classrooms but they will only do it for the South Sudan Government and not for the Church even though our results are far superior than those of the government. All these took great effort.

In 2009 the Christmas collection all over the parish in all its centers and chapels was dedicated to building of the first permanent Church in the entire County of Aweil North. This building will be for two purposes. It will serve as a Church and as an Activity Center. It will be called Saint William Church and Saint Julia Activity Center and is being built in Gok Macar, the county seat of Aweil North.

We started the construction as of December 2009 and it is much too early to say when we shall finish but it will be done some time in 2010. I am thinking that U.S. $80,000 will be the cost and one thousand will come from the local community in the form of Sudanese pounds of items.

Next we would like to build a smaller chapel in Ariath, another important center in Aweil North with a good population and many Catholics in both Gok Macar and Ariath.

We have another Comboni school in Makuei, also in Aweil North, which is up to class five. Not far is a large church that has only local grass structures. I would like to build a block of four classrooms that will cost close to U.S. $100,000, which will only be started when we have the money. So I am looking for that too. I hope to get something from some organization. Much cheaper will the repair and finishing of our last classrooms if we can by 2012. I shall move one step at a time.

In 2010 there will be two schools that are up to class eight. They are Nyamlell and Marial Baai, both in Aweil West. As I have said Makuei is our smallest school and has class five this year.

Sacred Heart High School had a great year and in 2010 we shall have Form One and Form Two and growing but also struggling as students coming from other schools like the government ones are very difficult to find as to fit the poorly taught and the well taught who have the basics in place.

We all need help, so that something can get done and that what is up and running stays that way.

Sincerely yours in the Lord of all,
Father Michael Barton, MCCJ.
Comboni Missionaries-Nyamlell,South Sudan.
Post Office Box 21102
Nairobi, Kenya 00505.