Nyamlell: Father Michael Barton's Sudan mission: Bishop of Wau's October visit to St. Teresa Parish

Monday, September 19, 2011

Bishop of Wau's October visit to St. Teresa Parish

Saint Teresa Parish

Nyamlell, (Aweil West County)

NBG State

Republic of the South Sudan.

September 12, 2011

CONCERNING PASTORAL VISIT OF THE BISHOP OF WAU TO SAINT TERESA PARISH.

Dear Head Catechist,

We shall have our meeting for head catechists and part-time catechists on Friday September 30th, 2011. You must bring a written report on all the Sunday offerings and other important activities of your area. If you don’t bring with you a written report which you can read to all of us at the meeting no payment will be made. Please do this for this and all of our future meetings. Thank you for this and all your chapel and center work. The meeting should start at 3:00 pm.

The other big news which I want to announce is the pastoral visit of the Bishop of Wau to our parish and just some of the activities planned. The Most Reverend Rudolph Deng Majakwill visit:

Udhom Chapel and Center on October 7th, 2011. Cat, Marko Deng Adel will be there to welcome him in my name. Let the head catechist of Udhom be there waiting and not arriving after everyone else as was done last year to the late Bishop Mazzolari. The Mass of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary can begin at around 11:00 am and followed by a meeting of the bishop with all the catechists and prayer leaders so we hear from our main shepherd in our work of the church and we can present the problems that we face both physical and spiritual. This day is for Udhom Center and the day of the catechists and their bishop. Marko will then bring the bishop to sleep in Nyamlell.

Wetwil Chapel and Center will be visited on October 8th which is Saturday. The work of the chapel will be blessed and the sacrament of reconciliation will be available and Mass will follow at around 11:00 am. This day is for the youth. There will be a meeting held between Bishop Rudolph and the youth after Mass. I shall also be present. This is our youth day with the bishop. From Wetwil we shall move to Ariath where we shall spend the night.

The new church of Saint Dennis will be blessed in Saint Rebecca Center in Ariath (ANC) on Sunday October 9th, 2011. He will meet the authorities of Aweil North County after Mass. This is the second permanent Catholic Church in Aweil North, both in our parish. Hopefully there will be some entertainment prepared but for that we depend on those of Ariath. Reconciliation and Baptisms will be available that day too and after this we shall return to spend the night in Nyamlell.

The bishop will celebrate two Comboni Days, one here in Nyamlell on October 10th, 2011, and another the next day in Marial Baai. Here the Mass will be at 10:00 and before it will be the sacrament of reconciliation and during Mass will be baptisms of some infants. The bishop will, of course, preside at the Eucharist on Comboni Day in Nyamlell. As many who can should try to be here for Comboni and Bishop Deng. Entertainment will be in the hands of the pupils and teachers of Comboni Nyamlell- thii. At 4:00 pm we shall have a courtesy visit to New Life Ministry and at 5:00 we shall continue to South Sudan Hotel to visit the authorities of Aweil West County. At 7:00 there will be rosary and benediction in the parish church and afterwards prize giving. The bishop will sleep in Nyamlell.

October 11th, 2011, Marko will accompany the Bishop to Marial Baai by road or if not possible by boat for Mass and entertainment and afterward the bishop will meet with the teachers of the Catholic schools in our parish. This will be the day of teachers to meet their bishop. He will return to Nyamlell to spend his final night and will return to Wau the next day. We put this entire visit in the hands of God and May Saint Daniel Comboni continue to intercede for us and Our Lady is with us all in good times and bad.

Father Michael D. Barton, MCCJ.

Parish Priest.

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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.