Harare, Zimbabwe. Fr. Artur Teixeira, CMF, General Prefect of Apostolate, visited and stayed in Zimbabwe during the second half of the month of January. A Mission Assembly was held in Harare from January 25 to 30. The Provincial Superior of Bética, Fr. Félix Martínez, was also present during this special moment of communion, discernment and planning.
During the event, the missionaries dedicated time for prayer, to listen to the Word of God and to one another, to reflect on the processes of transformation, to share about the encounter of ACLA in Nairobi, to learn and practice interculturality, to evaluate the previous year after the General and Provincial Canonical Visits. It was also a time for dialogue on important matters (e.g. community life, spirituality, initial and ongoing formation, missionary project, youth and vocational ministry, publications, learning of the culture and language, coordination of the mission). Likewise, it was the appropriate time to give feedback from the encounters with the Bishops, with the Pastoral Councils; and to ponder the next stage of the Claretian presence in Zimbabwe once Bética is integrated into the new Province of Fatima.
Moreover, on the 29th of January, two aspirants were accepted to Postulancy. On that very same day, they all celebrated joyfully the 16th Anniversary of the first arrival of the Claretian Missionaries in the country. It was graced by the presence of 2 of the first 3 pioneers (Fr. Luis Serón and Fr. Antonio Llamas) and in deep communion with all the other missionaries who have dedicated themselves in Evangelization in Zimbabwe.
The Zimbabwe Mission of Bética Province, is composed of the Formation House in Harare (with five seminarians), the parish in Ruwa (about 30 km from the capital) and the mission in Zhomba – Gokwe (about 500 km away from the heart of the country). The 8 missionaries working there, of diverse nationalities (Spanish, Indian, Sri Lankan and Korean), though challenged by the multicultural environment, are also committed to education ministry at St. Vincent in Ruwa and at St. Claret in Chiutsi, Zhomba; to spread and publish the Word of God in Shona; and to collaborate spiritually with other Religious Orders.
Zimbabwe is a country that depends so much on agriculture with a scarcity of water. Fr. Artur recounted that one time, “after the celebration of the Mass, some members of a rural community have had to leave immediately to defend their goods from several elephants who came in despair to the village searching for water. Good that at the end the month, it started raining.”
This country “is moving forward in a new stage of its social-economical-political life. There will be elections in the coming months. We hope that the current atmosphere can foster even more trust, security, peace that will lead this nation to grow for the good of all”, added Fr. Artur in his post in the General Prefecture of Apostolate website (http://www.apostoladocmf.org)
