Malawi: Catholic Women Organisation in Mzuzu Diocese set to evangelise in hard-to-reach areas

Catholic Women Organisation (CWO) of the Diocese of Mzuzu in Malawi are set to evangelise three communities along Lake Malawi as part of activities to celebrate this year’s Extraordinary Missionary Month of October 2019 and World Mission Sunday.
 

The Diocesan CWO Chairlady Mrs. Jane Mkandawire Lungu disclosed that the Catholic Women together with their Central Deanery Chaplain of CWO, Fr. Mark Mkandawire, are set to travel on a mission to the hard to reach places and rarely ministered to, in Usisya, Ruarwe, Khondowe and New Salawe which are part of the Diocese of Mzuzu, bordering with the Diocese of Karonga.

“We have made this missionary plan as one way of celebrating the Extraordinary Missionary Month of October 2019 and the World Mission Sunday 2019. We are responding to the message from Pope Francis of World Mission Sunday 2019 and the encouragement from our Bishop, Rt. Rev John Ryan. In his World Mission Day message for this year, Pope Francis has said: ‘For the month of October 2019, I have asked that the whole Church revive her missionary awareness and commitment as we commemorate the centenary of the Apostolic Letter Maximum Illud of Pope Benedict XV (30 November 1919)’,” she explained.

Mrs. Jane Mkandawire Lungu stated that travelling under the guidance of the Holy Scripture found on Luke 1:30, which reads, ‘“I am the Lord’s Servant”, the Catholic women say celebrating this month will help them to rediscover the missionary dimension of their faith in Jesus Christ, a faith graciously bestowed on them through baptism.

“We shall travel by boat on Friday 11th October from Nkhata Bay to Usisya, a journey of not less than 7 hours. On Saturday, 12th, we shall reach out to the three communities along the lake to celebrate the Word and Eucharist and share rosaries with them. On Sunday, 13th, we will celebrate the Word and Eucharist at Usisya and share rosaries with the community of Usisya,” she explained.

Other than Usisya, the other communities beyond Usisya have no prayer centres, which make life tough for them when it comes to gathering together for worship.

And following the missionary trip Father Mark made to the places in 2017, this will be a second missionary activity which is unique in a sense that it involves women and falls in this year of renewing our missionary awareness and commitment to commemorate the Apostolic Letter Maximum Illud.

“Our hope and prayer is that this year’s Extraordinary Missionary Month of October 2019 and the World Mission Day on 20 October will raise an awareness to all Catholics throughout the world of the need to reach out to those on the periphery, those rarely supported with both physical and spiritual items and that various people will pull together to start supporting our brothers and sisters in such places. With God’s help, we can contribute towards building prayer centres in such disadvantaged areas and people,” Lungu emphasised.

Meanwhile, the Pontifical Mission Society (PMS) national director Father Vincent Mwakhwawa has commended the organisation for undertaking the trip to the hard-to-reach areas to spread the gospel of salvation.

 

Mwakhwawa said, “I’m impressed by the Catholic women who, moved by the spirit of the message Maximum illud and the 2019 World Mission Sunday message from Pope Francis, would like to share their catholic faith and strengthen those living the periphery of the society. This also shows that the objective of Extraordinary Missionary Month October 2019 is being achieved, for these women have a renewed missionary commitment to share their faith in Jesus Christ to those who are very far away from them.”

                                                                                                                             Malawi

                                                                                                                     August 2019

By Watipaso Mzungu
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