Scritto da Peter Kivuva | Categoria: A Proposito di Noi  |  Pubblicato il 18/05/2024

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I hereby present to you various groups in the Divine Mercy parish in Bimbo in the archidiocese of Bangui. These groups are a symbol of growth in faith, a seed that was planted at the inception of the parish a few years ago. The community superior, Fr. Gerard Yapo in collaboration with the parish priest Fr. Stephane Malaba came up with the initiative that the brothers in the active apostolate, i.e: Finally professed, juniorates as well as the novices in the apostolic year engage themselves in some groups such as Padrepio prayer group and MADM. 

MADM gathering with br Janusz, br Simon and br Fredrick

There are other existing groups but our involvement has not yet taken effect. These include but not limited to: St Rita, Holy Spirit, St Joseph, lay readers, liturgical dancsers, mass servers, choir among others.

Lay readers gathering

 Liturgical dancers doing practice

 Gathering of Guides group

 Padre pio prayer group council members meeting with Br. Hugo

 Choir B doing practice

 A group of catechumen in a chatechism session

 Two of our brothers : Victor(red) and Philip(blue) playing football

 The Parish priest Fr Stephane Malaba sharing a word with St Joseph prayer group 

It is a good step  towards familiarising oneself with the activities of the parish where the community is found. As evident in the photos, these groups gather, share the Word of God and various devotions depending on their respective charisms. For example : the    MADM share the passion of Christ, a proposed reading at the diocesan level, catena as well as discussing matters concerning the group like apostolates of proximity that involves visiting members that have been absent for long and inquiring to know reasons for their prolonged absence. 

 Br Sixtus with MADM after mass

Note that the same groups assist in animating the mass on Sundays. Animating here should be understood as maintaining law and order during mass, cleaning the church before and after the celebrations as well as arranging the benches. When brothers visit these groups, they share with them in order to experience the prayer life outside the community and help by responding to the many faith related questions that the members pose. I would say that the presence of the brothers in their midst is a source of enlightenment and encouragement with the faith sharing moments. You will notice from the photos that in many of the groups, they have images of their patron saints placed infont of them as symbols of their unity. I also express with great enthusiam the presence of young members as young as six years as in the case of liturgical dancers. The group is doing a great job of occupying the little ones with church activities right from their tender age to encourage them to grow in the fear and knowledge of God. Young people are full of curiosity and energy which if well channelled can be a source of beatifully blended talent, a source of power, a hope for a given society and a promising future, something that AJC Bangui has decided to invest in. It is my humble prayer that this decision will help in the fight and eradication of social evils like drug and substance abuse, sexual immorality, dropping out of school in pursuit of easy to get lifestyles with dark future etc, that set in when a society neglets its young people. It is in this optic that Bangui community has chosen to engage its brothers in journeying with these groups with the hope that a positive impact will be realised in the long run. Wishing you a fruitful lenten season and a joyful Easter, I remain yours in Christ's service.