Vocation Story: Christian, Take Courage. Build my House!

I had still the vivid memory of the funeral mass of my uncle who passed away in Ecuador on July 27, 1991. He was the brother of my grandmother and served in Ecuador as a missionary. I grew up with him as a model and I had a great admiration for his witness of life. At the funeral mass I was upset because I lost the chance to see him and seek his advice concerning my desire to follow in his footsteps. In that occasion though, I found consolation in keeping my eyes fixed at the tabernacle with the confidence that He would show the way.

In those years I found much happiness in my parish commitments. I was active in the parish youth group and I felt a kind of call to pay more attention to those youth that were marginalized by the group. I was a lector during Sunday celebrations: I was very motivated to proclaim the Word of God as I felt its transforming power. I was also an altar server since my childhood and, as I was now among the oldest, I had more responsibility during the liturgies: this experience brought me to live some liturgies very deeply, especially the Easter Triduum.

Encounter with the Comboni Missionaries

During springtime 1993 I accompanied a friend of mine who invited me to attend a youth meeting at the house of the Comboni Missionaries in a nearby town. I already knew something about them through their publications. I heard also about some Comboni missionaries: one among them was Fr. Egidio Ferracin, martyr in Uganda, whose sister lived in my neighbourhood and whose nephew was my football companion. Before that day, the name Comboni sounded to me very exotic: all I knew was that they were missionaries in Africa. At that meeting I came to know more about them, especially about St Daniel Comboni and his vision for the mission in Africa. I wondered whether this could have been the way offered to me by the Lord.

After a month I went back to the Comboni community to meet the vocation director and I asked him to accompany me in the discernment about my vocation. I got determined to express my desire once I saw a poster that pictured a youth at the foot of the Cross saying to Jesus: “Who can you send now? Please send me”. The self-confidence of that youth encouraged me. That day I experienced great joy and liberation. Once at home I also shared about it with my parents. I discovered that it was not a total surprise for them. They had foreseen it and somehow feared it. However they approved and accompanied me in the vocational journey I was starting. During all this year I witnessed that the Lord, by calling me, called also them to deepen their faith and strengthen their missionary spirit.

I joined the seminary in September 1994 and through all stages I was helped to deepen my vocational motivations, to grow as a person with a sound spiritual life and knowledge. During this time of formation I also matured more interest and concern for the people and mission in Africa, particularly in South Sudan. I was ordained on September 4, 2004, by a Franciscan Bishop and I was assigned to South Sudan. I just felt grateful for how the Lord made everything just happen in my life. Everything had a purpose.

Encounter with the People

I arrived in South Sudan on the year of the comprehensive peace agreement (2005) – a year of great hope – and I was sent to form a new Comboni community in the mission of Old Fangak (Jongley State). People welcomed me warmly and the confreres as well: I learnt a lot from them. Nonetheless the first period was not easy: I had to put much effort to get on with the people in this very poor set up and find my place or rather understand what kind of contribution I could offer.

At the beginning I did not know what to do, but it was clear where I had to start from: learning their language. So, I put much effort to learn the Nuer Language. I also learnt to be patient and go the way people do journey with them. During the first years we were also concerned to put up the structures of the new mission in semi-permanent material. We did it counting on the volunteer work of the Christians under the direction of Bro. Raniero Iacomella. It was a great occasion to join hands and work together.

Fr. Antonio La Braca was mostly concerned to introduce me into the pastoral work. The first thing he did was to take me around to visit all the chapels and centres of the parish (about 60). It took almost one year and half because most places are reachable only after days of walking through bushes and swamps. Each chapel was organized as a small Christian community ministered by the catechist: in most places the priest could reach only once or twice a year. During this visits we were accompanied by catechists, women and youth.

As soon as I got confident with the language, I could put hand to another building: the spiritual building of the Christian communities that needed much leadership, coordination and encouragement. Christian communities were in fact there before the arrival of the missionaries, but they were facing many challenges. Chapels and Centres were very disconnected among themselves, so I had to work much to bring them together through the activities of the youth and a common pastoral plan and calendar of activities. Then, I realized that catechists and Church leaders were in need of spiritual and catechetical formation. Therefore in the parish centre we offered a rich programme of courses for the different groups of the parish.

Relationship is actually the key for a fruitful mission rather than many other enterprises. We must be close to the people and their daily struggles. We must also promote a spirit of communion among the Christians so that the Church can visibly be seen as a family where people have a sense of belonging that goes beyond their clan and tribe. As I look back to these ten years of pastoral work, I (personally) did not build much, but we (together) built a Christian community more mature in faith and concern for each other. This I believe is the House of Jesus. I am grateful to the Lord that let me live in his house and with his people.

Since the end of October 2016, I am now the animator of the community of Pre-postulants in Juba.
Fr. Carlassare Christian, in New People