Category Archives: Religion

DID SISTER BEATRICE GET MARRIED DUE TO FRUSTRATION IN RELIGIOUS LIFE?

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From: ouko joachim omolo
Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News

BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
NAIROBI-KENYA
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2011

Since we reported about Sister Beatrice Magoka who left sisterhood and got married to American Tyrone Wright after being a sister for 16 years we have received a lot of queries of which I thought I should respond to even though I have began my personal prayers and reflections which ends on Friday as indicated to you earlier.

Thank you also for reminding me of the error on my December January diary- I meant January 2012 and not 2013. Concerning whether Sister Magoka left sisterhood due to frustrations in religious life is something difficult for me to answer.

However, while frustrations in religious life or in diocesan priesthood can lead to marriage or leave sisterhood or priesthood, in the case of Sr Magoka what we do know is that in an interview conducted through phone calls and emails by The East African Standard is that she talked of the great love she has for her man, whom she describes as caring, loving and the best that can be.

What is very clear also are some cases where sisters, nuns or priests have left their priestly and religious vocations citing frustrations from their superiors or bishops, particularly where an individual religious or priest may respond with rational problem-solving methods to overcome the barrier in vain.

Failing in this may lead to that particular individual become frustrated and behave irrationally towards his superior or bishop. An example of blockage of motivational energy would be the case of a religious or priest who wants certain work accomplished but his superiors or bishop denies him or her permission to do that.

Another example would be the religious or priest who wants fair treatment, which include financial support for his or her apostolate, or personal needs from his superiors or bishop, in these cases, an appeal to reason does not succeed in reducing the barrier or in developing some reasonable alternative approach, the frustrated individual may resort to less adaptive methods of trying to reach the goal by herself or himself.

The symptom would be that the individual religious or priest may talk ills of his bishop or her superior. By talking ills or criticising the superiors is one way of releasing frustrations-it is one way towards healing.

James 4: 1-3 spells out what can cause fights and quarrels among people is when you desire to have something done but do not have it done, so you can even kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. But some times when you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures and not for apostolate.

Very often religious or priests who are frustrated may experience a range of negative emotions such as anger, resentment, annoyance, jealousy, distrust, or envy. Some religious or priests may also experience personal frustration when they are dealing with their own weakness, insecurity and inabilities to do something.

It may also occur when you and your superiors or bishops are encountering a communication breakdown, in such a case frustration often sets in when both of you fail to connect with each other.

It is here when frustration is not dealt with effectively it can lead to more serious emotional issues which can lead to alcoholism, anxiety, depression, phobias, loneliness and loss of self worth.

This is not only on religious or priests but also children from single parents in formations houses such as seminaries, monasteries or seminaries. There is a great concern that today there are many seminarians and those trained as religious from single parents, especially single mothers than ever been before.

That is why it is very important those who are in charge of formation houses should include in their curriculum counselling sessions, and if possible be taught in class other than spiritual directions alone.

In most cases children from single parents, especially from divorce can make children get shock, and they will need help coping with the new changes to their lives. This is because single parenting after divorce can be stressful to children, even to their parents. One thing that has shown to be very helpful is making their lives as normal as possible as they grow.

Single parent is a term that is mostly used to suggest that one parent has most of the day to day responsibilities in the raising of the child or children, which would categorize them as the dominant caregiver. The dominant caregiver is the parent in which the children have residency with majority of the time.

Given that single mothers represent a dominant aspect of poverty levels in society as many single mothers who are the primary caregiver for their children lack the financial resources to support their children when the birth father does not provide helpful support to the mother, may also cause stress or frustrations in children.

In a state where frustrations can no longer hold, many religious sisters or nuns find it easily to quit than priests because nuns have many employment opportunities, and can get work easily-some of them are qualified teachers and registered with Teachers Service Commission (TSC), others are nurses or doctors.

Some frustrated priests would like to leave priesthood but cannot because they do not have qualification as religious women have-it explains why some of them opt for married priesthood where he is still being taken care of with his wife and children.

Of course, we do not rule out that some religious women, men or priests can leave if they have found out that being a religious or priest was not their vocation other than married life. This should of course not to be understood negatively or blame them given that sex can be a powerful experience of union and love as well.

Men and women do not join religious life or priesthood because they are asexual beings (asexuality) which in its broadest sense is the lack of sexual attraction or lack of interest in sex but because they are fully normal human beings.

People for Peace in Africa (PPA)
P O Box 14877
Nairobi
00800, Westlands
Kenya

Tel +254-7350-14559/+254-722-623-578
E-mail- ppa@africaonline.co.ke
omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Website: www.peopleforpeaceafrica.org

CHALLENGES AHEAD OF POPE’S VISIT TO BENIN

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From: People For Peace
Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News

BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
NAIROBI-KENYA
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2011

Pope Benedict XVI is expected to make an Apostolic Visit to Benin from November 18 to 20, 2011 to present the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation of the Second Special Assembly for Africa Synod of Bishops in style. The Vatican Radio and three African musicians have produced a musical album to mark his visit.

According to Vatican Radio, the musical album dubbed Africa tenda amani (Afrca make peace!) produced in collaboration with Papa Wemba, Bonga and Fifito, will reflect the theme of the second African Synod: The Church in Africa in Service to Reconciliation, Justice and Peace.

According to the Director General of Vatican Radio, Fr Federico Lombardi, the album expresses in music the desire to accompany the fruits yielded by the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops.

Fr Lombardi said that the songs in the album are in various languages and interpret the aspiration for peace, reconciliation and justice of the African peoples which according to him they are a concrete way of inculturating the Gospel in Africa, as emphasized by Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to Cameroon in 2009.

The good news is that the musical CD will be distributed to all bishops, dioceses and Catholic Radio Stations in Africa with an aim to spread the message of the second African Synod. This is also in accordance with the Papal Missionary Intention of November that promotes reconciliation, justice and peace in Africa.

Given that most of these trips involve the Pope giving speeches on issues that play an important role in the region that he visits, especially on education, contraceptives, abortion, and what it means to be Catholic, the Pope is expected to speak on matters touching on family values as opposed to same sex union.

Same-sex sexual acts for both men and women are legal in Benin, even though same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex couples.

Same-sex sexual acts were previously illegal for both men and women, with a penalty of between one and three years in prison and a fine between 100,000 and 300,000 francs (150 to 300 euros).

The Pope may also touch something on voodoo. Once banned in Benin, the religion is celebrated at the country’s annual Voodoo Day, which draws thousands of celebrants.
In the past, the ports of Benin exported slaves and one of the religions of those slaves was voodoo, which remains strong in Benin today.

A voodoo stall offers solutions to help people’s businesses or exam results
There is a large trade in raw materials for voodoo. A chameleon is apparently necessary to help a business succeed, whilst a cat’s head, ground into a powder with seven herbs and the skin of an antelope, will help a student get good results at school.

You can also recall that when the Pope visited Australia (July 13 to July 21, 2008) to meet with the young people of the world at World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney he made a historic full apology for child sex abuse by court sentenced of 107 predatory Catholic priests, inter alia, and clergy in Australia, on July 19, 2008.

Before a 3,400 audience, he called for compensation and demanded punishment for those guilty of the “evil”: “Here I would like to pause to acknowledge the shame which we have all felt as a result of the sexual abuse of minors by some clergy and religious in this country.

I am deeply sorry for the pain and suffering the victims have endured and I assure them that, as their pastor, I too share in their suffering.” The Pope said: “Victims should receive compassion and care, and those responsible for these evils must be brought to justice.

These misdeeds, which constitute so grave a betrayal of trust, deserve unequivocal condemnation. “I ask all of you to support and assist your bishops, and to work together with them in combating this evil. It is an urgent priority to promote a safer and more wholesome environment, especially for young people”.

In Cameroon and Angola (March 17 to March 23, 2009) the pope drew criticism for suggesting that condoms were not the answer to Africa’s Aids crisis, but rather, sexual behavior. The Pope said this in Cameroon before he travelled to Angola to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Catholic presence there.

During a March 21 mass, the pope urged Catholics to reach out and convert believers in sorcery. There have been some cases in Angola where police rescued 40 children who had been held in a house by two religious sects after being accused by their own families of witchcraft.

In Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian Territories (May 8 to May 15, 2009) the story was different. During his visit, the pope condemned Holocaust denials, and called for cooperation between the Palestinians and Israelis.

Coming back to Benin, one of the big debates, and throughout the continent, is over China’s role in Africa. The name of the country was changed to the Republic of Benin in 1990 after the abolition of Marxism-Leninism the year previously. China has been helping Benin since the late 1960s out of friendship, and also because China wants to gain raw materials from Africa.

Per capita income for Benin’s population of 8.7 million is $440. An estimated 33 percent lives below the national poverty line. Statistics on the status of health and education, although improving over the past decade, reflect a low level of human development.

Life expectancy is 53 years. Mortality among children under five is 151 per 1,000. An estimated 23 percent of children under five are malnourished. Maternal mortality is estimated at 850 per 100,000 live births.

The adult literacy rate, at nearly 40 percent, is well below the 63 percent rate for Sub-Saharan Africa. In Benin, adult literacy for women aged 15 and older is just over 25 percent, far below the rate for all of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Among significant development challenges facing Benin is an increasing perception that the Government is falling behind in its ability to govern effectively. Corruption and ineffective management are widely recognized as significant problems.

Benin’s population is expected to reach 9.1 million by 2015. The Government is already hard pressed to meet the needs of its people for access to health care and education. Government expenditures as a proportion of GDP for health and education currently stand at 2.1 percent and 3.5 percent respectively. These are low compared to other low-income countries.

Former West African Development Bank Director Boni Yayi won the March 2006 election for the presidency in a field of 26 candidates. International observers including the United Nations, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and others called the election free, fair, and transparent.

President Kerekou was barred from running under the 1990 constitution due to term and age limits. President Yayi was inaugurated on April 6, 2006. President, elected by popular vote for 5-year term, appoints the Cabinet.

In Benin, for instance, discussions are being held in Parliament about the Family Code, which is creating division between two points of views: women advocate that at home husbands and wives should have the same rights, while men believe that a woman should not expect to have the same rights as her husband.

Many feminists are being organised into associations to struggle for their rights — to have the same conditions as men, as far as representation is concerned. They claim that there must be parity in the number of men and women in Parliament and government, for a start. This has created intense debate in Benin.

Meanwhile, churches are fighting one another, be they of the same faith or not. The Protestant Methodist church, for instance, is being rocked by leadership conflict brought on by the modification of its constitution. The same thing is happening at the Renaissance church, which is a new congregation, because some of its faithful have been denounced for practices which are said to be against the church’s teachings.

Although the institutional setup for fighting corruption is quite well-established and Benin’s anti-corruption strategy is seen as successful by many international observers, property rights, although adequately defined, are not safeguarded in practice due to corruption.

Foreign investors should note that bribery regularly occurs in relation to several business procedures, including obtaining water connections, construction permits and commercial licences. The bribes demanded are reported to be especially high for foreign companies due to their alleged ‘capacity to pay’.

Most companies expect to give gifts in order to secure a government contract. Many observers note that public procurement and contracting procedures in Benin are highly corrupt.

Christians in Benin constitute approximately 42,8 percent (3,762,904) of the country’s population (8,791,832 – 2009 est.) According to the 2002 census, 27.1 percent of the population of Benin is Roman Catholic, 5 percent Celestial Christian, 3.2 percent Methodist, 7.5 percent other Christian groups (Baptists, Assemblies of God, Pentecostals, Seventh-day Adventists, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), Jehovah’s Witnesses, Rosicrucians, the Unification Church).

The Cathedral of Notre Dame des Aportres in Cotonou-capital city of Benin

The dioceses consist of Archdiocese of Cotonou, Archdiocese of Parakou, Diocese of Porto Novo, Lokossa, Abomey, Kandi, Dassa-Zoumé, N’dali, and Djougou. The Archdiocese of Cotonou is the Metropolitan See for the Ecclesiastical province of Cotonou in Benin. The seat of the archbishop is Cathédrale Notre Dame in Cotonou . There is also a Minor Basilica at the Basilique de lImmaculée Conception in Cotonou.

People for Peace in Africa (PPA)
P O Box 14877
Nairobi
00800, Westlands
Kenya
Tel +254-7350-14559/+254-722-623-578
E-mail- ppa@africaonline.co.ke
omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Website: www.peopleforpeaceafrica.org

USA, MN: 10/29/2011 MUSIC CONCERT!!

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from DAVID ADAWO

The group, Psalms 150, which is made up of a team of Christian singers from different denominations and cultures drawn from both SDA churches as well as Pentecostal churches, and based right here in Minneapolis or otherwise known as Twin cities, are happy to invite you and your friends to attend there first ever Twin Cities Music concert to be held on Saturday 10/29th/2011 as from 4:00pm to 8:00pm at the Park Senior High School Auditorium Addres 7300 Brooklyn Blvd, Brooklyn Park, MN, 55443.

Come enjoy dynamic praise, drama and skits, dances, various choirs as well as solo artists around. If you are also interested in participating in any way or presenting an item feel free to contact David @ 612-298-5763

God bless you all.
Psalms 150 group.

“I shall pass through this life but once, If there is any good I can do let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again….”

World: NEW POLL SUGGESTS PUBLIC HAVE NEGATIVE VIEW OF THE CHURCH

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From: People For Peace
Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News

BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
NAIROBI-KENYA
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2011

This week’s edition of The Tablet published overwhelming revelation of the new poll suggesting that the public have a negative view of the Church and are indifferent over the impact of the papal visit. According to the poll, commissioned by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales to mark the anniversary of the papal visit, 70 per cent of the 2,000 British adults questioned said they felt the Church was out of touch with modern society.
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Even though for the Catholics questioned – 9 per cent of the total surveyed – that figure dropped to 59 per cent, the Catholic Church is collapsing in the developed countries. This is because they are not following the Teachings of Jesus Christ. Instead, it has become a sort of Corporation, with accumulation of wealth and power as its goal.

Other than wealth and power however, child abuse, especially in USA where around 19,000 people have so far come forward as being child abuse victims by priests is cited as the reason why.

The individual dioceses ended up paying out $2 billion in damages to some of them. It was the same in Ireland where 15,000 came forward as abuse victims and were paid over $1 million in damages. Many of the Bishops have resigned to prevent investigation of their activities.

During his recent visit to Germany, Pope Benedict XVI was strict with his followers, more and more of whom are leaving the Church – a point the pope even addressed during his four days in his native country where the scandal has cast a shadow on the Vatican, with allegations touching his former archdiocese including his brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, director of the choir there from 1964 to 1994.

Benedict’s native Germany has been rocked by a series of clergy-abuse allegations since January, when former students at Berlin’s élite Jesuit high school, Canisius College, went public with accusations against two former priests at the institution. Similar allegations then emerged at other Catholic schools and institutions in German, including a Benedictine monastery and several boarding schools.

German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger condemned the “wall of silence” within the Catholic hierarchy, accusing the church of hiding behind a 2001 Vatican directive that called for cases of abuse to be investigated internally before going to state authorities. “This directive makes clear that even serious abuse allegations fall under papal confidentiality and thus should not be forwarded on outside the church,” she said.

Viewing church negatively is not only a Catholic problem alone-Protestant churches are the same, especially losing young adults in “sobering” numbers. Seven in 10 Protestants ages 18 to 30 — both evangelical and mainline — who went to church regularly in high school said they quit attending by age 23, according to the survey by LifeWay Research. And 34 percent of those said they had not returned, even sporadically, by age 30. That means about one in four Protestant young people have left the church.

“This is sobering news that the church needs to change the way it does ministry,” says Ed Stetzer, director of Nashville-based LifeWay Research, which is affiliated with the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention.

“It seems the teen years are like a free trial on a product. By 18, when it’s their choice whether to buy in to church life, many don’t feel engaged and welcome,” says associate director Scott McConnell.

The statistics are based on a survey of 1,023 Protestants ages 18 to 30 who said they had attended church at least twice a month for at least one year during high school. LifeWay did the survey in April and May. Margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Asked why in 1500 the Roman Catholic Church was all powerful, especially in Western Europe, the answer is because its power had been built up over the centuries and relied on ignorance and superstition on the part of the populace. It had been indoctrinated into the people that they could only get to heaven via the church.

This gave a priest enormous power at a local level on behalf of the Catholic Church. The local population viewed the local priest as their ‘passport’ to heaven as they knew no different and had been taught this from birth by the local priest. Such a message was constantly being repeated to ignorant people in church service after church service. Hence keeping your priest happy was seen as a prerequisite to going to heaven.

To go by this, you would be expected to give to the church via the collection at the end of each service (as God was omnipresent he would see if anyone cheated on him), you had to pay tithes (a tenth of your annual income had to be paid to the church which could be either in money or in kind such as seed, animals etc.) and you were expected to work on church land for free for a specified number of days per week.

You were told that if you did not go to heaven then the likelihood was that your soul had been condemned to Hell. Basically if you knew that you had sinned you would wait until a pardoner was in your region selling an indulgence and purchase one as the pope, being God’s representative on Earth, would forgive your sins and you would be pardoned.

This industry was later expanded to allow people to buy an indulgence for a dead relative who might be in purgatory or Hell and relieve that relative of his sins. By doing this you would be seen by the Catholic Church of committing a Christian act and this would elevate your status in the eyes of God.

It is argued that it is one of the reasons why Pius XI’s first encyclical as Pope was directly related to his aim of Christianising all aspects of increasingly secular societies. Ubi archano, promulgated in December 1922, inaugurated the “Catholic Action” movement.

Similar goals were in evidence in his encyclicals Divini illius magistri (1929), making clear the need for Christian over secular education, and Casti Connubii , (1930), praising Christian marriage and family life as the basis for any good society, condemning artificial means of contraception, but also acknowledging at the same time the unitive aspect of intercourse as licit.

Any use whatsoever of matrimony exercised in such a way that the act is deliberately frustrated in its natural power to generate life is an offense against the law of God and of nature, and those who indulge in such are branded with the guilt of a grave sin.

Nor are those considered as acting against nature who in the married state use their right in the proper manner although on account of natural reasons either of time or of certain defects, new life cannot be brought forth.

For in matrimony as well as in the use of the matrimonial rights there are also secondary ends, such as mutual aid, the cultivating of mutual love, and the quieting of concupiscence which husband and wife are not forbidden to consider so long as they are subordinated to the primary end and so long as the intrinsic nature of the act is preserved.

He condemned, in his 1928 encyclical, Mortalium Animos, the idea that Christian unity could be attained by establishing a broad federation of many bodies holding varying doctrines (the widespread view among Protestant ecumenists); rather, the Catholic Church was the one true Church, all her teachings were objectively true, and Christian unity could only be by achieved by non-Catholic denominations rejoining the Catholic Church and accepting the doctrines they had rejected.

People for Peace in Africa (PPA)
P O Box 14877
Nairobi
00800, Westlands
Kenya

Tel +254-7350-14559/+254-722-623-578
E-mail- ppa@africaonline.co.ke
omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Website: www.peopleforpeaceafrica.org

WORLD: STATISTICS OF THE MISSIONARY WORLD CHURCH POPULATION

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from ouko joachim omolo
Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News

BY FIDES NEWS SERVICE
VATICAN CITY
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2011
MISSION SUNDAY TAKE-3

As every year, on the occasion of World Mission Sunday, October 23 this year, Fides News Service offers some statistics chosen to give a panorama of the missionary Church all over the world. The tables are taken from the latest edition of the “Church’s Book of Statistics” published (updated to December 31, 2009) regarding members of the Church, church structures in the field of pastoral care, healthcare, welfare and education. Please note that variations, increase or decrease, emerging from our own comparison with last year’s figures, are marked increase (+) or decrease (-).

World Population

To December 31, 2009 the world population was equal to 6.777.599.000 people, with an increase of 79.246 million units compared with the previous year. Population growth was registered on every continent: Africa (+19,983,000); America (+8,744,000); Asia (+47,702, 000); Oceania (+967,000); Europe (+1,850,000).

Catholics

On the same date Catholics in the world numbered 1,180,665,000 units with an overall increase of 14,951,000 units more than the previous year. The increase affects all continents: Africa (+6,530,000); America (+5,863,000); Asia (+1,814,000); Europe (+597,000), Oceania (+147,000)-The World percentage of Catholics increased by 0.02%, settling at 17.42%. By continent: increases were registered in Africa (+0.3); America (+0.04) and Asia (+ 0.01), a drop in numbers was registered, like last year, in Europe (- 0.02) and Oceania (- 0.3).

Persons and Catholics per priest:

This year again the number of persons per priest in the world increased by 139 units, average 13,154. The distribution by continent: increase in America (+70), Europe (+42) and Oceania (+181), and a drop in numbers in Africa (-313) and Asia (-628) – The number of Catholics per priest in the world increased by 27 units, average 2,876. We have increases on every continent except Asia: Africa (+25); America (+32); Asia (-30); Europe (+16); Oceania (+25).

Ecclesiastical circumscriptions and mission stations:

The number of ecclesiastical circumscriptions increased by 11 more than the previous year to 2,956, with new circumscriptions created in: Africa (+3), America (+2), Asia (+6). Mission stations with a resident priest 1850 (185 more than in the previous year) and increases registered in Africa (+280) and America (+94). Decreases in Asia (-69), Europe (-110) and Oceania (-10). Mission Stations without a resident priest increased in number by 5,459 units, to 130,948. Increases registered in Africa (+2,143), America (+2,131), Asia (+937) and Oceania (+278), decreases in Europe (-30).

Bishops

The total number of Bishops in the world increased by 63 units, to 5,065. Overall the increase in numbers regard both diocesan and religious Bishops. Diocesan Bishops number 3,828 (42 more than in the previous year); Religious Bishops number 1,237 (21 more). The increase in diocesan Bishops is registered on every continent: Africa (+2), America (+19), Asia (+1), Europe (+17), Oceania (+3). The only decrease in religious Bishops was registered in Oceania (-1), the increase was registered in Africa (+10), America (+4), Asia (+5) and Europe (+3).

Priests

The total number of priests in the world increased by 1,427 units more than in the previous year, to 410,593. The only continent which registered a decrease was once again Europe (-1,674), whereas figures grew in Africa (+1155), America (+413), Asia (+1519) and Oceania (+14). Diocesan priests increased by 1,535 units, reaching a total of +275,542, with increases in Africa (+888), America (+946), Asia (+780) and Oceania (+26) but numbers dropped in Europe (-1105) – The number of Religious priests decreased by 108 units to a total of 135,051. Increases, following the trend of recent years are Africa (+267) and Asia (+739), but decreases affect America (-533), Europe (-569) and Oceania (-12).

Permanent Deacons

Permanent deacons in the world increased by 952 units, reaching 38,155- The greatest increase is once again in America (+552) and Europe (+326), followed by Oceania (+57) and Asia (+23). The only decrease was registered in Africa (-6). Diocesan permanent deacons are 37,592 in the world, with an overall increase of 1,053 units. They increased on every continent except Africa (-2), precisely: America (+623), Asia (+15), Europe (+359) and Oceania (+58). Religious permanent deacons are 563, decreased by 101 units compared to the previous year, with the only increase in Asia (+8) and decreases in Africa (-4), America (-71), Europe (-33), Oceania (-1).

Men and women religious

The non-religious priests decreased globally by 412 units to 54,229. Increases were registered only in Africa (+294), but decreases in America (-195), Asia (-60), Europe (-445) and Oceania (-6). This confirms the overall decrease in the number of women religious (-9697) that are a total of 729,371, divided as follows: This year we also confirm the increase in Africa (+1249) and Asia (+1399), decrease in America (-4681), Europe ( -7468) and Oceania (-196).

Members of Secular Institutes, male and female

Members of male secular institutes number 737 with an overall decrease of 6 units. At the continental level there is an increase in Africa (+5) and America (+3), Oceania unvaried, while there is a decrease in Asia (-1) and Europe (-13). The female members of secular institutes have also decreased this year, a total of 386 units, for a number of 26,260 members. An increase in Africa (+37), Asia (+180) and Oceania (+1), decrease in America (-30) and Europe (-574).

Lay missionaries and catechists

The number of lay missionaries in the world is 320,226 units, with an overall increase of 3,390 units and increase in Africa (+736), Asia (+3774) and Europe (+428). Decreases were recorded in America (-1531) and Oceania (-17). Catechists in the world increased to a total of 68,515 units to 3,151,077. Numbers increase in Africa (+19,538), America (+36,319), Asia (+13,365) and Oceania (+287). The only decrease is in Europe (-994),

Major seminarians

The number of major seminarians, diocesan and religious, also increased this year: they are globally 954 more candidates for priesthood, who have thus reached a total of 117,978. Increases, as occurred in previous years, in Africa (+565), Asia (+781) and Oceania (+15), while this year decreases in America (-60) and Europe (-347). The major diocesan seminarians are 71,219 (43 more than in the previous year) and 46,759 religious ones (+911). Diocesan seminarians increases are registered in Africa (+425) and Asia (+121), decreases are registered in America (-353) and Oceania (-14) and Europe (-136). The religious seminarians increase in Africa (+140), America (+293), Asia (+660) and Oceania (+29) and decrease in Europe (-211).

Minor seminarians

The total number of minor seminarians, diocesan and religious, increased by 1,631 units, to 103,991- Overall increase in Africa (+1765), Asia (+211) and Oceania (+53) and decreased in America (-337) and Europe (-61). The minor diocesan seminarians are 79,142 (+1155) and 24,849 religious ones (+476). Diocesan seminarians in America have registered a decrease in America (-264), Asia (-97) and Europe (-18), but increase in Africa (+1483) and Oceania (+51). The religious seminarians are decreasing in America (-73) and Europe (-43), and are increasing in Africa (+282), Asia (+308) and Oceania (+2).

Catholic schools and education

In the field of education the Catholic Church runs 68,119 kindergartens with 6,522,320 pupils; 92,971 primary schools with 30,973 114 pupils; 42,495 secondary schools with 17,114,737 pupils. The Church also cares for 2,288,258 secondary school pupils and 3,275,440 university students. Both the number of institutes and students, at all levels, have increased compared to the previous year.

Health, charity and assistance institutes

Charity and assistance institutes run in the world by the Church include: 5,558 hospitals most of them in America (1721) and Africa (1290); 17,763 dispensaries, mainly in America (5495), Africa (5280) and Asia ( 3634), 561 care Homes for people with Leprosy mainly in Asia (288) and Africa (174); 16,073 Homes for the elderly, or chronically ill or people with a disability, mainly in Europe (8238) and America (4144); 9,956 orphanages, about one third in Asia (3406); 12,387creches, 13,736 marriage counseling centers mainly in Europe (5948) and America (4696); 36,933 education or social rehabilitation centers and 12,050 other kinds of institutions, mainly in America (4484 ), Europe (3939) and Asia (1857).

Ecclesiastical Circumscriptions dependent on the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples

To 1 October 2011, the ecclesiastical Circumscriptions dependent on the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (CEP) were 1103- Mainly in Africa (499) and Asia (473)- Followed by America (85) and Oceania (46). (SL) (Agenzia Fides 21/10/2011)
Links:

The full text of the Special Feature by Fides in Italian
http://www.fides.org/ita/documents/STATISTICHE_CH._Ott_2011.doc

People for Peace in Africa (PPA)
P O Box 14877
Nairobi
00800, Westlands
Kenya
Tel +254-7350-14559/+254-722-623-578
E-mail- ppa@africaonline.co.ke
omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Website: www.peopleforpeaceafrica.org

USA, NY: Onjiko SDA Church Fundraising

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from Doc Odotte

DEAR FRIENDS:

I am appealing to all friends, familly and well wishers to come and help us raise funds for Onjiko Seventh Day Adventist Church, in Kano Kochogo. I am making this appeal on behalf of my Mother, Mama Penina Okello. Onjiko Seventh Day Adventist Church will be the first SDA church in this predominantly Anglican, Catholic and African Inland Church region.

My mother, Mama Penina Adede who is visiting here in the United States has always dreamt of having an SDA church in Onjiko as she remembers having to walk over 10 miles to go to the nearest SDA church. An opportunity to build an SDA church in Onjiko recently became a reality when someone donated land and invited the SDA adherants to build this church on this land. On behalf of Mama Penina, I am hereby appealing and inviting you to come and help raise funds to lay down the foundation of this church which will serve many SDA folks in this region.

The Fundraising will be held on November 5, 2011, at the Famous “KONDULA HALL” in Monroe, New York. GRACE EPICOPAL CHURCH, 1(ONE) FOREST AVENUE, MONROE NY 10950.

Joab Okello (agar) (914) 772-4791
Mama Penina Okello (845) 798-9302
Patrick Kore, (732) 877-9452

EGYPT: WHY ISLAMIC BROTHERHOOD SHOULDN’T TAKE CONTROL OF EGYPT

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from People For Peace
Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News

BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
NAIROBI-KENYA
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2011

The first of Egypt’s three-tiered elections are scheduled to take place in late November, with the increasing likelihood that the Muslim Brotherhood may take charge. Should this happen Egypt will never be the same again, especially for Christians who are currently been persecuted.

Brotherhood symbol: A brown square frames a green circle with a white perimeter. Two swords cross inside the circle beneath a red Koran. The cover of the Koran says: “Truly, it is the Generous Koran.” The Arabic beneath the sword handles translates as “Be prepared.” The swords reinforce the group’s militancy and, as traditional weapons, symbolize historic Islam. They also reinforce the group’s commitment to jihad. The Koran denotes the group’s spiritual foundation. The motto, “Be prepared,” is a reference to a Koranic verse that talks of preparing to fight the enemies of God.

Even though under Hosni Mubarak, there was a measure of protection for Christians because of the respect that they’ve earned in the country, the fact that the Muslim group may be coming into power at a time when they are trying to enforce Shari’ah law, the future, not only of Christians but non Muslims are threatened.

Unlike Muslims, Christians use peaceful mass action-this is because they believe “Jesus taught them to be tolerant,” that is why he humbly accepted to die on the cross for the purpose to save humanity from bondage of sin.

Already the power vacuum left after the overthrow of Mubarak is giving Muslim extremists free rein to torch churches and attack Coptic homes in the worst violence against the community in decades. At least 26 people were killed in Cairo capital, Monday, Oct. 10, 2011. Copts make up about 10 percent of the country’s 85 million people.

Their history dates back 19 centuries and the language used in their liturgy can be traced to the speech of Egypt’s pharaohs. Proud of their history and faith, many Copts are identifiable by tattoos of crosses or Jesus Christ on their right wrists, and Coptic women do not wear the veil as the vast majority of Muslim women in Egypt do.

However, the fact that Muslim Brotherhood point out that Shari’ah which has been the constitutional basis of legislation since 1982, that Islam is the state religion and that all the Brotherhood wants is a stricter adherence to it, there is danger that all women in Egypt will be forced to wear veils.

The Brotherhood is seeking to rebuild Egypt’s government on Islamic lines should they ascend to power. Egypt has over 9000 mosques and just over 500 churches.

Founded by Hasan al-Banna in 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood has had the longest continuous existence of any contemporary Islamist group. It was initially established not as a political party but as a da’wa (religious outreach) association that aimed to cultivate pious and committed Muslims through preaching, social services, and spreading religious commitment and integrity by example.

The group saw its understanding of Islam as the only “true” one and condemned partisanship as a source of national weakness. It called on Egyptians to unite to confront the forces of Zionism and imperialism and pursue economic development and social justice. The movement is one of Egypt’s most popular and organized groups, with a broad grassroots network built up partly through social work even in Mubarak’s era.

Under Mubarak the Brotherhood was banned and its members often detained. Mubarak often presented himself as the bulwark preventing Egypt’s slide into Islamist hands. It explains one of the reasons why the group had to overthrow him. The Brotherhood and its party have taken an increasingly prominent role since.

While fresh elections for the lower house are due to start in November, a vote for the upper house is to take place early next year. The Brotherhood is expected to perform well in the vote, although many analysts expect a fairly fragmented parliament with no single unified voice emerging.

According to the Brotherhood’s credo “God is their objective; the Quran is their constitution, the Prophet is their leader; Jihad is their way; and death for the sake of God is the highest of their aspirations.

English language website describes the “principles of the Muslim Brotherhood” as including firstly the introduction of the Islamic Shari’ah as “the basis controlling the affairs of state and society;” and secondly work to unify “Islamic countries and states, mainly among the Arab states, and liberating them from foreign imperialism.

On the issue of women and gender the Muslim Brotherhood interprets Islam conservatively. Its founder called for “a campaign against ostentation in dress and loose behavior”, “segregation of male and female students”, a separate curriculum for girls, and “the prohibition of dancing and other such pastimes.

Yet the Brotherhood remains the largest opposition group in Egypt, advocating Islamic reform, democratic system and maintaining a vast network of support through Islamic charities working among poor Egyptians.

People for Peace in Africa (PPA)
P O Box 14877
Nairobi
00800, Westlands
Kenya
Tel +254-7350-14559/+254-722-623-578
E-mail- ppa@africaonline.co.ke
omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Website: www.peopleforpeaceafrica.org

A book review; _The Key _ by Whitley Streiber;

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Reviewed by octimotor

The book is titled, _The Key_ published by Tarcher / Pinguin; 2011 ed. Its author, Whitley Streiber, provides a written account recalling an approximately two hour amazing conversation with an extraordinary individual.

On a night in 1998, W.S. had been resting in his hotel room, near the conclusion of an author’s tour to promote his then most recent book. The visitor to his room that night was a guy evidencing great depths of knowledge and abilities to clearly communicate in a number of fields. Those fields ranged over a number of topics in spirituality, religion, science, metaphysics, history.

The visiting gentleman, early in the narrative, is quoted as saying, ‘Your feet are chained to the ground. I am from The Good. I offer you a key – – a way out of your culture’s condition of bondage and ignorance’.

So it seems reasonable to infer that this was the basis for the book about this meeting and conversation to become titled, _The Key_.

W.S. does not know the name of that amazing individual. So W.S. calls him simply, “the Master of the Key” (M.o.t.K), for lack of knowing his actual name.

Q.
Who are you?

A.
At one point the guy said, he was a Canadian. He did not pay taxes, nor did he have a driver’s license.

At another point, he said, ‘you might call me Michael. Or you might call me Leagon’.

Readers may recognize correlations, of spiritual significance, out of the Judio-Christian tradition. On one hand, there is Michael, an arch-angel among the heavenly hosts. On the second hand, there is the name given by an unclean spirit (spirits). That is from the story in which Jesus performs healing of a mentally ill / possessed, man. He removes possessing spirit, transferring it / them into a herd of swine.

It is an interesting ambiguity, though, that in answering a question as to what was his name, the M.o.t.K chose both of these apparent spiritual opposites in his response.

Q.
Who, what, were Buda, Jesus the Christ, the prophet Mohamed?

A.
They existed and were as they said they were, as given in accounts within the scriptural documentation associated with each one of their ministries, respectively. These bodies of tradition and written words contain great truths spoken by their spiritual teachers.

Consider them together, as three aspects of an overall spiritual system. In Christianity, there is Seeking after the Divine. In Islam, there is Surrender to the Divine. In Buddhism, there is Experiencing of the Divine.

Exercise discernment, though. There have been additions and alterations. These were done by others afterward. This was done by those who were, thru such insertions, seeking to promote various political / social / economic ends.

Spirit, Soul, are real. Divinity is real, said M.o.t.K. We humans are divinely created immortal spirits. As such, we do not vanish when the biological body dies. This is not intangible and supernatural. Rather, it is natural, and in accordance with physical laws discoverable thru scientific study.

Spirits’ existence involves patterns of energy, electromagnetic fields, plasma-state matter (ionized gases). Therefore, suitably crafted technologies and devices could in principle detect, interact with, communicate with, spirits – – such as those of deceased earthly humans.

Spirits / Souls, are generally immortal. M.o.t.K indicated, however, that:
– they can be destroyed;
– they can be executed;
– they can suicide; however, this would not be an instant or even quick ending. Rather, that soul would, subjectively, experience pain lasting an almost endlessly long duration.

Additionally, stated M.o.t.K, spirits can be captured, exploited to achieve certain utilitarian ends. This can be done via employment of technological devices crafted for such purposes.

Mis-use, said M.o.t.K., of abilities to interact with – – exploit, technologically, as unwilling servants – – the souls of the dead, figured in as one of the reasons why a prior scientifically advanced earthly human civilization was destroyed long ages ago.

That was a culture in which scientifically advanced knowledge was used and horded in secrecy by an extremely small upper class. All the rest of the people were kept in ignorance – – treated essentially as slaves, considered almost valueless except as exploitable for simple laborers. That was a grave mistake. Each and Every soul has the same High value – – not only those who set themselves up on Top. That civilization fell because of its habits of secrecy and exploitation of the masses. You should take this lessen to heart in your own current times and global culture.

An extremely devastating war occurred. It left huge long lasting scars throughout this solar system. A region in the brain of humans, responsible for allowing them to more readily sense, communicate with, souls of the dead, was for the most part deactivated thereafter.

The ruined remains left from that age will hardly ever be found by you. A great portion of such is under ocean depths. For some other places, the climate was changed. Now those parts are hidden under deep sands of desserts.

Q.
How common is life, how common are intelligent lifeforms?

A.
Throughout the universe, Life is ubiquitously abundant. It exists under a huge variety of conditions.

In a galaxy, there may be thousands of intelligent forms of life. The physical conditions supporting their existence is much rarer by contrast to those allowing simple life. Some of it resembles that found here on earth. Some is vastly different – – given local conditions which differ greatly from what is here on this world. There are even instances of intelligent life existing in the relative void of intergalactic space.

A reason for life’s very high abundance is that, as you have been informed by your scientists who research quantum mechanical systems, observers are necessary for physical events to take on reality. In performing this basic function, life forms do not need to be intelligent ones. Even the simplest of microbes are adequate for the task.

W.S.. noted that he certainly did recognize that in recent decades there are certainly conditions of great secrecy and miss-information associated with big government and big business.

M.o.t.K. stated, there is a great need for citizens to form a very vigorous assault to penetrate the veils of secrecy at all levels. Our survival may hinge upon doing so successfully. Even a number of the apparently high level elected officials inside governments are kept unaware of what is hidden.

A related comment has been publicised during interviews of Apollo Era CBS science advisor Richard Hogland. During his researches in recent years he has had received confidential background conversations with current or past USA intelligence community participants. The statement from one of them is especially important. “The Lie is different at every level”, he was told. Cover stories exist in layer upon layer on top layer of other cover stories. Each is targeted to the role of the given player.

Relevant to M.o.t.K’s discussions about possibilities for us to technologically obtain ways to communicate with no longer incarnate spirits, is an interview of a recent book author, on tour in support of its recent publication. Title is _The Sacred Promise_ , by Dr Gary Schwartz. The interview show appeared in the “Dreamland” section of Whitley Striber’s web site, www.unknowncountry.com, 15 Sept. 2011. Its author, with career in the sciences, had been previously of the mindset to view the universe as spiritless. However, his recent experimental research, pertaining to physics, electronics and computers / information science, persuaded him to shift toward the opposite view – – that of a ‘spirit – filled universe’.

One aspect he notes are results from a USA Stanford U. team involving the ‘Global Consciousness roject’ A world wide array of test computer systems have software applications running to assess the randomness level in ‘random number generators’. Slightly before the occurrence of major events which strongly catch the attention of the public, the test systems measure the generated streams of ‘random numbers’ to become more correlated, less random.

An experiment he had designed and ran used the tools of electronics, physics, computers & automation to investigate matters previously confined to the activities of persons calling themselves mediums. The heart of the measurement consisted of a closed chamber, enclosing a photo-multiplier tube able to record even single photon absorptions by the detector. Experiment tests made comparisons between two differing situations. One type of run was with normal background, nothing special. Second type of run was under the condition in which a recorded scripted, even power – point supported, audio visual presentation was made active while the photon detector measurements were performed. The script consisted of an invitation, welcoming the visiting presence, at that time and place, by a particular warmly remembered deceased family member. Random-number based computer automation process is what selected when either respective case ran.

He said that much to his surprise, he found that the occasions in which spirit visit was requested corresponded with those in which the data showed increased rates for photons detected in the unlit sealed chamber. Consequently, Spirits may be real and detectable by physical means after all, he concluded.

Q,
W.S. asked if there were things we could learn from the of spirits of departed earthly humans.

A.
Reply by M.o.t.K indicated a need for caution. Some of those spirits are perhaps far less wise than yourselves. A few are more wise, and their advice could be worth having. Both, though, would likely to offer their advice, if asked. So we would need to very carefully exercise critical discernment of any such information.

Q.
There is much current concern expressed about our possible entry into a period of climate & weather shifts away from what he have been familiar with over recent several centuries. Is the concern merited?

A.
The global climate situation, said M.o.t.K., is subject to cyclical wide fluctuations – – wide enough to profoundly effect the ecology of lifeforms here (and any civilizations, if applicable) at such times. There are periods of warmth, periods of ice-ages. The change-over can be very swift – – unlike the belief held by most climate and geology scientists. Intense warming occurs just before the freeze-ups. That would likely occur any way sometime within the next 2000 years. Humans’ impact upon the related processes simply speeds things up. It could thus happen very soon.

Arctic ice cover melting lowers the salt concentration in places such as North Atlantic ocean. The Gulf Stream circulation can thus be weakened or cease – – with very major impacts upon climate and weather problems for Europe. Thermal instability, high amplitude atmospheric convective events, can bring the development of storms more intense than any others seen during the past 10 thousand years. The importance for the impact of world wide food harvests failing many years in a row can not be overstated.

KENYA & ICC: THE DATA IN OCAMPO SIX THAT WON’T ERASE

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Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News
from ouko joachim omolo

BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
NAIROBI-KENYA
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2011

Even though Uhuru Kenyatta and Francis Muthaura have denied the allegation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) that they organised deadly attacks against rival supporters after the disputed 2007 polls to keep PNU in power by “any means necessary”, the fact remains that their reputations have been tinted and to repair it would not be very easy.

According to ICC Prosecutor Adesola Adeboyejo the Deputy Prime Minister and Head of Civil Service created a common plan and policy to retaliate against the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) supporters and to ensure the Party of National Unity (PNU) remained in power.

While Muthaura and Kenyatta she said organised and directed forces which then unleashed the attacks, former Police Commissioner Hussein Ali directed the police to stand down in order to create a safe passage for the Mungiki to attack ODM supporters in Naivasha.

Kenyatta on his part the court heard used Mungiki given his long time ties with them. In 2002 Kenyans were surprised to see the outlawed sect demonstrating in Nairobi by the (“Daily Nation,” August 21, 2002) ostensibly in support of President Moi and political protégé Uhuru Kenyatta, a fact that the ICC confirmation hearing court could have used to assert that Uhuru has been having a long tie with Mungiki.

The sect, drawn mainly from the Kikuyu ethnic group, marched through Nairobi waving placards expressing solidarity with the president Moi and his choice of Uhuru Kenyatta as his successor to fight for the presidency in elections in 2002. The sect demonstrated because Moi had been criticised within the ruling Kanu party over his endorsement of Mr Kenyatta.

This was the same time (“East African Standard,” August 19, 2002) the Catholic Church condemned calls by two MPs that they would mobilise Mungiki sect members if members of the public continued insulting President Moi.

Fr Emmanuel Ngugi of then in charge of Holy Family Basilica was reacting to remarks made by former Juja MP, Mr Stephen Ndichu, and his Molo counterpart, Mr Dickson Kihika Kimani, that they would use Mungki to fight anyone opposing President Moi.

Mungiki, Kikuyu for “multitude” or “masses,” started as a religious movement in 1987 when one of its founder Maina Njenga saw a vision in which, he says, God commanded him to lead his people out of bondage.

The Mungiki grew rapidly during the 1990s, a time of severe political turbulence and violence surrounding the movement to restore multiparty democracy to Kenya. This was the time the Moi regime instigated ethnic violence against Kikuyu communities in Rift Valley Province through private ethnic militias-for-hire in 1992 and then again in 1997. In the mid-1990sthe sect became involved in vigilante activity to “protect” Kikuyu slum dwellers.

In the recent shooting of two prominent Kenyan human-rights campaigners, Kamau King’ara and Paul Oulo, it was alleged that the Mungiki were involved because the duo had been investigating death squads widely thought to be linked to senior politicians. It was immediately assumed that the pair had been silenced by orders from on high to cover up the evidences.

Mr King’ara had said that at least 1,700 young Kenyans had been shot or tortured to death by death squads during President Mwai Kibaki’s first term in office between 2002 and 2007, while another 6,500-plus had disappeared, probably also at the hands of government goons.

It was not just an isolated allegation. Previous month Philip Alston, a UN investigator, published a report documenting around 500 death-squad executions in the months leading up to the election of December 2007, whose disputed results led to 1,500 or so deaths and the displacement of at least 300,000 Kenyans in the subsequent violence.

Mr Alston, an Australian, called for the chief of police, Hussein Ali, and the attorney-general, Amos Wako, to resign. They show no sign of doing so. Hours before the two campaigners were killed the government’s spokesman Dr Alfred Mutua accused Mr King’ara of raising funds for the feared Mungiki.

Uhuru’s lawyer however, do not want him crucified alone, he also wants President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to appear for trials in The Hague since they were the ones who were behind the violence.

According to articles 27 and 28 of the Rome Statute, on which the International Criminal Court is founded, Kibaki and Raila could easily be called to The Hague anyway. Article 27, titled “Irrelevance of official capacity”, removes any immunity to prosecution on the basis of status in society. Section 2 of the same article makes irrelevant the provisions of the Kenya Constitution that grant a sitting head of state immunity from prosecution.

It reads: “Immunities or special procedural rules which may attach to the official capacity of a person, whether under national or international law, shall not bar the Court from exercising its jurisdiction over such a person.”

The two leaders’ responsibility for crimes committed under their watch is captured in Article 28 of the Rome Statute which says that “a superior shall be criminally responsible for crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court committed by subordinates under his or her effective authority and control, as a result of his or her failure to exercise control properly over such subordinates, where:

(i) The superior either knew, or consciously disregarded information which clearly indicated, that the subordinates were committing or about to commit such crimes;

(ii) The crimes concerned activities that were within the effective responsibility and control of the superior; and

(iii) The superior failed to take all necessary and reasonable measures within his or her power to prevent or repress their commission or to submit the matter to the competent authorities for investigation and prosecution.”

Uhuru and William Ruto see The Hague as politically incorrect to bar them from standing as presidential candidates in 2012. That Raila is afraid Uhuru could easily defeat him since Uhuru is slowly but steadily emerging as the most likely potential presidential designee of the Kikuyus — should they decide to back a candidate for president.

The fact that Kibaki has not mentioned Uhuru as his successor, Minister John Michuki who has also been mentioned at the ICC hearings that he organized Mingiki to attack non Kikuyus in Kibera, has made an interesting declaration that anyone interested in getting the Agikuyu vote must co-operate with Uhuru Kenyatta.

Since Gichugi Member of Parliament Martha Karua who hails from Kirinyagah showed her interest of contesting for presidency in 2012, it has been the wish of Michuki and other Gikuyu elders that Karua form an alliance with Uhuru as the sole presidential candidate.

Ms Karua has ever since distanced herself from ethnic political alliances and has refused to play second fiddle to Uhuru Kenyatta in central Kenya politics. She is on record saying that the era of political dynasty is gone and Kenyans should be allowed to elect leaders based on choice.

Environment Minister John Michuki last year sparked controversy, when he declared Uhuru would succeed President Kibaki as the community’s leader. He had hinted anyone eyeing the vote-rich region must recognise Uhuru or brace for a fight.
Karua dismissed Michuki’s ‘dictatorial’ suggestions, saying the electorate should decide without coercion.

Ethnic mobilisation has been routine in Kenya since 1963. The plot has been to harvest tribal votes and then the tribal chieftains use the bloc to negotiate for their own political agenda, even if that meant shedding of blood.

But even so, Uhuru will find it very difficult to excel through for fear that he will use the tactics of his father to take Kenyans back where land could easily continued to be grabbed and people opposed to his style of leadership shown a different way as his father did.

This is also the fear expressed on William Ruto that he could easily turn Kenya to the dark era of Moi where corruption and ethnic cleansing would be the order of the day. Rutu was with Moi when the 1990s’ ethnic clashes were being carried on.

However, with G7 alliance, Uhuru thinks he is in a better position to win even if Karua distanced herself from him. He believes the vast majority of Kikuyu will vote him even if votes were divided because of Karua and likely Peter Keneth who has also shown the interest.

Uhru also banks on Minister of Security Georgs Saitoti and Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka should Uhuru be the sole candidate. He banks on the VP because of the Kamba community, which is closely related to the Kikuyu community.
Although tensions between the Kalenjin and Kikuyu communities remain high and make an alliance problematic, the political imperatives driving potential cooperation between Kenyatta and Ruto cannot be dismissed also. Probably that is why Uhuru and Ruto think that The Hague was staged by Raila to ensure they don’t stand for presidency.

Letter to the Editor

THE INVENTION OF TRIBALISM IN AFRICA

By Chrispine Onyango- Nairobi, Kenya

Generally speaking, most African countries have suffered for long as a result of tribalism. A very good example is Kenya. Africans historically were known to embrace community living and therefore there was no tribal division. This concept of tribal division was brought about by the Europeans who believed that Africans lived in tribes and that tribal loyalties were the only primitive stuff of African Politics.

Therefore they divided Africa into tribes, and where these tribes did not exist, they had to be invented by them. In many cases there were ethnic identities, based on the kinship of common traditions, language, social and religious customs and history. Each ethnic group were to live by themselves without crossing to the rest of the other groups.

This trend has been embraced by some African countries like Kenya. In fact nowadays it’s very hard for a Luo to stays at ease with a Kikuyu or a Kikuyu with a Kalenjin. In short each ethnic community will be at peace his own tribes mate. This trend has even affected the religious sectors. Each priest or pastor desires to identify himself with his own tribe mate.

In my view I encourage Raphael Tuju to go for presidency even if majority of Luos will object his idea. Though his battle may seem as that of David and Goliath in the Bible as Fr Joachim had stated it earlier, Tuju should courageously break the dominance of this tribal based dynasty in Lluo Nyanza.

I couldn’t really understand why Tuju did not make to Parliament. For any one who has not been to that place should make an attempt or ask those who know like me. Luos should know that we don’t need idealists nor sophists but people who are ready to work for Kenyans.

People for Peace in Africa (PPA)
P O Box 14877
Nairobi
00800, Westlands
Kenya
Tel +254-7350-14559/+254-722-623-578
E-mail- ppa@africaonline.co.ke
omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Website: www.peopleforpeaceafrica.org

THE CHURCH DEBATE ON DEMOCRACY AND LIBERATION THEOLOGY

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from ouko joachim omolo
Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News

BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
NAIROBI-KENYA
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

As the world marks international democracy day today, the big question we are asking, is whether the church democratic. Given that democracy is a form of government in which all people have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives, the answer to this question in that perspective is not.

The traditional position of the Roman Catholic Church for example, as articulated by Pope Leo XIII before the Second Vatican Council, has been that governments should have care for religion and “recognize the true religion professed by the Catholic Church.” It means, in practice, that legitimate government must specifically endorse Catholicism and must put Catholic principles and morals into practice through the laws.

Church was viewed as the only channel through which perfect happiness is obtained whereas the goal of the State was the temporal happiness of man, and its proximate purpose the preservation of external juridical order and the provision of a reasonable abundance of means of human development in the interests of its citizens and their posterity.

The temporal goods on this world were to be used only with the view to attain this perfection happiness to be realized only after death, and consequently a proximate purpose to earn in this life his title to the same. In the pursuit of this latter purpose, speaking in the abstract, he had a natural right to constitute a social organization taking over the worship of God as a charge peculiarly its own.

This could explain why the church has been to slow to embrace liberation theology. This is because liberation theology, a term first used in 1973 by Gustavo Gutierrez, a Peruvian Roman Catholic priest, is a Christian movement in political theology which interprets the teachings of Jesus Christ in terms of liberation from unjust economic, political, or social conditions.

Even though it has been described by proponents as “an interpretation of Christian faith through the poor’s suffering, their struggle and hope, and a critique of society and the Catholic faith and Christianity through the eyes of the poor”, but the fact that it has been characterized by Marxism is the reason why the church has not fully embraced it.

This is probably because the Marxian analysis begins with an analysis of material conditions, taking at its starting point the necessary economic activities required by human society to provide for its material needs.

As the word itself signifies, the fact that materialism is a philosophical system which regards matter as the only reality in the world, which undertakes to explain every event in the universe as resulting from the conditions and activity of matter, and which thus denies the existence of God and soul, and therefore cannot lead to perfect happiness could well explain why liberation theology is a threat.

Materialism is diametrically opposed to Spiritualism and idealism, which, in so far as they are one-sided and exclusive, declare that everything in the world is spiritual, and that the world and even matter itself are mere conceptions or ideas in the thinking subject.

Traditionally the church believes that perfection is not of this world, but the next, that is why a perfect or “pure” Socialism is quite unlikely to exist. This is a system of social and economic organization that would substitute state monopoly for private ownership of the sources of production and means of distribution, and would concentrate under the control of the secular governing authority the chief activities of human life.

The term is often used vaguely to indicate any increase of collective control over individual action, or even any revolt of the dispossessed against the rule of the possessing classes.

Here are some quotes of the traditional teaching of the Popes:

PIUS IX (1846-1878): “Overthrow [of] the entire order of human affairs”
“You are aware indeed, that the goal of this most iniquitous plot is to drive people to overthrow the entire order of human affairs and to draw them over to the wicked theories of this Socialism and Communism, by confusing them with perverted teachings.” (Encyclical Nostis et Nobiscum, December 8, 1849)

LEO XIII (1878-1903): Hideous monster “…communism, socialism, nihilism, hideous deformities of the civil society of men and almost its ruin.” (Encyclical Diuturnum, June 29, 1881)-Click here for his encyclical on capital and labour-Leo XIII – Rerum Novarum

BENEDICT XV (1914-1922):-The condemnation of socialism should never be forgotten
“It is not our intention here to repeat the arguments which clearly expose the errors of Socialism and of similar doctrines. Our predecessor, Leo XIII, most wisely did so in truly memorable Encyclicals; and you, Venerable Brethren, will take the greatest care that those grave precepts are never forgotten, but that whenever circumstances call for it, they should be clearly expounded and inculcated in Catholic associations and congresses, in sermons and in the Catholic press.” (Encyclical Ad Beatissimi Apostolorum, November 1, 1914, n. 13)

PIUS XI (1922-1939):- Socialism, fundamentally contrary to Christian truth
“… For Socialism, which could then be termed almost a single system and which maintained definite teachings reduced into one body of doctrine, has since then split chiefly into two sections, often opposing each other and even bitterly hostile, without either one however abandoning a position fundamentally contrary to Christian truth that was characteristic of Socialism.” (Encyclical Quadragesimo Anno, May 15, 1931, n. 111) Socialism cannot be reconciled with Catholic Doctrine.

JOHN XXIII (1958-1963):-“No Catholic could subscribe even to moderate socialism”
“Pope Pius XI further emphasized the fundamental opposition between Communism and Christianity, and made it clear that no Catholic could subscribe even to moderate Socialism.
The reason is that Socialism is founded on a doctrine of human society which is bounded by time and takes no account of any objective other than that of material well-being. Since, therefore, it proposes a form of social organization which aims solely at production- it places too severe a restraint on human liberty, at the same time flouting the true notion of social authority.” (Encyclical Mater et Magistra, May 15, 1961, n. 34)

JOHN PAUL II (1978-2005): Socialism: Danger of a “simple and radical solution”
“It may seem surprising that ‘socialism’ appeared at the beginning of the Pope’s critique of solutions to the ‘question of the working class’ at a time when ‘socialism’ was not yet in the form of a strong and powerful State, with all the resources which that implies, as was later to happen. However, he correctly judged the danger posed to the masses by the attractive presentation of this simple and radical solution to the ‘question of the working class.’” (Encyclical Centesimus Annus ? On the 100th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum, May 1, 1991, n. 12)

BENEDICT XVI (2005 – present):- “We do not need a State which regulates and controls everything” The State which would provide everything, absorbing everything into itself, would ultimately become a mere bureaucracy incapable of guaranteeing the very thing which the suffering person ? every person ? needs: namely, loving personal concern. We do not need a State which regulates and controls everything, but a State which, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, generously acknowledges and supports initiatives arising from the different social forces and combines spontaneity with closeness to those in need. …

In the end, the claim that just social structures would make works of charity superfluous masks a materialist conception of man: the mistaken notion that man can live ‘by bread alone’ (Mt 4:4; cf. Dt 8:3) ? a conviction that demeans man and ultimately disregards all that is specifically human.” (Encyclical Deus Caritas Est, December 25, 2005, n. 28)

Pope Benedict XVI (as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) became one of liberation theology’s staunchest critics in the 1980s as head of the Catholic Church’s Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith. He silenced theologians associated with such scriptural interpretations and appointed traditional bishops.

Some scholars believe it’s because he objected to Marxist-inspired political analysis that some theologians embraced. Others say Ratzinger objected to the independence of base communities, small groups formed to study the Bible and relate it to their own experience of oppression.

Some scholars say Ratzinger and others successfully stifled a movement that was already headed toward extinction because it addressed specific historical and economic situations that have been altered by global capitalism and other factors. Some also say that it was weakened because it relied on a method of scriptural interpretation that has been overtaken by new developments in biblical criticism.

Ratzinger also argued that liberation theology is not originally a “grass-roots” movement among the poor, but rather, a creation of Western intellectuals: “an attempt to test, in a concrete scenario, ideologies that have been invented in the laboratory by European theologians” and in a certain sense itself a form of “cultural imperialism”. Ratzinger saw this as a reaction to the demise or near-demise of the “Marxist myth” in the West.

The good news is that liberation theology is still practiced in rural and middle-class villages in Latin America, and it is studied widely in seminaries in the United States and elsewhere. Some scholars say it has taken new life in feminist, Latino, black and Asian theologies throughout the world. The emphasis has shifted from the poor to those marginalized by race, ethnicity or gender. The focus is less on supporting socialist revolution than critiquing mainstream civil society.

Liberation theology matters because it provides a useful lens for looking at the challenge of how members and leaders of a global church respond to changing political and social environments.

Strictly speaking, liberation theology should be understood as a family of theologies – including the Latin American, Black, and feminist varieties. All three respond to some form of oppression: Latin American liberation theologians say their poverty-stricken people have been oppressed and exploited by rich, capitalist nations. Black liberation theologians argue that their people have suffered oppression at the hands of racist whites. Feminist liberation theologians lay heavy emphasis upon the status and liberation of women in a male-dominated society.

Gustavo Gutiérrez is Latin American Catholic priest who grew up in grinding poverty in Peru, is why employed Marx’s critiques of ideology, class, and capitalism as part of his theological analysis of how Christianity should be used to make people’s lives better here and now rather than simply offer them hope of rewards in heaven.

While still early in his career as a priest, Gutiérrez began drawing on both philosophers and theologians in European tradition to develop his own beliefs. The basic principles that remained with him through the changes in his ideology were: love (as a commitment to one’s neighbour), spirituality (focused on an active life in the world), this worldliness as opposed to otherworldliness, the church as a servant of humanity, and the ability of God to transform society through the works of human beings.

Even though Catholicism today is very concerned with the persistence of poverty in a world of plenty, but it does not share Gutiérrez’s characterization of theology as a means for helping the poor rather than for explaining the dogma of the church.

Pope John Paul II in particular expressed strong opposition to “political priests” who become more involved with achieving social justice than ministering to their flocks — a curious criticism, given how much support he provided the political dissidents in Poland while the communists still ruled. Over time, though, his position softened somewhat, possibly because of the implosion of the Soviet Union and the disappearance of the communist threat.

It is to be noted that liberation theology however, is not Gutiérrez’s creation. The liberation-theology movement was partly inspired by the Second Vatican Council. Vatican II as Foundational for Liberation Theology -Page 146 of the Fortress Introduction to Contemporary Theologies says that Vatican II “provided inspiration to reform-minded Catholics and opened the door to laity and clergy alike to engage in radical social and political involvement.”

This is an important point because liberation theology does not ask what the church is, but rather what it means “to be the church in a context of extreme poverty, social injustice and revolution.

People for Peace in Africa (PPA)
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Website: www.peopleforpeaceafrica.org

Kenya: NYANZA COUNCIL OF CHURCH LEADERS PRESS RELEASE

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from Bishop Dr. Washington Ogonyo Ngede

PRESS STATEMENT FROM NYANZA COUNCIL OF CHURCH LEADERS
COMPRISING OF 200 CHURCH DENOMINATIONS, DO ACT ON
HON. WILLIAM KABOGO’S STATEMENT ON STAR NEWS PAPER SEPTEMBER 14, 2011

WE as the Church Leaders in Western Kenya, Do condemn in strongest terms the outdated tribalism outburst from HON. WILLIAM KABOGO – JUJA MP using a Kikuyu adage, to attack RT. HON. RAILA AMOLLO ODINGA, he cautioned the Voters saying that “If Leadership is taken to Nyanza, they should be prepared to be visiting Nairobi holding their identity Cards with their mouths”.

Hon. William Kabogo has not read the Political History of Kenya, Hon. William Kabogo should know that when Colonial Government restricted Kikuyu Community not to step their foot in Nairobi in 1957 – 1960, it was the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, late Tom Mboya and the late Argwings Kodhek, are the people who liberated Kikuyu Community and removed the plate identification that were given to Kikuyu Community.

In the present Kenya with the New Constitution, that our Leaders H.E. HON. MWAI KIBAKI AND RT. HON. RAILA AMOLLO ODINGA spearheaded, and now we have a New Constitution.

WE don’t need Political Tribal inciters; we are in a new Kenya, let us use the language Kenya, NOT KIKUYU, LUO, KISII, LUHYA, KALENJIN, KAMBA, MASAI, GIRIAMA, DIGO OR SOMALIA, let us bury the language of OUR OWN. We want a Kenya where people can live as brothers and sisters.

In Nyanza we have all business Kenyan Communities with Kikuyu being the majority, and we have no problem with them.

Let us choose and vote for a leader who is a reformist, who can unite Kenyans and take Kenya to a New Level of prosperity.

God bless Kenya.
Signed By: –

BISHOP DR WASHINGTON OGONYO NGEDE. H.S.C.
CHAIRMAN: – NYANZA COUNCIL OF CHURCH LEADERS

WORLD: WHY OCAMPO WON’T PROSECUTE POPE BENEDICT FOR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

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From: ouko joachim omolo
Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News

BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
NAIROBI-KENYA
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

An attempt by international group for victims of sexual abuse by priests to sue Pope Benedict XVI through the International Crime Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity won’t go further-Abuse victims sue pope for crimes against humanity.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) said it had filed a complaint calling on the court to “take action and prosecute the Pope” for “direct and superior responsibility for the crimes against humanity of rape and other sexual violence committed around the world.”

In a statement, SNAP said members from Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and the US had travelled to The Hague to urge prosecutors to investigate the pope.

They also asked for three high-ranking Vatican officials — Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone, his predecessor Angelo Sodano and the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, US William Levada — to be investigated. The SNAP members were accompanied by lawyers from the non-profit US Centre for Constitutional Rights.

The US-based victims network submitted more than 20,000 pages of supporting materials including “reports, policy papers, and evidence of the crimes by Catholic clergy committed against children and vulnerable adults,” it said.

“Crimes against tens of thousands of victims, most of them children, are being covered up by officials at the highest level of the Vatican. In this case, all roads really do lead to Rome,” the centre’s lawyer Pam Spees said in the statement few minutes ago.

While it is true as Dr Pravin Thevathasan, a UK consultant psychiatrist writes in his book, with experience of working with sex offenders and their victims, it acknowledges the failures of the Church and the real suffering of victims, the Pope is not to blame for the abuse.

The Pope will argue on the grounds that the crisis was not one of “paedophile priests” but largely of homosexual priests, with the vast majority of cases involving adolescent and pubescent boys rather than pre-pubescent children.

He will also argue that celibacy is not to blame as abuse figures of Catholic clergy compare similarly with clergy in other religions and denominations in which clerics can marry.

The fact that the abuse of children is far from uncommon in society and, ultimately, abusive priests come from this society and not because of celibacy rule is one of the reasons the argument that the candidates for the priesthood must be selected with care to avoid future abuses.

Since the Catholic sexual abuse crisis erupted a decade ago, there have been numerous attempts to explain its causes, from a lack of fidelity to an over-emphasis on celibacy and clerical privilege.

People for Peace in Africa (PPA)
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ICC & Kenya: ADJOURNMENT OF ICC HEARING AND THE MUNGIKI DEBATE

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from ouko joachim omolo
Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News

BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
NAIROBI-KENYA
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011
OCAMPO SIX TAKE-3

Although Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura wants the confirmation of charges hearing against him adjourned for eight weeks, International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has opposed the move on grounds that Muthaura’s defence team led by Mr Karim Khan and other three experienced lawyers “cannot reasonably argue that they require at least eight additional weeks for the team to diligently review 102 pages” comprising four witness statements.

If what Ocampo is alleging is true that a meeting between Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, Mr Muthaura and Mungiki, held on December 30, 2007, was at State House, then President Mwai Kibiki may find himself in a big problem to have allowed a criminal meeting to take place at his residence.

Mr Moreno-Ocampo according to media reports also gives Nairobi Members’ Club as the location of a meeting held on January 3, 2008. He says that during the meeting Mr Kenyatta and Mr Muthaura enlisted the services of Mungiki leaders and concluded plans for revenge attacks in the Rift Valley.

Mr Muthaura, Uhuru Kenyatta and Mohamed Ali are required to report at The Hague from September 21 for their confirmation of charges hearings. The hearing is to determine whether Uhuru Kenyatta, Muthaura indeed planned and financed post election violence and whether they facilitated an outlawed gang, Mungiki, to carry out revenge attacks against perceived ODM supporters in Naivasha and Nakuru.

According to Ocampo however, Mr Kenyatta and Mr Muthaura met Mungiki and other pro-PNU youth to carry out “retaliatory attacks against perceived ODM supporters in the Rift Valley”.

And if what BBC report is true that Kibaki funded violence using Mungiki, then he might also be asked to go to Hague to defend himself against the allegations. BBC had published a story which says that Kibaki and members of the PNU government orchestrated and planned attacks against other tribes in the Rift Valley using the outlawed Mungiki sect.

The article says leaders of the outlawed group met with president Kibaki in state-house to receive funds for the operations in rift valley. The rampaging Mungiki killed close to 100 people in Nakuru and Naivasha during the post-election violence. A policeman and a mungiki member have been mentioned in the article confessing to the states involvement. For more detail Read The article here.

In 2006 then internal security minister John Michuki challenged members of the illegal Mungiki sect to come up with a programme beneficial to them, saying the Government, through the newly-created ministry for Youth Affairs, would be keen to rehabilitate them by supporting any programme that they might come up with.

“They should give up what they are trying to do and join the minister (for Youth Affairs) and his staff in working out programmes that would be beneficial to them in future,” Michuki was quoted to have said. He was speaking in his Kangema constituency after officially opening Gatung’ara maternity ward built using cash from the constituency development fund (CDF).

If this is true then it confirms the allegations that part of the contents of secret meetings in State House was to hire up to 20,000 Mungiki members in the Kenyan military and police forces, and give Mungiki control of bus terminuses from 2008 if he returns to power in exchange of the sect’s support during this year’s election.

This brings us to the big question as to who are these Mungiki sects. According to Free Wikipedia encyclopaedia, Mungiki is a politico-religious criminal organization group in Kenya. The name means “A united people” or “multitude” in the Kikuyu language.

According to one of Mungiki’s founders, the group began in the late 1980s as a local militia in the highlands to protect Kikuyu farmers in disputes over land with Maasai and with forces loyal to the government, which was dominated by the Kalenjin tribe at the time.

Mungiki according to encyclopaedia arguably has its roots in discontent arising from severe unemployment and landlessness arising from Kenya’s rapid population growth, with many disaffected unemployed youth attracted to an organisation giving them a sense of purpose and cultural and political identity, as well as income. It is against the background that they use the matatus (mini buses) as a springboard.

It was also alleged that in 2002, Mungiki backed losing candidates in elections and felt the wrath of the government. There have been unconfirmed allegations that Mungiki has links to both the old Kanu government and some MPs in the current government even though due to the cult’s extreme secrecy, little is known about its membership or hierarchy.

In an exclusive interview (HeadlinesAfrica) October 24, 2009, the leader of the outlawed Mungiki sect, Maina Njenga was quoted to have asked politicians and wealthy businessmen who have been funding and supporting the sect to stop it. Njenga now says his main agenda will be to destroy the sect which has been credited with wreaking havoc in parts of the country and sending shivers of fear down many Kenyans spines.

Njenga says he will transform the youths into Christians insisting that the best method is by stopping the funding. Njenga claims that politicians, some of whom are in government have been using the sect for their political mileage only to disown them later. Chris Thairu visited Njenga at his Kitengela home and filed the story.

Born in 1969, Maina Njenga who would not complete secondary school commenced his preaching to the multitudes (the Mungiki) in Nyandaura and West Likiapia on January 4, 1988. Since then Mungiki would over the years swell in numbers as Maina Njenga crisscrossed the Rift Valley and parts of Central province.

The Mungiki formed close alliances with other societies such as the Kenya Ex War Council. In line with their traditional practices they would perform purification rites. Major purification rites were carried prior to the land clashes of 1992 and 1997. Mungiki adherents have insisted that anyone who underwent this rite was not harmed during the electoral violence of those years.

Maina Njenga wass arrested in February 2006 in a dawn raid at his Ngong home.
In June 2007 he was sentenced to five years in prison, after having been found guilty for being in possession of an illegal firearm and marijuana.

In June 2008 while in jail and appealing the prison sentence, his wife Virginia Nyakio was shot and her body badly mutilated.

On April 2009 on the day of his acquittal he was rearrested and charged with the murder of thirty people that occurred while he was incarcerated. Six months later in October 2009 the State terminated the charges against him.

Former President Moi joined him at a peace rally in Eldoret last year. It is to be noted that ironically, it was under Moi’s watch that the sect was proscribed.

People for Peace in Africa (PPA)
P O Box 14877
Nairobi
00800, Westlands
Kenya
Tel +254-7350-14559/+254-722-623-578
E-mail- ppa@africaonline.co.ke
omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Website: www.peopleforpeaceafrica.org

CHALLENGES OF CHURCHES IN AFRICA BECOMING SYMBOLS OF RECONCILIATION

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From: ouko joachim omolo
Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News

BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
NAIROBI-KENYA
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2011

Commenting on a book: Reconciliation, Justice and Peace- The Second African Synod, edited by Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator, a Nigerian Jesuit Superior for the Eastern African Province, one of the renowned African Theologians, Rev Fr Benezet Bujo rightly put it that while the theme is precious, it will challenge the catechesis and practice of the Church in Africa.

The book which includes 20 articles by African scholars on the themes of the second African Synod in the context of church and society in Africa represent a variety of disciplines. Ecclesiology and the challenges of reconciliation, justice and peace, the ethics, theology and politics of reconciliation, justice and peace, the scourge of corruption, restorative justice/conflict resolution, democratic principles and accountability in the governance of African states, the presence of war and armed conflict, integrity of the earth: environment, ecology, climate change and the community called church in Africa.

The book challenges the role of the Catholic Church in the public sphere, gender justice in the church and in African society, resource extraction and armed conflict, Interreligious dialogue (Christianity, Islam, and African indigenous religion)- Ecumenical relations and the challenge of growing denominationalism as well as the enduring scourge of poverty, disease and hunger.

One of the veteran journalists, Comboni Missionaries working in Nairobi, Kenya, Rev Renato Kizito Sesana while appreciating the fact that the best thing about the second African Synod is the aptness of the theme chosen by Pope Benedict XVI, “The Church in Africa in Service to Reconciliation, Justice and Peace”, no doubt that the theme hits the nail on the head when it comes to the reconciliation in Africa.

While issues of reconciliation, justice and peace are of extreme importance in the present African society and the Catholic Church has the both right and the moral authority to address them, Fr Kizito argues that there are few African institutions, if any that can compare their record with that of the Church on these matters.

This is because the Church’s record is not merely composed of official declarations, theological books, seminars and symposia. It is also made up of the sweat and blood of hundreds and thousands of people and communities that have given their energies, their love and in some cases their lives at the grassroots level in order to build a just, reconciled and peaceful society despite the enormous difficulties they have had to fight against.

Maryknoll priest cum journalist and writer, Rev Fr Joseph Healey refers to this grassroots level in Small Christian Communities as “living ecclesial communities.” The Church as the Family of God Model as a new ecclesial option that focuses on building families and building SCCs that are involved in reconciliation, justice and peace in the Catholic Church and in the wider society.

Fr Healey argues that while revisiting the Small Christian Communities Pastoral Option as a means of responding to the ministry of reconciliation through justice and peace, the Theology of the Church-Family of God must be further explored in view of enhancing reconciliation and Peacebuilding in Africa.

On 19 March, 2009 in Yaounde, Cameroon Pope Benedict XVI promulgated the Instrumentum Laboris (“Working Document”) of the 2009 Second African Synod and this year November he will officially promulgate the Second African Synod. Like Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict has African continent at heart and he sees it as the hope for the future church.

As Fr Healey highlights, there are 95 stories with the locale in Kenya. Two examples: “I Am a Christian First” is Story No. 173 in his database: After the post December, 2007 election crisis and the resulting tribalism-related violence in Kenya in early 2008, a Catholic woman in a St. Paul Chaplaincy Center Prayer Group in Nairobi said: “I am a Christian first, a Kenyan second and a Kikuyu third.”

“Pray for Me to Forgive President Mwai Kibaki” is Story No. 327 in the database: During a meeting of the St. Jude South Small Christian Community (SCC) near the main highway going to Uganda in Yala Parish in Kisumu Archdiocese, Kenya in March, 2008 the members reflected on the Gospel passage from John 20:23: “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Speaking from the heart one Luo man emotionally asked the SCC members to pray for him. He said: “Pray for me to forgive President Mwai Kibaki.” During the post election crisis period in Kenya he said that every time he saw the Kikuyu president on TV he got upset and angry and so he needed healing. The other SCCs members were deeply touched and prayed feelingly for him. He said that he felt peaceful again.

Fr Healey was working hand in hand with People for Peace in Africa in Luo Nynaza to preach Justice, Peace and Reconciliation shortly after the post election violence. He conducted two workshops, one for catechists and the other for priests from Siaya Deanery in Kisumu Archdiocese. Archbishop of Kisumu Zacchaeus Okoth was in that particular needed several workshops for his flocks.

It was in Kisumu that Fr Caroll Houle MM in 1992 workshops organized by People For Peace in Africa of which he was the director to Catholic priests from the Archdiocese of Kisumu at Ukweli Pastoral centre Kenya mentioned rapid population growth and multi ethnic character which had tended to neglect the needs of the marginalized groups, in particular women and youth and inhabitants of arid and semi arid lands.

Population pressure in densely settled areas has resulted in immigration to other parts of the country that were formerly in the hands of the white farmers and where land settlement has occurred without taking into consideration the fears and concerns of communities who owned such land before colonialism.

Yet in Kenya the Synod comes at the time slide into 2008 ethnic violence, which so far has generated 300,000 refugees and left more than 1, 500 dead has never been reconciled and healed. The principle here is that those who preach justice and peace must first be seen to be just and peaceful themselves.

It comes at the time a great number of programmes in the Church in Africa still largely depends on donors. At the time majority of political leaders show an insensibility to the needs of their people. They follow their own pursuits and hold in disdain any idea of the common good.

Lacking a sense of the State and democratic principles, they work out political deals which are unilateral, partisan, favour-driven and ethnocentric. At the same time, they foster division to secure their rule. In some places, the party in power tends to identify itself with the State. In this way, the notion of authority is conceived as “power”–parties of power, power-sharing—and not as “service”.

At the time some women and men in political life are displaying a grave lack of culture in political matters. They unscrupulously violate human rights and use religion and religious institutions for their own purpose, while ignoring, among other things, the mission and function of religion and religious institutions in society.

Violence between one African ethnic community and another has been going on for centuries in Africa. In Burundi, Congo and Rwanda are suffering the same fates with disputes between the Hutu and Tutsis. South Africa has also experienced ethnic conflicts between the Xhosas and the Zulus. In almost all cases, the violence stems from political disagreements.

Some African societies have been ruined by their political leaders. Others have witnessed tragic scenes of xenophobia, where foreigners were looked upon as symbolizing the misfortunes of society and became escape-goats. As a result, persons were burnt alive and hacked; families scattered and villages destroyed. In still other countries, some Particular Churches mention that political parties have used ethnic, tribal or regional sentiments to rally populations to their cause in a conquest for power, instead of fostering living together in peace.

It is often said that the reason for these violent clashes can be traced to the differences between tribal culture, still very much present in rural areas of West Africa, and the modernized governmental structures reminiscent of the colonial era. Whether this is true is a fact difficult to establish, yet all conflicts seem to revolve around one main subject: poverty and its associated effects.

Parishes, Small Christian Communities and Religious Communities should be commended as among the few institutions that took active action in the course of the post-election violence in Kenya, providing shelter and all manner of support to the victims.

The Catholic diocese of Eldoret especially made a great effort to provide accommodation, food and clothing to thousands of IDPs camping at its Sacred Heart Cathedral. Bishop Cornelius Korir and the Diocese were engaged in serious peace and reconciliation campaigns to mobilize the public against “tribalism” as a wrong perception of ethnicity.

People for Peace in Africa (PPA)
P O Box 14877
Nairobi
00800, Westlands
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Tel +254-7350-14559/+254-722-623-578
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Website: www.peopleforpeaceafrica.org

USA: The color of terrorism

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from Yona Maro

The results of Kimberly Powell’s (2011) research on media coverage of terrorist attacks in the United States since 9/11 suggest that the act of terror is mostly used to describe “Muslims/Arabs/Islam working together in organized terrorist cells against a ‘Christian America,’ while domestic terrorism is cast as a minor threat that occurs in isolated incidents by troubled individuals.”

Anti-Islam extremist Anders Behring Breivik’s case emphasized the tendency of Western media to use prejudiced language when it comes to covering politically motivated violence committed by Muslims. Breivik’s attack was widely dubbed an “act of terror” in the mainstream media… that is, until Breivik himself was identified. As authors of the blog Foreign Policy Watch Matt Eckel and Jeb Koogler describe, the Western press responded by “largely avoiding the term ‘terrorist’ when speaking of the blond, blue-eyed, Christian attacker…”
http://www.ejc.net/magazine/article/the_color_of_terrorism/

—
Kwa Nafasi za Kazi kila siku www.kazibongo.blogspot.com

http://worldngojobs.blogspot.com/ Nafasi za Kazi Kimataifa “>http://www.ejc.net/magazine/article/the_color_of_terrorism/

—
Kwa Nafasi za Kazi kila siku www.kazibongo.blogspot.com

http://worldngojobs.blogspot.com/ Nafasi za Kazi Kimataifa

KENYA: POST ELECTION VICTIM WHO CHEATED DEATH MARKS 25 YEARS OF PRIESTHOOD

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Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News
from ouko joachim omolo

BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
KISUMU-KENYA
MONDAY, AUGUST 29, 2011

Kisumu archdiocese catholic priest, Fr Elias Ngafia yesterday celebrated his 25 years silver jubilee of priesthood. Fr Ngafia, from Gikuyu ethnic community was ordained priest for Kisumu archdiocese on August 28, 1986 together with Fr John Obala who is the current Rector of St Thomas Aquinas National Seminary, Nairobi.

Fr Ngafia escaped death in 2008 during the presidential election violence. Rowdy Luo youths armed with crude weapon wanted to kill him because of being from Gikuyu background. The violence started in Eldoret and spread to Kisumu, Kericho, Mombasa, Naivasha, Molo, Njoro, Githima village near Nakuru and in Western Kenya.

Although Naivasha had the least number of people killed, Eldoret and Kisumu topped the list, followed by Kericho, Mombasa, Molo, Njoro, Kakamega, Bungoma, Nairobi, and Nakuru.

In Kisumu the Kikuyus were the target to revenge the killing of Luos in Naivasha. It was reported that the Mungiki attacked Luos, some of whom were burnt alive in one single house. There were no Kalenjins in Naivasha so they were not the target.

The Luos in Kisumu were also revenging the killings of their colleagues in Nairobi, allegedly by the Kikuyus. The Kikuyus were on the other hand revenging on the Luos and the Kalenjins for killing their fellow Kikuyus.

It is against the background that Fr Ngafia maintains that reconciliation and healing in Kenya is not going to be simple as such as Kenyans may think. Majority of IDPs have not been settled, the families of 1,133 who were brutally killed have never been compensated.

Moi has never been charged in court of law for the deaths of innocent Kenyans his regime initiated from December 1992 elections to 2002. The families of people killed in Molo, Narok, Pokot, Londiani, Elburgon and Burnt Forest areas of the Rift Valley. These attacks were aimed primarily at the Kikuyu.

Moi has never reconciled with Luos, Luhyia and Kisii for driving away from Rift Valley. The Kalenjin Assistant Minister Kipkalia Kones had just declared Kericho District a KANU zone and stated that the Kalenjin youth in the area had declared war on the Luo community in retaliation for several Kalenjins killed in earlier violence. In the Chemichimi (the Bungoma District), the Kalenjin attacked the Luhya community.

Fr Ngafia did not only escape death their houses in Koru were burnt with all the belongings. His mother, Mrs Peres Mwihaki Wainana, 87, who died today (Monday August 29), was forced to go to stay with relatives in Nyahuru. She was terribly traumatized as the result of the violence.

Yesterday Fr Ngafia had said even if his mother was not elderly she could not come for his 25 years jubilee celebrations because of the shock of the violence. He wondered why Kikuyu community were referred to as ‘Bim en Bim’ (a baboon will remain a baboon)’, a song first sung by Owino DO Misiani and Onyi Papa. The song was perceived to be anti-Kikuyu and Kibaki government for criticising their political leadership for turning against the people who took them to power.

The song followed the December 2002 elections that brought the National Rainbow Coalition of Mwai Kibaki to power; Misiani was arrested in 2003 for releasing the song.

Between 1972 and 1974, Misiani had also problems with President Kenyatta for his composition of Kalamindi in which he talked about Kenyatta’s development policies that benefited only his Central Province and his Agikuyu community.

People for Peace in Africa (PPA)
P O Box 14877
Nairobi
00800, Westlands
Kenya
Tel +254-7350-14559/+254-722-623-578
E-mail- ppa@africaonline.co.ke
omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Website: www.peopleforpeaceafrica.org

To The 100 Suicide Bombers Left In Nigeria

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from Yona Maro

By Abiola Olaifa

I was born to a Christian father and a Muslim mother. My mum later converted to Christianity as our cultural belief is that any religion practised by the head of the house, is the religion for the family. My mum’s conversion to Christianity was without any troubles from her kinfolk since it was believed that we serve same God. I have relations, friends and neighbours who are Muslims, we all co-habit and live in peace in the same neighbourhood, my mum’s Islamic background gave me a good knowledge of Islam and I can easily recite some of the quranic quotes. I did not for once doubt this religion as a religion of peace. We all live together in harmony, believing that we are serving the same God, but in different ways.

At Christmas, our Muslim friends and family visits my home, we have one or two Sheeps ready to go for the big Christmas celebration, we all eat, danced and partied together. Same is the case when it is time for the Muslim’s Sallah festival, we all gather in my Uncles, who already have their Rams ready for the slaughter, these are always exciting moments for us. We also enjoyed playing with and using the Rams for fights before they are slaughtered and these are great moment of excitement for us kids. We do not see ourselves as being religious enemies or opposite or unequal before God in whatsoever way. We were happy together and we often attend one Islamic lectures or the other in my uncle’s home from the Alfa’s that visit for prayers on weekends, this are equally very happy moments for us as we are sure that we will have some food to eat at the end of the prayer session.

The recent event is throwing this happy inter-religious relationship into the winds, not only I’m I getting worried about the latest developments, I am equally saddened by the appalling and heartless killings going on in Nigeria at the moment through suicide bombings. I have not been able to fathom the immediate reason for this, except accepting this as a sure sign of the end times. Does it mean that those practising Islam before are doing it the wrong way or a new version of Quran has just been invented which is very hostile to the opposite religion? If the Quran is still same one used by the Alfa’s in my uncle’s home, then we are in for a new inconceivable disaster.

The spokesperson for Boko Haram, the Islamic extremist group recently claimed responsibility for the bombing of UN Building in Abuja, in a phone call to BBC. He claimed further that there are more than 100 recruits ready to carry out more suicide attacks in Nigeria, just after the country was thrown into panic on the 26th of August 2011. It broke my heart to hear that this act is being perpetrated because of God and the need to Islamise Nigeria. This group reason that killing innocent people is a sure way to achieve their aim of winning people to Islam. I beckon on these newly recruited bombers to be wary of the effect of these heinous attacks on our world and the psychic of the people, no one with his right senses will change to Islam if you continue with these activities. Violence has never been and will never be the right way.

I am confident that these killings are not for God, but purely to make political statement. It could not have been for God if you must shed human blood for sacrifice to the same God, who they ironically say also wants to save the world. I have believed based on teachings from the Alfa’s visiting my Uncle, my mother and personal discovery that God should be some humble-spirit, interested in saving the world and a comfort to those in trouble and that we pray to about our problems and he helps us through it. I am now beginning to have a change of mind, if these killers are saying they are committing all this crime in the name God and that God will make them martyrs if they are able to kill so much people, then this God must be different from the God I have previously known. This is a serious and dangerous consternation to my long held belief about Islam and I am absolutely startled.

I have many questions going on in my head that I sure need answers to; what do you aim to achieve by killing those you choose to convert. If the reason you give is to change the unbelievers to accept Islam, how would a dead person accept Islam? Must violence be the way to make your voice heard? Has God instructed you to carry out these unlawful killings or is this politically motivated? If this God makes you a Martyr as you claim, would you be happy by how many people your sect lands in hell through sudden death, since they have no time to repent of their sins. Why must you create so much fear and panic to the world to impress your views on others?

I am of the opinion that if God has ordered this killing as this suicide bombers claim and the same God is happy with what they are doing, then I do not want to be associated with this God. He must be a God with no human face and I dissociate myself from such heartless God. Also if you are perpetrating these evil acts out of the need to be made a martyr and have a place in Al-Jannah as you claim, then it’s a big shame, I equally do not want to be associated with such a materialistic religion.

I have a personal message for the over 100 suicide bombers still left in Nigeria as claimed by Boko Haram, who are ready to attack at any moment. Please stop and think for once, your next victims may be your brother or sister. Do not be deceived, you have no mansion and beautiful bride waiting for you in heaven, but hell. Sit back and think before you strike. It is not fair on the already volatile planet, there is so much panic and pain, and what joy do you get in that. I have spoken to many Muslims and confident that this killing is not Islamic, let us all hold tight and pray for these religious asinine to stop this unnecessary killings, they are not heroes at all as they believe, but criminals. The world now live in fear because of these extremist groups, let us pray for this evil acts to stop and for the perpetrators to be caught and brought to justice. Let us pray for the repose of the soul of the dead and for the peace of the world.

—
Kwa Nafasi za Kazi kila siku www.kazibongo.blogspot.com

http://worldngojobs.blogspot.com/ Nafasi za Kazi Kimataifa

KENYA: CATHOLIC BISHOPS CHALLENGED ON EVANGELIZATION THROUGH MEDIA

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Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News
from ouko joachim omolo

BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
MOMBASA-KENYA
FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011
TAKE-1

Catholic priests in Mombasa archdiocese have called on bishops to use media as the tool for evangelization. The priests who recommended the call as one of the way forward during the just concluded workshop on land and water security in Mtwapa Mombasa facilitated by People for Peace in Africa, Frs Ken Thesing and Joseph Healey of the Maryknoll Society said the catholic bishops should learn from their fellow protestants, evangelical and Muslims who use the media as the tool for evangelization.

The priests said either bishop in charge of communication or any delegated bishop should use TVs, Radios and print media to tell people of Kenya and the world of issues touching the country, especially on famine, forthcoming elections, and Lenten campaigns. The priests wondered why the bishops have never issued a statement on famine and increased numbers of refugees and IDPs in the country.

The workshop which was officially opened by Mombasa Archbishop Boniface Lele on Wednesday brought the priests representing all six deaneries. Bishop Lele wished these workshops could be extended to other dioceses since land and water has been a major issue affecting Kenyans, especially the voiceless in the society. He thanked the Maryknoll society in Kenya for a good work they have done and still do in Kenya.

The archdiocese of Mombasa covers four countries, namely, Mombasa, Kwale, Kilifi and Taita Taveta. One of the challenges facing the diocese is the resettlement of squatters. There is also the issue of ten-mile coastal strip covering 1128 parcels of land in over 80,000 hectares in Kwale, Mombasa, and Kilifi, this is not to mention Malindi, Tana River and Lamu districts.

There is also the problem of the absentee landlords. It is estimated that absentee landlords own over 77,753.02 hectares of land. They include:
Mombasa District: 301 hectares;
Malindi District: 234.17 hectares;
Kwale District: 75,982.4 hectares;
Kilifi District: 1235.85 hectares;
Tana River District: unspecified;
Lamu District: unspecified;

Comprehensive data is still being compiled to verify the true status of ownership of private parcels of land by absentee landlords.
Just like other parts of Kenya, the land grabbing in Mombasa remains one of the major issues. Investigation reveals that the Mombasa Municipal Council is being used by powerful individuals and businessmen to reposes properties and land belonging to investors situated at prime or poshy locations within Mombasa region.

The Minister for Lands James Orengo has said Coastal Land issues must be resolved once and for all. Orengo who recently made a three-day tour of Mombasa, Kwale, Malindi and Garsen said this when he met Coastal Lands Staff in Mombasa and Kwale.

The Minister said that the Land Sector was under deep public scrutiny and focus, and that the officers must be diligent in land transactions. The Minister said the New Constitution propagated for a shift in Land Administration and that stakeholders were already calling for the urgent establishment of the National Land Commission.

“The Importance of Physical Planning and its impact in the future of the Coastal region cannot be over-emphasized with regard to Land Management and Administration”, the Minister was quoted by press as telling the officers at a meeting at the Mombasa District Lands Office.

The Minister said the Department of Physical Planning must henceforth interrogate plans to determine if they were in conflict with approved developments. “The flagrant use of the Land Titles Act has encouraged Survey activities to be carried out without planning, leading to the current untenable development in parts of Mombasa”. “Any Title that is proved to be fraudulently acquired will be revoked”, he emphasized.

Orengo appealed to the Provincial Administration to desist from evicting the squatters from the land pending determination of the land ownership. “Any evictions must be done in a humane manner and proper consultations must be done before evictions”, the Minsiter said at the Bangladesh Slums recently.

Mombasa boarders Kilifi District to the North, Kwale District to the South and West and the Indian Ocean to the East. It is divided into four administrative divisions namely Changamwe, Island Likoni and Kisauni. High population densities are found in Island division and along major highways such as Mombasa – Lungalunga in Likoni division, Mombasa – Nairobi in Changamwe Division and Mombasa – Malindi in Kisauni division. The outskirts of the district are sparsely populated. Division wise, Kisauni lead in population followed by Changamwe, Island and Likoni in that order. The population was projected to increase to 920,313 in 2008 from 665,018 in 1999.

The unemployment population stood at 189,246 during the 1999 population census and is continuing to increase by day as the population continues to increase with people moving from upcountry to look for employment.

Like the other districts in the province, poverty has not spared the district either, it contributes 1.45 percent of the national poverty with 217,402 people (about 38.32 percent) living in absolute poverty and a depency ratio of 100:55- the number is expected to increase rapidly as the pace of urbanization accelerates and population increases.

The immediate causes of poverty in the district include:
• Landlessness
• High and increasing costs of living
• Inaccessibility to credit facilities
• Lack of technical entrepreneurial skills
• Unemployment i.e. low incomes among others.

Unlike Protestants, evangelicals and Muslims, Catholic Church has not been very aggressive on evangelization through media. Currently the church has as it main national FM Radio station-Wuamini but this is limited only to people around Nairobi and its neighbours.

Apart from Radio Amani 88.3FM, a leading Swahili Radio Station in Nakuru catholic diocese, Radio Akicha, a Catholic Radio Station that aims at bringing “light” in all dimensions of life in Turkana-99.5fm, Radio Maria-a Catholic Diocese of Murang’a, other diocese are still slow in beginning radio stations.

Letters to the editor

ABSURD FOR THE COMMISSION OF EDUCATION OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH TO OBJECT THE PROCESS OF ELEVATING CATHOLIC SCHOOLS TO NATIONAL SCHOOLS

The Catholic Church in Kenya has always been in the forefront opposing the government for changes that are very necessary for progress in the country. The other day we saw the church opposing the new constitution then later the appointment of Dr Willy Mutunga and Nancy Baraza as head of TJC and assistant respectively.

Few weeks ago after the ministry of education proposing to elevate 89 provincial schools to national level, the church is again against this process. What is the matter with the KEC? The writer is a catholic but he thinks there are moments when we just have to close our ears and ignore the church sentiments. This is a church with pastors who are educated to the highest level such that they should appreciate the endeavor the government is making to elevate some schools to national level.

Bishop Crowly, the chair of the commission of education, argued that elevating schools will deny poor students chances in such schools. Strictly speaking his argument does not hold water. In any case how many schools are provincial? And how many are national? The obvious is that provincial schools are more than national schools. Therefore, the wisdom of the government I suppose is to compete with the large number of students who are qualifying for national schools but are unable to be admitted due to congestion as a result of their small number.

This is a very sensible reason that any critical mind can ‘foresee’. So the KEC have no authority to dimisfy such a noble of the government. Secondly, the KEC is not absolute in whatever stand they will be making. Moreover this is not a moral issue that they can claim, according to their teaching that the church cannot err. Well, I appreciate the concern of the KEC but they should go slowly on some matters and think deeply about them before coming to a conclusion. Therefore I urge them to have a retreat and revise their stand on this critical issue.

Concerned Catholic-Nairobi-Kenya
People for Peace in Africa (PPA)
P O Box 14877
Nairobi
00800, Westlands
Kenya
Tel +254-7350-14559/+254-722-623-578
E-mail- ppa@africaonline.co.ke
omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Website: www.peopleforpeaceafrica.org

USA, MN: Harambee Invitation Saturday 27th August 2011

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From: DAVID ADAWO

Destiny Faith Ministries.
5718 Drew N
Brooklyn Center, MN 55429
Tel. # 612-306-9859

An Invitation to join the family of Destiny Faith Ministries for the purchase of a worship center.

The Pastor and the Board of Deacons of Destiny Faith Ministries

The pastor, vision bearers, the project committee, and the family of Destiny Faith Ministries, cordially invite you to join us in our fund raising campaign to purchase a facility for worship. As you may be aware, the Church continues to expand in its membership and ministry outreach in the Twin Cities.

I am sure you will appreciate from a spiritual perspective, the importance of providing our children with the ministry opportunity to ground them in their faith and Christian values, to enable them to face the challenges of the future.

Our goal is to raise funds during this campaign, to get a place where the children, youth, and congregation can meet and worship freely. Your presence alone will be a gift that will be highly appreciated.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions. The date, time, and location for the fund raising event are August 27, 2011 at 5.00pm, at Brooklyn Junior High School, 7377 Noble Avenue North, Brooklyn Park, MN 55443.

May God bless you as you prayerfully consider partnering with us in this endeavor.
Sincerely,
Pastor James Maina

“I shall pass through this life but once, If there is any good I can do let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again….”
adamark

2011 HOPE CONFERENCE

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from DAVID ADAWO

Destiny Faith Ministries invites you to attend this four days of great revival, refreshing times and impartation of hope for the future as from 8/25 – 8/28/2011 in brooklyn park Junior High School. The event will be free. The theme is Launching into the deep for a catch. Luke 5:4. Time is Thursday 5pm-8pm, Friday 3pm-8pm, Saturday 10am-8pm and Sunday 10am-6pm.

God bless you all.

for more information please visit www.destinyfaithministries.org or call

Pastor James Maina @ 612-306-9859
Pastor Russell Doe @ 651-285-1740
Robby @ 832-577-3781
David @ 612-298-5763
Haron Ondigi @ 612-481-7620
God bless you as you plan to attend this landmark conference of a lifetime.

“I shall pass through this life but once, If there is any good I can do let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again….”