Catholic Diocese of Tombura-Yambio is a Land of Faith, Says a Kenyan Jesuit Priest.

Rev. Fr. Augustine Edan Ekeno, SJ who was in Yambio for the first time to facilitate a retreat for the clergy of the diocese of Tombura-Yambio told Rurugene Online News that a number of factors made him conclude that Catholic-Diocese of Tombura-Yambio is indeed a land of faith.

“Looking at how much this land is blessed by the faith and the grace that God has given this diocese, the challenge that I would like to throw to my brothers and Sisters in Tombura-Yambio Diocese is for them to ask themselves this fundamental question, that if Jesus comes back in 2112, which is basically one hundred years from now, will He find Faith in Tombura-Yambio,” Fr. Ekeno challenged.

He said that it is upon the Church leadership and all the faithful in the Catholic Diocese of Tombura-Yambio seize the opportunity that has been given to them by God to do their best in order to promote faith by ensuring that the fire doesn’t get extinguished for generations and generations to come.

Fr. Ekeno’s pronouncement of the Catholic Diocese of Tombura-Yambio as the land of faith is however not new to the people of Tombura-Yambio; according to Barani Eduardo Hiiboro, the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Tombura-Yambio, several other people have in the past made the same observations of the natives of Tombura-Yambio exhibiting great acts of faith.

“Fr. Augustine’s remarks were made based on the attitude of the people; the way they care for peace, the way they build their own communities, the way they resolve problems, their involvements in prayer activities, their availability in the church, the number of vocations and availability of clergy as well as men and women religious; the devotions showed in different ways, this for sure is what indicates that the people who live here are people who believe in God,” Bishop Hiiboro Explained.

Speaking to Rurugene Online New, Fr. Ekeno explained that a number of factors led him to deduce that the Catholic Diocese of Tombura-Yambio is indeed the land of faith. For instance from the first day he arrived in Yambio he noticed many committed and prayerful Christians and when he went to Mupoi Mission where they had the retreat with the clergy he observed the same commitment and prayerfulness among them as well. He experienced the height of faith among Christians in Tombura Yambio on the second Sunday of Lent when he had the opportunity to celebrate Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Yambio.

“I was moved by the number of people who came for the Mass service. Since my arrival in South Sudan in 2017, I have never said Mass to such a crowd of very prayerful, very actively involved in the worship and very cheerful people. The crowd was just amazing and I was so inspired by this that I found myself moved to prayer and to a great sense of faith,” Fr. Ekeno.

The second reason why he felt that the Diocese is the land of faith is that he noticed that the Christian faithful have owned their Church. “The element of owning their Church is evident in the fact that these people have the willingness to build their Church; the Christians together with their priests collaborating with their bishop, and joining hands for example to create roads that can connect one parish to another and connect one village to another for purposes of enhancing movement and mobility. Mobility that is can help them live together as one family of God. I was touched to hear how the priests together with the Bishop and the lay people can spend days in the bush doing works that are meant to build the Church. These for me is a sign that Tombura-Yambio Catholic community is indeed a community of faith, it is a family of faith.”

The third reason why Fr. Ekeno felt that Tombura-Yambio is the land of faith is that the Church there is not just for the young and the children, a scenario which he has observed to be very common in South Sudan. According to Fr. Ekeno, there is a feeling he got when he arrived in South Sudan in 2017 and which he has so far made peace with that the Catholic Church in South Sudan is for young people children while other Churches are mainly for adults.

“What I noticed in Tombura-Yambio is completely different, I saw both the young and the adults, children and mature people, old people coming to Church to pray; I saw people of all ages going for the way of the Cross on Friday and singing and praying together, this for me was a clear sign that the faith has really matured in Tombura-Yambio Diocese.”

Another reason that made Fr. Ekeno pronounce that Tombura-Yambio Diocese is the land of faith is the prayerfulness and commitment he witnessed among the clergy of the diocese of Tombura-Yambio. “I saw Men who have sacrificed and risk their lives for the purposes of promoting the kingdom of God. I had the opportunity to talk and share a lot with them and I heard a lot of stories about how they have gone an extra mile to try and give their best, their energy, their intellect in order to the building the kingdom of God.”

Another sign of faith he witnessed was the desire of many young people from Tombura-Yambio to join the vocation of priesthood. “I noticed this in Mupoi Mission where I met a group of young men who are going through the orientation course. Very young, committed, faithful, and very dedicated young men that are eager to join the priestly vocation to serve God.”

Fr. Ekeno expressed that immediately after Mass service at St. Mary’s Cathedral two young men approached him to express their desire to join the Society of Jesus. This was the first time for him in the last four years that he has been in South Sudan that that young people were asking him how they can join the Society of Jesus to serve as priests. Owing to this, he therefore felt that indeed the faith has grown in this Diocese and this needs to be maintained at all costs.