Browsing by Author "Wanjala Dennis Bwire"

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    Mission as Dialogue and Encounter: The Basis for the Mill Hill Missionaries’ Attitudes in Evangelizing the Human Person. Case Study of Catholic Diocese of Bungoma.
    (Tangaza University College, 2022) Wanjala Dennis Bwire
    The pioneer missionaries in Western Kenya were the Mill Hill Missionaries, amongst whom from the start there was a big presence of Dutchmen. In 1894 they were entrusted with the Vicariate of the Upper Nile. In which, as well as territories in Uganda, the West of Kenya was included. In 1903 they opened a mission in Kisumu among the Luo, followed a year later by a Station in Mumias among the Luhyia. In the following years there was a constant expansion of missionary work among those tribes, while mission stations were also opened among the Gusii.1 This quote triggered a number of questions in me: How was the first encounter of the pioneer Mill Hill Missionaries with the local people? Were the local people especially those in the Catholic Diocese of Bungoma either receptive or not to their invitation; and Why? Above all, how was the Mill Hill Missionaries’ attitudes towards the local people and their culture, and amongst themselves as missionaries in the work of evangelization and human promotion? This research will therefore explore the dialogue and encounter between the Mill Hill Missionaries and the local people. It will further investigate the goals, styles and means of evangelization, and their influence on the lives of the local people and the missionary character and spirituality of the Mill Hill Missionaries. The Mill Hill Missionaries have always been in dialogue with the culture of the people. The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes, accentuates the urgency for the Church to be in solidarity with the whole of human family and read the signs of times in the midst of the diverse and constant flux of science and technology, “culture and the ways of thinking”2 in her work of evangelization in the modern world. This indeed is a call of any missionary in a given mission territory to ask oneself: What is going on here? Why I am here, and for whom am I in this particular mission placement? How do I respond to this particular situation, and what missionary attitudes do I need to develop in this context as I encounter these people daily? Indeed this is a call for a missionary to be open to dialogue and surrender to the promptings of the Holy Spirit for effectiveness of the missionary tasks entrusted to him. This implies that dialogue is an integral part to missionary evangelization on the account that The same Spirit is at work in the people being evangelized as well as the evangelizers; and we acknowledge that there is a two-way exchange of gifts, between missionaries and the people among whom they work. Dialogue conveys the impression that mission is not just a matter of doing things for the people. It is first of all a matter of being with people, of listening and sharing with them.3 Additionally, in the opening address for the 18th Chapter of St. Joseph’s Missionary Society, Fr. Anthony Chantry, the General Superior of the Mill Hill Missionaries affirmed the need for dialogue in mission by saying: We will begin our journey together by listening attentively to one another and the concerns of the Members and Associates. We shall conclude with statements and recommendations born of consensus, and choose leadership that will empower our society in its mission of loving service over the next five years. So the quality of the dialogue that will take place during the journey will determine the quality of the outcomes of this Chapter. In his pre-conclave speech Pope Francis said: “Dialogue is born from a respectful attitude toward the other person, from a conviction that the other person has something good to say. It supposes that we can make room in our heart for their point of view, their opinion and their proposals.” May this characterize our deliberations in revisioning the mission and identity of our Society in evangelization (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 33)4. The research will be tackled in four chapters: Chapter one will deal with the Preliminaries, the background information of the problem and the overview of the Catholic Diocese of Bungoma including the geographical location of the diocese; the people and tribes which make up this ecclesiastical jurisdiction, principally the Luhya tribe, and the organization of the diocese. Chapter two will concentrate on the conception of Mission as Dialogue and Encounter and its relevance to the holistic evangelization of the peoples. Chapter three will aim at the Mill Hill Missionaries’ Attitudes in the Evangelization of Human Person in Bungoma Diocese. Here, the paper will analyze the Society’s missionary tasks and motivation as presented to the public by first tracing the genesis and charism of the society, the Mill Hill Missionaries in Western Kenya and as well as the means of evangelization and their impact on the faith of the local people. Consequently, the research will examine the challenges faced by the missionaries in their work of evangelizing the people of the Catholic Diocese of Bungoma. Finally, chapter four will sum up the research with the Recommendations and General conclusion. Firstly, on the specific missionary attitudes and spirituality of the Mill Hill Missionaries in evangelization of the people; and secondly, on the general missionary attitudes, i.e. how a missionary need to nurture and use these very attitudes in mission.