Judy and I are going on a month long vacation so we are closing the House of Prayer to overnight guests. But our local praying community will continue to pray in the morning and evening with the psalms and silence.

The last two days I’ve been telling the people who come to pray with us that we will be going on vacation. Myself, I will be going to the Desert House of Prayer in Tucson, Arizona for retreat; hearing this people have come up to me asking for prayers for various needs they have.

This is very African and Catholic praying for others; so even on vacation one is always working for others.

Yesterday we were hosts to 15 youth from Poland and Tanzania who came for a day of prayer and reflection. The youth met in Poland at last year’s World Youth Day. The Society of Missionaries to Africa brought the youth together in Tanzania as a continuation of their meeting in Poland.

The day was spent in teaching, meditating, resting, sharing food and Eucharist. We really were gifted with the global sense of the Church as we sang hymns during Mass in Polish and Swahili. It was a deep blessing for us at the House of Prayer to witness such a picture of the universal Church with us.

Part of the original inspiration of the House of Prayer was to have a global outreach. Why not? As the Prophet Isaiah said, “…these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their brunt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” (Is 56:7)

Yesterday we had 26 people for a retreat starting at 10am and ending at 5pm. The people who came are special people for us at the Lake House of Prayer, they are God’s “Anuwin”. Anuwin is a biblical term found the New Testament meaning those who are poor in the material and  the spiritual. These are the people Jesus went to. These are the same people Missioner Disciples are called to go to.

The retreat was mixture of various forms of Contemplation: Talks on Discernment, Healing of Memories, creating a Spiritual Practice for Everyday life, chanting, silent meditation, taking naps, a meal of beans, rice, spinach, watermelon and finally Eucharist.

The focus was on Practice, how to face the growing number of challenges (like lack of water right now) for the Anuwin. I am grateful for the response of the people for the day because it is my hope we have been helpful in empowering the people with spiritual tools for the ever increasing struggle to live a faithful healthy life in Mwanza.

 

Our House of Prayer continues to receive guests and as the Swahili proverb goes, “Mgeni akija wenyeji wapone”(A guest comes the locals get well), we are greatly blessed.

We had our first priests for a five day retreat, one for a directed retreat, the other a private one. Both are from Missionary Congregations so I was feeling the brotherhood of the priesthood along with the brotherhood of Mission.

A group of 16 visitors from the USA came a sat with us during our Friday evening Mediation. It was a dream come true to have Africans and Americans sitting in Silence and Stillness praying in a language beyond words.

Yesterday we had the family of our Maryknoll Pastor at Mabatini Parish sit with us for evening Meditation. They are Vietnam. Again like the previous group one could sense of the global nature on our existence on this Planet sitting in the language everyone understands, Silence.

In a couple of weeks we be welcoming a group of Polish youth visiting an international congregation of missioners. They will be coming along with some Tanzanian youth.

People here treasure guests, especially the poor, without electronic distractions/entertainment they find joy in the old tradition of welcoming guests like God is visiting them.

On my morning walks to the Lake I pass by two natural springs which have been a source of water for the local people for many years. But just in only a few months I have noticed a difference, the lines are longer waiting for the water to surface and the wait goes on from before dawn until mid-morning.

Myself, I have had to buy water that is delivered by truck to finish the building of our wall and for our guests. The Water department continues to struggle getting water to its customers on a regular basis. Of course my challenge is not on a survival level as those women waiting patiently for a bucket of water for their thirsty families.

Last week after prayer one of the women asked me if  she could take some of the left over wood from our latest building project. The poor usually use charcoal for cooking which they buy in small amounts to manage cooking for a day (which can mean only one meal a day). The charcoal is made from trees that are being chopped down at an alarming rate, so much so the government has forbid the making of charcoal.

The charcoal that is available is expensive and hard to find. The women have to find another source of cooking fuel, “kuni”(branches from trees, bushes, or left over wood from building sites). Unfortunately this contributes to the continued ecological diminishment of the land.

The woman who took our left over wood said, with a smile, it would last her three days. Three days, that is a long time when one is struggling to find the basics for life every single day. How people handle this daily pressure for survival with such grace and patience, is a valuable lesson for me.