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Zambia Pallottine Missionaries on the Move
by Fr. Leon Martin, SAC
Provincial Mother of God Province
Why Zambia? For the Pallottines the answer is simple: “because the needs there are so great!”
One doesn’t have to look very hard to see why the Pallottines came to Zambia.
This once middle-income country with a rich history in copper mining has been sliding into poverty since the 1970’s, a slide from which it has not recovered. In 2000 the nation’s foreign debt exceeded six billion dollars, the annual per capita income dropped to $395, and 68% of the population now live below the poverty level. Life expectancy at birth is only 37 years due in part to the estimated 17% of the adult population living with HIV/AIDS. Often, those infected pass away between the ages of 25-35, leaving behind battered families and thousands of orphaned children. This is why the Pallottines are in Zambia. As the needs grow so does our love and concern for the people.
Food supplies for the orphans at our mission in Zambia.
In 2005 our Pallottines from the Indian Nagpur Province began their ministry at Holy Family Parish to provide pastoral care for the local people, to assist those with HIV/AIDS, to provide education for the many orphans in the area and to pave the way for the future formation of native Pallottine priests and brothers in Zambia.
Currently, two Indian Pallottines serve the parish, Fathers Matthew and Thomas. Within the next year, one or two additional Pallottines will be coming to serve at the Formation House which will open soon. The parish is located on the outskirts of Lusaka, the capitol of Zambia and is responsible for the two mission stations of Divine Mercy Church and St. Mary’s Church with approximately 30,000 Catholics in the area.
With so many people to serve, the needs of the parish are overwhelming. At present, the two top priorities are providing food baskets for HIV/AIDS families and educating the orphans. As we begin 2009, we hope to gather enough funds to provide food basket for 100 families and to gather enough money for 50 orphans to attend school this year and continue their education through high school. As modest as these goals may seems, achieving them will go far to raise the hopes and dreams of many of the local people for a brighter and happier future.
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e care for the present and future needs of the of the world in regard to religion, when we are actively engaged in works of mercy, in order to further the temporal happiness of people and to care for the eternal salvation of all in a most efficacious way.
