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MARIANIST LAY COMMUNITY OF NAIROBI – KENYA
24th Jan 2010- the registration and launch of Faustino group in Makadara Regional House
Nairobi-
Maybe God will speak to ME.!!
NOVEMBER 2009 - EARLY JANUARY 2010 MLCs OF NAIROBI ACTIVITY
REPORT.
COMPILED BY: ANN KIHAGI - MLC.
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As we continuously strive to respond to the call of our mother Mary, by.
‘Doing what He tells us’, last December as we celebrated the birth of Her
son and our savior, our guide and confidant, MLCs of Nairobi had a beehive
of activities.
We are called to respond to the signs of the time, bring joy in others lives
and live according to his will in his blessed virtues.
We had moments of coming together, of sharing with children, youths and
parishioners’. It was a spiritual nourishing moment to our families,
parishioners’, our target groups (Youths and children) and Marianist
community in general. We as well shared with SMs in Nairobi and we had
joyous sessions as we celebrated Jesus’ birthday in our hearts as a renewal
of our faith. Together as MLCs community in Nairobi, on 28th Nov. 09, we
had a full day of recollection and later shared a dinner.
One remarkable achievement in this New Year is the formation and
launching of a Faustino group of children aged 6 to 13. The formation on
10th Jan 2010 and Launch on 24th Jan 2010 brought such a joy and
excitement in MLCs, parents, children’s and society’s lives. It is such a
remarkable event. However, the challenge is to sustain the group that has
brought a lot of joy in the lives of children such that they wish to as well
recruit their friends. We are working closely with Bro. Julius Nandi who
assisted in the formation of the Zambia Faustino group. The potential of the
group swelling into bigger numbers within a short while is evident.
1st meeting of Faustino group formation with parents and children on 10th
Jan 2010.
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A mother is a powerful force in each child’s life. Her prayer for her children
never goes in vain!!!! Courageous and forever there for her children under all
circumstances.
The joy of a mother just like our Mary Mother. This is Ann Kihagi’s mother.
She is loving and kind. What of our Mother Mary? Her’s is beyond mere
terms!!!!
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Below are some of the photos of the events as they took place;
a) Presentation of liturgical wears and shoes to Children in St. Charles
Lwanga Outstation Church of our Lady of Visitation Parish Makadara on 20th
Dec 09. Following their presentation during our 5 International meeting of
Marianist Lay Communities of the World in Nairobi- Kenya in Aug. 09. Marta
Isabel of Chile invited participants to make individual contribution after she
observed that children danced in Church bare-footed.
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b) Presentation of liturgical wears and shoes to Children in our
Lady of Visitation Parish Makadara on 3rd Jan 2010 as a gift from 5
IM participants contribution facilitated by Marta Isabel Toro of
Chile. May she forever remain inspired to respond to the
immediate signs of the time.
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c) Yes, it was time to come together with our families and SMs to
sincerely thank God for all his provisions, love and the gift of such
a wonderful community. All the SM brothers who participated in
5IM attended the MLCs end of year Party. Fr. Richard and Fr.
Calistus Jeje showered us with Holy blessings. All this happened
in my House on 27th Dec 09. It was such a blessing. See below;
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d) Faustino group 1st meeting on 10th Jan 2010.
Let the children come to me; above is baby Debra, ever smiling. She is a joy in my life.
Put up a smile on your face even when things are tough and peace will
always be restored in your live.
On 10th Jan. 2010, the mothers and children of the children who have been
invited to join the Faustino group with the inspiration of following the
faithful footsteps of Faustino, ‘Maybe God will speak to me’ as the guiding
principle converged at St. Charles Lwanga Catholic Church- the outstation
of Our Lady of Visitation Catholic Parish in Makadara Nairobi. Bro. Steve
Nandi (SM), Peter Njoroge and Ann Kihagi (MLCs) took the children and the
parents through 1 ½ hours of helping them understand what the program is
all about. The children where told the life history of Faustino and the
meeting was full of enthusiasms. The parents were keen to understand and
they thus asked questions for clarity. The parents at the end expressed joy
and promised to support their children to go through a 1 year formation
program.
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The meeting started with a word of prayer by one parent. The children conducted a song,
‘This is the Day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it…..’. Peter
welcomed all and in a special way the children and the parents. He later invited Ann
Kihagi to say a word. Ann expressed appreciation to parents and children for realizing
the need to be servants of God and to parents of realizing the need to bring up their
children embracing the virtues of Jesus and that of a Saint Angel- the Faustino. She
invited Bro. Nandi (SM) to introduce the purpose of the meeting and share more to help
the children understand- Why Faustino?
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He begun by telling the children that Faustino was a young boy who loved God with all
his heart and soul. He was born in 1946 and died in 1963 when he was 17 years of age.
He lived a simple life and shared and loved others. He loved soccer, swimming and
watching movies. He loved Jesus and His mother Mary. He was loving and caring to his
friends and always looked forward to do well and seek perfection. He wished to be a
Marianist priest. At this point, Bro. Nandi explained who Marianists are. He then
continued; Faustino loved to pray Rosary and his life was like a living commentary as
described in the Pope’s writings. He is thus just about to be beatified to sainthood.
Faustino was a student in a Marianist school. So, he loved learning new things. He was a
prayerful boy and he would always meditate and say,’ MAYBE GOD WILL SPEAK TO ME.’
He used to go for retreats and for confession. He used to have a diary and would make
personal notes. In 1956, this was the turning point in his life, he wrote on his diary-
‘MAYBE GOD WILL SPEAK TO ME.’
He explained that the Faustino groups are only in Zambia and Rome and thus, the Holy
Spirit has a purpose to choose the Our Lady of Visitation Church to be the next station for
germination of Faustino roots.
As Bro. Nandi continued to tell the children about Faustino, it become like a tale, it was
moving and quite interesting. She started interrupting to enquire more. He made
clarifications where necessary and the children did not want him to stop. At this point, it
was necessary to set another date in the near future. The registration and Launch
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meeting was set to be 22nd Jan 09 the Blessed Fr. Chaminade day but pushed to Sunday
the 24th Jan 2010 since Fri. was a school day.
On 24th Jan 2010, the parents and children converged at
Makadara- Society of Mary Regional House for Mass and
registration exercise. The children were officially received as the
1st Faustino group under Marianist to commence the formation
process. After the Holy Mass, separate sessions of children and
parents were held. Peter and Bro Nandi sat with children and
Lorna, Ann, Anastasia and Fr. Richard held a session with parents.
The two were parallel sessions to explore the expectation, fears,
aspiration and listen to their views. Children were so excited that
they wanted to be meeting every Sunday. The group however
reached to a consensus that their meetings to be held twice per
month which will be every 1st and 3rd Sundays of every month at 3
p.m for at least 1 hour. The formation program will be developed
and guided by brothers Nandi and Goko.
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Each child was presented with a write-up with a photo of Faustino and his life story.
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The parents also requested to be part of the program in a separate meeting. It was thus
agreed that they will be meeting once a month on the 3rd Sunday of every at 3 p.m. This
group will be directed by Fr. Richard and MLCs. The religious committee will be ensuring
that plans are in place at all times such as confirming venues and availability of the
facilitators. The office of Temporality will co-ordinate to ensure that other necessary
provisions are taken care off through mobilizing support from all members.
Left is bro. Julius sharing with parents the children’s expectation and on the right are children and parents
after a Holy Mass on the registration day.
It was exciting to pose for a photo after Mass and on the right is a parents’ forum on the way forward.
Fr. Richard could not help to share his joy with parents- she told them about the community and
the love for Mary, the mother of Jesus and how she become our mother.
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THE 2010 SCHEDULED ACTIVITIES
1) Work with 6 youths Small Christian Communities with a maximum of 300
young women and men.
2) To develop a strong Faustino Group of young boys of girls of age 6 to 14
years.
3) Establish a resource centre for the youths and children – find Christian
books, prayer guides, motivational books and magazines.
4) Encourage the youths who have dropped out of school to re-enroll and
assist them to find sponsors and mentors.
5) Encourage the youths with no skills to enroll for vocational training to
acquire livelihood skills and attach them with the Ministry of Youth for
further support.
6) Enhance children’s rights and teach them the accompanying
responsibilities.
7) Increase the numbers of Marianist Lay and expand the scope.
8) Work with parents of both the youths and the children to draw them
closer to Jesus and enhance the support for their children as we work to
strengthen their faith, values and morals.
9) Marianist Lay communities will hold regular formation, sharing and
prayer forums.
10) Support each other in the times of need.
11) Pair ourselves to pray for each other, society, our desires, peace and
the Marianist Communities of the World.
12) Hold retreats, vigils and recollection days with children, youths,
parents and MLCs with the guidance of SMs.
Challenges
The key challenges are the resources especially the lack of finances to
ensure proper co-ordination. If we are able to engage a full time Marianist
professional to co-ordinate the above activities, it would be possible to
move the work of Marianist Lay in Nairobi to greater heights. The meeting
venue and space for the resource centre. It is our hope that the funding
proposal we has written to this effect will receive some positive response.
MLCs and at times the involved SMs make individual contributions to help
us realize most of the said activities and we anticipate that some time will
come when we shall be able to get support to enable us propagate our faith
to many parts of the country and share the joy beyond the bounders.
