By A.M. Kelley
Superior Catholic Herald
Superior parish to hold African celebration
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SUPERIOR -- One year ago Fr. Christian Mhagama traveled from one of the poorest countries in the world--Tanzania--to Holy Assumption in Superior in hopes of establishing a sister parish relationship with its parishioners.
When Mhagama returned home three weeks later he had won the hearts and support of many. He also left with promises. Some parishioners said they would visit him in Africa. Last June, 11 people made good on that promise and on Oct. 14, after the 9 a.m. Mass at Holy Assumption, they will commemorate the trip with an African breakfast and pictures and stories of their two weeks in Tanzania.
For Deacon Bob Chammings, who led the group, Tanzania was an eye- and heart-opening experience beginning with his first Mass there that lasted nearly five hours.
"I blessed 22 marriages and baptized 100," he said. "And I learned how to celebrate. By their standards we don't celebrate Mass. We just go to church. When they celebrate Mass they don't just recite prayers. They sing. They dance. They clap their hands."
That was just one day and one Mass into the trip. As the group traveled down dirt trails into villages with Mhagama to meet and pray with some of his more than 12,000 parishioners in 21 outstations, the Tanzanians greeted their American visitors as if they were royalty.
"A half mile out they began to meet us," Chammings said. "There were bicycles decorated with palm fronds. Drumming. Singing. Dancing. It was exultation."
In the villages there were more people waiting.
"They welcomed us so warmly and so jubilantly," he said. "It was like we were coming home after being away for so long even though we had never been there before."
At one Mass in one small village, during the offertory, Chammings saw something he'll never forget.
"Everybody brings their gifts to the altar, bench by bench (there are no pews)," he said. "One small old lady with gnarled hands put one egg in the basket. They have so little and give what they have with joy."
Before the trip was over, Chammings baptized 306 people and blessed 47 marriages. As gifts of hospitality, he and his group were presented with 200-pound sacks of rice, live chickens and one goat.
"The ironic thing is they're the ones that are needy," he said.
When Mhagama visited Superior in September 2006, he came with the assistance of a non-profit foundation, Global Faith Partners. A publication of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, "A Call to Solidarity with Africa," inspired GFP to help parishioners in the United States connect with villagers. The Tanzanians need financial help, medicines, clothes and education, Chammings said, but Americans are also needy: They need to learn about Africans. To help with this education, more than 30 Superior high school students have been linked with pen pals in Tanzania.
The presentation on Oct. 14 is another way for those who traveled to Africa to share what they have learned so far and it's open to the public. The African breakfast will include: hardboiled eggs, white bread, peanut butter and jam, bananas, oranges, pineapple, coffee, African tea and orange juice. A freewill offering will be taken with the proceeds to benefit the people of Mhagama's parishes.
© Superior Catholic Herald, 2007