Mission Stories and Anecdotes
By Rev. Joseph G. Healey, M.M.
INTRODUCTION
These brief tales are shared for use in homilies and other mission-focused parish or diocesan communication. You are invited to send further such stories via email. - JGH
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1. "God Is Like a Large Baobab Tree"
One day my pickup truck broke down on the road from Maswa to Bariadi in western Tanzania. After waiting for a half hour a big Coca Cola truck came by and the driver named Musa kindly towed my vehicle to the next town -- a common occurrence of friendship and mutual help on our poor dirt roads. Part of the time I sat in his big cab and we talked about, of all things, religion. Musa was a Muslim who belonged to the Nyamwezi Ethnic Group from Tabora. In commenting on the tensions between Christians and Muslims in Tanzania he told me: "There is only one God. God is like one large tree with different branches that represent the different religions of Islam, Christianity, African Religion and so forth. These branches are part of the same family of God so we should work together." Simply put, Musa taught me an African metaphor of world religions and interreligious dialogue.Return to Top
2. "We Wanted To Be Like Them"
A striking story tells about one remote area in western Sudan. Expatriate missionaries, especially priests, Brothers and Sisters, had labored there for many years with few visible results. Then expatriate lay missionaries -- married and single -- came to that area and soon many Sudanese people become Catholics. A Sudanese elder explained: "When we saw the priests and Sisters living separately and alone we didn't want to be like them. But when we saw Catholic families -- men, women and children -- living happily together, we wanted to be like them." In our family oriented African society married missionary couples with children have a powerful and unique witness and credibility.Return to Top
3. "The Sukuma Bishop Who Was Sent By His Worker"
There is a popular Swahili saying that is translated "To be called is to be sent." Another version is "We are called. We are sent." This African saying is used in instructing the newly baptized adult Christians during the liturgy on Holy Saturday night and applies to all of us. We are called first to be disciples of Jesus Christ. Then we are sent as apostles. This spirit of being sent in mission is reflected in the missionary characteristic of humility as portrayed in the Sukuma proverb "Even an elephant (that is, an important person) can be sent." This African proverb uses the symbol of the elephant, the largest and strongest animal, to teach missionary humility and service. The use of this proverb in an African context is seen in the true Tanzanian story "The Sukuma Bishop Who Was Sent By His Worker:"One day a Sukuma bishop in Tanzania prepared to go on a safari to a distant parish in his diocese. One of the workers on the compound of the bishop's residence wanted to send a package to a friend who lived in the very place where the bishop was going. Before asking help from the bishop, he used the Sukuma proverb "Even an elephant (that is, an important person) can be sent." Realizing the wisdom of this proverb, the bishop immediately agreed to take the package.
The amazing, the almost unbelievable, news of Christianity is that even God was sent. In fact, God sent God. God the Father sent the most important person, the greatest person -- Jesus Christ his beloved son -- to redeem humankind. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life" (John 3:16). Yet Jesus "humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death -- even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:8). We try to imitate Christ in humility and service.
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4. SCCs as a "New Way of Being Local Church"
In February, 1999 I participated in a "Seminar on Missionary Awareness" at the Spiritan Missionary Seminary outside of Arusha, Tanzania. One speaker explained how the pope is the main person responsible for mission in the universal church, the bishop the main person responsible for mission in the diocese, the pastor the main person responsible for mission in the parish and the chairperson the main person responsible for mission in the SCC. At this point I disagreed saying that this pyramid or vertical style of authority, responsibility and decision making is just the opposite of how the SCCs are a new model of church from the bottom up. It is not the chairperson but all the SCC members together who are jointly responsible for mission and different forms of outreach.Return to Top
5. "Athanasius Evangelized Me With a Cup of Tea"
One day Bishop Christopher Mwoleka came to our house in Nyabihanga Village in Rulenge, Tanzania on an unexpected visit. My good friend Athanasius and I hurriedly prepared tea for the villagers who came to greet the bishop. We started with two full thermoses, but then several other visitors came and soon we had finished all the tea. I wondered what I would do if another person came. Just then one of our neighbors arrived to say hello. As I started to apologize for not having any more tea, Athanasius spontaneously picked up his own cup of tea and politely handed it to the visitor. It was a simple gesture of sharing, but for me a profound act of love and beauty. By his example Athanasius had evangelized me.Return to Top
6. Did Jesus Christ Ever Kill a Lion?
A story is told about a missionary who went to a remote area in Northern Tanzania to proclaim the Gospel among the Maasai Ethnic Group who are a famous warrior people. One day he was explaining to a group of adults the saving activity of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He told how Jesus is the Savior and Redeemer of all humankind. When he finished, a Maasai elder slowly stood up and said to the missionary: "You have spoken well, but I want to learn more about this great person Jesus Christ. I have three questions about him: First, did he ever kill a lion? Second, how many cows did he have? Third, how many wives and children did he have?"Return to Top
7. "The Rwandan Woman Who Chose to Forgive"
In a particular section of Kigali of mixed Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups, the genocidal war broke out with a bloody vengeance. Neighbors attached neighbors. In one area a Hutu man murdered his Tutsi neighbor. Later after the Rwandan Patriotic Front won the war and took over the government, local investigations of the atrocities started. The wife of the dead Tutsi man was asked to identify her husband's murderer. She refused knowing that the Hutu man would be arrested, imprisoned and perhaps killed in return. The woman said that she preferred to remain silent to save another life. She said: "This is enough. This killing has to stop somewhere. One murder does not justify another killing. We have to break the cycle of violence and end this genocide." So she chose to forgive.Return to Top
8. "You're Not a White Man; You're Our Father"
A touching story is told about an expatriate missionary priest who lived for a long time in a remote part of Tanzania. He lived alone, a single white man among his African flock. One day a British government official arrived on a tour of the area. All the African children ran out to welcome the visitor. They clapped and danced. After the official left, the children excitedly told the missionary priest, "We saw a white man! We saw a white man!" A few children said that the visitor was the first foreigner they had ever seen. The priest was amazed and exclaimed, "But I'm a white man. I'm a foreigner. I've been living here with you all these years." One of the children said, "You're not a white man; you're our Father."Joseph G. Healey, M.M. is a Maryknoll missionary priest and the Chairperson of the Mission Awareness Committee (MAC) of the Religious Superiors' Association of Tanzania based in Dar es Salaam. He is co-author of Towards An African Narrative Theology (Paulines Publications Africa, 3rd Reprint, 2000 and Orbis Books, 2nd printing, 1999).
Rev. Joseph G. Healey, M.M.
Maryknoll Missioners
P.O. Box 867
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
28 September, 2000