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26^TH – 29^TH DECEMBER 2006

SAMBALAYAS LODGE, LUSAKA

SUPERIOR ’S REPORT

1. INTRODUCTION

 I feel compelled to begin my report by recalling our past. How have we moved from the time Oblates came to Zambia ? Though this might sound strange, I would not be surprised if there are some Zambian Oblates who do not know which year Oblates came to Zambia .

 Oblates came to Zambia from what used to be the Southern US Province in February 1983 and established themselves in the Western Province , the poorest part of the country.  By 1994 we were present in three large missions that is, Lukulu, Kalabo and Limulunga. We took over Nutrition Centre (now Diocese of Mongu Development Center) in 1987. We run and own Oblate Radio Liseli, which was officially blessed, by Fr Steckling, OMI, our Superior General in 2005.

 In Lusaka , we have a pre-novitiate, Center House, Mary Immaculate Parish, Administration Office and we co-sponsor an Our Lady’s Hospice with other religious communities.

 In 1995 Zambia became a Delegation. Meaning we became more independent in our operations. Our growth has been steady and the future looks promising. There are more men joining our ranks.

2. THEME

 “Come Lord Jesus!” Is the theme of this year’s Delegation Assembly.  For me “Come Lord Jesus,” is an urgent cry, it is plea, it is a prayer requesting Jesus Christ to come to us as individuals and a missionary body.  Why “Come Lord Jesus” as theme? Without Jesus we are nothing and we cannot go anywhere, we are finished. He is the reason we are here. We are his messengers. I think we are entering a new phase as a missionary body. We are expanding and new challenges are emerging in terms of community interactions and leadership styles. Therefore, we have to ask him to come to us during this assembly and indeed everyday of our lives.

3. WHERE ARE WE NOW?

Let me begin by saying God has continued to shower his blessings on our Delegation. This year we were blessed with many things for which I am grateful to God, to the provincial and his team and to you all members of the delegation for the support and understanding. I thank Fr General for giving Fr James Chambers, OMI his first obedience to Zambia . Fr Jim you are welcome and we are glad you are with us for life. I thank the provincial for assigning David Kalert, OMI to our delegation for one year. Fr David you have been great and wonderful. Last but not the least I want to thank council members for their support especially in difficult situations.  I felt supported in the decisions we made. I also want to thank Fr Keba for accepting the job to set up an information desk. They have successfully published the newsletters and delegation calendar, which I am told, was well received in Mongu diocese. It is my hope that the desk will take up the challenge of also addressing issues of peace and justice. I know there are many success and we will hear about them in various reports. As we hear these reports let us remember that these are our stories, we are celebrating our successes and hopefully we are learning from our mistakes. They help us build each other and challenge each other.

4. OUR CHALLENGES

Even though the year was filled with blessings, there times when things were not going well. It was a difficult year with many challenges. How was it a difficult year? Well, there are a number of issues and challenges.  But they are the same issues we have spoken about at length in the past. In this years’ report I feel it is suffice just to list them to remind ourselves.

v      Stability/ Community Living

v      Mentoring/ inexperience

v      Quality of our formation

v      Balanced religious living

v      Resource management / Accountability

v      Lack of trained Personnel

v      Financial self- sustainability

v      New ministries/ Expansion

v      Internationality/ border crossing

v      HIV/AIDS

v      Poverty.

v      Government polices

While it is true that we might have numerous challenges, I have decided to comment on Formation, Our relationship with Diocese Development Office and personnel. The reason for picking up these issues is that I feel as a body we should talk about them formally and informally during our time here and maybe begin to come up with answer. We cannot choose to be indifference and pretend that all is well.

Formation

There will be a formation report from the director. Here I want to point out that formation is crucial at this stage of our life as a delegation. If we get it wrong now, then the future will be bleak. The visitation report by the Natal provincial to St Joseph ’s Scholasticate exposed a number of issues about our formation dynamics that need attention. The need to clarify a place for philosophy has become an urgent subject for us as a delegation. This year, three scholastics were advised to leave the Oblates as well as a novice.  The pain of asking someone to leave is very difficult and stressful. This raises the question of our formation dynamics. Is all well with our formation program?

Personnel

When we look at the number of Oblates in vows we see that we are many. This is good and we thank God. However, when you look at the men working in the mission we see that our men are overworked. Without the regency program we would be in trouble. It is always a challenge to place people in ministry because one individual cannot work with another individual, or because one prefers this place to that place. Sometimes, I ask myself: Where is the spirit of availability and brotherhood? Can we really have the luxury of choosing what ministry to do?

I am raising question of which I don’t have answers. I am not naïve to think that we will have answers. For me it just shows that the situation is getting complex and it could get out of hand. We have to invite our Lord Jesus to be with us and guide us.

5. HOW DO WE RESPOND TO CHALLENGES

I feel we have been able to address some of these challenges. But we cannot sit back and be relaxed. We need to continue addressing them. Through our previous assemblies we have spoken and chosen how we are going to respond to these challenges. We have decided that our response to meet the challenges will be based on the following values:

v      Community living

v      Good stewardship

v      Capacity building/skills development

v      Fundraising/ investment, income- generating activities

v      Planning

v      Resource development

v      On- going formation/ professional training

v      Awareness

Let us call ourselves to unity, availability and accountability. We have made gains and yet we should not bury our heads in sand and pretend that all is well. In our conversations, formal and informal, let us not find fault or who to blame for this or that. Let us face the issues at hand and talk to each other. Gossip will not take us anywhere.  In a letter to Tempier, St Eugene wrote: “We shall succeed in spite of obstacles, in working together for the glory of God and our sanctification.”  I pray that the Lord Jesus be with us and guide us.

Unity

There are forces that can easily divide and break us. Let us present a united front in our missionary living and activities.  We cannot afford to be slanderous of each other but rather be supportive. Here I do not pretend to ask that we should be best friends with each other. No, not at all, what I am asking is that we be brothers, co-workers with the Redeemer. Let us provide space for real growth for each other.

Availability

Our missions are in western province and Lusaka . Some of these missions are well developed and easily accessed. Some of the missions are very difficult and less attractive. We cannot all be in places that are easy and attractive. We cannot all be doing the same ministries. Among us there are people who will be asked to serve in difficult missions or ministries. Superiors will always rely on our generosity and availability. Otherwise we will continue to crowd center house or empty the delegation by sending people abroad.

Accountability

The Delegation is becoming Zambianised in every aspect. We need to own what we have and guard it jealously. This calls each one of us to be accountable to each other and our communities. We need to develop a culture of talking about the use of money, abuse of alcohol and sexual misconduct openly in our communities and as brothers. We are founders and I believe we are setting standards for ourselves. We cannot afford to become loners.

6. PERSONNEL SITUATION

  The question I ask my self is do we have sufficient personnel to fulfill our commitments to our ministries? After the 5^th of February when our six novices make their vows, our personnel situation will be as follows:

1          Bishop

20         Priests

1          Deacon

3          Brothers

41         Scholastics

Total   66

11          Novices

20         pre- novices

These numbers look good but we need to be realistic. The fact is though we have many people in formation our experience is that only few make it to ordination. Our experience is showing that even those of us who are ordained have difficulties to provide stability in our communities and ministries. Let us be patient with ourselves and help each other grow.

7. MINISTRY

Of the 20 Oblate priests, 1 deacon and 3 brothers, 7 are in parish ministries (Lukulu 3, Kalabo 2, Limulunga 2 and Mary Immaculate 2); 5 are in formation ministries (Cedara 2, Namibia 1and Lusaka 2); 2 are in media ministries and 2 are in leadership animation, 1 is in hospitality ministry; 1 in teaching ministry at Cedara; 3 on special studies (in USA) and 2 in special ministry (in USA and UK). This is not a desirable situation. We need to build communities. We have to be grateful for the regency program, because without regency program we will be in trouble.

8. CONCLUDING REMARKS

Lastly, let me take this opportunity to thank God first and all of you, for the support and cooperation you have given me during my first term. The provincial did come and consult us on who will be asked to serve as delegation superior. Fr Louis has notified me that I have been re- appointed for 3yrs. We are waiting for Fr General and his Council to confirm. The new council will be named at the January provincial council meeting in the USA .  May I take this opportunity therefore, to sincerely thank members of the council for the support and cooperation during our work together, I think we did our best.

 I also thank the core council that is Fr Evans and Fr Kennedy.  We were a team and I am grateful to them. We taught each other quite a lot. We found ourselves in unfamiliar ground and decisions were made.  If we felt we needed to change the decision we were not afraid to do so. If we felt we needed to stick to the decision we did so. Sometimes that was not popular but we held our guns. If we shot you, I hope your injuries have healed. I know the scars are still there but I hope you have healed. If we shot you and you are still injured, please forgive us. Thank you and may God bless us and guide our deliberation.

Joseph Phiri, OMI

Superior

Zambia Oblate Delegation

December 26, 2006

Sambalayas Lodge, Lusaka

Appendix

2007 INTERNAL MINISTRIES

ADMINISTRATION

Ø       Superior

Ø       Vicar

Ø       Treasurer

Ø       Delegation Council

FORMATION

1. Recruiting

Ø       Vocation Director

2. Pre-Novitiate

Ø       Director

Ø       2 Associate Directors

Ø       20 Candidates

3.  Novitiate

Ø       Johannesburg :               4 Novices

Ø       Namibia :                       1 priest and 4 Novices

Ø       Godfrey , USA :               3 Novices

4. Scholasticate

Ø       CEDARA:                       1 priest, 1 brother & 18 Scholastics

Ø       Rome :                           2 Scholastics

Ø       San Antonio , USA :         4 Scholastics

Ø       Cameroon                      3 Scholastics

5. Regency

Ø       Zambia :                         6 Scholastics

6. Further Studies:

Ø       USA                               2 Priests and 1 brother

7. Hospitality:                           1 Priest

8. Our Lady’s Hospice               1 Priest

2007 EXTERNAL MINISTRY

1.             PARISHES

• Sancta Maria Parish in Lukulu (2 priests and 1 brother).
• St Michael’s Parish in Kalabo (2 priests).
• St Lawrence of Brindisi in Limulunga (1 priest and 1 deacon)
• Mary Immaculate in Lusaka (2 priests).
• Mission to Secularity (1 priest)
• Higher Education Institution (2 priests)

2.             PROJECTS

• Mongu Diocese Development Center

• Oblate Radio Liseli (1 priest)

• Our Lady’s Hospice 

 

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