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BACKGROUND HISTORY OF THE PARISH
In December 22,
2001, the church was officially opened with a solemn Eucharist
presided over by the Apostolic Prefect of Gambella, Father Angelo
Moreschi.
The church was
named after St. John Bosco, commonly known as Don Bosco.
Previously, the
construction of the church and house buildings took great efforts and
years for Fr. Richard Baker, MM. (www.maryknoll.org),
and many local people, besides the contractors. At the same time
pastoral efforts were made to reach out particularly to the Anyuaa
community and Mr. Mark Ogur was remarkably active in the catechetical
efforts.
LOCATION
Itang is one of
the two larger towns, west of Gambella towards Sudan border. It is 52
kms from Gambella town and lies at the northern Baro river's bank. It
is a pleasant town with many large and old trees, that together with
the river's breeze, make it a bit cooler within the Region usually
high temperatures.
From Zone -
Woreda center it has been demoted to a village - kebele status by late
2003. Even though, after some armed conflict and general insecurity,
now it is a buzzing little town, with a high school, health center
being repaired these days, daily bus service and an active market of
local produce, of which mangoes, fish, maize, sorghum, meat are just
some of its items.
The Anyuaa, the
Nuer and a good number of people from all over Ethiopia (Highlanders),
live together here, being some of them even born here, regardless of
their ethnicity.
IMPORTANT HISTORICAL EVENTS THAT TOOK PLACE IN THE CHURCH
In May 2001, two
Yarumal Missionaries (www.yarumal.org),
from Colombia - South America, arrived in Gambella, to study the
Anyuaa language with the appointment for Itang. They were Fr. Joselito
Carreno, MXY and Fr. Arturo Villegas, MXY.
It was realized
by the missionaries that the Nuer community was increasing
dramatically due to their migration into the area. Fr. Tulio Ramirez,
MXY arrived in Gambella, in October 2002 to study this language and
join the team by midyear 2003.
For Easter 2003,
twenty one catechumens were baptized. They were the first baptized of
this church, mainly young people, who had started preparation way
before the official opening of the parish. Some of them also
celebrated their Confirmation on the Pentecost day, the same year.
On the May 2004,
a young man from Lare Parish, came to help the animation of the Nuer
community and by October, he discerned his vocation to priesthood; so,
he joined the group of our Prefecture's aspirants. His farewell made a
deep impact and left interesting questions to the young Christians in
general.
Every year since
August 2002, what we have called Unity Holidays and later Friendly
Holidays, have been conducted to promote the spirit of healthy
competition and sharing in peace.
The fact that
this church has endured all kind of social unrest and conflicts, with
members of both Anyuak and Nuer communities always present, is an
important statement of the Gospel values.
It is a
mystery of faith to see how this small church, has contributed in the
past two World Mission Sundays with ten times more money, than its
monthly average, for the Missionary campaign of the universal church.
SPECIAL ACTIVITY
As the Yarumal
Missionaries are dedicated to what is known as First Evangelization,
they use different means and styles to reach out to the local
population as to be able to introduce the person, message and
invitation of Jesus Christ.
Visiting in the
villages to make ourselves familiar to each other, or dressing wounds
for children as a first aid and way to show compassion and care;
promoting sports in the fields of the compound, or helping a group of
elderly women and men, with some disability by a ‘ work for food’
program; having the Sunday celebration in the two local languages plus
some English and Amharic, as to learn how to be open and welcoming to
all and to discovered the centrality of such a celebration in the life
of the church or promoting Bible sharing groups in preparation of more
committed and active Small Christian Communities, are just examples of
how the church goes in its every day life here.
Since the
Ethiopian Government welcomes missionaries only in reference to social
or material development projects, we run a Hostel for students. It is
open for 7th to 10th graders, who study in town and have food service,
library, Informal Education classes and human formation in the hostel.
It welcomes students from all ethnic groups, religions and genders.
Learning to live together and in peace, is the challenge and the motto
of our Hostel.
IMMEDIATE
CHALLENGES:
a.
The Bible sharing groups, as a task for the catechumens and
means of reading the Word of God in the communities.
b.
The church choir, as a mixture of languages, cultures and
voices, to worship God and to proclaim the Good News.
c.
The participation of girls in the sports and hostel and the
educational system in general.
d.
The care for the elderly, usually with handicaps and left quite
unattended from families and state.
e.
The dialogue with the Ortodox Church members, as to improve the
life in Christ for all.
f.
The reach out to the Muslim persons, as to help a more friendly
world.
g.
The prevention of the annual flood from the river that covers
more than half of the compound.
h.
The increase of local contributions of this church and for this
church.
GOALS
-
Bring to
maturity, the Small Christian communities.
-
Offer an
environment of self identity and self esteem to Anyuak and Nuer
youngsters.
-
Develop skills
for peace talks and prevention of conflicts.
-
Education and
formation of leaders from the communities, for the service of their
village communities of worship and the accomplishment of the
evangelization task.
-
Animation of
the members as individuals and of the conformed Christian
communities, to be actively and responsibly committed in the
missionary efforts of the church.
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