Like Moses striking the rock and water pouring out, Father John Mbua Mwandi of the Diocese of Kitui, Kenya, said the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, in partnership with his diocese, struck their ground in Africa and water poured out.
Father Mwandi was one of 12 delegates — including seven priests, one nun and four laypeople — from Kitui who visited the archdiocese from May 13-19 to learn how the archdiocese operates and to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the partnership.
Father Mwandi didn’t just draw the comparison of spiritual water pouring out on the diocese, but literal water, as the archdiocese, through donations, helped bring clean water to Kitui. Before 2004, residents of Kitui walked miles, carrying gallon jugs on their backs or on the backs of donkeys, to bring clean water back to their town. Now, through sand dams and rain gutters, clean water is readily available.
Because of these new resources, the Church is able to provide water to people in areas away from the diocese. Water becomes available for crops and for animals, which helps these small communities prosper.
“You came to Kitui and you struck hard, dry soil and water came,” Father Mwandi said. “The people are celebrating in Kitui your generosity and love, which you have shown to the people of Kitui. We still keep on remembering you, praying for you and pray for God to give you more, because of the generosity which you have shown to us and the love which you have shown to us.”
Deacon Mickey Friesen, director of the Center for Mission, which promotes and coordinates mission activities of the archdiocese, said, “The wisdom of this is that it is not a partnership between the bishops or between the chanceries. It is a partnership between the dioceses (themselves). And so, the relationship is bigger than any individual.”
The guiding principle of the partnership is the idea that both the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Kitui are equal in baptism, and the partnership is mutually beneficial.
“It is out of (God’s) love that you have made a difference in Kitui, which is arid and dry, and many people are living without water, and you have provided water to the people in Kitui,” said Father Mwandi during a homily at the Archdiocesan Catholic Center (ACC) in St. Paul while presiding at Mass in the chapel.
In a three-year cycle, delegates from the archdiocese visit the Diocese of Kitui. The following year, delegates from Kitui visit Minnesota. In the third year, both dioceses implement goals and strategies discussed and discerned during their two visits.
Father Mwandi said water is one of many fruits to come from the partnership. During this year’s visit, delegates were taken to see a food shelf at St. Thomas Becket in Eagan. They noticed that the Church in Minnesota is keen on volunteering, and the delegates considered implementing food shelves back home in Kenya.
Father Mwandi said the Church is called to help the poor, but when people live without necessities, such as food and water, the challenge to help the poor becomes bigger.
Other fruits are spiritual gifts. Deacon Friesen said that though Kitui is a dry and arid place without the same resources available in Minnesota, their churches and seminaries are filled.
“In some ways they seem more at peace and joyful in their lives than we are,” Deacon Friesen said. “Our needs are maybe not financial.” Deacon Friesen said that when Kitui delegates have visited, they have suggested, “we look tired. Our Church looks a little tired. When we talk about sharing gifts, we’re talking about biblical gifts, gifts of the Holy Spirit. Gifts of faith, hope, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness.”
“It is because of the love of God that has brought us together, people from many miles in the world,” Father Mwandi said. “We are coming together as one family because of this love of Christ, which has made us brothers and sisters, without counting the difference of culture, without counting any other difference which we have. But that makes us one thing, and that’s what the Gospel is telling us. Being in Christ, you shall have happiness. Wherever you are, you shall find brothers and sisters who love you and who experience the love of God.”
A packed schedule allowed the delegates to visit archdiocesan offices and departments, parishes and schools, communities and organizations.
On May 15, Father Mwandi and Father Julius Muthamba visited St. Helena Catholic School and DeLaSalle High School, both in Minneapolis, and St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights. Both priests said they were impressed by St. Helena’s ability to provide resources to students.
Steve Cunningham, associate director of educational quality and excellence for the archdiocese, guided the two priests through the three schools that day. Cunningham noted that in Kitui, the diocese is in an arid area with challenges around water and electricity.
“They have to be very creative in how they address those kinds of things, which of course lends itself to their schools,” Cunningham said. “How do you serve your students when you know you may not have some of the means by which to carry out even basic necessities?”
Cunningham said that Father Mwandi and Father Julius Muthamba were impressed by seniors at St. Thomas Academy who said Catholic education provided important experiences in their lives.
“One thing that is different here is you’ve got lots of different options for families, and that’s a good thing,” Cunningham said. “You have charter schools, you have other Christian schools, independent schools, public schools. There (are) lots of options. I think they (Father Mwandi and Father Muthamba) got the sense that that puts you in a position where you really have to be well defined about what you hope to achieve as a school. That’s where the admissions directors at DeLaSalle and St. Thomas Academy did such a great job in speaking to what their specific charisms are that make them special and unique.”
On the Minnesota side of the partnership, Cunningham said that students, administrators and teachers who visited with Father Mwandi and Father Muthamba were able to witness an aspect of the universal Church.
“The Mass here is the Mass in Africa, and it’s the Mass in Europe, and it’s the Mass in North America,” Cunningham said. “It’s that sort of friendship and faith that binds us. It’s so powerful and important for the betterment of the Church as a whole.”
Father Mwandi spoke of the same excitement in seeing the universal Church.
“The Church is Catholic, the Church is one and the Church is holy,” Father Muthamba said. “We might be different in terms of nationality, in terms of race, but when it comes to faith, realizing that all of us are God’s children, and we are created in the image of God, it brings about the new image of the global solidarity and the aspect of journeying with one another.”
Father Muthamba, who stayed at Archbishop Bernard Hebda’s residence while visiting, commended the archbishop for his hospitality and pastoral care.
“The Holy Father, Pope Francis, used to say that the shepherd needs to be with the flock,” Father Muthamba said. “The days we have been here, we have seen Archbishop Bernard Hebda is a shepherd of the flock. … He works almost 24/7, and that’s a very big example of sacrifice in how we need to work for selfless giving so that we may create a better world.”
Both Father Mwandi and Father Muthamba said they look forward to seeing the partnership continue to grow in the future. One of the focuses, Deacon Friesen said, is partnering between the schools by sending seminarians to Kitui. Another consideration is having Kitui priests serve at parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, but this option would have to be coordinated by the bishops.
The partnership, Deacon Friesen said, has no end in sight. But the goal isn’t to reach an end, to accomplish a goal, or to fix the world. It is a mission to “make Jesus Christ known and loved” and to express the Catholic faith through two dioceses partnered in the universal Church.
“I don’t know whether we should feel grateful or sad, but most of these partnerships that started 20-plus years ago ended. We’re one of the few that’s still going. It’s not just going, it’s going strong. I think one of the reasons these things sometimes fall apart is because they either get too focused on personalities or they get too focused on projects. … When there’s no relationship undergirding the project, it becomes like another collection. … We just don’t look at it that way.”
