The community: a land of mission and hope

"The poor have become our teachers of life and humanity, often without realizing it". Speaking is Father Davide de Guidi, a Comboni missionary in Mozambique, in one of the letters of update from his mission. In the parish of S. Cruz (Nampula) every day Fr. Davide joins the poverty of a country marked by epidemics, famines, violence. His poor have concrete names and stories, like that of «Joaquim, a boy I found abandoned, orphaned and with disabilities. He was sick, he begged me to take him to heart. Yesterday, with the community, we sought a path of hope for him. He had nothing with him, except a wheelchair already broken. But what a great love for life his heart showed ». It is precisely the community that allows us to take on many situations: "In order to be true, the mission is always an experience of community, which also lives within our spirit".

Among the ties of Father Davide, near and far, there is also the friendship with Sermig, the result of the 5th World Meeting of Youth for Peace, in Padua in 2017, and of those Peace Points that tell the good that exists and does not It makes noise. A friendship that is renewed over time. The network. Del Sermig has sent some chlorinators to the Mozambican mission in recent years, which have been fully used.

In the last letter received, Father Davide explains the drama of the current situation: the coronavirus is joined by the massacres in Cabo Delgado, that north of the country rich in mineral resources and a large gas field. The attacks result in the exodus of hundreds of thousands of people. In S. Cruz so far there have been 3,000 arrivals, a number increasing every day. “They have nothing to eat, they don't know where to go, their clothes are often already torn, with foot injuries and more. They have in their hearts the pain of having lost everything, often even their loved ones ». In this situation, Father Davide's appeal returns to the community with a first welcome project to which everyone can contribute, especially young people and mothers: "We want the parish to be an open yard of charity, listening, care and reception".

Chiara Vitali
NP august-september 2020