Oblate News
A Return to Zimbabwe Ronan writes about the Oblate Missionary Experience

Since 2011 over members forty of our Oblate Family have taken part in a missionary experience by traveling to Zimbabwe to share in the Oblate mission there. In this article Ronan Lavery, who has been leading the project, shares with us what it was like to return to Zimbabwe after a break of two years.
LONDON – Johannesburg, Johannesburg – Bulawayo.
It was a 17 hour journey, but we were finally about to land in Bulawayo. I was back in Zimbabwe after two long years.
I was so excited to get out to the Sandra Jones Childrens’ Centre, but I was also incredibly nervous. What if they didn’t remember me? After all, two years is a long time in the life of a child. Even worse, what if I didn’t remember them? That thought terrified me.
I determined to get out to the Centre to reunite with the kids as soon as possible… The Sandra Jones Centre inhabits what was once the finest hotel in Bulawayo, just a few km outside of town on the old Esigodini road. It is currently home to one hundred boys and girls – primarily girls, as it was initially set up as a safe haven for young girls rescued from abusive situations.
Today, many of the inhabitants of SJC have been removed from forced marriages or situations where uncles, grandfathers or family friends have taken advantage of the girls’ innocence. These girls are barely in their teens, and generally the abuse is only discovered when the girls begin to exhibit the unmistakable signs of being pregnant.
A Warm Welcome
As I pulled into the driveway, I honked the horn, and waited for one of the aunties to hit the remote control which would open the gate. As I waited, I heard the cry, “Uncle Roro!”, which quickly became a chant. Suddenly 20 or 30 kids lined the fence, all shouting my name. They remembered me! Tearfully, I parked up, and was immediately engulfed in a horde of awe- some children. These were the toddlers and primary school kids. Later, I would go and collect the secondary school girls from their school.
Our Incredible Volunteers
The team this year comprised six volunteers from the Anglo-Irish province. And they were incredible. Niamh, Issy, Mairead, Ciara, Juliette and Rachel were adored, not only by the girls, but by the staff members as well. We quickly fell into a routine – morning prayer, led by either one of our team, or one of the Centre staff. Then, after a quick coffee and some time playing with the toddlers, we’d begin the painting. (While the kids are at school, we like to try to add some value to the Centre. So between breakfast and lunch, we take on a painting project, which hopefully allows us to leave things a little bit brighter and fresher).
The team, however, all looked forward to lunchtime. That was when the Centre came alive. The nursery and primary kids were let out of school, while the vocational girls came down from the fields, and the huge, empty building began to fill with song, shouts, screams and laughter. After lunch, we had the joy of just spending time with these incredible, wonderful, individual girls and boys. Some days we would play games, sometimes help with homework, sometimes sit patiently while the girls braided our hair (well, not mine…!) But our afternoons and evenings were always filled with joy.

Each day, as the sun set, some of us would jump in the car to head home (home was the Oblate pre-novitiate, Mazenod House, where the resi- dent Oblates looked after us incredibly well), while the lucky ones got to stay in the Centre, put the toddlers to bed, and then spend some quality time with the older girls. They didn’t feel quite so lucky though, at the 4:30 wake up – or, for that matter, when the buckets of freezing cold water arrived for them to wash with!
The Oblate Missionary Experience is designed primarily to allow people to experience life as a missionary.
We live together, eat together, work and pray together. It is humbling, at times it is challenging, but above all it is a privilege. To play a part in the lives of the incredible boys and girls who call SJC home, is a privilege. To be a witness to the suffering endured by countless children in Zimbabwe, while heartbreaking, is a privilege. To live out the Oblate charism, “He sent me to bring the Good News to the poor”, is a privilege.
While on the Missionary Experience in Zimbabwe, our team is asked only one thing – to love. To show the children of SJC that they are beautiful, divine, and dignified.
Or, in the words of St Eugene de Mazenod,
“You are God’s children, the brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, heirs to his eternal kingdom, chosen portion of his inheritance; you are, in the words of St. Peter, a holy nation, you are kings, you are priests, you are in some way gods, You are gods, children of the Most High.”
– Ronan Lavery
Ronan is the UK Youth leader of the Oblate Youth Service.
We are now taking applications for the Zimbabwe Missionary Experience, in the Summer of 2018. Email Ronan at lavery.ronan@googlemail.co m for more information and application form.
You can download the information poster here.
Further information on Missionary Experience can be found here.
If you or someone you know may be interested in taking part in the 2019 Missionary Experience trip to Zimbabwe, please get in touch today.
Ronan Lavery Oblate Youth Service Denis Hurley House 14 Quex Road London NW6 4PL UNITED KINGDOM 0044 (0)20 76247296lavery.ronan@googlemail.com
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Tags: Eugene, London, mission, missionaries, Oblate Youth Service, OYS, St Eugene, zimbabwe
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