Drinking water project: This is mainly aimed at making available “Drinking

Water” for all the villages and to prevent deadly

diseases like Malaria, typhoid, diarrhea, jaundice

etc. This project has helped to save so many lives in

ours missions of Doba and Béro. A total of 6 bore

wells and 3 open wells in Doba, 5 open wells in Béro

(Chad) were dug to provide potable water to the

people entrusted to our care.

School at Doba: At Doba (Chad) we have obtained a good piece of

land, where soon we intent to construct a school,

boys’ home and a community house. We hope to

start the construction by February 2017. In this

regard Fr. Sen Vellakada MSFS has founded a

society named - Agape Austria to support our mis-

sionary endeavors in Chad-Cameroon.

School at Ngaoundéré: SFS School at Ngaoundéré is on full swing. In this

academic year a total of 92 new students were

enrolled, making the total strength of the school into

205 students in 5 classes. Though the demand for

admission is very high, we are not able to admit

more students due to lack of infrastructural facility.

Construction of more class rooms are envisaged for

the coming year.

We the missionaries of St. Francis de Sales extend

warmest Christmas Greetings to you, may we pray

and hope that the choicest blessings of Baby Jesus

touch all our lives and our Communities. May the

Lord accompany each of us in our journey in 2017,

so that we may walk in His Light.

You could walk with us in our missionary journey

by;

Praying for the mission,

Offering Mass intentions

Sponsoring a seminarian(s),

Sponsoring an orphan child (children) in his/her

studies,

Supporting a development project of the mission.

Our sincere thanks to each of you,

for all the financial, spiritual and

material support that you are

rendering to the Mission.

Rev. Fr. Manoj Arackal MSFS Mission Superior (Chad-Cameroon)

M y dear Confreres & friends of the Fransalians,

Fraternal greetings of love and good wishes from the

Missionaries of Saint Francis de Sales working in

Chad-Cameroon Mission.

We have already entered into yet another Christmas

Season. In preparation for Christmas, we look back at

the ‘Year of Mercy’ and see God’s Mercy and

compassion running through our lives and activities,

which helps us to examine our life and ministry. We

were worthy instruments of God’s mercy and

compassion by helping to build, strengthen and

support in our respective areas of ministry. During

this Christmas Season, Frontier Fransalians-2016 wish

to express deep sentiments of gratitude to all of you,

who have been by our side to accomplish this wonder-

ful mission among our people in Cameroon and Chad.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

"The People who walked in darkness have seen a

great light…” (Isaiah 9:2). These prophetic words of

Isaiah became a reality in the person of Jesus.

Ironically the good news of Christmas this season,

wears a gloomy look at the background of financial

crisis in Chad political disturbances in Cameroon.

Many have been struggling with the bad economic

conditions, trying to make both ends meet to keep

home and family together. Due to fall in the price of

petroleum products the economy of Chad is

struggling to survive. The little money that the

country had was spent for the presidential election

and the enthronement of the president. For the last

few months except the army no government officials

are paid their salary. As a result, there is continued

strike in all the vital departments (government

hospitals, schools and even the courts) of the society.

To explain the situation with an example - many

prisoners are set free because government is no more

able to assure even one meal per day in the prisons!!!

Despite the adverse moments, we witnessed God’s

continued support this year for the growth of our

mission. Minor Seminary at Ngaoundéré which was

a long cherished dream of the mission is almost be-

coming a reality. The extension of the Mother house

at La Feuillette (a multi-purpose house) is under con-

struction. Through the Distant Adoption Program

we are able to manure the dreams of many students.

Some of the other major activities of the mission

apart from pastoral ministry are the following:

EDITORIAL

FRONTIER FRANSALIANS 2 5 D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6 V O L . X V I I S S U E I I I

Missionaries o f Saint Francis de Sales (Chad –Cameroon Mission)

SNIPPETS

A walk of Faith 2

A feather in the

cap of MSFS

2

Harvest aplenty 3

Extension of La

Feuillette

3

A petit séjour in

France

4

Wells of living

water

4

Never more to

ROAM

5

Inauguration of

minor seminary

5

“Nothing is so strong

as Gentleness, noth-

ing so gentle as real

strength.

…Never be in a hur-

ry; do everything qui-

etly and in a calm

spirit. Do not loose

your inner peace for

anything whatsoever,

even if your whole

world seems upset”

- SFS

P A G E 2

Faithful mounting

the hilltop of Marian

Sactuary

A Feather in the cap of MSFS at Yaoundé!

A Walk of FAITH… R esponding to the call of Pope Francis to

undertake ‘pilgrimages’ in the year of Mercy, the parishioners of St. Daniel Comboni – Doba, went on a pilgrimage to Marian Pilgrimage Center at Bebo, under the leadership of the parish priest Fr. Robin Thonikuzhiyil on 5 Octo-ber 2016. The shrine is situated 45 kms from the parish. The pilgrimage was kick started with special prayers and benediction at the parish Church and the faithful all together, at around 15:00 hrs, headed towards Bebungay (pilgrimage on ‘foot’ begins here), on different vehicles singing praises to God. Reaching Bebungay, we started our pilgrimage on foot towards the destination. Along the 10 kilometers stretch, we devotedly prayed the Stations of the Cross, Rosary and a lot of hymns of praises. We reached Bebo at around 19:00 hrs. After a short break the faithful were prepared for the sacra-ment of reconciliation followed by Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Confession. It was followed by screening of a documentary on the ‘apparition of Blessed Virgin Mary in Rwanda’.

A brief explanation was given over the docu-mentary and the day’s activities came to a close with night prayers. The day-break witnessed morning prayers and Fr. Anakle SDB – a Rwandan Salesian priest, who is an eye witness to the apparition – gave a talk on Marian Appa-ritions and importance of devotion to Mary. It was a very lively interactive session, which awakened the faith of the faithful. Immediately after the talk, the faithful took a walk around the pilgrimage center, climbing the beautiful rocks. It was followed by Solemn Eucharistic Celebration. With solemn blessing and having savored the Lord at different moments, the faithful returned home with the Joy of the Lord.

held under a make-shift shed and the priests stayed in a rented house. As the years passed by the catholic population in the area swelled up growing in number and the necessity for a permanent presence was a felt-need. Thus began the construction of the Church and the presbytery. Today the external Church structure is nearing its completion. The progress is on a slow move due to financial crunch. But, once complete, the Church would stand tall as one of the most beautiful Churches in whole of Cameroon. And surely MSFS could be proud of its contribution to the local Church in the form of a praying faithful and a beautiful Church. The Mission is grateful to Fr. Joshy and all those priests and God-loving faithful, who supported and support this Church project at Ekkoundum.

S te. Josephine Bakhita Parish, Ekkoundum is

one of the newly carved out parish entrusted to the pastoral care of the MSFS in 2004. It is also one of the most coveted, city parishes in the diocese of Yaoundé today. The parish is situated a few kilometers away from the heart of Yaoundé, which comprises of more than 2,500 settled catholic families and a lot more of floating population in the form of students and government employees. Fr.

Joshy Nellimalamattam has been serving as the Parish Priest, since its inception. In the initial years, the Holy Eucharist was

St. Josephine Bakhita

Church, Ekkoundum

F R O N T I E R F R A N S A L I A N S

Harvest aplenty! P A G E 3 V O L . X V I I S S U E I I I

M ission command of Jesus – “Harvest is plentiful, but

laborers are few”, is very much alive in the continent of

Africa, and more especially in the Republic of Chad. St. Daniel

Comboni Parish, Doba is a living witness to this reality. Infant

baptisms are rare and adult baptism is encouraged in whole of Chad.

The catechumens undergo 3 years of rigorous, continual catechism

classes and 1 year of spiritual accompaniment, after which they would be

allowed to receive the Sacrament of Baptism and accepted as members of the

Church.

The liturgical rite of the ‘entry of catechumen’, was organized on 3 different

dates at the parish and 2 other sectors on the 7, 15 and 16 October 2016

respectively. The liturgy was animated by Fr. Robin Thonikuzhuyil and was

assisted by Fr. Sujith John Pallassery. A total of 412 catechumens have

enrolled themselves and were officially received by the liturgy of the rite of

‘entry of catechumen’. Thus there are more than 1,300 catechumens in 4

batches, waiting to receive the sacrament of initiation (Baptism) in St. Daniel

Comboni Parish, Doba. In other words, Chad is ‘Ore of faith’, waiting to be

unearthed. To this plentiful harvest field, we pray to the Lord of the harvest,

for laborers.

self-contained rooms are envisaged, which would serve as a

multi-purpose house. Already 3 floors of construction have

been completed. Soon roofing would be done and at the

opportune time, the house would be ready for use, depending

on the availability of finance. The Mission is grateful for all the

benefactors, whose generous contribution helps the mission

grow.

G rowth of a mission is measured with the help of

many parameters. Infra-structural development is

one such necessary one. Many have raised eye brows,

looking at the pace at which Chad-Cameroon Mission is

growing. This year in particular, the mission was able to

initiate quite a few building projects (SFS School –

Ngaoundéré, SFS Seminary- Ngaoundéré, Extension of

La Feuillette). These speaks volumes about the growth

of the Mission.

In remembrance of the very first house of the

congregation, the house at Ngoya (Yaoundé) bears the

name La Feuillette. Thus La Feuillette is the mother

House of the Mission. It has been a multipurpose house

in every sense. It serves as a formation house of the

postulants and theologians, transit house for

missionaries coming from India, office of the Mission

Superior, presbytery of the parish priests of Ekekam and

Ebang etc. As the number of the postulants and

theologians grew, an extension became a necessity.

Thus responding to the need of the time, the mission

decided upon the extension of La Feuillette. The

construction a new house is under-way. A total of 42

Catechumens

gathered for

the rite of

‘entry of

Catechumen’

Extension of La Feuillette

La Feuillette

extension under

construction

F R O N T I E R F R A N S A L I A N S

P A G E 4

Fr. Emile Amougou

with confreres of

Franco-Swiss Province

Wells of Living Water!

W ater is elixir of life! This age-old saying holds true always. Clean, potable water is a sign

of life and vitality. In many parts of Africa clean, drinking water is scarce. In Chad

particular, many die due to unhygienic and contaminated water, which results in sickness such

as Malaria, typhoid, diarrhea, jaundice etc. To address this water menace, Fransalians have

come forward with a ‘Water-Project’, with the help of Fr. Thomas Cherukat, parishion-

ers of St. Don Bosco Parish (Bons-en-Chablais, Annecy) under the leadership of Fr.

Martin Richard at and the parishioners of Christ the King (Petit – Lancy,

Geneva) under the leadership of Fr. Binoy KC.

A total of 6 bore wells and 3 open wells in Doba, 5 open wells in

Béro were dug in the recent past. They are community wells,

placed almost at the center of a village. The management of the

wells are entrusted to the responsible members of the village, who keep

it locked during odd hours, to avoid miscreants mismanaging and spoiling

it. The villagers are very grateful for such a kind ‘Good-Samaritan act’ done by the

Fransalians, who otherwise were forced to use the contaminated water or had to walk

miles to fetch good potable water. Seeing this, many neighboring villagers come to us request-

ing the repeat-act in their villages. We wish to do so in the future, with the help of willing

benefactors.

F R O N T I E R F R A N S A L I A N S

C ollaboration in mission is always a welcome sign of

growth and communion. Franco-Swiss Province

and Chad-Cameroon Mission works in close collabora-

tion on many fronts. One such collaboration is ex-

pressed in the form of ‘Summer Ministry’ of the

confreres of the mission in France. This summer, two

of the confreres Frs. Bipin Kishore and Emile

Amougou were welcomed by the Mother Province for

summer ministry. Fr. Emile shares his experience…

My stay at St. Martin-Bellevue Parish community in

Haute-Savoy region was a memorable one. It also

helped me to visit many places of ‘Salesian-interest’

and celebrate Holy Mass in some of these holy places,

where St. Francis de sales lived and served the people of

God. I was fortunate enough to visit the Crypt of Serv-

ant of God Fr. Peter Marie Mermier at the Basilica of

the Visitation at Annecy.

At St. Francis de Sales Church, where I exercised my

pastoral ministry, I had an enriching experience. I

witnessed everywhere signs of the glory of God guiding

the history of our congregation. The collaboration

between the priests and the laity was excellent.

Moreover, I could feel a sign hope in the dynamic

participation of the youth in some of the parish activi-

ties. Visiting our confreres in their respective places of

A Petit Séjour in France… ministry and sharing the joy of community

life was unforgettable. So many confreres

carry the mission of Chad-Cameroon in their

hearts and dream and wish a bright future

for the Mission.

Thanks to Fr. Yves Carron (Provincial

Superior) for lots of love shown, heartfelt

thanks to all the confreres of Franco-Swiss

Province for the interest shown towards the

development of African Mission, and a special

thanks to Fr. Viju and parish Community of

St. Francis de Sales Parish, for the warm

welcome extended towards me and stretch-

ing your goodness in helping SFS School at

Ngaoundéré in many ways.

Let our collaboration continue in serving

God’s people and live in union under the

shadow of Fransalian Charity. Live Jesus!

Villagers using the open well

situated at Béro

Never more to ROAM…

P A G E 5 V O L . X V I I S S U E I I I

A frica is a cradle of evangelization. Direct evangeliza-

tion is very much active, alive and possible in the

continent. Republic of Chad is a living witness to this

reality. Every year thousands of believers join the Church.

But the new-comers bring with them possible dangers of

pagan practices or the so-called traditional practices. The

Church leaders have made extensive studies over the

so-called traditional practices and have imported some of

the positive elements of the tradition and have condemned

many outdated, evil practices. One such tradition is

‘Initiation (for men) and excision (for women). Initiation/

excision is antiquated, raw, traditional practice, wherein

boys and girls, who have reached the age of

maturity are send into the forest for a period

ranging from 2-3 months, to be trained and

initiated into the tradition by a group of aged

men/women. Ideologically though it sounds good,

in practice it involves cruel ways of training,

outdated, animistic and pagan style of initiation,

to which the local Church has always raised

objection. At the Church-level punishments were

sanctioned to the guilty.

Two days of recollection was arranged at the

parish level at Ste. Joseph Bakhita Parish, Béro,

wherein the dangers and evils of the traditional

styles of initiation was explained to the people.

On the following day during the solemn

Eucharistic celebration, a special rite of

re-admittance of the faithful was organized and

were received back into the Church. A total of

500+ faithful re-professed their allegiance to

Catholic Church.

It was day of joy and rejoicing for the parish and

for the mission.

Profession of faith by the faithful

Venue: Ngaoundéré

Date : 9 February 2017

Blessing : Msgr. Emmanuel Abbo (Bishop of Ngaoundéré Diocese)

Inauguration: Rev. Fr. Benny Kootanal (Provincial of SWI Province)

Grateful to : Rev. Fr. James Mankackal MSFS

1,2,3… All set for Inauguration

F R O N T I E R F R A N S A L I A N S

Minor Seminary at Ngaoundéré, Cameroon

Hearty welcome to Rev. Fr. Benny Kootanal (Provincial Superior of South-West India Province),

Fr. Joy Vazhapally (Councilor) and Fr. Vinod Kannattu (Provincial Bursar) to Chad-Cameroon

Mission, for the Canonical Visitation of the Mission from 1 - 14 February, 2017

Hearty Welcome

Publisher : Fr. Manoj Xavier Arackal MSFS

Editor : Fr. Sujith John MSFS

E-design : Fr. Robin MSFS

Translation to French : Bro. Senghor MSFS

Contact: sujithmsfs@gmail.com/arackalmanoj@yahoo.com

Leaving footprints of Love…

F r. Thomas Moongamackal came into the Chad-Cameroon mission like a surprise package, after having rendered service in Austria and Germany for 17 long years. Willingly he took up the

responsibility of being the Shepherd of the Sts. Peter and Paul University Parish students (It is a parish, which caters to the spiritual needs of more than 3,000 catholic students of University of Buea). Being a multi-talented pastor, he won the hearts of all his sheep. After almost 4 years of pastoral service, he returns to India. On this occasion Chad-Cameroon Mission thanks Fr. Thomas for all the services rendered and wishes God’s abundant blessings on Him. Merci Beaucoup & Bonne Chance!