CHILDREN'S LITURGY, SUNDAY JUNE 20th 2010

MOTHER of PEACE EVENT.

Today, friends of Father David Everitt, came to talk to us about the Mother of Peace Community in Zimbabwe and we decided to make the whole event into a celebration of our relationship with them, continuing the work of Father David. You will remember he went out to Zimbabwe to work at the Community, which supports AIDS orphans, before he died this year, on Easter Day. We invited our local Zimbabwean Community choir to sing at mass and they also said they would provide food afterwards for anyone in the parish to try.

Linda and Collette, who are on the Board of Trustees, came from London to visit our liturgy. Anna, a lady from our parish, made a special cake, decorated with the national flower of Zimbabwe. Here it is, a lily, made out of sugar, believe it or not!
Here are Linda and Collette, looking at the cake, as they snatch a quick cup of tea after their journey.
After the blessing by Father John, we went to our liturgy room for the talk. There were nearly fifty of us! We were able to ask about all the things we had been waiting to find out about:
Some of the children can remember their families and need to talk about them;
some are placed with brothers or sisters, or are put in touch with other family members, with whom they are able to stay;
some are just babies when they arrive, so have no connections at all;
some children are quite ill when they arrive, but are able to be cared for at the clinic based at the Community, where local people can also be helped.
The children are aged from newborns to eighteen years old;
they live in family style homes;
the youngest go to a creche on the Community site, whilst the others are able to go to school, as MOPC (Mother of Peace Community) pay school fees and provide the books and uniforms. We saw pictures of children wearing these. They were grey and white, very like our school uniforms in this country.
The children are taken to school on the back of a lorry, as it is about two miles away, but they find their own way back, often being quite late, as they stop to pick and eat fruit!
They play lots of group games, such as skipping, so they can all join in, but love to ride bikes when these are donated;
they also make toys such as cars out of wire, or footballs out of plastic bags stuffed with paper and tied up with string;
things can be bought from shops at the nearby town of Mutoko.
They eat sugar cane as a kind of sweet, but this cleans the teeth as it is eaten, so they have very few dental problems...and no, they do not eat chocolate, as it would melt!
The Community is in a fairly isolated part of the country. The electricity supply often fails, whilst water has to be pumped and carried in cans, usually on the head. The children help with this task.
Winter is like our Summer here, though it does get very cold sometimes- and Summer is very hot!
There is a farm with dairy and beef herds, pigs and fields where various crops, such as maize, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, greens and pumpkins are grown. The children sometimes help out on the farm.
The children are trained for work, so they can become independent at eighteen, or they go to the community at Mutemwa, where the people with leprosy live.
There is no priest living at the Community, so they have to wait for visiting priests- and miss Father David very much.
It is a Catholic Community, but accept anyone of any religion.
The Community is secure, as there is a wire fence and security guards, necessary, apart from anything else, for keeping out the baboons, which love to steal things!
Here we are, looking at Linda's photographs, listening and asking our questions.
We talked about writing as pen-friends to the children in Zimbabwe. It is the older children who speak English, the younger ones mostly speaking in Shona. Some of our children here are from Zimbabwean families and are able to speak in Shona, or other African languages. We thought it would be best for us to write and send our first letters as a group, so it would be easier to sort out the replies. We can now write our letters and take them in to a liturgy leader, along with our photographs, so we can begin our long-term friendships.

Before we went back into church, we said the prayer Father David taught both the Zimbabwean chuldren and us:
God loves me very MUCH!
I love God very MUCH!

As we returned to church in the Offertory procession, we were 'danced' in by members of the Zimbabwean Community, whilst their choir sang.
We carried the Zimbabwean flag and our picture of Father David.
 
Amongst our prayers, we included all fathers, as today is Father's Day.

Three of Father David's brothers and their families were at mass. (Father David was originally from our parish and was ordained-made a priest- here. )Graham had brought the chalice Father David received when he was ordained, to pass it on to Mother of Peace Community, for use by visiting priests there. Here he hands it to Linda and Collette.
 
 
Here you can see the beautiful chalice, The Zimbabwean flag and Father David's picture.
After mass, we had a party in the garden, featuring games such as the 'bishop's washing line, table football, how many words can you make from 'Mother of Peace', giant draughts, croquet and guessing games. We did not begin the day as a fund-raising event, but the games and donations added up to £300 altogether.
Whilst this was happening, we could all try Zimbabwean food, which was delicious; some like slippery okra, was difficult to eat! Our favourite was peanut rice. Here are the ladies in the kitchen, whom we would like to thank very MUCH! (As Father David would say.)
 
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