UGANDA, Jean de Dieu Ntisumbwa / Maria Fischer •
What is apostolic zeal? Pope Francis has taken up again the theme of his catechesis on apostolic zeal, and in them he shows well-known and lesser-known models of “going the extra mile” to spread the word and share God’s mercy. During the almost 25 years of Schoenstatt.org, we have shown many such models. One of them is Jean de Dieu Ntisumbwa, a refugee from Burundi living in the Nakivale Refugee Camp in Uganda, a missionary of the Pilgrim Mother of Schoenstatt. —
As he knows from his Schoenstatt experience in Burundi, he spreads Schoenstatt from parish to parish, and from school to school.
Friday, September 15, he headed towards the Burunduma parish. Six hours walking distance in African heat. He wanted to ask the parish priest permission to bring the Pilgrim Mother to the parish and start Schoenstatt. When he arrived at the priest’s house, he found the door closed. The priests had left for a funeral in a distant area.
“I will come back to this parish soon,” Jean de Dieu said. It is far, it is six hours walking distance. He will go there again. This is how Schoenstatt, this is how our church grows.
I thought this was a beautiful testimony.
We often encounter closed doors as we go about our apostolic mission. But here is an encouragement to not give up. To keep going and to not give up!