|
SAN ANTONIO • Prayers for support and guidance will be said as a group of 50 men and women from ACTS Missions board South African Airlines in New York City on July 15 and head two-thirds of the way across the globe for two parishes run by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in Durban, South Africa. This missionary trip has received much community assistance in the year it has taken to bring these ACTS retreats to parishes in South Africa.
Last summer, Father Allan Moss, OMI, approached Tom Peterson, executive director of ACTS Missions, with a request to bring ACTS to two parishes in Durban, St. Ann and Christ the King. The pair of large, working class churches are located in the suburban communities of Wentwork and Sydenham, and both feature dynamic worship services with lively congregational music and singing.
|
|
“You are certainly part of a whole new evangelical endeavor in Africa,” the priest wrote in a letter to ACTS Missions. “It is going to be a new spirit of evangelization and renewal in this part of the world.”
However, Father Moss also made it clear in his request that neither of these parishes had the financial resources to contribute toward sponsoring this trip.
But, without knowing where or how ACTS Missions would come up with the financial resources and people to accomplish this task, Peterson agreed to accept the request without hesitation. And, when ACTS Missions broadcast their request to the local ACTS community for volunteers, the executive director was relieved to learn that there were others willing to join this team.
Among the first to sign on were Tom and Ginger Kemmy, directors for retreats in Durban. Both served as lay missionaries with the Oblates in Zambia for three years, and one of their children was born in that country. Currently, the couple’s oldest son is serving in South Africa on a mission trip himself.
In addition, the team also needed the help of the community to carry out this commitment. The airfare alone for the men and women to travel to Durban exceeds $100,000, as they will arrive in the peak travel season to the continent. Initially, the group had planned to travel to South Africa in 2006, but a 40 percent increase in ticket costs necessitated the team wait for more favorable airline rates.
“People are giving of their treasury as well as their time and talent to the ACTS community,” said Peterson. He cited especially the support of two local parishes, St. Matthew and Holy Spirit, as well as a church in Coventry, Conn. “They see ACTS Missions as part of their work,” Peterson said. He also shared that while the team is very excited, “they are also a bit cautious, because it is a different culture.”
Earlier this year, the Oblate religious order gave a large donation to help sponsor seven parishioners from South Africa, four women and three men, to travel to the Alamo city to take part in an ACTS Retreat in March. The individuals, selected by their pastors, are now part of the Durban ACTS teams.
Peterson said that friendships quickly formed from that visit, as the South African visitors bonded with their Texas team counterparts. Also on the South African team is a couple who had attended an ACTS retreat here, who are now living in that country.
Following the July 19-22 retreat, the teams will mentor leaders and establish core groups of five additional men and women in each parish, eventually holding two to four retreats a year, and gradually get the movement started in new parishes.
To assist with expenses for the journey, David Kauffman and friends will hold a concert Friday, June 22, at 7 p.m. at the Oblate Grotto at 5712 Blanco Road. The entire offering will benefit the teams going to Durban next month. For more information, call Edna Torres-Perry at (210) 408-7868 or Cindy Isaacson at (512) 258-5936.
Also, tax deductible donations can be made to ACTS Missions, 285 Oblate Drive, San Antonio, Texas 78216. Donors are asked to designate on the check that it is for the Durban Retreats. |