Our Journey with Journey Through Scripture

By the Missionaries of Charity Fathers 

The Missionaries of Charity in Kenya are based in Nairobi, where they serve the poorest of the poor. Their mission is especially focused in outreach to prisons. They lead Bible studies and retreats in several prisons throughout Nairobi, where they prepare men to become spiritual leaders in their communities. To learn more, visit the official site of the MC Fathers, the Mother Teresa Center, or connect with them on Facebook. To support their mission, you can send donations to: Missionaries of Charity Fathers, P.O. Box 530809, San Diego, CA 92153, ATTN: Nairobi Mission Community.

Hello and happy Easter from the Missionaries of Charity Fathers in Nairobi, Kenya. We serve the poorest of the poor in Kenya, and live just a five-minute walk away from a very poor area called Mathare.

A few weeks ago, we offered a Bible camp using the Journey Through Scripture study Genesis to Jesus. We sponsored about 120 students, all of whom come from the Mathare estate. Thanks to help from the St. Paul Center, all the materials were provided for free for all students. It was the first time that many, if not all, of them experienced a Catholic Bible study. It was powerful to witness. Something happened in the silence of their hearts which only they and God know.

For the past four years in our prison ministry we have been using the Journey Through Scripture material donated to us by the St. Paul Center. These studies have been a true means of grace. In Naivasha Main Prison several of the men have already completed four courses: “Covenant Love," The Bible and the Virgin Mary, Genesis to Jesus, and “The Kingdom of God in Scripture.” Because of the language barrier and the education level of the men, they complete only one course a year.

Several men, who have completed a few years of formation in Naivasha—including pre-Kerygmatic encounters, an Inner Healing retreat, and a three-day encounter on apologetics—have been transferred to other prison facilities. We call this being sent out as missionaries, because at their new prisons they begin to evangelize where they have been planted. We know for sure that, in the Kericho Prison, the first group of thirty-five men have completed “Covenant Love” and will shortly begin Genesis to Jesus. This is the fruit of one such missionary being “sent out.”

Another such missionary was “sent” to Narok Prison and has begun giving twenty-six brothers “Covenant Love.”  Others, as well, upon returning home, have begun teaching the Bible studies in their parishes.

Most of these men share the Gospel in poverty, lacking Bible study books and Bibles, yet the Lord works very powerfully in their simplicity. The exception is Naivasha prison, where the men receive Bibles after completing “Covenant Love.”

We are so grateful to the St. Paul Center for sending us materials for Genesis to Jesus for our mission work. You have no idea how helpful it has proven to be. Hopefully, we will begin to integrate The Bible and the Sacraments into the catechetical program, little by little.

God willing, in these next few years, we will also translate some of the material into Swahili.

God bless you and your service for the Lord,

Missionaries of Charity Fathers

Nairobi, Kenya