BUNKPURUGU GHANA

What is my mission today?

Someone once wrote, “You see the things that are and you ask why? I see the things that are not and I ask, why not?” I have been in Bunkpurugu for two and half years now. I want to share my experiences of the mission in Bunkpurugu. These border on how I daily interpret the missionary project through observation, triggering events and how I try to respond to them. In a way, I think that is the method of Ancestor Lavigerie – incessantly and unstoppably responding to the needs of the beloved ‘dark continent’, hoping to liberate its people from the bondage of Satan and the man-made slavery of the body. For this reason, the Society and its mission ‘for-in-with-Africa’ was born. Did he succeed?

Charity begins at home!
One of my earliest observations concern how strong traditional life controls attitudes. People do not always differentiate between faiths. I noticed that places of worship such as the church and church premises do not receive the reverence I think they deserve. For example, a few days after I arrived in Bunkpurugu, I was invited by the District Director of Education to facilitate a conference of all the head teachers and senior staff of the Ghana Education Service (GES). I was surprised the conference was taking place inside the church. The stone altar was used as the table and all the dignitaries sat behind the altar.

After the meeting, food and drink were served and by the time we finished, the whole church was a mess. The next day Sunday, I stood behind the same altar to celebrate the Eucharist. Any group of people comes to use the church premises for a rally or funfair without permission and leaves them untidy afterwards. I felt that the concern of Scripture, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer…’ is no more the case here. If the mosques and the ATR shrines are respected as places of prayer, the Catholic church compound deserves the same.

I shared these concerns with the community and realised that my concerns were not new. The problem was that nobody dared ‘lift a finger’. At our community council, we agreed to insist that permission be sought for the use of church premises and both the parish team and station executives should be involved. A letter was addressed to the DCE on the issue. She was assured of the church’s willingness to continue to collaborate with the government in building civil society in Bunkpurugu. We insisted we be respected. The District coordinator responded and apologised for lapses on their part and promised to address the issue raised in the letter. Since then the trend has stopped.

However, to ask others to respect us, we need to show respect ourselves. So we agreed to install the Blessed Sacrament inside the church. We would try to educate our members on the need for reverence and awareness of God’s presence in the things dedicated to God. As I write, the prospect of making the church a respectable place of worship is still a tall order. It requires a will and a financial way from all concerned.

Dealing with Caesar
We enjoy good working relations with the district authorities. The trust we have gained in the eyes of the authorities makes our word respected and our presence and opinion sometimes sought in certain matters concerning the civic community. District meetings on girl-child education, HIV/AIDS, budget planning, and national celebrations are some instances where this mutual trust is expressed and consolidated.

It is probably for this reason that one confrere is working as a member of the District Education Oversight Committee, District Education Disciplinary Committee and an Ambulance Management Committee. He has also received a letter of appointment as a member of the Town Council. This Council has not been inaugurated and may never be, since the District Chief Executive (DCE) has been removed by the government in a nationwide exercise and the successor is not yet appointed. All these services are non-remunerative and ‘non-political’.

The motive behind these involvements is to try to offer moral and spiritual support to those elected to serve the general community, through trust-building and awareness raising. It is my belief that the Church’s positive presence sometimes can and does influence government decisions. However, this influence is not always successful. But even when the authorities do not appear to listen to suggestions, they seem to carry on with their duties in the awareness that there are other possible opinions on the issue.

The PE articles from Ghana/Nigeria were sent by
Fr Francis Bomansaan, Provincial.

For instance, when the DCE gave out a piece of land for the construction of a petrol station, there was general dissatisfaction regarding the site of the station. I shared the issue in a Community Council and later went to speak to the DCE myself. In brief, the change was not made and the petrol station is now on that particular site, but the DCE must have allowed the project to continue with a full knowledge of what the public opinion was on the issue. She too had to contend with forces sometimes beyond her control.

Traditional society and religion
In Bunkpurugu, traditional society is very strong. The clan is mightier than the faith and in spite of the numerous Christian denominations, Christian culture does not appear to have much influence outside church meetings. Church members who come on Sunday to attend the Eucharist, return immediately to a traditional society ruled and dominated by elders of the homes, gates, clans and tribes. Christians participate openly and actively in traditional burial and memorial ceremonies of relatives, as well as other private religious family practices.

Most Christians are deficient in Christian knowledge and do not distinguish between Christian and ATR rites. ‘Give Caesar’s things to Caesar and God’s things to God’, is a well-known and practised adage. It is easier to miss Sunday Mass than to be absent for a funeral. It is ‘normal’ to pass through formal education, remaining attached to ATR. Some teachers claim to be Catholics in their official papers, but may not even be baptised. Lapsed Catholics abound and it is easy to change from one Christian denomination to another. Some ATR adherents I have met do not see why they should become Christians.

However, the church of Bunkpurugu has grown in the past 27 years from a ‘church of old ladies’, to an increasingly vibrant and youthful one. The challenge is how to make this youthfulness reflect a changed mentality rather than the ‘new wine in an old wineskin.’ Our church started in Bunkpurugu on a ‘handout’ and paternalistic foundation. This is not at all a criticism of the founders. But there is a strategy that needs to change after 27 years. Today, handouts in cash and kind are diminishing in favour of self-reliance and subsidiarity. Of course, we are still very ‘far from the kingdom’.

In doing this, we sometimes suffer the pain of being perceived by our nearest collaborators as ‘enemies’, trying to destroy the church, their church. The positive thing is that in community, we have all accepted that this is the only way forward, without forgetting the value and practice of solidarity in need. Our members are increasingly challenged to participate in decision-making and to contribute in cash and kind.
Achieving a favourable level of self-reliance and active participation is an uphill task and the internalised concept of the church as ‘the Fathers’ church’, tastes like the ‘onions of Egypt ’, that make the exodus somewhat difficult.

We are responding positively to the challenges of traditional society in which our apostolate is embedded. Similarly, we are ‘pushing’ away from the apostolate of paternalism and dependency. Every day, we struggle with the choice: escape to the comfort zone of being a ‘nice Father’, or be provoked to prophetic courage. Experience shows that either way, the outcome can be nothing less than suffering and pain.

Our observation is that not only our Christian faith impacts little on traditional life, but especially that ATR tends to intrude deliberately on our Christian way. No matter what we do, we are simply a bunch of strangers and our indigenous Christians will always remain at the mercy of the elders, custodians of African tradition. Some adherents of ATR are sometimes impatient with our Eucharistic celebrations, our highest funeral rite of honour to our deceased members. Grave-diggers are a closed shop.

Inculturation on our part will mean making the Christian faithful realise that it is also a Christian duty and voluntary service to bury our dead. We are beginning to reflect on how to use an adapted Bimoba funeral rite, used by the neighbouring Dapaog Diocese in Togo. We need to intensify the training of our co-workers, who will eventually train others. The problem is that most of them are illiterate. What would you do in our situation?

Obviously, funeral ceremonies are important events in Bunkpurugu, because they affect everybody in every age, religion and status. Commitment to these ceremonies is largely motivated by fear of being accused, the quest for belonging and the desire to receive the same honour at death. It is therefore an area in which Christians can show a remarkable level of strength as well as weakness vis-à-vis ATR. This makes encounter and dialogue imperative, but how?

Because of the ‘unstructured’ nature of ATR, it is difficult to enter into organised dialogue with adherents. To start, one can be content with personal and interpersonal encounters and family friendship. Furthermore, modernity has made practitioners less visible. Consequently, our main encounter with ATR, is at the funeral, where we still look suspiciously at each other’s way of doing; when we are more likely to ‘lose’ a member to them than gain one of theirs! No meaningful dialogue can then take place. We need to find a roadmap to dialogue.

After some encounters, observations and reflections, my projected roadmap is to look out for a ‘triggering event’.

To be a Missionary is to be a fine confrere
In Tamale with Br Rudi Keith, 76

Madam Mary: Christian in life, ATR in death?
I choose to share this story to typify what I have been trying to say above. It will help the readers of these lines to appreciate how weak we are and how much we need to pray for ‘the courage to change the things we can and the serenity to accept the things we cannot.’

Mary, from one of our outstations, was the chairperson of the Christian mothers. Judging by her baptismal card, she was a communicant and was up-to-date with her church dues. I was the only priest in the parish when news was brought by the catechist that she had passed away. Together, we arranged for the burial. He left to prepare a few things with the Catholic community there, while I prepared my Mass kit. I was ready to go when the catechist returned to announce that the burial would not take place. The Christians were made to go away, leaving her body to ATR members.

Her eldest son, an ATR member, protested at the Catholic community; he was not prepared to tolerate Christian hymns and prayers at his mother’s funeral. The Catholics in the family compound interpreted this as a threat, so they abandoned the body and returned home. ATR members took her body, did their traditional rites on her and buried her.

It was already too late. I had a strong feeling that we Christians had be­trayed and abandoned her at a time when she most needed us. She, like most women of ‘the church of old ladies’, looked forward to a Christian burial. (I grew up with an old Christian mother myself!) I had no doubt that Mary wanted Mass celebrated at her burial. I think she deserved it for justice’s sake.

Why would the grumbling of a son be interpreted that way? Why did the Catholic community scamper without even coming to ask their priest’s opinion and support? I did not sleep well that night. A few days later, I went with the catechist and a few of our Catholic community leaders to the village. We visited the bereaved family and gave them our sympathy. I asked to be shown where they buried Mary. Summoning the Christian community, we marched in a single file into the bush a little distance from the family house.

Under the tree where she was buried, I led a prayer, introduced by a Gospel reading. In my homily, I apologised to Mary for our inability to defend her right to Christian burial, our cowardice in abandoning her and our weakness in betraying her. I also apologised to her younger children who were also parishioners, but already made to wear amulets after the traditional burial rites.

In my homily, I denounced both the attitude of the ATR members and that of our members. After the prayers, I led the Catholic community to lay a formal complaint with the chief or regent of the village. I asked him to inform the ATR members of our indignation and our desire to be respected, especially in matters concerning our members.
I preached on this issue in so many places in the parish, hoping to create awareness. Knowing that preaching was not enough, I took the matter to the monthly prayer leaders’ meetings and general parish council. Practically, we have not done much since then, but this dialogue remains a pastoral project to be pursued.

Encounter with Islam?
Our encounter with ATR and other religions is not always tension-laden. I am certain that our Christians in their families will be respected when they begin to assert themselves in matters concerning their faith. This instance concerning a Muslim family is a case in point.

Mr Alhassan (not his true name) is a converted member of our church from a predominantly Muslim family. His daughter Mady, from his first marriage to a Muslim woman, was getting married traditionally. Both Mady and her husband Leo are educated Catholics living in towns and with comfortable jobs. Mr Alhassan, who also has a comfortable job in town, invited me to the family on this occasion.
I went, dressed in my gandoura and Rosary. Other members of our church were there, from different places. After the exchange of gifts, as demanded by tradition, received by the appointed people concerned, especially the elders of the young woman’s family, I was called upon to bless the engagement ring. The young couple had decided to include this modern element in their traditional marriage. I read a passage from Scripture, said a prayer and sprinkled holy water on all – Christians and Muslims alike - praying that the blessings, which the couple attracted from God may come down like rain upon all present, a majority of Muslims and ATR elders.

The wedding became the talk of the town. Mr. Alhassan was so happy. He told me what it meant to him and his daughter and how he had risen in respect in the eyes of his Muslim family and how much they spoke favourably about Catholics. He brought me two large guinea fowl in gratitude. I believed his testimony, but understood the extent of it on the day I did over 120 kilometres to celebrate the church wedding of M and L. The church was full of Muslims. Of course, they came because M was a family member, but possibly they had not forgotten what they saw at the traditional wedding and had come to see more!

Other Christian denominations
I have met some pastors and leaders of some Christian denominations. Some are just friends with whom I have worked in workshop groups and committees. Initially somewhat ‘hostile’ from differing opinions and poor understanding, we became ‘friends’ afterwards. I stopped one day to greet one of them at home and he opened up to me about a family problem. He is a Baptist pastor. His wife had left him, abandoning the children. Well, he followed some advice I gave him. Not long afterwards, he came to tell me with a smile that his wife was back.

Another Pentecostal pastor appeared ‘rude’ to us. We were celebrating Passion Sunday on a bridge and he impatiently reminded us that it was meant for cars! He is right, but that day in our ‘spiritual’ mood, he certainly seemed the devil incarnate, or vice versa! Unfortunately, I did not follow the matter up. Maybe a visit would have helped. Too late? I do not think so, just waiting on inspiration.

Formal education
I was walking in Bolgatanga one day and saw an inscription on the wall of a nursery school: ‘It is better to prepare children than to repair adults.’ I totally agreed.

Often, the church does not get involved with public schools simply because we are no more in charge. Some of us wait to be appointed chaplains before any involvement in schools. How do we fill this gap in Bunkpurugu; how do we contribute, even without being appointed? I knew I must find inroads into the schools. I am already collaborating with the Ghana Education Ser­vice (GES) as a committee member, facilitating workshops and personal friendships with the GES staff.

As for the children and teachers, I estimated the reading culture very low and teachers often sit under mango trees during school hours doing nothing. I also observed that we had piles of old newspapers. I decided to distribute them to the schools to encourage reading culture and information. It would also be an easy way to introduce the church’s presence.

Gradually, I began to organise Mass, teaching hymns to students. The head teacher of our nearest senior high school is a Muslim chief with whom I worked on educational and health committees. He was pleased to see me and even promised to attend one of my prayer visits. He didn’t.

Some other head teachers knew me already through workshops and interpersonal meetings. The result was tremendous. I was welcome everywhere. The teachers were eager for reading materials for leisure and pastime. They thanked me and asked for other things, such as sports equipment and personal needs. One teacher stopped me on the road and invited me to his school. ‘Father, I am a Muslim”, he said “but almost all my pupils are Christians. Come and talk to them.’ He believed that if his pupils are God-fearing, they would be well-behaved; and if they are well-behaved, they would do well in class, because it would facilitate his teaching efforts.

‘Let the children come to me’
I agreed. I went to visit a lady head-teacher friend near the mission. I was appalled by the building in which the little children were. Not only was a three-classroom block housing six classes, plus the kindergarten, each with over a hundred, but also the building was collapsing.

I spoke to my confreres and we agreed to let the school use the old mission compound temporarily. After six months, I saw that the District Assembly had done nothing for the school. Instead, I was told the DCE was building new schools elsewhere and awarding new contracts.
I wrote a letter to the District assembly through the DCE, demanding the completion of the school building and giving an ultimatum beyond which I would ask the children and teachers to vacate our premises. Later, the DCE called me to her office and told me about all the politics involved with contractors, politicians and government, but promised to give the school a priority, urging me to exercise patience. The school has been roofed since then, but nothing else. The primary school is still using our old mission house. Success, failure, God knows.

Catholic education unit
We had no functioning Catholic unit schools in Bunkpurugu. Two years ago, the bishop promised us one. We are still waiting. We decided to adopt the nearest above-mentioned primary school. We could offer intellectual, moral and religious education, preparing children for the future instead of repairing adults. We still hope to open the schools ‘officially’ as Catholic schools.

Catholic schools do not only consist in paper work. Teaching, catechising, supporting teachers all make up the onus of the task. I invite the staff and students for Mass. Every morning and afternoon we hear the little children near us reciting the sign of the Cross to mark the start and end of the day.
Teachers, children and parents are happy, but if we do not contribute something materially, we may lose our credibility! In my last meeting with the PTA of the Junior High school, we saw the need to encourage competition in class work through terminal and promotional exams in conjunction with continuous assessment. The PTA decided to tax each parent to erect a temporary structure, hoping that someone will notice and come to our help!

Perhaps we need to ask for help from some quarters, but not until parents have done what they can. I thought I could help as a voluntary teacher. I collected the syllabus for English, religious and moral instructions, but I have been occupied elsewhere!

Health and ambulance management
A group of Bimoba men and women living outside Ghana bought a Ford ambulance as a donation to the district community, to facilitate health services. They made enquiries and appointed a five-member committee, including me. The Regional Health Director came to hand over the ambulance in a ceremony involving the elders and opinion leaders and health personnel. He also inaugurated the committee.
A few days later, I saw the ambulance on the road. Some health official was taking it on a non-authorised trip!

Conflict interventions
Sometime in September 2007, a three-day conflict claimed a couple of lives, affected over 400 households and resulted in hundreds of displaced people (according to the estimates of NABOCADO – The Navrongo-Bolgatanga Catholic Diocesan Development Office). Eye-witnesses say a misunderstanding over a banknote degenerated into fighting and the burning of the market and later became a tribal conflict spread over eleven villages.

Political meetings were also going on at the time of the conflict. Suffice it to say that the Bimoba and Konkomba have lived together for hundreds of years. Linguistic similarities and other socio-cultural ties such as families, farms, markets, schools, and churches are pointers to a common ancestry and communal living. Unfortunately, bloody conflicts can only cause wounds, renew old ones and bring younger generations into taking part in a history of violence.

. .
The confreres in Bunkpurugu :
Oleru Malachy, 47, Piet de Bekker, 63 Kevin Rand, 59, Parish Priest

‘Democracy’ or ‘Demon-crazy’?
Most people in Bunkpurugu/Yunyoo district are poor and the area suffers from government neglect or very slow trickledown effect of the so-called dividends of democracy, in a country that is so much in the good books of self-acclaimed merchants of ‘democracy’ and ‘good governance’; a country currently ‘championing African excellence’! If the human index is used as a preferred measure of development, Northern Ghana and particularly Bunkpurugu/Yunyoo district cannot entertain the boast that ‘it is a good time to be Ghanaian.’ ‘A hungry man is an angry man’, says the adage. Moreover, according to public opinion, the very not-so-unlikely political manipulations engineered from far and near do not help the situation.

The Church’s response
On the Parish level, displaced people added to the burden of already over-stretched households in the town of Bunkpurugu and surrounding villages. Our Christian families were not left out in the search for and provision of additional shelter and scanty food security. (The heavy rains came late and ended early in 2007).

For pastors, homilies became a call for solidarity and awareness-raising, for tensions and rumours to cease. Since some demons cannot be cast out but by prayer, prayers were offered for the protection of both those who ran into the town and those who fled into the bush. As the conflict started in the community of Jimbale, situated 16 km away, the need to visit the locality was the first ‘exorcising’ imperative.

Pastoral care means concern for all, but especially for members of Christ’s Body. How much are they affected? Whereas the initial concern is for the welfare of all affected people, the pastor’s evaluation of the whole missionary effort in the face of the crisis remains an additional burden: would the members of Christ’s Body have participated in the destruction of life and property? If so, what are we not doing right in proclaiming the Good News?

That first visit to the affected area was very rewarding. As if the fear of demons and the demon of fears have fled to ‘brutish beasts’ (swine!), people who had hitherto hidden themselves from the police and the army came out to meet their pastor and tell their story to a listening ear and laugh at their predicament. A further agreement to celebrate Mass the following Sunday were all part of the trust-building that must immediately follow a conflict situation.

While we were not very sure about how to respond as regards support for the affected (we have no parish emergency fund), the diocesan development office came to the rescue. The visit of Fr. Ayaga Augustine, the diocesan development coordinator, in the company of Sisters Mary Okeke and Bernadine Piimi, Daughters of Charity, was timely. This intervention has brought in the first material relief of food and clothing. As one community leader rightly put it, it is a gesture received with much gratitude by the target group and applauded by the political and traditional authorities in the area. The district chief Executive, Ms Elizabeth Poyar Pigit, present at the presentation and distribution ceremony, showed in her speeches remarkable appreciation of the Bishop’s concern.

Ever since, the diocesan agencies have continued to show interest in organising all the people to meet and talk. The Daughters of Charity are very much involved in this.

Where do we go from here?
Given the fact that Bunkpurugu Parish has no emergency fund, our response will be local. A proposition to collect food and money was taken to our last prayer leaders’ meeting. It was agreed that every baptised Christian would give a bowl of grain to the relief effort. In addition, a second collection would be made and used to provide medicine and building materials, while waiting for the government’s appropriate intervention. We are also soliciting help from the Society of Missionaries of Africa, NGOs, other Church organisations and concerned individuals.

It is impossible to be involved without sometimes a sense of powerlessness; sometimes a bit of hostility from a few individuals who perceive a threat from missionary action and my own need to be evangelised.

The mission is not without risks. However, did the Lord of the missions not promise that he would protect the apostle from the nations to which he sends him? (Acts 26). Well, He doesn’t always… and so what?

In conclusion, only questions are worth asking. What is mission today? What is evangelisation? What is encounter and dialogue? What is justice and peace? And what good are we doing here?

Malachy Oleru