Kenya
From Kenya, Sister Joan tells us about the tragedy of the 17 pilgrims from the parish of St. Matthias Mulumba, in the Diocese of Nakuru
The month of October is the missionary month. However, for me and for my parish of St. Matthias Mulumba, this month has been a very painful and difficult period.
On October 2, here in Kenya, the first Saturday of the month of October, the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) had established that a national day of prayer be celebrated at one of our shrines, that of Our Lady of Peace in Subukia, in the Diocese of Nakuru.
In the afternoon, as the journey to the sanctuary is very long and usually takes about ten hours on the road, seventeen of our faithful received the parish priest’s blessing and set off for the sanctuary. They were fourteen women and three men.
Unfortunately, during the journey, in a place called Salam, they were involved in a serious road accident, and all seventeen lost their lives instantly.
It was a terrible tragedy that shocked the entire country. We received the news around midnight, and I can assure you that it was not easy for the faithful who had lost their loved ones.
Before five in the morning, the church was already full of grieving worshippers, who were weeping and crying out in pain. It was a heartbreaking moment.
What makes this tragedy even more painful is the fact that most of the people in the vehicle were young women, some of whom still had young children and families to care for. They were also very active members of our church community.
I cannot forget to mention that I lost a pillar of the Holy Spirit choir. Our moderator, Scholastica, was among the victims. Her death caused me immense pain, as we worked side by side for a long time.
As their spiritual guide, I felt this loss deeply. I remember that that very morning, before their departure, as usual, I met Scholastica after Holy Mass and entrusted my prayer intentions to her, asking her to present them to Our Lady at the Shrine of Subukia.
For me, for the choir, and for the entire parish, this month has not been easy at all. Even today, the choir members have not been able to fully overcome the grief. We lost three choir members in this tragedy.
For this reason, we have begun a journey of spiritual accompaniment to help the choir members overcome the trauma and gradually find inner healing. Today, I will also have a spiritual meeting with another group so that we can continue helping them heal from the emotional wounds caused by this tragedy.
It has really been a very difficult and painful month for all of us.
Some children have been orphaned, while others mourn the loss of their parents and cannot return to school because their parents died while traveling on a pilgrimage.
These faithful and their families need help in every area of their lives, so that they can gradually regain peace and resume their journey.
Some families have not yet been able to bury their loved ones due to a lack of funds to cover funeral expenses.
I cannot recount everything that happened, because their death affected me deeply. It breaks my heart to see the surviving family members struggle to provide for their daily needs and accept what happened.
It is truly painful to see so much suffering among people who have lost their loved ones in such tragic circumstances.
For this reason, I invite everyone to join us in prayer for the seventeen pilgrims. Let us entrust them to God’s infinite mercy, so that they may rest in eternal peace.
May the Lord grant them eternal rest, and may perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.
Photos of Sister Joan Chemeli Langat
