Praying in the Congo

BY PULENG MATSANENG

In June I travelled to Congo for an Apostleship of Prayer meeting in which representatives from 17 different African countries took part. It was my first visit to Congo, and my arrival was special—one of my highlights.

There were five people at different points of the airport who had come to welcome and pick up our group. There was no doubt that I was in God’s hands.

The airport is complicated; it has people who make a living by helping travellers carry their luggage. The scene reminded me of places like Noord Street in Johannesburg, or a busy shopping mall. I arrived from the cold South African winter; arriving in Congo it was warm, much like our November-December weather.

We stayed at the Jesuit Retreat Centre in Kinshasa. It is beautiful, in the middle of a forest. I was happy to be there, going back to nature and listening to birds singing all the time. For me that was the best kind of music. Mornings are not a good time for me, but we had personal prayers at 6:15am and community prayer at 7:00am. Each time I entered the chapel I felt a strong connection with the community. The prayers set the tone for us to begin and to end the day.

At meal time I was introduced to cassava. It is a natural food source that is reproduced as many things, one of them being cassava porridge. We talked about just about everything at meal times, which in my heart and mind I saw as incarnating the whole idea of the African renaissance proposed by former President Thabo Mbeki. Our stories brought us closer, and that gave us an opportunity to think and pray about  and for each other.

Night time was also special; we played music from different countries represented. We had a lead dancer for each country and song. We had fun. I love dancing; it completed my day.

On Saturday I shared with the group an article which I wrote on inculturation in the July 2010 issue of the Way Journal on the subject “Spiritual Direction in Africa, A need for a Different Approach?” Part of the article talks about our ancestors. On a Sunday we visited the Congo river and passed through the capital Kinshasa and its parliament. Our journey took us to Laurent Kabila’s grave. Many of us had not seen or known him; nor was he our ancestor.

The only thing we knew was that he was the president of Congo who was assassinated, Laurent Kabila. Visiting the area became special to many of us in a way, because of the importance of ancestors in our lives as Africans. We took a moment to pay our respects to his soul, and made a prayer. I think the guards were impressed by us; they asked where we came from. Another person whose life and death touched many of us was a young Jesuit student who was killed last year by an unknown man in Congo. He and his friends had been coming back from an outing. We took a moment to honour his life.

At the end of the meeting I was left with the memory of the pope’s intention that we pray for our countries. I could see that, in a way, there is no better country or better situation. We need to pray. Each country has its own problems, whether it is a first or third world country. od reveals himself in many ways, in places that he sends us to go and work. My trip to Congo was partly about sharing my article, and about listening and learning from others about the things they do in their respective countries.

St Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, also spoke to me in The Principal and Foundation: “To attain this it is necessary to make ourselves indifferent to all created things, in regard to everything which is left to our free will and is not forbidden.”