Newsletter December 2004
Leaving Home
Leaving home on July 8th was truly a hard thing to do. Over 15 years as a priest I had built up a lot of friendships and contacts in Stevenston, throughout Galloway Diocese and beyond, especially with HCPT. On top of that, I have a very close and loving family to support me and I was aware that leaving Scotland for the missions would be a wrench. On the flip side, however, I had been aware for many years of the voice of God calling me to this kind of work. The opportunity came through the Missionary Society of St. James with Bishop Taylor and then Bishop Cunningham allowing me to take up this 5-year appointment. Therefore it was with a load of anxiety and trepidation that I boarded the plane on July 8th bound for South America.
In this Newsletter:
Leaving Home.
Missionary Society of St. James.
Language School at Cochabamba.
Arriving in Ecuador.
Parish Life.
Special Projects.
Building a Church and House.
Thank You.
Missionary Society of St. James
My first stop was to the Centre House of the St. James Society in downtown Boston, U.S.A. There I met up with the other new recruit to the Society, Fr. Allen Aganon, a priest from the Philippines who was also coming to the missions for the 5-year stint. In Boston we met the Director of the Society, Fr. Bob Thomas, who told us which country we had been assigned to work in: Allen was destined for Peru; and I would be working in Ecuador. We were only in Boston for the weekend; the strangest experience of that period was the “Sending Mass” where myself and Allen were presented with our missionary crosses. The Mass was televised and took place at 7am on Sunday morning and there were only 6 people in the congregation. At the end of it all we had our Mission Crosses and were ready for the next step.
Arriving in Ecuador
I had thought that, when I arrived in Ecuador that the St. James’ Coordinator for that country would take me around a few parishes in the first days and invite me to choose (that was the way they had worked in the past). But, no!I was met by Des Dalton, the Coordinator and Tom Oates, two priests with plenty of St. James’ experience. And in a sacred moment at the Burger King of Guayaquil airport, I was asked to become Parish Priest of Nueva Prosperina, a shanty town on the poor outskirts of the sprawling city. Completely in the dark, I agreed – knowing that, if it didn’t work out, I could move on somewhere else. Since there was no chapel house in Nueva Prosperina, I was to stay meantime with Tom Oates. Arriving in the parish for the first time, I knew that this was home!It was what I expected and I knew that it was the kind of place my family and friends back home expected that I was coming to. There are straw huts all around with families of up to 15 crammed into small houses. No running water means that water trucks arrive from 5am – their tooting of their horns means there is little need for an alarm clock. No telephone lines mean that mobile phones are not just the rage but a necessity for keeping in contact. On top of that, there is a very basic electricity system that every so often gets cut off – I’m getting used to walking around in the dark. Add to that the frogs, spiders and lizards that come around the house and you get a good idea of life in the shanty. Having said that, Tom Oates parish house where I am staying is extremely comfortable and he has made me very welcome. Thanks, Tom!
