Mongo - Bendugu, Makeni [Sierra Leone]. - 13 marzo 2015.
Dear father,
yesterday, tuesday 10th March 2015, accompanied by Mr. Peter Saio Marah and Mr. James Saio Marah, I visited Kurbola, the headquarter of Neya Chiefdom, 34 miles away from Mongo town. The travel was no problem, the road was not so bad. Only in the place called ‘one gallon hill’, not too far from Kurbola town, did we struggle a little bit.
In Kurbola we could not meet the Paramount Chief but we met the people with the Speaker, Section and Town Chief. They welcomed us very well, as they always said: ‘Father, here is your home, too”. They were happy at our visit. For me, it was an opportunity to know the place, greet the people and the elders. As usual, the people expect the missionary to give them something when he visits. They know very well how to ask.
They say that they want Christianity for their children, education for their people and, finally, the real desire is for things like a school, teacher, church, and so on.
I realized that we could not avoid this typical first encounter with people in the villages of Mongo or Neya chiefdom, or other places. But when we know what we are going to do, we can remain calm; take the positive aspect of the encounter, namely, building human relationships and friendship, with openness to any progress in the future, especially for spreading the seeds of the Kingdom of God.
The visit was actually prompted by the return of Mr. James Saio Marah, a former prayer leader, who came back to Kurbola from Yiraia village in Sengbe Chiefdom. He wants to serve the people in his own town by teaching the children and maintaining the small Christian community there. We considered it as a good intention. It looks that the community is supporting him, allowing him to start class 1 and 2, in a simple bafa built by the community. We will try to follow the community. We will also try to bridge with, and find support from, the government through the Deputy Director of Education in Koinadugu District, who is in charge of education, or from another organization.
May God guide our work of evangelization, even if only a small and simple step of an encounter like this.
On the way came back to Mongo, I asked Mr. James Saio Marah about the meaning of Kurbola. He explained that Kurbola means “stone house” or “cave”.
There is a cave not far from the town which can accommodate all the people of the town. During the war, especially in colonial times, this cave was a place for the people to hide from the danger of the war. In this “stone house”, “kurbola”, they found security and protection for their entire family. May our greetings to the people of Kurbola be a way to experience the dream of St. Guido Maria Conforti, becoming part of one single family, under the protection and guidance of God’s love.
