Jesus answered “Come and see” (John 1:39) to Andrew’s question about where He was staying. During my stay with the Messengers of Justice (MOJ) in Poango Village, Cameroon, I have seen Jesus staying among the least of His brothers and sisters through His dedicated disciples. The great need of the villagers in Poango, where the MOJ’s reside, requires a certain spiritual fortitude for perseverance in the mission of self-emptying (Phil 2:6-11) service.
Prayer is the top priority in this congregation as constituted by the Founder, Deacon Leo Okonkwo, also HEAL Founder. The last few days of my stay coincided with the end of a month long vigil of 24-hour adoration of Jesus exposed in the Blessed Sacrament. During this vigil, from 12-3 a.m. every single night, the whole congregation gathered for prayer and song in Jesus’ presence on the altar! On one morning during the vigil, I entered the chapel at about 5 a.m. to pray and found two MOJ sisters sleeping on the floor in the company of Our Lord!
This dedication to intensive prayer is required for the grace to do their demanding work of rural evangelization. I accompanied the sisters into the village for a routine visitation to one of their so-called “masters”. We walked along a dusty road and ended up at the home of “Mama Marie”, an elderly lady with limited mobility due to swollen ankles. My companions embraced Mama Marie and commenced sweeping her porch and cleaning inside her small house. We then said a prayer, leaving her greatly edified and thanking God.
As we left the house, Sr. Rachel Ulor, MOJ, explained one of the reasons Mama Marie was in such dire need of visitation. Her front yard had been a garden where she grew various vegetables and fruits, which she prepared for herself and grandson, who lives with her and goes to school in the village. But, the local government confiscated her property without compensation for the commercial interest of using the area for parking cars. This unfair development left Marie without her daily work, which helped feed her and her grandson.
These are just two examples among many in which I witnessed the MOJ’s living out the spirituality of self-emptying, the core spiritual principle of the HEAL mission. Everything about this congregation speaks to their radical commitment to following Christ, He who calls us to “come and see” where He stays.
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