This last year has been an extremely difficult time period for the HEAL family in Nigeria. HEAL Founder, Deacon Leo, has suffered the loss of his mother, his elder sister, a beloved Reverend Sister, and, now, his best friend, Fr. Ambrose Osuagwu, who recently died at age 51 of a ruptured appendix. This is a great loss for me also, as I came to know Fr. Ambrose very well during my previous two trips to Africa. He was a Priest who wholeheartedly supported HEAL and our mission in the service of the least of God’s people.
I’ll never forget the first time I met Fr. Ambrose during my first very short trip to Nigeria in 2014. I was driving with Deacon Leo and his brother Jude toward our destination of Umuagwu village, where I would meet the Messengers of Justice, the widows, and the poor children. We pre-arranged to pick up Fr. Ambrose, who would accompany us to the village. Leo and Jude were telling me how he was famous for drinking beer with his breakfast. And, sure enough, as we pulled to a stop at a curb, I looked out and saw Fr. Ambrose sitting at a picnic table near a food stand and eating breakfast with a can of beer! We all laughed as he came over to the car.
While I could tells stories about Fr. Ambrose’s great ability to tell humorous stories, it was his spiritual support for his best friend, Deacon Leo, and the HEAL mission that merits attention. He acted as a chaplain for the mission, providing spiritual guidance to the Messengers of Justice in Umuagwu and also celebrating Mass for the community on important feast and fast days. I’ll never forget his Ash Wednesday homily in 2014, during my first visit. Fr. Ambrose spoke inspirationally of our duty as Christians to be “ambassadors” for Christ, in that we do not represent ourselves, in what we say and do, but Him.
On my second visit to Nigeria in February 2016, I learned more about Fr. Ambrose’s own vocation and his great moral character. He is Nigerian, but actually ended up becoming a priest in Bertoua, Cameroon. This happened because, prior to his priestly ordination, Ambrose opposed a powerful political interest group in his village. Traditionally, each village has an elder or king who acts as a leader in the community. At the time, Ambrose’s uncle was the village king, but some prominent people in the village wanted to end the tradition. Ambrose loyally sided with his uncle, which meant he opposed the powerful group that included his parish priest. Unfortunately for the village, the parish priest exiled Ambrose and blocked his path to ordination for his own diocese of Ahiara, Nigeria. Ambrose took it in stride and went on to become a great priest in Cameroon.
Fr. Ambrose’s loyalty, his humor, and inspired preaching all contributed to the advancement of HEAL and our mission. In those ways, he was very much like Deacon Leo and it explains their great friendship. And, while we mourn the loss of Fr. Ambrose, we are also confident our mission will only grow stronger as we have gained another faithful advocate at Heaven’s throne!