I arrived in the village of Mbaise on February 5th with Deacon Leo at his family compound. We got out of the jeep and walked toward the house, next to which some Okonkwo family members sat in their yard. I greeted Andrew and Chika, Leo’s brother and sister, as I recognized them immediately from my visit two years earlier. Then, as my back was turned, I heard Leo say, “Nick!” I turned to see an old woman supported on each arm by her children. She had a huge smile on her face with contrasting tears in her eyes as she saw me.
This was “Mama Bridget” Okonwko, the mother of Deacon Leo and his seven siblings, and who I think of as the Mother of HEAL. I embraced Bridget and sat down with her and the others as they made me feel at home after a long trip. Bridget couldn’t speak as she was still recovering from a stroke which she suffered in December. I sensed her appreciation for me in her smile, even as the tears in her eyes reflected her inability to express herself in words.
Over the next two weeks of my stay in Mbaise, Deacon Leo and I conducted our business during the day and returned home in the evenings to enjoy Bridget’s presence. In spite of being unable to speak or walk without help, she was always joyful and I found her to represent the spirit of the mission. A few days before I left, she became very sick and the family brought her to Umezurike Hospital in Owerri. We visited her there twice before my departure on February 18th. Leo continually told me, “It doesn’t look good for my mother.”
As I write to you now, it has been over a week since Mama Bridget passed away into the arms of Christ. Please keep her and the Okonkwo family in your prayers as they bury her on April 5th. During my stay with Bridget in her last days, I perceived how incredibly proud she was of the mission that God had given her son to serve poor and marginalized orphans and widows in the Spirit of self-emptying (cf. Phil 2:6-11). Indeed, it is a mission that has reached so many people even beyond Nigeria and inspired them to engage in this important work.
Now, we will have another advocate for HEAL, perhaps our most powerful one next to our Blessed Mother Mary, interceding on our behalf at the throne of grace. But, we need YOUR help also. Please consider your gift on behalf of our mission, the mission which is the legacy of Mama Bridget!