AN EXPERIENCE OF MINISTRY IN THE THIRD WORLD: THE FRANCISCAN COMMUNITY SERVICES AND THE INBREAKING OF GOD'S KINGDOM. A PASTORAL REFLECTION PAPER SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE WASHINGTON THEOLOGICAL UNION IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF DIVINITY, BY TIMOTHY PATRICK DORE, OFM CONV., APRIL 1992
CHAPTER ONE
Formulation of, and Preparation for, the Pastoral Internship
The possibility of doing a pastoral internship with the Franciscan Community Services (FCS) of Ghana, West Africa, was first presented to me in January of 1991. The FCS, a ministry which primarily serves victims of leprosy, has been an acclaimed mission effort of the Province of St. Anthony of Padua, Order of Friars Minor Conventual (OFM Conv.). The Province, which has had a mission in Ghana since 1977, continues to support and encourage the endeavors of its foreign missionaries. As a member of the Province, I had heard many stories about its mission in Ghana and about the lifestyles of its missionaries there. The story of Brother Vincent Vivian, OFM Conv., founder of the FCS, had been particularly inspiring.
I was told that the minister provincial and others hoped that an interest in the Ghana mission might be stimulated by sending a student there for an internship experience. Although always interested in "the missions," when asked to consider this possibility I was initially surprised and genuinely afraid to say yes. After a period of discernment (including consultation with those familiar with the Province's mission in Ghana and the disease of leprosy), I made the decision in late February to apply for the pastoral internship with the FCS. It was left to me to do all of the necessary groundwork, including to have the site approved by the Washington Theological Union (W.T.U.). Because no internship program for students had previously been in place with the FCS, key people on site had to be contacted and their cooperation sought.
The then minister provincial of the Province of St. Anthony of Padua, Father Daniel Pietrzak, OFM Conv., suggested that Brother Vincent, and Sister Patricia Pearson, Daughter of Mary and Joseph (DMJ), might be available to act as supervisors for the internship. Father Daniel suggested that Sister Pat might be interested in acting as the "primary supervisor" as Brother Vincent, he said, would be too busy to take on another job at the time. It was my responsibility to contact these people by mail and request their support. I had briefly met Brother Vincent a number of years earlier during one of his "home visits" to the United States. We were not well acquainted. I had never met Sister Pat, but had heard about her through the stories of others. Based on my knowledge of Brother Vincent and Sister Pat, and the work that they had done among victims of leprosy, I was enthusiastic about the possibility of working with them.
Before writing to Ghana, the advice and assistance of Father Placid Kaczorek, OFM Conv., former director of the Province of St. Anthony of Padua's Mission Association, was sought. Father Placid was able to provide practical help and direction in putting together a proposal for the pastoral internship. Together, Father Placid and I drew up a placement profile and a tentative work-learning contract. This was no easy task--as I was not at all familiar with the site and Father Placid was not well-versed in the demands of the W.T.U. program. In addition to this, we were formulating a program without the immediate input of those who would later serve as its directors; the very nature of the task was presumptuous. The placement profile and tentative work-learning contract were sent to Brother Vincent and Sister Pat along with letters requesting their supervision. After a preliminary meeting with Father John Wagenhofer O.F.M., (chairman of pastoral studies at W.T.U.) and an affirmative response from Brother Vincent and Sister Pat, the placement site was given final approval in late April.
Having no experience traveling to a tropical climate or the Third World, I soon discovered that there were many things to do to prepare (physical exam, various vaccinations, visa and passport and purchase of travel items). On 2 June, 1991, I departed the United States for the long air journey to Ghana. Including flight time and airport layover time, the trip took approximately twenty-four hours.
It was my desire to use the pastoral internship to learn as much as possible about the Third World, "the missionary life," the province's efforts within Ghana, Brother Vincent's ministry among victims of leprosy, the work of the Daughters of Mary and Joseph, the Franciscan Community Services, and the cultural situation into which I was going. I wanted to have a realistic missionary experience that might serve to stimulate further interest in a missionary vocation. My attitude and approach, right from the moment that I decided to go to Ghana, was one of openness to "whatever happens." Outside of my own Western biases, I had no specific expectations or agendas. In fact, it was not until after my arrival that I realized how very easy it is to compare everything to Western standards.
The program that was formulated for the internship, with the help of Father Placid, and including my own input, was generally flexible. When the actual internship began, under the supervision of Sister Pat, it became apparent that flexibility was crucial to the success of the program. The experience that the internship offered was multi-faceted. Because of my desire to experience all of the various aspects of the Franciscan Community Services, it was decided early that a "rigid" work-learning contract would not work. Although a tentative work-learning contract had been drawn up with the assistance of Father Placid, it was revised shortly after the internship began. The work-learning contract, as it evolved, provided general guidelines for activities in which I was to be involved.
As it unfolded, the internship was primarily concerned with ministry to various peoples who have suffered in some way because of leprosy (this included a number of different services directed toward children, adults, the elderly and the disabled). In addition to leprosy related ministries, the internship provided the opportunity of service to a cross-section of the local population (this included outreach efforts, the offering of retreats, scripture services and spiritual conferences and "youth ministry" in the village of Ankaful). Another important dimension of the program was simply that of a general ministry of "presence" to the missioners on site.
Methods of Record Keeping
I believed that it was important to keep an ongoing record of my experience during the internship. The internship itself was a process upon which I desired to engage in ongoing reflection. It was also my desire to have a record which could later be used to reflect upon the experience. Several means of record keeping were employed during the internship. These were: an ongoing (although not daily) journal which was kept in a spiral notebook, a daily calendar on which were recorded the significant events of each day, weekly reports which were turned in to Sister Pat, ongoing use of a photo and video camera and the collection of notes, leaflets, clippings from newspapers and other "souvenir" items.
The journal helped as a means to process the experiences that I had; it also served as a thorough record of my feelings and reactions during the internship. The daily calendar was most helpful as an aid to review the week in preparation for the weekly reports written each Sunday evening. The weekly reports often served to focus the discussions during supervisory sessions (as well as at other times). The photos and the videos later served as a means by which I could look back and recall specific events and the persons involved. Later examination of the other selected items that were collected has enabled me to have vivid recollections of various events (those items have a practical anamnestic value).
Theoretical Assumptions
It was my desire at every phase of the internship to keep an open mind (personally, academically, spiritually and emotionally). I had been advised that if I went to Ghana with a judgmental attitude, or with an unwillingness to accept the differences of a non-Western culture, then I would learn nothing (and perhaps become disillusioned in the process). As stated earlier, when the commitment was made to the internship, I made a conscious decision to accept "whatever happens." Although this was not always easy, in the end, I believe that I was very successful with this resolution. Retrospectively, it is clear that transcending my Western biases and assumptions was never really accomplished. I had a number of negative, as well as positive, theoretical assumptions.
From a negative perspective, I had the following assumptions: I believed that the relationship between problems of developing nations and the consumeristic ethic of the so-called "First World" were generally exaggerated; I had simplistic notions about the disease of leprosy and about ministry to the poorest of the world's poor; I was idealistic (even arrogant) in my understanding of mission theology and I assumed that the "African Roman Catholic Church" must be "in-line with Rome."
From a positive perspective, I had the following assumptions: I believed that individuals (especially Christians) from wealthier nations have an obligation to provide aid to those who live in poorer nations; I assumed that the work done by missioners among victims of leprosy in Ghana has been a credible witness of Christian faith in action; I enthusiastically believed that the primary call of the missionary is that of evangelization and I believed that, as part of a "universal" faith community, I could actively participate in the faith experience of those whom I would meet.
Another significant assumption had to do with my understanding of "poverty." Poverty, from a Western perspective, is defined according to material possessions. A Ghanaian understanding of poverty probably will not be defined from this Western point of view. I assumed a Western mentality which would judge a situation that lacks standard first world conveniences as "extremely poor." This became an important focus of much of my reflection during and after the pastoral internship. The questions that surfaced because of this assumption also became a focus of this paper.
I now realize that most of my assumptions were framed within my limited world-view (i.e., they were, and probably continue to be, seen through a "First World" optic). From a positive perspective, I believe that all of my assumptions were filtered by my decision in the internship to accept "whatever happens." It was primarily because of my commitment to this principle, and the support that others gave to me in living up to it, that the internship was successful.
No comments:
Post a Comment