GWAVE MISSION

 

On the 29th of January of 2002 Frs. Amador Nunez, Antonio Llamas and Luis Maria Guerrero cmf, the first three Claretian Missionaries arrived in Zimbabwe. Just accommodated in the Diocesan Shingai Training Center of Gokwe, they entered into the task of learning the Shona language and culture. Fr. Amador decided to establish himself in the Mission on July that year, and began to prepare the house to live in. Finally, at the end of 2002, they came together and got settled in Gwave Mission.

Gwave was a big Mission with three sub-parishes and 37 outstations. The first period was hard but exciting. As a team we tried to serve the outstations the best we could. We dedicated the days, specially the weekends, to staying with the community, visiting the sick, meetings and celebrating the Mass with the communities.

Little by little some projects were put in place like the multipurpose halls in Mutimutema and Huchu and also the garage and warehouse for the Mission. It was also urgent to increase their means of transport. It is necessary to give thanks to Proclade Betica and Canarias for their help in these projects.

The pastoral ministry was done according to the diocesan guidelines and, because of that there were two urgent issues to face: to build a self reliance Church and to implement the Small Christian Communities (SCC) as a base for the pastoral organization of the Mission.

The Mission needed human support also. So the Provincial Government sent first Fr. Fermín Rodríguez in 2003 and next Fr. Joaquín Béjar in 2004. Also the Fr. General sent Frs. John Omoha and Livinus Orakwe.

After the relevant time of preparation, the community of Gwave took over one of the subparishes of Chireya Mission that was to become Zhomba Mission. On January 29th 2005, just three years after our arrival, Zhomba Mission began is own history at the hand of the Claretian Missionaries. It was a humble start. Two members of Gwave community began to live in Zhomba; first in the house of one parishioner, then two rooms in the teachers house in Zhomba Secondary School were temporally lent to the team, Frs. Antonio y Fermin, so they could begin to live in the area.

Because of the lack of personnel, finally on 31st December 2008, we handed Gwave Mission back to the Diocese. From that moment the community was divided in two communitarian groups: Zhomba, with Frs. Antonio, Luis Mª and Livinus and Ruwa, with Frs. Fermin, Joaquin and Peter Paul, but this is another chapter in our history.