The Dehonian Missionary Family supported the purchase of five cars for missionaries in Africa and Asia last year. In total, we donated as much as PLN 503,580 for this purpose. Father Adrian Karwowski, a missionary from Tanzania, writes about his parish and his daily work in the missions in a special letter to our Donors.
Tanzania, January 2025
God bless you!
Dear Friends, I send heartfelt thanks and greetings to all of you who are reading this. I know it will be difficult to put into words my gratitude, as well as that of my parishioners, for helping me purchase a car for my pastoral work in Tanzania. It is thanks to your service that the Good News of Salvation can be proclaimed more easily to the ends of the earth.
I arrived in Tanzania for missions in 2021. Our Ndotoi parish includes 40 chapels. The farthest one is as much as 80 kilometers away. The people living in our mission area are members of various tribes, mostly Masai, with whom I communicate in Swahili and Masai languages.
The roads leading to the homes of our faithful lead through the most diverse terrain, which, depending on the dry and rainy seasons, change their appearance completely. When it rains, getting to some places becomes temporarily impossible, as water rises in the rivers, creating a natural barrier for weeks. However, the drying up of the riverbed does not mean that the problem of passage disappears completely - water washes out the ground, and it has happened many times that a car with a low chassis simply hanged on the resulting slopes. In such situations, it is more reliable, although less safe, to drive a motorcycle.
It has also been a great challenge so far to get to the conventions of the priests of our Archdiocese of Arusha. Our parish is as far as 600 kilometers away from the city of the same name, where the aforementioned conventions are held regularly. It takes a whole day to get there. Thanks to your help, we will no longer need to borrow a car or make other arrangements to get there. The same is true for something as mundane and basic as simple shopping - now we will be able to get the most necessary products for ourselves and those who ask for such help. Often those who need to get to the hospital also come to the mission. Now we will no longer have to wait for a free car, but will drive the sick to the doctor ourselves.
I am very grateful for this great help from the Secretariat for Foreign Missions of the Priests of the Sacred Heart, which organizes various actions to support missionaries. I want to express my special thanks to you, dear Donors and Benefactors, who take an active part in this work. It is thanks to your care and openness of heart to the needs of the missionaries that it is easier for us to serve here in Tanzania, far from our native land. On behalf of myself and all parishioners, I assure you of our spiritual connection and prayers for all of you. May the good and merciful God keep you constantly in his protection, and may Our Lady of Mercy turn her eyes on you and your families.
From the heart I bless you all +
Fr. Adrian Karwowski FD
priest of the Archdiocese of Bialystok serving in Tanzania
I want to support The means of transport for missionaries project.
