UGANDA: A Non-Catholic Builds A Catholic Church
Archbishop Tambala after consecrating the church building. Behind him are Fr. Sonkhani and Mr. Atwell Banda
Sam Kalimba
A local Presbyterian philanthropist and village headman in Malawi Mr. Lyson Atwell Banda has broken record as he enjoys the rare privilege of brushing shoulders with the local ordinary of the Archdiocese of Lilongwe, His Grace Archbishop George Desmond Tambala right at his backyard.
It all begun with natural calamity of stormy winds early this year that brought down a Catholic church building at St. Louis Montfort Small Christian Community based at Kasangadzi Village in a district called Dowa, to the north of Lilongwe.
According to Parish Priest of St. Benedict the Abbot Mponera Parish Rev. Fr. Francis Sonkhani Nyendwa, when the church building lost its form the Christians in the SCC lost hope.
“I recall when the chairperson of St. Louis Montfort SCC called me about the damaged church building, he said that the Christian’s spirits were very low to the effect that it would take years to bring back the building. I had to encourage them with words of hope. I had nobody in mind but I just had to do my duty. We visited the place and indeed it was a bad sight knowing how it was when we last celebrated Mass in the village. After sometime he called to let me know that one gentleman had seen what happened and was willing to help on condition that every Christian brought two burnt bricks as their contribution. They wanted the Parish’s approval knowing that the person in question was a Presbyterian under Nkhoma Synod of the Central African Presbyterian Church. I on behalf of the Parish encouraged them to accept the offer and to proceed contributing as per condition of the potential donor,” narrated Fr. Sonkhani to this reporter in a telephone interview.
The Church building was built. The Church building looked all weather resilient and beautiful inside out. Regardless of it being for a Small Cristian Community of about 60 families, it pleased Archbishop George Tambala to accept and take a distance of over 65 kilometres to consecrate the new Church building on Sunday 19 November 2023.
The Local Ordinary said that his motivation to consecrate the Church building in person was to amplify the strong message Mr. Lyson Atwell Banda is sending to all Catholics in his see and the people of Malawi in general.
“Mr. Atwell Banda has done an extraordinary function of a Christian worthy emulating. He has evangelised in a special way and we all must learn that it is possible to be self-reliant at all levels. As a Church in the Archdiocese, we have learnt what we must practice and this is a challenge. As a country, we must learn that we can develop our country by ourselves,” said Archbishop Tambala in a media interview after Mass of the Church consecration.
Soft spoken Lyson Atwell Banda who participated in all the Rites including Mass marking the consecration of the Church he built for Catholics said that his utmost reward on the day was to brush shoulders with an Archbishop of the Catholic Church apart from his belief that the gesture pleases God.
“I am happy to see the top brass in the Catholic Church hierarchy, the archbishop himself, in my village. This is my utmost and profound gift I would ever love to get. I thank God for this day;” he said.
“Faith issues are difficult to explain and it was why Jesus was killed. The authorities could not understand his mission and for this reason I tell you that my motivation is my faith and I owe no explanation to any one the reasons of my move to support the Catholic Church in my village. This I do to many churches and I know it pleases God and He will bless me,” explained Banda after being checked on what motivated him to build the Church building for a denomination that is not of his preference.
The Catholic Small Christian Community of St. Louis Montfort is under Mwancheka Outstation of St. Benedict the Abbot Mponera Parish in the Archdiocese of Lilongwe. Saint Louis Montfort Small Christian Community started in May 2005 with 30 families and the number of families has increased to 60 by the day of consecration of the Church building.
It is rare in Malawi for an apolitical individual to support groups of people such as churches let alone for a member of a different denomination to support a group from another denomination. Ecumenism has one, faith has one.
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