The Holy Family Parish Tabenken begins her Harvest Thanksgiving.

The Holy Family Parish, Tabenken, last Sunday launched her Harvest Thanksgiving. Their target this year is to raise some money to enable them repair the windows of the Church in Tabenken, rebuild the steps leading to the church from the Health Centre and to build a new Parish Hall which can contain the Christians. The present hall is small and dilapidated. Refurbishing the hall will be a waste of time and money since it is not that large for the Catholic Christians and invitees to sit in when there is an occasion in the Church like the Harvest Thanksgiving which is currently going on.

On the launching of this Harvest Thanksgiving, the Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Patrick Nchuwa in his sermon which was centered on LOVE, called on the Christians to show “true love” for one another. He told the different families to imitate the example of the Holy Family of Nazareth.
He also told them to be conscious of the fact that he is their brother. They should not take him for a stranger because he hails from a different village. His brothers and sisters are Christians of Tabenken. Fr. Patrick Nchuwa went on to explain to the Christians that, what will be realized from the harvest thanksgiving, shall be used for church projects, and especially the ones listed above which are very necessary. He told them he came to Tabenken as a missionary and is very ready to do the work he came for to the best of his ability. And this he can only accomplish with the collaboration of the entire Christian population.

After the sermon, it was time for offertory. There were a series of offertories. It began with general offertory and ended with Thanksgiving by St. Raphael Small Christian Community Kieku. The procession was wonderful as the Parish Priest himself commented at the end of the celebration, “I thought I could fly when I saw and heard the people of Kieku sing and dance with baskets on their heads.” These small Christian Community did not let the Church Choir sing for them.

They chanted their own beautiful song that moved the entire congregation. There were carrying baskets of maize, beans, groundnuts, palm wine, bamboo chairs etc.
The Parish Priest was very delighted for this was the first time he was witnessing Harvest Thanksgiving in Tabenken Parish. He expressed his satisfaction to the Small Christian Community of Kieku and called on the other Small Christian Communities to emulate this example.

All these gifts were at the end of the mass carried out and auctioned to Christians. Next Sunday shall be the turn of St. Martin the Porres Small Christian Community.

Ben Afor