The intertwined story of two men, Gift Mawuya and Kennedy Julius Mulande, and their individual yet parallel journeys toward the priesthood.
Deacon Gift Mawuya
Gift Mawuya hails from St Monica Parish, Embangweni, Mzimba. He was born into a family of six children, three boys and three girls. While at St Peter’s Secondary School in Mzuzu, Deacon Gift received the calling to join the priesthood. He attended a talk given by the Vocation Director of Malawi & Zambia, Fr Steven Kimani, that ignited his calling. Deacon Gift had initially thought that it was only those who attended minor seminaries who could join the journey to the priesthood. He met late Fr Patrick Byrne, then the vocations director, who told him to attain less than 20 marks on his secondary school leaving exams (MSCE). When he prayed and got exceptionally good grades, he knew that God was guiding him in this direction.
Deacon Kennedy Julius Mulande
Deacon Kennedy Julius Mulande is from St. John Paul II Parish, Chitedze, Lilongwe. He was one of four boys in a family of five children. For Deacon Kennedy, he felt his calling much earlier, while in primary school. His urge to join the priesthood was nurtured further when he attended St Kizito Minor Seminary. With the support of his parents and grandparents and the mentorship of priests, Deacon Kennedy attended a Come and See session.
Faith forged in formation
In 2015, after the Come and See session, Deacon Gift and Deacon Kennedy attended their six-week precandidacy with Fr Byrne at St Augustine Mtengowanthenga Parish and with Bishop John Ryan in Mzuzu, respectively. Both candidates, together with another, passed their final panel interviews in October 2015 and were sent to Kenya for their initial formation. The other Malawian seminarian dropped out after two years.
Both deacons later studied Philosophy in South Africa before returning to Kenya to study Theology. For his first missionary appointment, Deacon Gift was sent to Turkana County in northern Kenya. Deacon Kennedy was sent to Bauchi State in north-eastern Nigeria, a place he found challenging due to security issues and the difficulty of the language and the food. But he found solace in the fact that God was always with missionaries wherever they were.
On Saturday, 24th August 2024, eight seminarians were ordained deacons by Bishop Emeritus Rodrigo Mejia Saldarriaga SJ at Holy Family Parish, Utawala, Kenya. They are Mulande Kennedy Julius (Malawi), Lukendo Paul Wekesa (Kenya), Ndubuisi Vitalis Ummunnakwe (Nigeria), Lungu Wilson (Zambia), Adiele Daniel Ifunayachi (Nigeria), Utionkpan James Ferdinand (Nigeria), Lwando Gabriel (Zambia) and Mawuya Gift (Malawi).
Looking back, Deacon Gift says that the journey to priesthood was good, though challenging, but said that the grace of God was always sufficient. On his part, Deacon Kennedy said his journey was also challenging as he encountered a crisis of faith, but with the help of God and the support of his family, he was able to pull through.
Advice for the youth
Deacon Kennedy’s advice for those interested in joining the priesthood is to make sacrifices in life, like leaving behind your family and many material things to serve parishioners.
Deacon Gift lamented that very few young men were interested in joining the priesthood. He said that the vocation of serving God and his people is a beautiful calling. Deacon Gift wondered if the first priests hadn’t made sacrifices, whether there would be a church today.
They both encouraged the youth not to look at the length of the priestly formation but rather the joy of serving the Lord.