Digodigo is found near the Kenyan border to the northwest of Arusha beyond Lake Natron and the Ngorongoro Crater

Assumption in Africa continues to grow in Tanzania. In response to a request from the archbishop of Arusha, Most Rev. Josaphat Lebulu, the Plenary General Council of the Congregation approved the opening of a new parish, St. Augustine’s, in Digodigo. The official inauguration took place in Digodigo this past August 28 on the feast of St. Augustine. Archbishop Lebulu presided the ceremony during this year that the Assumptionists are marking their 25^th anniversary in East Africa. Joining the archbishop were the regional superior, Fr. Simon Njuguna, the new pastor, Fr. Melchior Vanzwa, other Assumptionist confrères from Tanzania, some Oblate Sisters of the Assumption, who have communities nearby in Loliondo and Wasso, and many parishioners.

Fully aware of the missionary zeal of the Assumptionists, Archbishop Lebulu had been set on opening this parish well before we finally accepted to go there. Already in 2005 he made a request to us; at that time we promised we would eventually accept. In 2011 he renewed his request insisting on the need to evangelize this far flung sector of the archdiocese of Arusha, mainly with the Sonjo people.

Digodigo is a dry region like most of Tanzania. Curiously, it is remarkable to see how farming has prospered in the area, almost like an oasis on a desert-like steppe. It’s like a rather large garden of fruits and vegetables produced by this farming tribe, the Sonjo, ever at odds with the herding peoples around them. Here from now on, brothers from the most distant corner of the province can find a home and friends.

The Assumption will invest its apostolic zeal to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ in this corner of the archdiocese beyond the Serengeti Plain. As Pope Francis has stated, the joy of the Gospel will be our message and our life in the midst of these people. But we, too, look forward to the ways that they will evangelize us, enriching us with the values of their rich culture and, why not, with vocations that will arise from the ranks of their youth!

To our missionaries, Melchior, Euloge and Valentin, we wish, in advance, a good harvest.

Fr. Rigobert, A.A.