Discipleship Program, Vashi, New Bombay

Final overseas mission for the year at Vashi, New Bombay

I had planned on taking a three month long break from missionary travel after my trip to the United States, but I had committed to doing a Discipleship Program in Vashi whenever it could be arranged, so when I was told that dates were fixed for October 24-26, I didn't back out. I was glad I didn't, because it was a wonderful mission that ended with yet another invitation to start an HSI Community.

The enemy, of course, promptly went into action with whispers emanating from certain leaders about how I was a divisive force in the Catholic Church and other such rubbish, but then he has to do what he has to do and we have to do what we have to do—which is continue our work in the vineyard—though I believe at some point I may have to take steps to stop the slander.

With this mission—which was made possible largely due to the efforts of Blazie Shetty—completed, my travels come to an end until the Lenten season, though I plan on using the time to write about the many things I have learned over the past couple of years and also build up the existing Communities we have running.

HSI Sharjah is 2 Years Old

Happy Birthday HSI Sharjah

Our prayer family in Sharjah completed two years this week and they celebrated it by throwing a party, with the kids and youth putting up skits, mimes and other assorted entertainment. Members from other families, even some as far away as Fujairah, came for the celebration and it so great to see the love flowing.

Holy Spirit Interactive, itself, completes five years this December. May the Lord continue to bless us and grow us.

New HSI Community in Jebel Ali

We launched our fourth Community (after Dubai, Fujairah and Chembur) in Jebel Ali today. We had Fr. Eugene Matioli, parish priest of St Francis of Assisi Church, bless us. The HSI Communities are our success story with new ones to begin in Dar es Salam, Tanzania and Houston, Texas shortly. All the communities have the blessings of the local bishop and are under the supervision of priests. For more information please visit the School of Discipleship website.

Silent Retreat

Mother Nadine and Yours Truly

Fr Pasquale, the Ninja Healer, my Retreat Director

The Intercessors of the Lamb are a group based in Omaha, Nebraska comprising a group of contemplatives - brothers, sisters and priests. I decided to spend a week with them before I returned home. I had visited 9 countries in 9 months and estimate I spoke to over 20,000 people in nearly a hundred different places. I was pretty much exhausted and believed I needed a full recharge of my spiritual batteries. Hence the retreat. It turned out to be the best thing that I did all year long! Not only did I get rejuvenated in body, mind and soul; I also learned (and relearned) a lot of things during the time I was there.

It was a silent retreat, but guided. Fr. Pasquale was my retreat director. Originally from Surinam, he was affectionately referred to as the Spiritual Ninja Warrior by the Community members and by the third day I could see why. Before I left, I spent a few minutes chatting with a few of the brothers in the Community (I lived with them but because the retreat was silent didn't do much by way of communication except nod!) and a litle time with the founder of the Community—Mother Nadine. She is a wonderfully blessed person and shared a beautiful vision she had of me before she said bye.

Discipleship Program, Durham, North Carolina

My final mission in the United States was in Durham, North Carolina and though it was a wonderful mission—Discipleship Program, Prayer Meeting, Counselling—I was glad when it was over. Though people may not have realized it, I was close to exhausting my reserves of energy and if I had one more such mission I believe I would have collapsed through it. My hosts/organizers—Charles and Stella, Melvin and Preeti, Josy and Maria—were warm and wonderful and will always be fondly remembered.

Discipleship Program, Vancouver, Canada

Immaculate Conception Church, Vancouver, British Columbia

The Discipleship Program in Immaculate Conception Church held from September 15-18, 2008, Vancouver was one of the best ever, attended by nearly 500 people of assorted races, all of whom seemed struck by a bolt of lightning. I was very tired, but very happy by the end of it, and only wish I could have started off the School of Discipleship here but I had to leave for North Carolina the following morning. There is a good chance that I will set up a second base of operations in Canada, though, so that might happen some time soon.

Discipleship Program, Seattle, Washington

A new family in Seattle, Washington

Invitations kept coming my way at the very last minute, which meant I couldn't plan my trip very well. Consequently I found myself criss-crossing back and forth across the continent! Fortunately, I could plot in Seattle immediately before Vancouver (they couldn't arrange a program in the Church for me last month), so for a change I could take a bus rather than a plane.

My host here was another Matthew, who had also organized my mission for September 12 and 13 in his prayer group. Predominantly Indian Malayalees, they were a warm wonderful bunch of people who took me into their hearts, and I them. Matthew's wife Maria, who showed me some of Seattle's sights on the free day that I had, is on the bottom left of the picture.

Discipleship Program, Houston, Texas

Discipleship Program in St Thomas Aquinas Prayer Hall, Houston

A short session in Dallas, Texas

My first mission in the United States began with the Discipleship Program in Houston, Texas at St. Aquinas Church. It was a terrific start to the mission, and though the crowd wasn't too large, the parish priest was in attendance and he invited me back to Houston to do the Program on a parish level some time next year. He also said he would like to start an HSI Community in Houston. Matthew, my host, who had arranged my program, said that he would arrange missions in other parishes in the region the next time I was down. He and his wife are wonderful people, totally on fire for God, and I was blessed to be with them.

I flew the following morning to Dallas where I gave a talk to a small group of people, some of whom I knew in my younger days, including host Percy Pinto and his lovely wife Charmaine. There were also a couple of protestant ministers present, as well as some who were non-Christian, and I figure God knew better than I did why they were there.

I flew back to Houston from Dallas, slept for four hours, then retraced my journey back to Canada with three separate flights to Phoenix, Portland and finally Vancouver. I made a little calculation and estimated if all the hours I spent travelling was put together I spent a total of between two two to three weeks either at an airport or in an airplane this year!!!

Discipleship Program, Toronto, Canada

Precious Blood Parish

Talk in St Paschal Baylon Church

My second visit to Toronto didn't see as many engagements as my first visit three years ago, but the numbers of people to listen to me were more. I conducted HSI's Discipleship Program in Precious Blood Church and gave a few talks to prayer groups around the city, including one to Toronto's largest—Gethsemane Ministries.

I moved on to Vancouver from there, and though the Discipleship Program wouldn't be conducted until the middle of September, I had enough on my plate to keep me busy. Gave talks to prayer groups in St. Joseph the Worker Church, St. Paul's Church, and Sacred Heart Church, among others. I also gave a talk to residents of Luke 15 House, a half way house for ex-prisoners and recovering addicts.

World Youth Day, Australia

Inaugural Mass at the Telstra Dome, Melbourne

A young(er) pilgrim at Sydney

A wonderful enactment of the Passion

I accompanied Diana Mascarenhas of the ICPE School of Mission to Australia for the World Youth Day as one of their speakers during the first leg of the tour in Melbourne, though I really didn't have to do much by way of preaching. I was glad to have gone, nonetheless, because the experiences I had in Melbourne for the Days of the Diocese program and then, later on in Sydney, for the World Youth Day, would trigger off a desire to work with youth again and put together an HSI team for the next WYD to be held in Madrid, Spain in 2011.

Crusade in Dar es Salam, Tanzania

Crusade in Africa: June 26-June 29, 2008

A section of the crowd numbering 10,000

A small teaching on the sidelines

If a good preacher wants large crowds, India is usually a safe bet. But even so, India is nothing compared to Africa where people throng by the thousands to a religious event. There were about 10,000 to this one in Dar Es Salam! Though the event took place for an entire fortnight, I could be there only for five days due to prior commitments, but they were five days to remember.

An African crowd stirred up is a crowd to behold, but what I will never forget is the deliverance that took place after the talks were over. As we prayed over the people, many would be thrown to the ground and roll, frothing at the mouth, while stretcher bearers would quickly come and take them away. The entire thing was organized on a war footing, but then I realized that this was war!

And, as always, in Tanzania the organizers always make sure that I am kept busy, so I'd take up a small class in the morning, preach at the crusade in the afternoon, and go and give a few more talks in the evenings. All in a day's work! :) By the end of it I had lost my voice completely, but I had finished by then so I didn't really care!

Discipleship Program, Ruwi, Oman

Sts Peter and Paul Church, Ruwi, Oman
For the first time in three years I was accompanied by members of the HSI Community for a mission outside the country. Brothers Denzil, Rajan, Manjula, Joel and young sister Jovita drove/flew down to Oman to assist me with the Discipleship Program in Sts Peter and Paul Church, Ruwi, Oman and it was a delight to have them around. The team were quite thrilled by the warmth and the love they received and I knew they couldn't wait for more.

The mission, itself, held from May 4-May 7, was wonderful. Like other missions, it got off to a relatively slow start, but by the end of it, people just wanted more. The local prayer group—a wonderfully Spirit led group that went by the name of Mary Immaculate Prayer Community headed by brothers Eugene, Philip, Roman, Freddy and Marion—had made the program possible and their hospitality and graciousness was marvellous to behold.

I got a few more insights into why people don't come for missions like this even though it was held in a parish level. One woman said her husband didn't think much of lay preachers; another said he believed I was a "Charismatic" preacher and didn't think too much of Charismatics; and a third said he didn't come because it was organized by the local prayer group and he didn't like them. C'est la vie.

Fr. Elias Vella

Fr. Elias Vella from Malta conducts Set Free

Fr. Elias Vella and Diana Mascarenhas ministered to HSI Community members through the Set Free program, a powerful module designed to bring wholeness and healing in the power of the Holy Spirit to broken people. Through my missionary travels I am blessed to meet many anointed men and women of God. With a wealth of knowledge and experience they have much to teach and even while I learn from them, I try to ensure that others do too by inviting them to be with us.

Our Lady of Perpetual Succor Church, Bombay

Our Lady of Perpetual Succor Church, Chembur
The Church building was under construction so masses and everything else, including the Discipleship Program, was moved to the hall of an adjacent building. The Program, held between April 10-12, was one of the best I have ever conducted, and an invitation to join HSI's School of Discipleship very well received. The School, which is targeted to begin on May 18th will be the third School of Discipleship - and the first in India.

God Bless Africa!

Exhuberance marks local praise and worship; the people in the foreground are dancing

Africa provided a fantastic conclusion to a four nation tour, even though it involved a grueling schedule that began the day I arrived. Barely hours after reaching (February 29), I found myself giving a short retreat to a group of African youth, which was followed by a talk to local parishioners.

The session with the African youth was really alive, but it didn't exactly prepare me for the vibrancy of worship I witnessed the following day (March 1) at the Emmaus Center prior to my talk. The locals sang and danced with an abandon I have never seen elsewhere.

The hunger in the people was also amazing to see. There were 300 people when I started. By the time I was half way through there were over a thousand people in attendance. My talk was supposed to have been for two hours, but the translator (Br Sebastian) suggested that I continue, and I ended up speaking for another two.

Before and after the other programs that followed, there were talks to local communities, visits to the sick and a miscellaneous assortment of things including a visit to Cardinal Polycarp Pengo to pay my respects. While I had met nearly two dozen bishops over the past few years, this was the first Cardinal that I was meeting. I had a feeling it wouldn't be the last

All the sessions were organized by Cajetan Misquitta, who was also my host for the length of my stay in Tanzania along with his Hindu friend Milan. God is going to use both these men in the days to come, even though one of them doesn't quite know it yet.

On Air on Radio Tumaimi

Mama Chilambo and me on air on Radio Tumaimi

An hour long recording session on Radio Tumaimi two days after I reached Dar es Salam led to an invitation to record three more talks. Though my schedule was extremely tight, I could hardly refuse, especially given that I had the chance to reach over ten million people, which was the listenership the station had. I recorded the fourth and final talk the day before I was to leave. The Director of the station, Mrs Esther Chilambo, respectfully called Mama Chilambo, did a simultaneous translation of my talks.

Discipleship Program, Don Bosco, Dar es Salam

Don Bosco, Upanga, Dar es Salam

A full day Discipleship Program at the open air Don Bosco Church in Upanga brought to an end a very long mission in four countries and, though I was happy to have had the opportunity to reach so many people, I was also glad that it was over and I could go home. I hadn't seen my family for longer than a few hours during the past one month and I really missed them.

I travel next in April to Bombay, India.

Discipleship Program, St. Joseph's, Dar es Salam

St. Joseph's Church, Dar es Salam

With Br Roman and Fr. Rewchungura

While the program in Emmaus Center had a rough start, the one that followed at St. Joseph's Cathedral had a terrific beginning -- and it stayed terrific until the end. The church, which was built by German missionaries five hundred years ago, was quite lovely and I enjoyed preaching in it despite the strong echo it carried. I had a different translator for this program: Roman, the deputy director of Agape, one of the Emmaus ministries. Roman, like Sebastian, became a good friend by the end of the program as did the parish priest, Fr. Rewchungura, who attended all the four sessions and seemed quite delighted with it. He told me I was welcome to preach in the parish any time that I wanted.

Discipleship Program, Emmaus Center, Dar Es Salam

Emmaus Center, Dar Es Salam, with Bro Sebastian translating

Two Discipleship Programs began simultaneously on March 3: one in the morning at Emmaus Center, a Charismatic organization, for a totally local audience; the other in the afternoon at St. Joseph's Parish. The first one got off to a disastrous start. The instant I began two goats walked into the prayer area and distracted everybody, including me. Somebody eventually chased them off, but it was uphill from that point onwards. The next day, however, was great and by the time the program closed, I had received an invitation to return in June as one of the key speakers for a national convention that attracts nearly 10,000 people. Needless to say, I was pretty pleased.

Discipleship Program, OLPH, Fujeirah

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, Fujairah

I preached a Lenten mission in Fujairah from February 25-27, making it possibly the first mission being preached in a church in the UAE by a lay person. Hopefully this will create a precedent because there are a lot of lay preachers who can conduct missions just as well as priests can, and with the shortage of mission preachers among the clergy this might help to fill in a vast gap.

Fr. Michael, the parish priest of the Church in Fujairah, was present on all the days, and like others who have attended in the past, had only good things to say about the Program. So did the others who came for it, though as usual, it was word of mouth about the preacher that brought them in.

I got a fascinating insight into how people choose to attend retreats during one of the counseling sessions I had in the morning. A gentleman who came on the second day told me that he hadn't come on the first day because he thought I belonged to another nationality!!!

Discipleship Program, St. Mary's, Croydon

St. Mary's Church, Croydon

Lalini Nazareth, who was also my host for most of the time I was in London, arranged to have the Discipleship Program in St. Mary's Church in Croydon over three evenings from February 19 to February 21. Though it had a slow start (as usual!) the church was pretty full by the final day and it was a delight to see normally stiff people loosen up to hold hands and sing together! If I had a few more days with them, I'd have them dancing!!

Discipleship Program, St. Stephen's, Enfield

The wonderful Fr. Rodney, parish priest of St. Stephen's

Back at St. Stephen's

Fr. Rodney, the Anglican pastor of St. Stephen's Church in Enfield, and his dear wife Vicky gave me yet another warm welcome as I returned to preach at their parish, this time to give the Discipleship Program. The last time I was here I had given a short talk on love, which had resulted in an open invitation to return. As I had only four hours to conduct the program, I condensed it as best I could. Earlier in the day he had invited me to give the homily during the Mass.

A truly Spirit filled man, Fr. Rodney could give a few lessons to his Catholic counterparts in largeness of heart and graciousness of hospitality, though I am pretty sure that his desire for Christian unity and his willingness to take risks must not endear him to members of his own order. It is a real pity that such men are such a rarity.

Discipleship Program, St. Joseph's, Hendon

A few of the people who attended the Program in Hendon

My first program during my second visit to London was a day long Discipleship Program in St. Joseph's Church, Hendon. There were just 32 people present, but given that it is considered a minor miracle if ten show up for a Christian program in London, I figured I should consider myself fortunate. The people were a smogasbord of nationalities but the language didn't seem to be a problem for any of them, so I quite enjoyed it. I also enjoyed my stay with Millie Fernandes, a lady of Kenyan origin, who had arranged this program and the one to follow in Enfield.