Interview with Fr. Jim Brobst, OMI by Will Shaw; photos by Fr. Jim Brobst, OMI
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L-R) Fr. JIm Brobst, OMI, Fr. Freeborn Kibombwe, OMI, Fr. Antonio Ponce,
OMI, Bishop Clement Mulenga, S.D.B., Bishop of Kabwe
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Two
U.S. Oblates spent the better part of last November with the Oblate Delegation
in Zambia to participate in the consultation for new leadership.
The
Oblate Delegation in Zambia was founded by U.S. Oblates in 1984. Starting from
almost scratch, the delegation now has nearly 40 native-born priests and
brothers, two Oblate Bishops, and dozens more in formation with missions all
over western Zambia.
As
a delegation, the Zambian missions are still governed and largely funded by the
U.S. Province. Fr. Jim Brobst, OMI along with Fr. Antonio Ponce, OMI, Director
of the U.S. Province JPIC Office, were the designated representatives of the
U.S. Province during the consultation with members of the delegation for the
election of new leadership. (See story on new Zambian leadership here)
Fr.
Brobst described the consultation process like this: “We do two
things: we have a straw ballot and we also have a conversation with folks.
Since they’re a delegation, they are still part of our province, so their
leadership is governed by the U.S. Province.”In our conversations, there
were three basic questions: What are the greatest needs of the delegation at
this time? What are the talents needed to lead? Who are the people who can
bring those talents to the table?” In order to consult with as many
of the members as possible, Fathers Brobst and Ponce held meetings in three
different areas of the country and spoke with others by phone or Skype in order
to get the participation of nearly the entire delegation.
The
various elements of the discernment, the meetings, straw votes, and receiving
and discussing recommendations took nearly three weeks and resulted in new
leadership just announced in early January of 2017.
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A new addition to Fr. Chishimba’s flock
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Fathers
Brobst and Ponce also visited the self-sustainability projects designed to help
the Zambian delegation to become financially self-sustaining. “There are two
levels of self-sustainability, one is to produce large incomes to support the
whole delegation, and then there are smaller income projects to support
specific localities,” said Fr. Brobst.
Some
examples of smaller projects are those begun by Fr. Chishimba Chibesa, OMI,
pastor of St. Michael’s Parish in Kalabo. One is raising chickens, another is
raising and selling quail, and another is raising goats. The eggs, meat and
milk from the livestock, as well as the animals themselves are sold to raise
funds for the mission. The livestock also provide food for the Oblates.
Another
project of Fr. Chibesa’s is the cultivation of rice on property donated by a
parishioner. Again, the harvests will be sold to raise funds to support the
parish and its missions.
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Fr. Chishimba (on right) with the young people from his parish who will
soon be cultivating rice in this field.
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Back
at the Oblate headquarters in Lusaka, larger projects designed to support the
entire delegation are in process. Fr. Brobst described some of them: “The
biggest one that’s most obvious is a large office building they’ve constructed
which is a high-quality new building. It is meant to be rented which will
produce income to support the entire delegation. I’ve heard they have a lot of
people wanting to rent space and it isn’t even done yet.”
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The nearly completed office building in Lusaka
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He
went on to describe others: an auto shop on the Oblate grounds which not only
services Oblate vehicles, but produces income by repairing cars and trucks for
outside customers as well; a former dormitory for Oblate scholastics that is
now rented to the nursing school of a local hospital for student housing; a
library which is being rented to a local Catholic university for classroom use,
and there’s even a commercial printing shop on the property which serves the
needs of the Oblates and customers from the local business community.
Summarizing,
Fr. Brobst said, “Some are more lucrative than others but these are just
some of the things they are doing to try and create self-sustainability.”
In addition to raising funds, Fr. Brobst says the Zambian Oblates are also
looking for ways to bring ministry into these fund-raising projects: “They
want to have things that produce income that are also related to their
ministry. If you’re a missionary and you spend your time on a project, you want
to see an impact on people’s lives that’s related to the faith.”
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Chatting with the new Oblate Bishop of Livingstone, (L-R) Fr.
Antonio Ponce, OMI, Bishop Valentine Kalumba, OMI, Fr. Jim Brobst, OMI and
unidentified parishioner
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In
addition to the consultation and self-sustainability projects, they visited
with Oblates in the various missions in western Zambia. According to Fr.
Brobst, “It’s always good for us from the United States to see what’s there
and to meet the people there, because they’re really part of our province. Even
if they become their own province in the future, they still have that history
of foundation from us and maintaining that relationship is essential.”
Fr.
Jim Brobst has visited Zambia three times: first in 1990, again in 2006 and
most recently in November, 2016. He’s witnessed remarkable progress with each
visit. Paved roads have appeared where none existed. There are many more cars
on the road now along with several U.S. – style shopping malls. Though he still
expressed concern about the income inequality and wondered how many Zambians
can actually afford to shop there: “Many of the people are still quite poor
and maybe it’s only a small number of government workers and contractors from
other countries who can afford to go there. Those are some of the social
challenges you see.”
Finally, on a
personal level, he was gratified to see many of the young men he had worked
with in formation here in the states, who are now ordained priests involved in
leadership and in ministry: “As an old Formator, to see your students doing
well, see how they’ve progressed, what challenges they’ve faced, that’s a cool
thing – that’s a very cool thing.”
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