50 Golden Years of North Gujarat Mission

50 Golden Years of North Gujarat Mission

From Exclusive approach to Inclusive accompaniment

 On October 2nd 2014 the North Gujarat Mission (NGM) is going to celebrate her 50 Golden Years of her life and service at Unteshwari Mata Mandir, the Shrine dedicated to Mother Mary, as Our Lady of the Camels! While the church of this region has completed her service for the past 50 years, we as the members of this Church have the reason to CELEBRATE and REJOICE, for God has done wonders from 19th June, 1964 in the region of North Gujarat through Fathers, Sisters, People of God, Catechumens and the persons of good will. This was the date when Fr. Manuel Diaz Garriz, SJ placed his holy feet at Mokhasan village, near Kalol town, as a God sent apostle of North Gujarat.

Rev. Fr Garriz

From this date to till this date Father Garriz, as Garriz Bapu walks with the same enthusiasm and vigour and communicates God’s love in and through his words and deeds, exclusively for the received mandate groups of the Caste Hindu-Christians of this region. Thanks be to God that he is very much alive in our midst! Thus, we have the reason to celebrate and rejoice with him!

At this juncture, I would like to communicate that I am associated with this veteran vegetarian Bapu and his started NG Mission since 1982. So, out of 50 years I am grateful to God for making me known this pioneer missionary and to journey with him in the land of God’s Mission for the past 32 years. Thus, I, along with others, have the reason to celebrate and rejoice in full gusto. Now, let me mention a few factual informations for such meaningful celebration!

• In May 1982, as a candidate of Gujarat I was assigned to assist Frs. Garriz and Isudas Cueli at Madurai St. Mary’s Jesuit Fathers’ Residence when they came for the ordinations of deacons Stanny Jebamalai, M.I. Raj and late Sebastian Amalraj. While leaving Fr. Garriz asked me to kneel down and blessed me; then he presented a picture of Our Lady of the Perpetual Succour with the Gujarati writing below. I did not know Gujarati at that time. But, I preserved it and later when I learnt to read Gujarati I read it. The printed words were: “He Unteshwari Mata, amara mate vinanti karo” – (Our Lady of the Camels, Pray for us). I still have this picture with me. This picture means a lot to me even today when we celebrate this Golden Jubilee – the Suvarna Jayanti ! 

• In 1984, after my completion of higher secondary in Tamil Nadu I joined the Jesuit prenovitiate in Ahmedabad. As part of our formation some of us, the English learning group was sent to Kalol for a month long work camp experience. We laboured with other labourers (majoors) to build the existing St. Xavier’s school. Who knew that one day this majoor would become the Manager of the same school and the labourer would become the Leader for the local and District community! For this I am indebted to God and the Society of Jesus. So, I have the reason to rejoice!

•  From 1986 – 88 along with my novice companions and the inspiring Novice Master Fr. Joaquin Castiella, SJ we toiled in the paddy fields of Santej Farm of Kalol Parish cutting, gathering and sending them to Kalol Mission centre. Indeed it was a live-in-experience with the hard working boarders and the Jesuit missionaries like Fr. Robert Mascarenhas, SJ and the Regent Bro. Raju (Rajendra Vedamuthu), a scholastic who felt at home with his boys and the boys felt at home with the scholastic!

• After my first vows in 1988, as a Jesuit Junior for a year I was sent to Kalol for my weekend ministries. Again I was delighted to be with the boys in their formation with whom I laboured in the paddy field, in turn I was formed. This time, indeed it was a different kind of field experience in concrete. The weekend ministry never weakened me instead strengthened me to walk, sing, dance, play and learn with the bubbling boys. Being with them enabled me to be young and energetic. For this I thank the NG Mission. So I rejoice
• As a second year Junior we had our eight days annual retreat at Unteshwari. There, one day for my prayer I went into the agricultural field of neighbours. There while praying a young man approached me and asked about me. I said that I had come from Ahmedabad for prayer and staying at Unteshwari. The moment he had about Unteshwari he was furious and expressed his anger and even told me that he would cut and throw me into the well. I was alone and pleaded not to harm me. Finally he said, “You should never come back to Unteshwari. We’ll see to it that this Mandir gets damaged and all the inhabitants fly away from here!” At once I left the place and straight went into the Mandir and knelt before the statue of Unteshwari Mata and prayed: “Dear Mother, continue to protect all those who come here as pilgrims; the religious Fathers and Sisters and the inhabitants of the created Unteshwari hamlet”. Today, while being here for the past 17 years, I must say that she very well protects all those who come here and live here. More than that due to her benevolent presence the neighbouring Budasan and Irana villagers are very supportive and collaborate joyfully in our humanitarian services. For this experience I thank and rejoice! 
• As a scholastic whenever possible I had participated in the annual feast of our Unteshwari Matano Melo. It has been always a faith expressive and faith enriching celebrations and definitely the feast continues to attract many more Christian and non-Christian friends to experience the popular inter-faith and inter-cultural dialogue of life and mission at this Marian hillock. 
•  In 1992 after completing my Bachelor of Philosophy, due to my love for inculturation in our evangelization process, in a symbolic manner I got my baptismal name officially changed from Gaspar to Girish! Now, the weekend scholastic Gaspar enters as a Regent Girish to the same Kalol boarding. The people and the boarders who knew me earlier started calling me Brother Gaspar. But, I explained the reason for changing my name into Girish. All because of my love for Inculturation. They respected my process and started calling me with this new name. Inculturation it meant for me as a regent was to insert myself totally in the ethos of our North Gujarat culture and to understand them from their perspective. So, except Thursday evening, which was the Jesuit community day, all the other times I was having all my meals with the students. Such insertion helped me to identify myself with them by breaking chapatti (bread) with them and this motivated the cook Babulal Raval to commit more time in proper cooking. In this way I spent two years with the boarders and for the boarders. I spent all my holidays visiting their homes to know where they come from and how they live in their village. This enabled me to understand them better and to walk with them in their boarding life. I was moved to see the poverty and the pathetic life conditions of our dear boarders. Such ongoing visits motivated me to love and serve them the way Christ served! For this realization I thank God and the NG Mission!

• In 1994 I went to Premal Jyoti, Ahmedabad for my theological studies. As part of the contextual theology, for two years I cycled for 25 kms and was moving into the four villages of Kalol Parish, namely Santej, Khatrej, Jethlaj and Nasmed. In my first year Shekhar was my companion in this insertion process. I spent the second year alone in the midst of the same Raval and Thakor catholics and catechumens. Also I visited other communities in the villages and developed an inclusive outlook at this moment. Well, we shared; cared and grew together as villaged based humans. Sincerely, I smelt the smell of MY people in the midst of sheep, dogs, donkeys, bullocks, cows, buffalos and camels. Besides humans being my companions, these animals too were my extended members of God’s family. At night I slept next to the camel. Well, the smell of the camel used to get absorbed in my cloths (kurta) and whenever I reached back to Premal Jyoti, invariably my friends used comment – “Oh, what a bad smell from your Kurta!”. Well, such was my incarnational theology which has shaped my missionary identity and motivated me to journey with MY people. Also this process helped me to write the Funeral Rite for the Christians of this North Gujarat region as an experiment process. Truly I am formed by the Textual Professors and the Contextual Persons of North Gujarat. I have often heard from the villagers of this region – “Remember, we formed you!” For such formation I have the reason to rejoice today in the context of such Golden Jubilee!

• I was formed through various official formation centres at Ahmedabad, Sughad, Pune and Delhi. After such formation I was sent to Mehsana as a deacon to encounter and engage fully with the Pioneer of the NG Mission. On 18 October 1997 I was ordained with my other five companions at Nadiad St. Mary’s. Plenty of people from North Gujarat Mission were present for this witnessing event of ordination. In their midst I was ordained to be the Pastor (care taker in all sense) for them and to travel with them to reach the eternal home. Man proposes but God disposes. Within six months Fr. Garriz had to leave for the Gujart Mission Secretariat at San Sebastian, Spain. This caused a few changes and I had to move to Unteshwari on 15th April 1998. All for the greater glory of God! 

• In 1999 due to our systematic insertion into the 119 villages of Kadi taluka, there was an unexpected persecution movement against me and the Misison. 50,000 pamphlets were distributed in the villages and towns of our region. Finally, the persecution turned into blessings by we getting involved in the lives of the poor, disabled, orphans and widows of our mission area. Our exclusive mission approach was gradually shaped with the new paradigm shift of inclusive accompaniment. Truly, this has been a call within my priestly CALL. Such inclusive accompaniment of all humans according to their needs has removed the tension in the vicinities and has enhanced the entire Unteshwari Mission as a barrier free centre.
  

• From 2000, as a pilgrim centre, the Unteshwari Tirthadham truly welcomes all types and all categories of people as co-pilgrims to travel with and attends to the needs without any expectations. For this realization and actualization of this new evangelization process I have the reason to celebrate and rejoice with all persons.

• Now let me state some positive signs and the challenges of our North Gujarat mission. This is purely from my perspective though I have my strengths and limitations. I am open for any clarification and further learning through proper spiritual and apostolic conversations. 

Positive signs:

• 50 Golden years in the North Gujarat Mission means a lot for all of us. Indeed it was a real breakthrough from our older understanding of Evangelization to newer understanding by reaching out to other communities in their socio-cultural ethos. This created the Kalol Mission by Fr. M.D. Garriz, SJ; Nalkantha Mission by Fr. Alex Thannipara, SJ; Bhal – Dhandhuka Mission by late Fr.J.L. Gorosquieta, SJ. 

• The Spirit of God had worked through the Vat. II in 1963 and it generated a new move from exclusion to inclusion approach in our Evangelization.

• Indeed it has been a real achievement that today we have a Christian community in the Caste Groups, who are basically poor, marginalized, backward and voiceless in many ways in the growing Global Gujarat Movement. 

• Today, the local church does not mean only caste Hindus or Majiranas. We also have attempted gradually among the Dalit community in Vadgam area. Even this is a break through, that is, again a movement from exclusion to inclusion within North Gujarat Mission. If we are open to the Spirit, it is possible to open many more centres! Wherever and whenever we are open to the signs of times, then the true inclusion is possible within and outside the region!

• Our Social, Educational and Medical centres, Home for the aged – Sandhya Vishram and centres for the disabled (Madhurya Bhuvan – a residential school for MR youths and Unteshwari Sammilitalayam – Inclusive Education for Disabled Children and Community Based Rehabilitation) are works of evangelization. It is again a breakthrough to move from exclusive evangelization to the inclusive NEW evangelization outlook. 

• Local Church is not and does not mean only the baptized ones with water. While all our mission movements and methodologies continue to inspire many more persons to experience the person and values of Jesus and they in turn ask for the Baptism of water is encouraging. Though right now it is slow due to external legal process, still we, positively, have begun the process to accept the baptism of Spirit and Fire, by accepting the men and women of good will in our mission collaboration. Collaboration with the Christian and non-Christian persons are healthy signs in building up the local church. This is very much happening in our NG Church. Local church means to be local within the local region with the frontier missionary outlook. Signs of these are seen visibly in our approach. 

• There has been always an attempt through the key of mission experiments among us to make the local church as a visible sign of God’s Kingdom through the mission methodologies of adaptation within the inculturation process. Attempts of inculturation are done more from an external point of view, though a few of us have got the right internal attitude towards inculturation. Such attempts and attitudes are positive signs. 

• In the area of inculturation, mostly missionaries have attempted in externals. Such attempts are positive, though we are just at the periphery. Attempts are made in structural adaptation, food habits, dress; minimum in rites and rituals; iconography; cultural celebrations and maintenance of a few daily and monthly and annual customs and celebrations. Thus, God is being encountered in such local cultures just by mere external adaptation. These attempts are seen as positive signs. 

• Bapu and Guruji terms are beautiful local words by which we are addressed with love. We need to imbibe the spirit of them through our inner spiritual emptying of ‘worldly paternalism’ and move into ‘godly paternalism’ as Yahweh. Our call is a call to become a spiritual companion in imitating Jesus the Master and to live as brothers and sisters in our religious and outside communities. Many of us understand the spirit of spiritual leadership as servant leadership. A real witnessing positive sign! 

• Our life of incarnational involvements in the context of local church, especially the accompaniment to the poor and the needy through the educational, medical, social, livelihood, rehabilitation, empowerment, employment, etc. are holy signs of building the local church. Our church is not just built with iron, sand, bricks, cement and water. It is built with feelings and affections within the local context of the human habitat, what we call the domestic churches. To me, each poor family of our context is a ‘deri’ (domestic chapels) and collection of such chapels can generate a ‘Bhavya Mandir’ – Magnanimous Church. The positive sign of our intention is still dedicated in building such ‘domestic deris’. Great indeed! The poor are attended to, be it locals are migrants. The positive sign of our local church is that the locals are open to mingle with the migrants and migrants with the locals. The outlook of local church is wide enough to adopt and adapt according to the signs of times, without losing the essence of the local context of our North Gujarat Mission. 

• Katha ministry is a novel way of spreading the Good News. An attempt is being done to make it more alive within our cultural ethos. The promoter Fr. Ignas Canis, SJ knows that it is not a programme but is a passion to make others experience God and to listen to the Word of God. 

• North Gujarat is full of deity (mata) culture. Whatever may be, Missionaries maintain that our ultimate end is God. To Jesus through Mary is maintained. Mary is seen as an intercessor than ‘goddess’. The concept of ‘kulmata’ (ancestral mother) and ‘satguru’ (Master of Truth) are well understood and accepted by the locals. They very much feel one with these emerged Christian concepts. The ongoing search and research in our missionary accompaniment on New Evangelization are positive signs in strengthening the local church. The positive minded local Christians (Isupanthis) are our strength in building the local church and this seed is sown in the hearts of the Christians and catechumens by our committed and dedicated pioneer and co-missionaries.

Challenging indicators:

• We have to decode our ‘whims and fancies’; move from ‘our’ individual ideologies to the true spirit of inculturation and inclusive accompaniment as a way to bring people to the person and values of Christ.

• Give a chance to the one who wants to follow Jesus and be part of the body of Christ. Let him/her express his/her desire to accept Jesus as his/her Guru. We need to avoid positively any kind of enticement in our proclamation! 

• Our life and mission involvements and application of our life to the corresponding mission situation is highly needed. 

• Somehow our life style is getting corroded with worldly values. Net result is to lose the pastoral aspect of the Priest (‘bapupanu’) because of our loose character and become Bosses - ‘sahebs’. Getting corroded because of our over importance in ‘making’ CRORES than attending to the CORE issue of providing food and drink for the spiritual hunger and thirst for our people. We need to move from Boss to Das - servant!

• We need to move from our centres to the margins to make the margins as important central persons. Instead of running any outreach programmes we need to reach out to the persons in need. 

• A few attitudinal changes need to take place in our life and dealings with such locals of OURS. We need to grow more in WE feeling with them to build a viable and vibrant local church. 

• At times over importance is given to Mary than Jesus. Mata cult is good, provided such a cult does not take away the importance of Jesus in the lives of building the local church, centred on Christ. 

• Less preaching through words and more preaching through practicing witness is highly expected and demanded. We need to grow more like our Gujarat’s Gandhi Bapu by imitating the BEATTITUDES and we could join him by saying: “My life is my message!” This needs attention to build a viable and strong spiritual church. 

• Greater care has to be taken not to make the means end.

• The disgruntled persons in the mission are not to be seen as threats. Instead they are to be seen with compassion and not to judge them with our idiosyncratic ideas and principles. They need to be listened to. If nothing works, instead of cursing them, we need to continue praying for them. They are ‘fallen’ persons and they will need our ongoing support and encouragement. We should be prepared to welcome them when they return with an open mind. Better with God’s grace we become aware of our holy hypocrisy! 

• We need to keep in mind to have a healthy infusion of TEXT and CONTEXT in the missionary approach. Ongoing formation of ourselves and others must be seen as a prime importance in the growth of the Mission.

• In order to build the local church we, the missionaries, must first update our knowledge and make the locals to read and reflect with us in the atmosphere of mutual growth. 

• In all, we need SILENCE to LISTEN to GOD and HIS peoples to build His Church, not ours. We need to allow God to enter into our lives and by his enhancing labour of love we must continue to CELEBRATE life and REJOICE with Him. 

Conclusion

 Finally, I want to confess that I am not a perfect person. In spite of my limitations and weaknesses God has graciously blessed me with various strengths and continues to guide me to walk with Him so that I may grow in His stature. My journey continues by walking with persons, things and events. I hope I do not get stuck with any worldly ways and persons! In the midst of such struggles and concerns I seek for God’s help to light a candle to remove darkness – tamasoma jyotir gamaya!

 Finally, Let us continue to be the persons of HOPE. With God in Jesus, everything is possible. I believe, Mary our blessed and beloved Mother will be all along in our way and she will guide every step that we’ll take in building her Son centred local church. Let us TRUST in GOD that He will make the IMPOSSIBLE possible. Let us be open to His Ways and welcome all to experience the redemptive love of God in Jesus. Finally, we all need to labour with God to make Jesus known in North Gujarat without fear and without counting the cost. May the local church of North Gujarat be a salt and leaven to all peoples of God in her region. Amen.

Girish Santiago, SJ

Co-missionary of NGM

1st October, 2014

World Senior citizens’ day.