Three African Comboni Missionaries share their missionary life

My name is Brother Ghislain Dagbeto from Togo. I remember that in my formative years I initially resisted invitations to go to church, shedding tears at the mere mention of it. But a crucial encounter at the age of twelve, just outside our home, changed the course of my life.

A brother of the Charismatic Renewal became a source of inspiration. Unable to refuse his call to return to my Christian life, I became actively involved in my parish, until my worried mother intervened and prevented me from attending church for five years.

I obediently obeyed, cherishing the hope that God would prepare the way for me, after secondary school, secure me a scholarship for further studies and give me the independence to follow the desires of my heart.

When I finished my studies, I wanted to work with the most vulnerable. However, during my third year of university, I began to feel the signs of God’s call to the consecrated life. A religious sister in my class and the announcement of the aspirant group during Mass awakened a persistent question in me: why not me? This led me to join the vocation group in my parish, Our Lady of Charity of Godomey.

In 2014, the Comboni Novices introduced me to the Comboni Missionaries.  I was fascinated by the life of St Daniel Comboni and saw him as an exemplary social worker. Initially, I was considering the priesthood, but a transformative dream during my discernment changed my course. In the dream, I was travelling with my mother and we got lost at night. A kind stranger welcomed us into his home and offered us food, drink and shelter, as if he had anticipated our arrival. This dream revealed a powerful image of fraternity that shaped my decision to become a Comboni Brother.

January 2015 was the start of a two-year journey.  During this time, I worked at the National Psychiatric Hospital in Cotonou, where I gained experience as an assistant to the head of social services and the donation manager. This role reinforced my commitment to fraternity, as my relationship with abandoned patients prompted questions from colleagues about family connections. “Are these patients your relatives?” some of my colleagues asked.

On 5 September 2016, I entered the postulancy in Lome, Togo, where I studied alongside candidates for the priesthood. I was pursuing a Master’s degree in International Management at ESGIS, a school of science and management. I also had a trusting and formative experience under the guidance of Fathers Bernard and Anicet, my formators.The two of them were brothers to me.  This period was crucial in moments
of vocational crisis.

On 30 August 2019, I entered the novitiate in Cotonou, embarking on a spiritual journey in which encounters with God and St Daniel Comboni were profoundly transformative. On 8 May 2021, I took my first vows in the parish of Fidrosse in Cotonou. I was then sent to the Comboni Brothers Centre in Nairobi for the final stage of basic formation as a Comboni Missionary Brother.

When I arrived, I was initially disappointed because of the confusion that surrounded this stage of the formation of the Comboni Brothers. However, I was redirected to do a second Master’s degree in social transformation. If all goes well, I will go on my first mission after defending my thesis on sustainable development.

Grateful for this enriching journey, I have become a versatile social worker, international manager, development project manager and social transformer – a testament to my dream of being a polyvalent man of God, ready to serve society in various capacities.

In conclusion, my dreams continue to drive my vocation as a Comboni Brother, pushing me forward with purpose and determination, ready to follow wherever the Lord leads.

Sister Elisabeth. “To be amazed by the mystery of my vocation”

I am Sister Elisabeth Tikabi, a Cameroonian Comboni Missionary.  After completing my studies in Social Communication at the Salesian Pontifical University of Rome, I was sent to Kinshasa (DRC) more than three years ago to work at the Missionary Animation Centre of Afriquespoir (CAE).  My integration was quick, also because I am a French-speaking Cameroonian and the language was not a problem.

The CAE is a multimedia centre in which three Comboni missionaries and I are directly involved. We publish the quarterly magazine Afriquespoir for the whole of francophone Africa and have a publishing house
of the same name.

In general, people are very happy with the content of our publications and also with the books we publish. These are mainly aimed at educating people in the faith and inviting them to missionary commitment.

At CAE we have a small recording studio and we produce audios and a missionary programme that is broadcast by Elikya, the television of the Archdiocese of Kinshasa. There is a lot of work behind these activities, but we are a good team and we do it very well.

Whatever the difficulties, as religious and convinced witnesses of the Gospel, we are always ready to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ through the means of communication. I appreciate the relationships I have built in this period with simplicity, dialogue and openness. This was possible thanks to our collaborators who are essential for the distribution of the magazine in Kinshasa.

Another activity of the CAE is the accompaniment of various missionary groups, such as the Comboni Lay Missionaries, the Missionary Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus or the Lybota ya Comboni, which can be translated as “Family of Comboni”, which is a group made up of relatives of the Congolese Comboni missionaries.

These groups, organized in small communities, follow the spirituality of the Cenacles of Missionary Prayer founded by a Portuguese Comboni missionary, Fr. Claudino Ferreira Gomes. With frequent meetings to experience moments of prayer together, they organize missionary animation activities which, for me, are very enriching.

Sunday is a very important day for the missionary animation of the local Church. Thanks to the support of the parish priests, members of the CAE and some collaborators, we alternate around the more than 200 parishes of the archdiocese to offer our books and magazines, which have proven to be good tools for helping Christians to commit themselves
to the Gospel.

I feel happy and never cease to be amazed by the mystery of my vocation. Why did the Lord call me, who didn’t know much about Him? I am experiencing the joy of giving and receiving. Day after day, through my commitment and all that I am, I try to participate in the construction of the Church that I love so much as a religious woman and as a journalist.

Father Bienvenu.  A Great Adventure

My name is Bienvenu Clemy Mikozama from Congo Brazzaville. I am the fourth child in a family of five. They called me Bienvenu, “Welcome”, to express my parents’ joy at having their first son. Instead, Clemy is a combination of two prefixes: Cle, from Clémentine, my mother’s name, and My, from Mikozama, my father’s name

I was born in Brazzaville, the capital of my country, Congo. My family is a Protestant. I grew up in a context where the Word of God was at the centre of family life.

One of my friends, who was a Catholic and wanted to become a priest, brought me the book “Saving Africa with Africa”. When I read the life of Saint Daniele Comboni, my heart began to burn with enthusiasm. However, I thought that being a Protestant prevented me, but my friend told me that it was not an obstacle and introduced me to some
Catholic nuns. With one of them, I began the first of my
vocational discernment meetings.

One day I decided to talk to my father about my desire to become a Catholic priest. My father didn’t refuse, even though he didn’t like the idea. My mother did not object either, but she suggested the option of becoming a Protestant pastor. I don’t know why I was so determined, because I had no idea of priestly life in the Catholic Church, but the testimony of Comboni’s life triggered in me a strong desire to pursue this missionary intuition.

Seeing a European sacrifice his life to make Christ known in Africa made me ask why I shouldn’t do the same for my brothers and sisters. As a Protestant, I was proud, and I still am when I talk about my roots in the faith, which is why I say that Saint Daniel Comboni is the only reason why I changed my religious confession.

My regularity in the activities of the Catholic Church and the dialogue that my father had with the nun who accompanied me also helped me to be consistent in my desire to be a priest.

In April 2011, I met the Comboni Missionaries in Kinshasa, the capital of the DRC. When I returned home after five months of learning about the Comboni charism, I was convinced that I wanted to begin my training.

However, my passport was issued late and I had to wait a year at home before I could start my first philosophy course. That period of waiting at home wasn’t easy because; my parents wanted to change my mind. But I didn’t give up, the decision had been made on my part. I would become a Comboni priest and missionary.

In 2015, I entered the postulancy of the Comboni Missionaries in Kisangani. Three years later I went to Chad for the novitiate. During the novitiate, I appreciated going by bicycle to visit the Christian communities and experiencing the generosity of the people who supported us, especially during the months in which we were a small community of novices.

I took my first vows in May 2018. That same year I left for Ghana to study theology. There I found a very welcoming and proud people. Leaving the French-speaking context for the first time, I had some initial problems with the language, but it was a rich and wonderful experience.

In 2022 I returned to the Democratic Republic of Congo to carry out my missionary service before my priestly ordination. The DRC is the Comboni province to which I belong and here I have had very beautiful and enriching experiences.

I was ordained a priest on February 11th this year. I am the first Comboni missionary from the Republic of Congo. Missionary life is a wonderful adventure lived in Christ. Life is so precious and we must live it fully and with dignity.