“We are together”

MISSIONER NEWSLETTER – Winter 2025

Francis Wayne, Kenya

“When a new AA member finds another member whose sobriety attracts him that person can be asked to become a sponsor to the new member, guiding him through the program of recovery. So, I have become a sponsor to a few men. As a sponsor, I enjoy watching a person get his life back together,” says Francis.

KENYA—Today I will attend the 12:30 p.m. Alcoholics Anonymous meeting at Mombasa Hospital. An hour before the meeting, I will meet with a new member to do 12-Step work, and after the AA meeting, I will meet with another new member for 12-Step work.

Both these young men attend college at the University of Tudor. They are new members in the program. One came to AA on his own accord since he figured he was headed for trouble. The other, his mother begged him to get help and straighten out his life.

Both were being supported financially at school by the parents, and both were abusing that generosity. The relationship with the families was deteriorating. Even now, in early sobriety, trust is questionable.

Neither the new members nor the parents know much about alcohol or drug addictions. The new members soon learn that to stay sober they must practice a program of recovery.

The purpose of AA is to stay sober and to help others to achieve sobriety. I qualify for AA membership and have been practicing sobriety for a long time. To carry this message to others who still suffer is one of my ministries here in Kenya.

Another ministry I do is teach auto mechanics 101 at the Shimo La Tewa Prison at the Borstal Boys Education Center north of Mombasa. The boys at Borstal, ages 15-19, are court-sentenced to three years.

Most of the boys have little education and some cannot even read Kiswahili, which is the state language. English is the language used to teach school. I have learned enough Kiswahili to give my lesson in English and a little Kiswahili.

“I write my lesson using white chalk on a black painted concrete wall. I write the words I can translate from English to Kiswahili, and then I present the lesson sentence by sentence using mechanical parts as props. After I have taught the lesson written on the board, I ask for a student volunteer to come teach the same lesson,” explains Francis.

I write my lesson using white chalk on a black painted concrete wall. I write the words I can translate from English to Kiswahili, and then I present the lesson sentence by sentence using mechanical parts as props. After I have taught the lesson written on the board, I ask for a student volunteer to come teach the same lesson. At first only one student was confident to try teaching, but soon others also wanted to try. I was happy to have found this teaching method to engage the students in communicating with their peers and learning.

Two accomplishments describe my success as a missioner: One, I have given to boys knowledge of options so that they might choose a lifestyle that keeps them out of trouble, and two, I have changed. Both are equally significant.

I have seen boys with little schooling learn to speak some English. An auto mechanic class will last for about three hours with a bathroom break in the middle. The last half hour some students are dozing off, or they have become mesmerized by something outside the classroom. But up to that point most of the students have been attentive and even asked qualified questions. I have happily congratulated a few students who have completed the course and left the prison with a reduced sentence term.

I have the same feeling when I see a young active alcoholic or drug addict enter the recovery program of AA with a desire to get sober. I help young men to work the 12 Steps of AA.

The 12 Steps are described in the forward of the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions: “AA’s Twelve Steps are a group of principles, spiritual in nature, which, if practiced as a way of life, can expel the obsession to drink and enable the sufferer to become happily and usefully whole.” Connection with the Higher Power and another human being is necessary.

When a new member finds another member whose sobriety attracts him that person can be asked to become a sponsor to the new member, guiding him through the program of recovery. So, I have become a sponsor to a few men. As a sponsor, I enjoy watching a person get his life back together. Some don’t succeed the first time, but they have had a glimpse of the true self and know where to return when the bottom gets too low.

My work with these lost boys has changed from a need to be heroic to a desire to be present in their lives because of our spiritual and physical mutuality. I have always had a propensity to help those in distress or shy or marginalized. I can remember being distressed and lonely, so I can identify on a certain level.

Walking the rocky streets here in Kenya, surrounded by this huge poverty, I am comforted to know that I’m part of this community. Now not only do I claim to love God, I claim to have become a humanitarian. My favorite Kiswahili phrase is tuko Pamoja, which means “we are together.”

Please give generously to Maryknoll Lay Missions to support our mission efforts.

Please consider supporting my prison ministry in Mombasa with a donation through the link below.

I also invite you to walk with me as a “COMPANION IN MISSION.” Companions in Mission are friends and generous donors who give financial gifts on a regular (usually monthly) basis. For more information, visit Become a Companion in Mission. Thank you so much for your generosity!