Culture

Children from the Diocese of Blantyre, Malawi gather under a banner of Bishop Charles de Forbin-Janson -- the founder of the Missionary Childhood Association.

Propagation of the Faith

Friday, February 6, 2026Culture

On July 31st, the Catholic Church in Malawi kicked off its first-ever Missionary Childhood Association Congress. Children from the country's eight dioceses gathered to celebrate the faith that missionaries brought to them and to embrace their duty to continue that mission from their villages. I arrived in a dress made for me of the local Missionary Childhood chitenge cloth. I matched the boys and girls in attendance. Do you think they could tell I was a transplant?
At Mass, Malawian girls danced down the aisle, their hands outstretched to Christ and their feet in rhythm to the melodic voices of the children's choir. Each day the clergy and children gathered to discuss Catholic social teaching, child trafficking and labor, mental health, care for the environment, and how to be a missionary of hope. Children prayed the World Mission Rosary and even met with Sister InÊs Paulo, Secretary General of Missionary Childhood in Rome.
Children in the missions take great selfies. As they fought to get into my camera roll, I felt a pair of eyes staring at me. A young girl named Martyu asked if she could touch my hair. "How is it so smooth?" she asked. A group of her friends joined the circle. They asked what houses and cars look like in America. They took turns posing with my sunglasses and asking questions. "Are you married?" "What is it like to ride a plane?"
Then came: "We are scared to be bitten by the rats at night." I realized how different their lives were from mine. They marry young. Some will never leave Malawi, but they know what the outside world is like. The group dispersed and Martyu grasped my arm to lead us to a nearby curb to continue our conversation. As we sat down, a priest from Zimbabwe asked to meet with me. I didn't want to leave Martyu by herself. As I looked over my shoulder, Martyu lowered her eyes. She disappeared into the sea of children, and I never saw her again.
Suddenly I felt a heavy weight of responsibility on my shoulders as if I caught a boulder. God, why did You give me such a sensitive heart? Today, I realize it was because I saw myself in them. I had a childhood. We all had a childhood. As a witness, my job now is to break the boulder into pieces and lay a path to Christ by sharing these children's stories.
That's the other thing about childhood. We all loved a good story, didn't we?