A Message from Father Joseph Clifford Ndi
Dear Friends,
I received this message from a priest friend, Fr. Joseph Clifford Ndi in April, and I thought it okay to post it under my news items. Below is his message in its entirety.
Dear People of God, greetings and compliments of the season. It is my pleasure and a great privilege for me to present to you my testimony regarding the good works of Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Fale Lon, in whose honor this charitable foundation has been established. But before I do so, I should begin by presenting myself. I am Rev. Fr. Joseph Clifford Ndi, a priest of the diocese of Kumbo. I am presently serving my local Church of the Ecclesiastical Province of Bamenda as a Canon Law Lecturer in St. Thomas Aquinas’ Major Seminary, Bambui, Bamenda, and cumulatively as Judicial Vicar of the First Instance Inter-diocesan Marriage Tribunal.
We have known each other since 1992 when we first met as aspirants to the sacred priesthood in St. John Mary Vianney Spiritual Centre, Njinikom. There, we began the journey together, progressively, until the completion of our Formation in St. Thomas Aquinas’ Major Seminary, Bambui, in 2001. In effect, we have been very close to each other as classmates, brothers and friends, sharing intimately our common bond and joy as Sacred Ministers in the Lord’s vineyard. What I find particularly unique and obviously the most defining factor in Fr. Fale’s perception of the priesthood and the exercise of his ministry is the very humble background in which he was born and grew up. It is a background that reveals an exceptional spirit of resilience among a people whose ordinary daily pattern of life revolved around farming and cattle rearing. Such basic amenities as schools, portable water, electricity supply, medical care facilities, motorable roads, etc., were simply unheard of. The village I am talking about is called Nkanchi, situated about ten km to the border with Nigeria, in the Northwest Region of Cameroon. Yet, her realities were the realities of most, if not all the villages, within this region. Father Fale’s parents decided to help him in their own little way by selling some products from the farm: corn, sugar cane, some vegetables etc and saving the little income for Fale’s fees and tuition. Father Fale would carry some of the products to the market, walking long distances to sell for a little amount of money.
It is in this context that Fr. Fale could count himself lucky to have obtained a primary education which more than 80 percent of his childhood contemporaries could not have. It was due to his resilience, and much more, God’s grace that empowered to walk to school on his own accord. After his primary school education, he had to travel over 700 kms to the town of Buea, in the Southwest Region of Cameroon, in order to study in the Minor Seminary of Bishop Rogan College, Soppo, Buea; thus, beginning the first phase of his dream of becoming a priest. Worthy of note is the fact that he covered a significant length of this distance, not less than 50 Km, on foot. Of course, that was very normal for a typical village lad, not only at the time, but even today still, in many parts of Cameroon. He would stay back in school during Christmas, and Easter vacations, and a significant part of the summer vacations to work in the school farm to earn money for his fees and tuition. The driving force behind all this was definitely the loving providence of God, who not only kept Father’s enthusiasm alive, but also gave him the courage to do what most kids could not do, like staying behind during Christmas vacation to work in the school farm and sacrificing the joy of being with his parents at Christmas. In addition, God also placed on his path an uncountable number of generous and good-hearted persons who helped him to reach the highest point in his education. This is the story of a vocation that was deeply rooted in the will of God and by which God intended to make of him a beacon of hope and a channel of blessings for His people. And indeed, that is what Fr. Fale has been for the past 21 years of his priestly ministry.
We can, therefore, understand his passion for the works of charity which he has resolutely embraced. His zeal to win souls for Christ and to improve on the living standards of his people, irrespective of creed, sex and culture, knows no bounds. There is certainly that compelling motivation behind these endeavours, animated by a sense of obligation to do to others, the less privileged, what many have done and continue to do to him. Among some of his projects to accomplish are the following:
The construction of a bridge for easier accessibility to the farms by many of his village people by means of a vehicle.
The continuous payment of school fees and tution for 120 school children at different levels of education: nursey, primary, secondary, university and even professional training, per year.
Financial and material support to the priests of his diocese and beyond
Initiated the construction of a modern standard church building in his parish of origin.
Installation of solar energy system in St. Aloysius’ Minor Seminary, Kitiwum, Diocese of Kumbo, and continuous renovations of the buildings, where he is presently the Rector.
Assistance to various social and traditional societies in his home village. Etc.
He is doing this thanks to the generous assistance that he has been receiving from his circle of friends and well-wishers. And yet there is still a lot more to be done, especially considering the fact that the political crisis in Cameroon has further aggravated the already precarious living conditions of the citizens of this part of the country, that is, the English-speaking Regions of Cameroon. Some of the consequences of the war include, for example: hundreds of thousands of school children being deprived of the right to education; some have had their learning infrastructures razed to the ground or vandalized; health care facilities have been destroyed; electrical power supply installations destroyed; a few existing water supply schemes contaminated or destroyed; some barely manageable road infrastructures abandoned to complete ruin, especially in those areas where separatist fighters are still very active, etc. In effect, the needs are exponential, but then, as Christ says to the Apostles, “you will always have the poor with you” (Mtt. 26:11). While remaining conscious of this fundamental truth, Fr. Fale, nonetheless, believes that we should never stop doing what must be done, as long as it can be done, and when it ought to be done, because it will ultimately impact and even transform the life of someone, somewhere and at the opportune moment. That is why he remains upbeat about the pursuit of his dreams, trusting that he can always rely on his benefactors for the achievement of these noble objectives. The good news is that he enjoys the full support of his Bishop who has given his unequivocal blessings for the fruition of these endeavors.
Among his urgent pre-occupations are the following:
Construction of the modern standard Church Building in his home village, Nkanchi, of Misaje Parish.
Providing tuition for the neediest school children and students. Some of them who are already part of the sponsorship program will have to be accompanied to the end of their primary or secondary education, and even tertiary education.
Renovating the Minor Seminary, St. Aloysius’ Minor Seminary (SAMS), Kitiwum.
Carrying out targeted community-beneficiary projects, based on a careful evaluation of the needs.
In my humble capacity as a friend and brother, I do not hesitate to say thank you, first and foremost to Fr. Fale for his passionate interest in undertaking these works of mercy. I also hasten to say a big thank you to all those who continue to support these initiatives with an undiminishing fervor. May the good Lord bless you all abundantly.
– Rev. Fr. Joseph Clifford N. Ndi