Mission
By Bro. Francis Xavier Guloba
I was born in the early nineties in a small village called Abocheta in Buteba (Busia district) under Tororo Archdiocese. My parents named me Shabani. My father was called Yunusu Oyimba (R.I.P) and my mother is Antonina. We were Muslim at home and we grew up in the Muslim faith. We used to enjoy and we were happy especially during the holy month of Ramadhan: my siblings and I used to spend evening hours at the Mosque waiting for swallah.
I was in primary level by then. But before that, it was in 1998 when my mother fell sick for almost three years: she was home bound and always in bed. My father and my elder brothers and sisters tried their level best to take care of our mother. My younger sister and I were very young so we had nothing to do except fetching water for domestic use at the nearby well.
Indeed, the Muslim cleric tried to pray for our mother who was very ill but things didn’t work out. Then we heard news that a priest would come from across the Kenyan border for popular mission. That was the late Fr. Joseph Bill. He came and prayed for my mother. Later, other priests came from the nearby St. Jude parish and Fr. Bashobora from St. Francis Xavier Daban. Once, they took her and prayed for her and she miraculously healed. After that, she became a Catholic since the Catholics are those who had healed her.
In 2008, I was interested in becoming a Catholic; not only a Christian Catholic but also a Catholic priest. Since I was a Muslim, the first step was to change my religion to Catholicism. I did so and indeed, it was not easy for my family and I. Initially, I was rejected by my father and brothers. My mother was the only person who understood me and loved me since she was already a Catholic. I was baptised and named Francis Xavier. I really loved the name that was given to me even though I didn’t know anything about the saint. That was in 2010 at Busowa Catholic parish (Jinja diocese).
I was also confirmed that same year. Since my dream was to become a priest, I tried to apply to join priesthood but got no positive response. Then I came to know about the vocation of brotherhood. One of my friends connected me to the brothers of St. Martin de Porres in Gulu where I applied and they accepted me. In 2015, I joined them and started my formation at Layibi.
Then in 2016, I went to the parish of St.Martin de Porres (Lukome) where I did my novitiate. On November 5, 2017, I took my first vows as a brother of St. Martin de Porres. When I took my first vows, my family attended my profession together with some parishioners of my home parish, St. Jude parish (Busia), including the parish priest, Fr. Samon Klamirele. The only person who missed my profession was my father who really longed to be present and promised to attend even if he was a Muslim. Unfortunately, he had passed on a few months earlier when I was a novice.
Currently, I am serving in South Sudan as a teacher at one of our schools named Bro. Augusto Memorial College (Kit – Juba). I am happy to be a religious brother. Please, pray always for me and for all the religious.
