Br Bonaventure is a tenth-year student training to be a Mill Hill Missionary in Nairobi, Kenya. Originally from Cameroon, his journey has been challenging, but his resilience, determination and faith have strengthened his resolve ‘to love and to serve’.

Why did you want to become a Mill Hill Missionary?

I was inspired to become a priest by the Mill Hill Missionaries who served my community in Cameroon. They were missionaries who said very little but through their lives – striving to be holy in the way they carried themselves and interacted with the community – they left an indelible mark of faith. I wanted to become like them.

When I researched the Mill Hill Missionaries and who they were, the first thing that caught my interest was the motto itself: ‘to love and to serve’.

Can you please share about your experiences of growing up in Cameroon?

Growing up in Cameroon, there are daily life-threatening experiences and many innocent people die. I have been a victim of intimidation at checkpoints from both the Anglophone and Francophone parties, sometimes simply because I hold an ID card bearing the national colours, or because I couldn’t meet their demands for money.

One fateful evening, I was held at gunpoint on my way from Bamenda to Ilung where I was doing my Mission Experience Programme. One of our retired MHM priests, Fr Arnold, used to describe the mission in Cameroon as ‘mission under the gun’. This was sadly all too accurate when one of our brothers, Fr Cosmas Ondari MHM, was murdered in 2018. That year is actually referred to as the ‘heart of the crisis’ because so many people lost their lives.

Through my experiences of the ongoing conflict, I realised that many caught up in the fighting do not value human life as being dignified and sacred, but as something that can be ‘wasted at any time’ as some of the gunmen would say.

How has your faith sustained you?

The words of Jesus in John 16:33 have been very close to me: ‘Do not fear, I have conquered the world’. And Jesus’ promise to be with me ‘till the end of time’ in Matthew 28:20 is always comforting.

I have been encouraged by both the perseverance of the Christians who have lived the experience of the sociopolitical crisis in Cameroon, yet look up to God, and by the Church for consolation and spiritual nourishment.

What are your hopes for the future of Cameroon?

I’m hoping for genuine dialogue founded on truth, justice and peace where both parties can freely express their opinions. Only through this can the country regain peace and the opportunity to co-exist. Following this, there would be national reconciliation, and peace talks for citizens to begin to trust their government again.

I pray that all who have taken up guns will be able to lay them down.

What kind of priest would you like to be?

I would love to be a Mill Hill Missionary who is truly present with the people I am sent to be with, especially in areas where the faith is still struggling to grow. I hope to be a listener, a companion, a bridge-builder and a true shepherd after the very heart of Jesus.

I look forward to serving people who are most in need of the Gospel message. This has always been my desire as a missionary student and as a MHM priest – always being open to go where the need is greatest, to love and to serve the most vulnerable according to Christ’s call.

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