Slum Ministry - Theological Reflection

050415 Slum Ministry: Reflections and suggestions

to KUTOKA - EXODUS Network

St. Joseph Mukasa in Kahawa West. (April 15. 04.05)

• Introduction
• 1. Exodus-Kutoka Network - From 2002 to 2005
• 2. From Land Caucus to KUTOKA: the importance of internal cohesion.
• 3. KUTOKA: pastoral and missionary situations in the Archdiocese of Nairobi
• 4. The slow rise of slums' awareness in the Church
• 5. World wide sense of shame: project approach
• 6. Christian Social Ministry Approach
• 7. Support Structures for and beyond Kutoka
• 8. Conclusion: a call to a joint venture

Introduction

My task today is to facilitate the reflection on the evolution of the network of the parishes operating in the informal settlements or slums in the Archdiocese of Nairobi. Many initiatives mark the history of this movement from February 2002 when the first meeting occurred until today, when we are assembled for a moment of evaluation to set the stage for a new phase. Your four groups have shared on:

• Spirituality -
• Themes discussed during the passed 17 encounters -
• Actions taken to counteract emerging issues -
• Logistics support structures.

My talk doesn't make reference to the outcome of the sharing since we haven't yet scrutinized the reports. Hopefully my reflection might help to move forward. Continuity with the past should be there, but also innovation and creativity. Our time, as Redemptoris Missio points out, is characterised by rapid changes; KUTOKA should not be afraid of evolution and transformation.

1. From 2002 to 2005: a journey towards a more participatory methodology
We pastoral agents from the 14 parishes involved in the slums have developed insights ands methodology throughout the three years of our cooperation. A journey of 3 years with 17 meetings for reflection, sharing and planning common initiaves has affirmed us in our commitment to slums ministry. We have experienced that together transformation can occur and we might have an impact on the local church, on the society and on the state of Kenya. Initiatives such as the campaign against "shangaa", the presentation of memorandum to the Archbishop to forestall the forcible eviction, efforts of civic education, social and cultural analysis, elections are but a few of the major events occurred over the years. The people have grown through the process of democratization in the country. 2002 marked the end of a regime; we are grappling with a more democratic type of government. People are more sensitive to and capable of speaking by themselves. Involvement and participation are key words for the future. If KUTOKA is to come up with a plan of action, that Plan should not be only for the people but by the people as well.

2. From Land Caucus to KUTOKA: the importance of internal cohesion.
As mentioned by Mss. Christine Bowers in the brief the history of the network, KUTOKA chronologically came after the experience of Land Caucus, an initiative which lasted for four years focusing on the burning issue of land ownership. At certain moment, the tensions between NGO's and the Churches brought about the downfall of the Caucus. From this experience something should be learnt by all of us.

For a Christian movement which aims at a lasting impact it is not enough neither to have a common problem to solve, for example the land as it was in the case of the Caucus, nor a common enemy to fight against. It is of paramount importance to share common vision, goal, methodology and spirituality, inspired by our common Christian Faith, grounded on serious social and cultural analysis, with ministers equipped with solid competence and readiness for collaboration and networking within and without the church.

For a movement like KUTOKA spread out over 14 parishes it is of vital important to pursue strongly shared commonalities; differences will always be there. Otherwise in the long run it will break off either, because of internal tensions which will always arise or because the motivations to work together may have grown rusty or because other urgencies and emergencies may have diverted the attention to other issues. The foundational interest and enthusiasm may grow weary and vanish. KUTOKA should not forget the causes of the disintegration of the Land Caucus, lest it might occur again.

3. KUTOKA: pastoral and missionary situations in the Archdiocese of Nairobi.
One of complains which often surfaces at the meetings of KUTOKA is that the diocesan priests hardly attend any initiatives, though invited. Yet the archbishop Raphael Ndingi Mwana' a Nzeki has more than once blessed and encouraged KUTOKA. Are diocesan priests not interested? Let me try to give an explanation. When in 1995-97 I was teaching at St. Thomas Seminary, the seminarians of the fourth year I was lecturing to, had a very clear point in their mind, that is the difference between pastoral and missionary activity. With Pastoral Activity they meant the accompaniment of a parish properly established with a good number of Christians through a series of initiatives based on the liturgical calendar and the celebration/administration of sacraments. As we can see the social dimension in the pastoral ministry hardly finds any room; religious initiatives take the lion share! Missionary activity is located in situations whereby either there are no Christians or the social conditions are so poor and disorganised that pastoral activity would not be possible without strong social slant. Missionary activity according to those seminarians would aim at creating proper pastoral conditions and activities befitting diocesan the priests. In the slums normal pastoral ministry is not possible hence slum ministry is not, according to those seminarians, for diocesan priests.

In the encyclical letter Redemptoris Missio (33-34) John Paul II clearly states the difference between missionary activity and pastoral activity. In that same document (RM 37) the Pope states that the slum ministry is one of the new phenomenons of the modern era and falls under missionary activity. Drawing from the above mentioned points we might assume the one of the reasons why the diocesan priests might not be responding to the invitation to take part in KUTOKA is that they might feel that slum ministry is not of their own business. Is this attitude a right one? In KUTOKA' s Plan for Action the issue of relationships with other parishes has to be seriously considered. Which relationship between missionary situations and pastoral situations in the archdiocese of Nairobi? Missionary situations often mean poverty, misery and undignified situations of life. May better off Christian Parishes ignore such situations in the Archdiocese? If the Archdiocese is to be a communion of communities the two worlds are to meet somewhere otherwise social sin may rot the whole Church.

4. The slow rise of slums' awareness in the Church

As far as the Magisterium of the Church, we find the first hint at slum situations in Mater Magistra (1961) where John the XXIII portrays the swelling immigration from the countryside to towns. He strongly recommends that governments provides rural areas with basic facilities such as : communication, education, health, electricity, water and so forth to help people remain in their own rural set up. An ample and passionate attention is found in Medellin Conference of Bishops of Latin America in 1968 attended by Paul VI. It was a shocking experience for the Pope an exposure to a type of inhuman conditions of life he had never dreamed of. We can understand why the same Paul VI in Octagesima Adveniens (May 1971) under the heading of: new social problems (8-12) elaborated at length on Urbanization, Slums and Christians in the City. In the same year (October 19971) the Synod of Bishops on Justice in the World (10) touched upon the issue of informal settlements in several passages of the final document. Some of the Bishops, such as Helder Camara, had personal first hand experience of the life in the slums. Four years later in Evangelii Nuntiandi (December 1975) insists on liberation from inhuman conditions of life and recommends Small Christina Communities which find the slums fertile ground in Latin America and in Africa. The Conference of Latin America Bishops of Puebla (1979) eleven years after Medellin, went back on it in the context of the preferential option for the poor. As far as Africa is concerned, the African Synod in 1994 is rather generic, though the presence of the Catholic Church in the slums had already scored interesting positive experience, outstanding for courage, passion and insertion. All in all the awareness of the Church as far as slums is concerned has grown rather slowly and is till , I might dare say, at it primal stage. This is the very reason why is called a missionary phenomenon not yet fully absorbed by the Church; a systematic and organized slum ministry is still looked for. Is a serious duty of the missionaries to keep sensitising the local churches and providing them with and appropriate slum ministry is a matter of grave obligation and urgency.

Let us now enrich these historical hints with a piece of history concerning Kenya. When in 1986 the issue of insertion in the slums was brought to the attention of that great and compassionate pastor who was Cardinal Otunga, he was hesitant about allowing a stable presence, hence full insertion. He considered the slums as outstations of Parishes located in saver places. He was afraid for the physical and psychological soundness of the missionaries and other pastoral agents. After two years he grew convinced of the importance of opening up a new chapter in the slums and he allowed an inserted missionary presence in the slums of Korogocho. In 1998 the first Catholic Parish fully inserted in the slum was inaugurated in Kibera, Laini Saba, by the title of Christ the King .

It is also worth mentioning the contribution given by the Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Tonucci Giovanni during his term of office from 1996 until 2004. He greatly contributed to the growing awareness in the Catholic Church by making himself available for celebrations in the slums be they religious or social. The apex of that attention was reached when Cardinal Renato Martino, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice an Peace came to Kenya in February 2004 to address the first Pan African Congress on Social Apostolate on the occasion of the ten anniversary of the foundation of the Institute of Social Ministry at Tangaza College of the Catholic University of Easter Africa. The Nuncio personally accompanied the Cardinal to visit the slum of Kibera where forcible evictions were already planned and partially executed. The visit was followed by a courtesy call at State House for an encounter with President Mwai Kibaki; the issue of the eviction was brought to the attention of the President followed by a change of the policy of the government concerning the eviction. KUTOKA with its three years of operations is an important chapter in the history of slum apostolate by the Catholic Church in Kenya.

5. World wide sense of shame: project approach
In the process of working out a Plan of Action, KUTOKA should strongly consider another factor: the growing world wide attention to the inhuman conditions of life in the slums. Among the stakeholders we may mention: Law Society of Kenya, other numerous NGOs, State of Kenya, United Nations/UNEP, Foundations such as Ford Foundations, the MILLENNIUM Golden Goals driven programmes and so forth. The Churches and Religions are not alone; many stakeholders are directly involved. In the title of this paragraph I have used the word shame, not concern. Shame means uneasiness, nervousness which beget urgency to do something not very much for the sake of the people of the slums, but to do way with the shame. For MPs and other politicians, it might mean the loss of the seat in parliament in the next election if nothing is done.

Yes! The world suffers the shame and the guilty feeling of the slums! Therefore something will be done over the next few years! Hence we might witness a flurry of attempts, proposals ands efforts for the 'upgrading' of the slums. Let me put up-grading into inverted commas, and you guess the reasons!. When there is shame, people are in a hurry! They want to get rid of the painful feelings not for the sake of the slum dwellers but because is uncomfortable to live with those pangs inside. It is to be foreseen that over the next few years different proposals will be offered to the government for initiatives to be taken. The methodology will be top down approach, decisions will be taken somewhere without the involvement of the people. Money will be set apart to be spent within a year or two. It will be a project approach, worked out in governments' offices or in the NGO headquarters. The Church as a main stakeholder should come up with a ministry approach to correct the limitations and inadequacies of the project approach; ministry approach means putting the people first as agents of the transformation and betterment of their own life and being inspired by the vision of human dignity grounded in the Bible. The Catholic Church will not do anything .without the creative and qualified contribution of KUTOKA The issue cannot by put off. To be late means to be out. Late complains wouldn't change anything.

6. Christian Social Ministry Approach
Before breaking the component of what we call the Christian ministry approach, let us elaborate about two important assumptions: one from the Bible and the other from History of Labour Movement.

The dynamism of the Biblical Exodus.
The name KUTOKA was chosen on purpose to link the slums movement with the great event which is at the core of God's action in the life of the people of Israel: Exodus, that is liberation and gradual building of the people of God. Liberation from slavery was the prerequisite for the final product: the people of God. What Saint Peter writes in his first letter: who once were not a people, now are a people of God (1 Pt 2:10), applies first and foremost to the ex-slaves who fled from Egypt some time in the century between 1300 and 1200 before Christ, Those who had fled from Egypt were a mass, a mob, a throng (translation Bible of Jerusalem) that is all but not a unified group. The glue which was unifying them was just the chance of shaking off the Egyptian yoke; nothing very deep, neither al the level of common vision nor of positive motivations and shared faith. The years in the desert showed it very clearly: 40 years of tensions, rebellions, nostalgic sighs to go back to Egypt. All that put to the test the leadership qualities of Moses first and Joshua after. Moses' most difficult task was to promote internal cohesion, to provide identity, sense of belonging, common hope for the future based on a faith shared and celebrated by the all people as qah'al (assembly) of YHWH. Exodus had two very clear dimensions: the religious and the social. The separation of the two would tantamount to disintegrating Exodus. What does Exodus tell KUTOKA?

The Slums cradle of labour movement: a major new social actor

In the encyclical Redemptoris Missio no. 37b, John Paul II speaks of new social phenomena which are modifying the history of the world and consequently the missionary activity: The rapid and profound transformations which characterize today's world, especially in the southern hemisphere, are having a powerful effect on the overall missionary picture. Where before there were stable human and social situations, today everything is in flux. One thinks, for example of urbanisation and of the massive growth of cities, especially where demographic pressure is greatest. In not a few countries, over half of the population already live in a few 'megalopolis', where human problems are often aggravated by the feeling of anonymity experienced by masses of people…Today the image of mission Ad Gentes is perhaps changing: efforts should be concentrated on the big cities, where new costumes and styles of living raise together with new forms of culture and communication, which influence the wider population. It is true that the 'option for the neediest' means that we should not overlook the most abandoned and isolated human groups, but it is also true that individuals or small groups cannot be evangelized if we neglect the centres where a new humanity, so to speck is emerging ands where new models of development are taking shape. The future of younger nations is being shaped in the cities (RM 37b). John Paul II, himself a worker/miner for a while, should have remembered of the industrial revolution in Europe, revolution which gave rise to slums near factories and farms where working possibility where at hand. The same as in Africa today, though in 2005 the situation is more complex and difficult. Population growth and unemployment are far higher then ever before in the Europe of the XIX century and of the first half of the XX. Yes! In the slums grew up the labour movement of Europe the new class which gradually got organized in Labour Trade Unions major stakeholder in the Europe of the third millennium together with the Government/Politicians and Association of Entrepreneurs. The Pope, hence, has sound reasons to foretell a new humanity in the context of the slums. The working class in Europe grew up not without the Church, though fiercely contrasted by the communist and socialist movements. New type of apostolate were invented, let us mention the Young Christian Workers in Belgium, the Associations of Christian Labourers in Italy and the so-called Working Priests in France.

The slums hence have tremendous potential to condition for better or for worse the future the future of Kenya and of Africa. The slums are an unparalleled text for the credibility of the Church as far as the perception of the signs of the times and of the Church response to it, Let us no forget the John XXIII in 1963 heralded the rise of the workers movement as one of the three major signs of the times together with the end of colonialism and the access of women to public life (Pacem in Terris, 48). The millions of Kibarua of today should found a way of becoming a class, the labourers' class for their own sake, for the sake of their families and ultimately for the sake of their own countries and of Africa as a whole. The new class should find in the Social Teaching of the Church inspiration, vision and methodology for a sound updated organization befitting the civil society and the state of today. KUTOKA should seriously consider this aspect lest it become a sacristy movement.

Now let us proceed to a tentative description of the components of Christian Ministry. What follows is a tentative list of major elements of what can be termed ministry approach to slums.

From reaction to proaction: Plan of Action

Reaction is good in the sense that it assures survival vis a vis unforeseeable circumstances and rough social and natural environment, but will never assure that holist fullness proaction aims at. Reaction is based primarily on meeting needs, dangers, fears, proaction more on values, goals, and objectives. Reaction is motivated by perception ands intuition, proaction more by analysis and research as to have a global picture of the situation; reaction deals with effects, proaction pays more attention to the causes. Reaction is immediate emergency response, proaction is Plan of Action oriented, worked out with a scientific mentality.

Slums dwellers: from objects of attention to subjects of transformation

Involvement and participatory process are very difficult in the slums where people are harassed by the daily survival to get few shillings for food, water or shelter. When people are uncertain about how to make ends meet for themselves and their children, it becomes almost impossible to find concentration and time for research, reflection and planning. On top of that it is almost impossible to find sufficient room to assemble people for discussion and training. Thus the temptation of taking decisions for the slums dwellers as the Kenyan government did when it started the forced evictions in 2003 (now fortunately halted) and many NGO do. The people of the slum run the risk of being the objects of attention for top down imposed on decisions and not the subjects of the working out and them implementing a plan of transformation of their persons and of the life conditions. The Ministry Approach focuses primarily on peoples and then on infrastructures with the understanding of human dignity and the vision of the society offered by the Christian Social Teaching. Some wrote not without a pinch of salt of wisdom: is far easier to take the people out of the slums than to remove the slums out of the people.

KOTOKA therefore should be at forefront of involving the people in the process: this is the first condition to build a people or the labour class; KUTOKA is far more than helping the poor. Are the people of the slums objects of the pastoral agents' compassion or we are we helping them to become real protagonist of their own life. How much behind our own initiatives, for example the memorandum presented to the Archbishop and then to the President was owned by the people Initiatives of civic education and the experience of the general elections 2002 have remarkably contributed to enhance self affirmation spirit and creativity. The experience of the social cultural and theological analysis in the Parish of Christ the King in Kibera has shown that an initiative of this kind is almost a must for conscientization first step towards taking the reins in one's hand. The people started speaking loudly and openly only on the 2nd round of the analysis when what they had said in the 1st round was returned to them in Kiswahili. Only them the people grew convinced that what they had say was of importance for the planning of the parish. We should not take for granted that we are consulting people. It is far easier to speech on behave of the people than to empowerment them to stand by themselves. Only this way the rise of the working class will be favoured in the slums dormitories. Of late even the Kenyan government through the mapping and numbering of the house of Kibera is developing a more participatory methodology.

Two pronged ministry: Religious and Social Action and Social Capital

The experience of the pasts three years have clearly shown , amply reaffirmed by the Plan of Action of Christ the King gradually build through the process in the Pastoral Circle/cycle, that the slum ministry should be both deeply Religious and deeply Social, according, as we mentioned above the paradigm of Exodus. The challenge is what type of Religious Ministry and what type of Social Ministry. The sects approach is highly religious; though it answers the high hunger for religious experiences in the slums, cannot be the KUTOKA approach because seems to alienate the faithful from a faith motivate involvement for the social transformation of the slums according to the tenets of the Christian social Teaching. The Small Christian Communities according to the original understanding, that is not prayer groups, seems to be by far the best way of
Linking faith and social action. The social cohesion of the SCC is commanding respect so much that is considered in the many circles a social capital to complement and counterbalance the unilateral and capitalist focus on financial capital only; the financial focus is typical of the project approach, the social capital is closer to Ministry approach. Obviously the should no the seen as alternatives. Religious and Social initiatives should promote the spirit of initiative of the people as to become more and more subject of their history. It means that for the SCC the focus of their religious life should be the Bible, biblical apostolate. As far as the social action initiatives which promote entrepreneurship and spirit of initiatives such as micro-credit and among the workers (many of them Kibarua) a spirit of associationism which brings them together to operate as a class and not simply as individuals selling the daily work.

Which Spirituality for pastoral agents and for the slums dwellers?
This topic which would deserves closer attention. Often the spirituality for slum ministry is unilaterally identified with the spirituality of insertion ands incarnation; though essential for it should develop other components. The spirituality of EXODUS is more than that; moreover the slum ministry call for spirituality not only for ministers but also the people slums dwellers. The mystery of evil find in the slums unique types of expressions in social and personal sins. How the mystery of Redemption and the presence of Christ the Redeemer can be proclaimed and experienced. .

Collaborative ministry: within the church - civil society - state - international contacts: UN-HAHITA
The slums are a very complex phenomenon the solution cannot be found in the hands of one stakeholders only but only in the partnership and collaboration of all actors. NGO often seem to be reluctant to open up to broad type of collaboration and yet without collaboration nothing is going to be achieved. The ministerial approach of Kutoka should consider collaboration and the promotion of it within the Catholic Church, with other churches, religions, NGO and international actors a major objective to be constantly pursued.

Pastoral Cycle: an already experienced methodology
The Pastoral Circle launched by Fr. Peter Henriot SJ around 1980 and gradually enriched and elaborated in the African context by the Institute of Social Ministry in Tangaza College from 1994 onward offers a powerful methodology which joins together faith and science, social/cultural analysis and theological/ministerial analysis and reflection, theory and action, the specific contribution of the Church in collaboration with the civil society, state, international actors.

7. Support Structures for and beyond Kutoka

The support structures of KUTOKA were at minimum level and on voluntary basis. Financial help was provided by Maryknoll Missionaries; Christine Bowers acted as secretary both for minutes taking, for invitations and organization o meetings and keeping the records. . Parishes in turns offered logistics facilities for meeting and catered for meals. In Korogocho, written material is kept in the local popular library.
In devising a Plan for the Future the issue of support structures should be seriously considered if what said so far is to be taking into consideration. Relationship with the Local Church, Advocacy, Collaboration with other stakeholders, Internet will not materialized in a systematic and far reaching way without a clear and well organized support structure. The period 2002-2005 can be called the Charismatic moment of KUTOKA; the charism should be embodied in a institution, lest the charism itself vaporize.

8. Conclusion: a call to a joint venture

Le me conclude with a quotation from an article of mine in the book: The Slums A Challenge to Evangelization, (Tangaza Occasional Paper 7 No 14, Paulines Publications Africa 2002): Indeed, the slums are, as often repeated here, a complex phenomenon; non can therefore meet the challenge in isolation. A person or and institution alone and without a strong cooperation with partners involved in the slums, will achieve very little. Who are theses persons?
The slums dwellers themselves are to be the first protagonists of their liberation; nobody can do it for them, hence the paramount importance that they be adequately mobilized and sustained by an efficient network, particularly among different slums. In this way, a tremendous human, social, political ands economic potential will be brought to fruition.

The Churches and others religious groups have a unique weight due to their all-pervading presence through the Small Christian Communities, projects of human development, associations and other entities. Their fragmentation, competition, and relatively weak ecumenical spirit and interfaith dialogue are a great liability.

The state and the civil society at large: the slums dwellers are citizens with all rights and duties, and they pay taxes. Why should the state so shamefully ignore them that hardly any social facilities are available to them? Traditional authorities also have a great role to play, which can only be ignored with serious consequences.

NGO are present in the slums with a variety of initiatives. Cooperation is not their main asset, but we think that collaboration can improve even with them as well.

Cooperation among all these actors is difficult by all means, yet the slums offer a unique opportunity for it to become a reality. Even though many may fall short of joining hands with others, our experience assures us that without collaborative ministry hardly anything will be achieved. Globalization adds further motivations to the call to open up the fences of our small garden. Tuko Pamoja will transform human challenges, no matter the hurdles, into the pregnant ground from which a more human, and therefore more divine life will spring up for many" (Slums A Challenge to Evangelization)140 - 141) .

Fr. Francesco Pierli, mccj
Institute of Social Ministry - Tangaza College

For further reading
" Bowers Christine, ( a book to be published over the next two months)
" Consonni, P., Mission at the Cross-Roads of Urbanization, Nairobi: New People, 1997
" Moschetti, D., Urbanization in Africa, Nairobi: New People, 1997
" Murphy, D., The Urban Poor - Land and Housing, Quezon City: Claretian Publications, 1993
" Various Authors, The slums A Challenge to Evangelization, (Tangaza Occasional Papers / No 14) Nairobi: Paulines, 202
" Various Authors, The poor discover their own resources, (Faith and Society Series / No ), Nairobi: Paulines, 2004

 

2. THE SLUMS: A CALL FOR INSERTION
2.1. TOWARDS A MARGINAL EXISTENCE.
2.2. TOWARDS A MISSION-IN-REVERSE
2.3. INSERTION: THE DEMANDS OF LIVING WITH A CRUCIFIED PEOPLE.
3. THE SLUMS: A CHALLENGE TO RELIGIOUS FORMATION
3.1. TOWARDS A SENSE OF URGENCY
3.2. GOSPEL READING OF THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES
3.3. FORMATION: A CRUCIAL TIME
3.4. FORMATION TOWARDS MARGINALIZATION
3.5. REDISCOVERING THE PROPHETIC IDENTITY OF OUR FOUNDER
3.6. PRACTICAL STEPS: BRIDGING BOTH WORLDS
4. CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY

0. INTRODUCTION

We are in front of a painful fact: the Church is at a loss in front of the crucified world of the slums. No one denies this reality, neither the institutional Church, nor the few pastoral agents struggling daily to make sense of this reality.

Taking into consideration this situation, the present reflection, marked very much by the reality of Nairobi, aims to be a humble contribution to the need of facing creatively the slums.

My reflection has originated from the urgent need to find concrete ways to overcome a world of contradictions; it emerges from the need to present a competent religious formation which is able to face the challenges presented to us by the most marginalized
This contribution is an attempt to look at reality, specially, our religious formation, from the perspective of the outcast. I am aware of the difficulty my reflection entails. I am conscious of moving in a context, the slums, that is not mine. Therefore, I will enter into it with the greatest respect.
I am glad to have the chance to research and clarify my convictions about today's missionary challenges. This research has been done taking into consideration my pastoral and missionary experiences in the slums of Kitwe (Zambia) and Nairobi; I am grateful especially to the Comboni inserted community of Korogocho slum, which has always been ready to welcome me.
My paper is composed of three different parts. The first one deals with the reality of the slums from the perspective of the challenge it presents towards living an honest faith. The second part focuses on the need of insertion as the most effective pastoral approach, developing the different demands which this involves. Finally, the third one considers how our religious formation is confronted and challenged by the demands of living with a crucified people.
Needless to say, what I am sharing is opened to discussion.

1. THE SLUMS: A CALL FOR HONESTY

The most basic challenge the slums pose to us is at the level of our honesty. The institutional Church is negating this reality. We are doing an injustice by denying what is in front of us. This denial, ultimately, is one to the crucified Christ in history, a denial of God. Therefore, in front of the slums, we must start with an act of profound honesty about the real, recognizing things as they actually are. The following facts will help us to frame the situation in front of us.

1.1. TODAY'S AFRICA: A CRUCIFIED CONTINENT

The history of past oppression and the current situation of neo-colonialism and globalisation have brought Africa to a dramatic situation. That is reflected in the updated statistics taken from the United Nations and the World Bank:
According to the United Nations Human Development Index report 2000, the 24 most underdeveloped countries in the world are all from sub-Saharan Africa. The life expectancy at birth in Sub-Saharan Africa is 48.9 years; in the countries of the so-called first World it is 77.0 years. UNAIDS indicates that the 70% of the world's AIDS cases are in Africa.

According to recent statistics of the World Bank more than 200 million Africans have no access to health services. Every single day 3,000 people die from malaria in Africa; three out of four of them are children. Every year 1.5 million Africans die from tuberculosis and another 8 million are newly infected. More than 250 million Africans lack access to safe water. More than 140 million youth are illiterate, and less than one-quarter of poor, rural females attend primary school. More than 40 percent of its 600 million people live bellow the internationally recognized poverty line of $1 a day, with incomes averaging just $0.65 a day… And this list is endless.
All these statistics express the reality of an unbearable situation. Let us remember that statistics are not just numbers, behind them we find more than faceless people. Statistics deal with human beings, with masses that are innocently and anonymously murdered. They are the African peasants and slum-dwellers, children, women, and old people who die slowly day after day.

In front of these facts we can firmly say with Jean-Marc Éla: "nothing can blind us to this brutal fact: Africa today is crucified."
The slums are the most visible and dramatic sign of this intolerable situation, the "gesture per excellence" of a crucified people.

1.2. THE GESTURE OF A CRUCIFIED PEOPLE

In the slums we have a crucified people. The poor and the suffering represent Christ, therefore, we need to listen to their voice directed to us from their hell of life. Like the crucified Jesus on the cross, the poor speak to us sometimes loudly, often with a stunned silence. Only when we have identified ourselves with them, like Mary with Jesus under the cross, shall we discover that today's crucified Christ keeps crying out as he did in Golgotha. His cry continues to be one of rebellion and also acceptance in faith.

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matt. 27:46; Mark 15:34) is a daily cry for plenty of people of faith, they feel abandoned by the hand of God. They cannot understand their suffering. Their passion is meaningless.

It is the cry of Judith, raped by a gang of seven men when coming to a night-vigil celebration in Church. She stayed bleeding in the sacristy for eight hours without any medical service team willing to enter into the slum. It is the cry of John, a former altar boy, knifed to death in one of the taverns of Korogocho, he was prisoner in a world of violence; it is the cry of Dominic harassed and beaten by the police because of his mother's illegal Changa'a business. They are the cries of hundreds of street kids wandering on the roads, kids digging in the dumping site, AIDS patients, mamas struggling just to survive, men underemployed, youth living in a state of hopelessness, drunkards, prostitutes forced to earn a living selling their dignity… It is the cry of Otieno saying: "Oh Lord! It is like I am in hell, filled pit hole latrines, faeces everywhere, blocked sewages, rusty iron sheets, walls turning yellow because of the urine, what untidy place! I live in a condemned environment!"
What really impresses me is the way people manage to keep their dignity and hope in the middle of inhumanity. It is the cry of today's Jesus "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit" (Lk. 23:46) To commit their spirit to the Lord doesn't mean to take a passive, resigned, or alienated attitude in front of the oppressors, it means to try to find alternatives to their crucified existence. To surrender themselves to the Lord means to discover the God of life in the middle of all misfortunes, it means to discover that poverty is not the last word, to discover a God who gave his life for them, a God who hears their cry and gets involved in their struggles. It is this acceptance in rebellion that makes them so evangelical.
But, the most pathetic face of the slums is found in people who don't believe in God anymore, people who have abandoned their faith in their terrible experience of abandonment. This brings them to violence, exploitation, and all kind of survival strategies (alcohol, drugs, sexual promiscuity…) It is the power of evil mastering the slums, landlords oppressing tenants, ethnic conflicts, corruption, thieves being unmercifully burnt as result of robbery …
In front of this reality we must reaffirm the scandal of a crucified people: the sign of the times.

1.3. THE SIGN OF THE TIMES

The assassinated Jesuit Ignacio Ellacuría once said: " the great sign of the times, the current presence of God among us, is always the crucified people, the historical continuation of the Servant of Yahweh, of Christ crucified."
For us, Christians, the sign of the times is wherever life is oppressed, wherever the God of life is crucified.
I profoundly believe that the slums are the sign of the times. I would give two reasons for such an affirmation: firstly, because of the horrible poverty surrounding this particular world. As Aylward Shorter says: "Rural poverty… is not so degrading and intractable as urban poverty. There is still a good chance for rural people to support and feed themselves." Secondly, the slums are the sign of the times, because they are greatly unattended, not only by society but also by the Church.
Please, let us understand the problem of the slums not as a matter of neglecting "old presence" in the country-side, but as a choice of strategy for the future of Christianity and its new frontier of mission. I believe with Shorter that "urbanization is an urgent, life or death issue for all of us, for humanity and for the Church."
The magnitude of the situation is evident when we consider the statistics offered to us by Habitat (United Nations): in 2025, 51% of Africans will be living in towns and cities (661 millions), around 60% of them will be forced to live in shantytowns and slums. In short, we are speaking of around 400 million Africans living in the degrading world of the slums.
What the slums are presenting to us is "the demonstration of the times." As Neddy says: "We have taken the decision to say: It is enough! We can no longer accept this exclusion from civilization! We have the right to take our share!" The slum-dwellers can be considered "internally displaced people" because of socio-economic factors.
It is true and obvious that the slums are not the only reality, but I believe, they are the most urgent one to tackle.

1.4. A CHALLENGE FOR THE CHURCH

Shorter comments that the Church in Africa has had an anti-urban bias. I would add that the Church is now nurturing an anti-slums bias, it is moving tremendously slow in front of the great challenge urbanization is presenting. That is my profound feeling when I reflect on the situation of Nairobi. Nairobi is the worst city in Africa as far as degrading urban poverty is concerned. It is a city of two faces, a city which holds two worlds: the rich and the poor. It is a city where you are invited to take a stance and the Church is taking its own by siding with the well off. I believe that what happens in Nairobi, at the level of relationship between the Church and the marginalized, is a paradigm of the most general relationship among them around the world.
Taking this into consideration, we can ask ourselves: why is it so difficult for the Church to face this reality? Why is the Church avoiding encountering these crucified peoples? Jon Sobrino expresses very plainly the reason why, he says: "the crucified peoples show us what we are; we tend to ignore it, cover it up, or distort it, because it simply terrifies us."
Let us remember that the poor are our conscience, that their lives confront us with our own selves, at the level of co-responsibility with others, and at the level of honesty with reality.

At this particular time in history, the Church is showing itself to be illiterate as far as reading God's presence in today's crucified people is concerned. We can see how the Church is simply abandoning the crucified Christ in history as the disciples did with the historical Jesus. The disciples of Jesus were in front of the same challenge amidst the reality of Jesus' passion and crucifixion. Their response was clear: they abandoned Jesus.
The disciples neither understood the suffering of Jesus nor were they prepared to share it in any way. (Mark 14:27) They slept when Jesus expects them to watch with him in his loneliest moment (Matt. 26:36-46; Mark 14:37; Luke 22:46); Peter even denied him three times (Matt. 26: 69-75), and all the disciples fled in the face of the imminent danger that Jesus was facing from the authorities (Mark 14:50), eventually he was abandoned at the time of his passion and crucifixion.

The slum-dwellers, the crucified people, are very much aware of their exclusion. The prayer of Margaret, a Christian from Korogocho slum, expresses very much their experience: "Father, forgive the Church, a Church which is too far from us, which has sided with the rich, which doesn't want to mix with us" In the slums there is a constant cry: the Church has no credibility. The slum-dwellers feel the Church absent from their lives. They are walking alone in their daily struggle. That is the experience of the crucified Christ in history. It is Jesus himself who walks unrecognised today among the African people. It is Jesus today the one who is crying: "why are you abandoning me?"

Shorter, being aware of this reality, makes the following point: "It is a source of sadness and incomprehension to poor African Christians that their Church seems to have no relevance towards their struggle for survival (…) Apart from a few laudable cases, it cannot really be said that religious men and women are in direct touch with the African poor." Alex Zanotelli, one of these "laudable cases", says: "I am profoundly convinced that we are radically betraying our faith." . I believe the Church is not blind to this situation when John Paul II, considering the new challenges society presents, was able to affirm: "A serious deepening of the faith is thus urgently needed" (Ecclesia in Africa, 76)

Finally, let us keep in mind that we are not exempt from being part of the "rejectors" of our own people, as John Waliggo stresses: "Africa is rejected not only by outsiders, but also by their own political, economic, and social rulers. What is more, to many ordinary African Christians the African theologians are included among the "rejectors" of their own people."

1.5. A TIME FOR CRITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS

Let us remember the words of our Pope: "The Church in Africa, in order to evangelise, must begin by being evangelised herself.... She needs to listen unceasingly to what she must believe…" (EA, 76)
At this point of history the Church is called to go through a period of critical consciousness. The basic challenge the Church is facing is one of faith. Do we really believe that Jesus is crucified in today's world? Do we believe He is crucified in the slums?
Now the Church is in front of a real test: Whether it wants to comply with the values, tastes and priorities of the middle and upper classes, or whether it wants to be a Church of the poor - making its own the struggles and concerns of the victims.
The Church is called to a profound discernment, especially on the realm of concrete action.
At the level of commitment and self-understanding the church must ask herself: How faithful is the Church to her vocation of service? What role is the Church adopting with the powers of this world, the ones most responsible for the situation of today's crucified people? What influence do the poor exert in the Church?

At the level of our Theological reflection the slums pose to us the following questions: How are we to talk about a God who is revealed as love in a situation characterized by poverty and oppression? What words are we to use in telling those who are not even regarded as persons that they are the daughters and sons of God? How should we preach the cross in front of a crucified people? How should we preach the resurrection in a world marked by death? In the words of John Paul II: "In a continent full of bad news, how is the Christian message 'good news' for our people? In the midst of an all-pervading despair, where lies the hope and optimism which the Gospel brings? …(EA 40)
At the level of our pastoral work we must ask ourselves: What are the principles that should guide us in our response to the plight of the poor? What changes need to be effected in our consciousness so that it is oriented towards greater commitment to the victims of society? What transformation and innovative orientations are required in the praxis of the Church? How effective and credible is our pastoral/presence in the slums? Are we ready to be incarnated in the crucified world of the slums? Are we ready to live mission-in-reverse, to consider the poor as agents of evangelisation?

The Church needs a good deal of humility. It is not enough to be honest with the reality of the slums. The Church is expected to be faithful to this reality, a reality that may lead us where we did not expect to be led. Even more so, the Church must allow herself to be led by the reality.

I believe that the key option must be a clear decision to be immersed in the world of the poor, to place our tent in the wilderness of society. From their world we shall face the challenge to respond to the demands of the poor and the rich. As Archbishop Romero used to say with reference to the Church, "from among the poor, the church can be for everyone".

2. THE SLUMS: A CALL FOR INSERTION

In words of Waliggo: "The strategy that is demanded is for the Church to be the first in the slums, so that whoever comes, finds it there."

I believe, insertion is the most efficient way to reach out with credibility to the slum-dwellers, to get to know them, to share their broken lives, to walk together in their process of liberation.

Insertion into the slums means entering into their world, admitting that we cannot become totally like them, but we can radically stand with them. Obviously, this decision involves a real change of attitude whereby gradually you acquire a different way of thinking, of relating, of loving, of praying, of believing, of surviving, just like those who are considered to be in the underside of history. When you insert yourself in the world of the slums you feel exposed to the world of the gospel, a world of oppression, exclusion, slavery and death, but, at the same time, a world of faith, dignity and love. It is precisely through the peculiarities of this world that God is revealed. Hence, we are called to experience the slums as our home and not simply as a place for our pastoral work. For that to happen the Church must undergo an emptying process, inserting itself with its human and material resources and all its institutional weight into the social situation of the poor majorities. As Bishop Casaldáliga highlights: "The mystical body of Christ has to be where the historical body of Christ was." If that is the case, we shall have to consider seriously the need to move towards a marginal existence.

2.1. TOWARDS A MARGINAL EXISTENCE

The theological foundation for insertion is the praxis of Jesus himself, his incarnation, his "kenosis" manifested not only in his passion and his cross but also in his whole life.
Insertion brings a deepening in the mystery of incarnation. It is difficult to realize the full significance of the incarnation unless we grasp it through the world of poverty and oppression. From there we experience not only the transcendental incarnation but also Jesus' historical incarnation in the world of the poor.
Jesus came from the middle class. That didn't prevent him from making a clear decision to mix socially with the lowest of the low and identifying himself with them. He became an outcast by choice, in other words, as Jürgen Moltmann says, "He became the kind of man we do not want to be: an outcast." He opted freely for a marginal existence. With all his richness he understood that the only way to carry his mission was by being inserted in the "underground" of Palestinian society.
To believe in Jesus is to live the way he lived. Therefore we are called to insert ourselves in the margins of today's society. That will be possible only if we live mission-in-reverse.

2.2. TOWARDS A MISSION-IN-REVERSE

Jesus understood and lived his ministry in reverse. He was the liberator of the poor and marginalized, at the same time, he was himself liberated. The suffering of the poor and the oppressed had a powerful effect upon Jesus. Compassion was his response to their suffering. In their suffering they become the privileged places where Jesus found God. He took people very seriously, acknowledging the presence of God in their lives. His life was a true mutuality. He challenged and he allowed himself to be challenged. The marginalized contributed to Jesus' transformation in mission, as he encouraged and marvelled at theirs. They set the agenda as much as he did. The life of the poor constantly confronted Jesus with himself. Jesus allowed the outsider to raise embarrassing issues, as the Syro-phoenician woman said: "Even the dogs under the table eat the children's leftovers" (Mk 7:28) Her remark challenges Jesus' very identity and mission opening up new possibilities. Jesus marvelled in front of unexpected responses from the most unlikely people, being occasions of God's grace above and beyond his own doing (Matt 9:22; 15:28; Mk 10:51). In his mission the faith of others was a support for his own (Lk 7:9)

The marginalized were the people who began to recognize him, to name him, to have faith in him, and to believe, through him, in themselves. Jesus' insertion in the world of the Galilean poor was essential for empowering them. Simultaneously they "empowered" Jesus: they ratified him, affirmed him, while they were not afraid to challenge him.
As we have seen from the life of Jesus, insertion in the world of the oppressed requires mutuality, faith sharing, walking together, and being ready to face the challenge of the other.
Mutuality becomes real once we are touched by their evangelising power. The marginalized are our educators in faith, they tell us where we are, how faithful and coherent we are to the gospel message. They make us aware of our crucial role to bring to them the Good News: God-preferentially-with-them, taking the form of a slave, crucified, revealing his omnipotence in weakness, bringing the ultimate sense to their dignity.

Finally, to be inserted is to take a hermeneutical option: we make an option in order to reach the best position to live out and understand our/their faith.
Let us now evaluate the demands of living an incarnated life in the world of the slums, this will lead us to reflect as to how efficient our religious formation is in front of such demands.

2.3. INSERTION: THE DEMANDS OF LIVING WITH A CRUCIFIED PEOPLE

Insertion is a demanding choice. Insertion demands a physical, mental and spiritual exodus toward the poor. This takes a good deal of humility, leading us to a new manner of understanding and confronting our lives. Insertion brings us face to face with reality.

2.3.1. UNAVOIDABLE REALITY

Once you are immersed in the slums you cannot avoid reality. You are caught in a crucified world; you cannot escape from it. You are facing a very demanding scenario requiring you to take a stand. In the slums you are exposed to shocking experiences, often you find yourself between death and life. You are in front of the book of life. If you refuse to be challenged then you won't survive. Therefore, the requirement of insertion is a constant openness and readiness to be moulded. Insertion requires from you a profound intellectual effort to understand the complex world in front of you. Insertion calls for everyday faithfulness, and that is possible only if you have a passion for reality.
Confronting the reality of the slums has a powerful effect on a person, you experience the way our priorities have been fabricated by society. The viewpoint of the poor becomes little by little the determinant of your way of thinking. Gradually you learn their vernacular, the one of the outcast. In all this demanding process prayer life becomes crucial.

2.3.2. PRAYER LIFE: QUESTION OF SURVIVAL

A profound prayer life is indispensable in the slums. As Gill Horsefield notes "to pray in the slums, it seems to me to be a matter of survival, there are so many situations one cannot bear on one's own, there are so many situations one can do nothing about except pray."
Prayer in the slums is linked to real life; prayer is linked to history, even more your prayer is immersed in history, in the daily struggle of the people. Prayer is sharing the sufferings of the marginalized and even of God; prayer in the slums is one of being abandoned, it is the cry of the oppressed. Prayer in the slums is one of thanksgiving because you feel fully alive; prayer in the slums is a time of getting strength, ready to be literally eaten by people; prayer in the slums is one of learning and sharing with the poor, as Zanotelli says: "The poor have taught me how to pray." Finally prayer in the slums is one of compassion, contemplating the crucified Christ in history.

2.3.3. A COMPASSIONATE STAND: THE CHOICE OF MERCY
Insertion in the slums is a compassionate stand, a clear and voluntary determination to walk with the people in their daily struggle and suffering.
The root cause of your stand is an ethical indignation for the inhuman conditions the slum-dweller goes through. You make yours the words of Yahweh: "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying for help on account of their taskmasters. Yes, I am well aware of their sufferings. And I have come down to rescue them from the clutches of the Egyptians and bring them up out of that country…" (Ex., 3: 7-8)
Yours is God's indignation wherever life is suppressed. Yours is God's determination to listen to the cry of his people and take a stand in relation to it: to enter the struggle for historical liberation, to feel the world's pain as your own.
Yours is God's compassionate love in the middle of intolerable poverty, of the struggle for basic human survival. Yours is God's awareness that they are indeed "more sinned against than sinning." Yours is God's merciful love to consider an ethic of survival. It is this compassion what moves you to take a prophetic stand. Let us remember that we shall bring real and effective consolation to the marginalized, only if we are able to denounce the injustices committed against them.

2.3.4. A PROPHETIC STAND: AT THE CROSSROADS
The prophetic dimension of your faith calls you to stand firmly against any kind of injustice. That, in the context of the slums, puts you at the crossroads.
On the one hand you ought to be for/with the poor and against poverty. To be for the poor is to opt for them, to walk in solidarity with them, to make them aware, by raising their consciousness of the crucial role they play in their struggle for liberation. For the poor, to become aware of what is happening to them is the first step in becoming active agents in re-shaping their destiny. To oppose poverty is to denounce the structural injustice that perpetuates their inhuman existence, it is to take a stand against political and economical egoistic interests.

On the other hand you ought to denounce injustices among the slum-dwellers themselves. Wherever the poor resign themselves passively to their poverty, or seek liberation in an egoistic and individualistic way, then, they become oppressors of their own people. This happens frequently in the slums, where the poor are divided between tenants and landlords, where political affiliation is a cause of division, where ethnical and inter-religious conflicts exist.
Therefore, prophecy in the slums must keep an eye in both worlds, outside and within the slums.

2.3.5. TOWARDS A SENSE OF POLITICS
In the slums you are called to develop the political dimension of your faith. The injustices happening in the slums have its very cause at the level of structures of society. Therefore, you feel called to denounce these structures. In the slums liberation, faith and politics go together. If you believe in the God of Jesus, the God of life, it is not possible to avoid becoming involved in politics.
It is your incarnation in the world of the slums that gives credibility to your witness. The role of advocacy becomes very influential towards politicians. You are feared because you know their game and the consequences their behaviour brings to the slum-dwellers.

2.3.6. READINESS FOR MARTYRDOM
In the slums you are so much touched by injustices that denunciation becomes a must. You cannot shut up. As Ezekiel prophesied "I will consider you as a murderer because you have not spoken" (Ez. 3:16-21). But to prophecy in the slums is very demanding and risky. What is good news for the poor is bad news for the powerful. You touch influential people; from outside and inside the slums, you denounce selfish politicians, insensitive landlords and crippled police… You become inconvenient and a danger to their corrupt world. At the same time, you feel unprotected. Insertion in the slums comes with vulnerability and insecurity. You denounce, not from an ivory tower, but from the middle of a crucified people. The possibility of martyrdom is part of the lot. Often you will find yourself alone, incomprehended, persecuted, sharing the fate of marginalization. "Those who concern themselves with the lost are lost," said Bertold Brecht.

2.3.7. ENDURING MARGINALIZATION
By living in the slums you are exposed to enduring the same fate of the vast majority of slum-dwellers: you become so much identified with them that eventually you feel marginalized as well. You are exposed to the dark night in which you feel abandoned by everybody. Threats, reprisals on the part of those in authority, isolation because of one's solidarity with the poorest, mistrust within the Church itself, abandonment from the people you are struggling with, brings about a real experience of solitude. Therefore you are called to cope with this situation, to acquire the necessary skills to go through this period meaningfully. This experience of marginality, vulnerability, opens new ways for you. It brings you to a deeper prayer life and to a genuine community life. You develop greater skills in listening and learning from your community members, thus experiencing community life as a real support in the middle of darkness.

2.3.8. COMMUNITY LIFE: THE NEED OF MUTUAL SUPPORT
Inserted communities in the slums face a real challenge.
Community life in the slums is extremely demanding and enriching. Your community is exposed to the marginalized; they have the right to knock at your door any time, they come to talk, to ask help and to present their life. The house is a centre of dialogue with the outcast. It becomes the house of the poor. They participate in the life, meals, and prayer of the community. The situation is quite different from that of our formation houses where the marginalized are filtered in. Now we are in the midst of them being accepted in their world as strangers.
The members of the community are challenged to keep their doors open, not only physically, but foremost in their spirituality. Lack of privacy is the greatest demand. The community needs a healthy balance between exposure and withdrawal.
The marginalized people are demanding. They can bring crises which can be very painful to the community members who may often find themselves powerless. The social pressure, which the community faces, makes discernment a necessity.
The experience of insertion revealed the necessity to reshape religious living together to overcome the common conflicts between ministry and prayer, life with the poor and life amongst the members of the community. The different members, of the inserted community, must be fully motivated towards the project of insertion. There is need for unity, therefore there needs to be a readiness to communicate and share pains and joys.

Insertion involves a high degree of austerity at community and personal level. In the slums you discover that the poor can only be served in poverty. Housing must adapt itself to the context.
The element of inter-cultural inserted communities can play a crucial role in the process of reconciliation among cultures in the slums. The inter-cultural dimension of our communities must show the real nature of God's Kingdom where all cultures are called to live together in harmony. Our inter-cultural living is very much expected to be sign, a witness of the Kingdom. We are challenged to live our inter-cultural gift in the middle of the cultural chaos of the slums.
Finally, the inserted community has to be a prophetic one. A community where all its members have a sense of urgency, being authentic and firm in the middle of hardships, but at the same time tender and compassionate if the situation requires.

2.3.9. EVERYDAY CONVERSION
"We cannot preach conversion unless we ourselves are converted anew everyday" (RM, 47) One of the biggest temptations you are exposed to in the slums is to use the poor for self-advancement, whether this be in politics, pastoral work, theology or even spirituality. With this attitude you place yourself out of the Gospel.
The reality of the slums calls for authenticity. You are constantly challenged in your opinions. A religious, who lives with the poor, has his/her boundaries continuously shaken and his/her sensitivity shocked. The experience of insertion challenges you to a radical transformation. It requires a daily conversion without which there is not a mission-in-reverse. Gradually, after an experience of Exodus, you start to see the world from the perspective of the marginalized.

Daily faithfulness in the obscurity of anonymity is extremely demanding. You will discover that being inserted is not enough. You are called to take real flesh, to be incarnated. Once you are settled in the slums you have to reach out to them. Don't expect them to come to you; they are either too busy in their struggle of survival, or too lazy in their state of hopelessness. You are called to creativity.

2.3.10. SPIRIT OF CREATIVITY
The main concern in the slums is to develop a liberating pastoral approach, raising people's consciousness, making them sensitive to the situation of sin and oppression they are victims. In the slums we need pastoral agents with a good deal of creativity and flexibility; pastoral agents with listening skills, sensitive towards collaborative ministry and ready to endure failure.
The slums present to you a real pastoral challenge from various perspectives:
- First of all it is the challenge to minister with a people caught in daily survival; people who care little about attending mass. "Time "wasted" in worship can be better spent in supplementing their incomes."
- It is the challenge of youth ministry. The youth, being the vast majority, are often lured by a secularised world.
- It is the challenge of liturgy. In the slums liturgy has to be reconsidered. Liturgy, above all, should be political and liberating. Any liturgical practice in the slums has to bring people to a commitment for justice.
- Another challenge in the slums is inculturation; you are expected to minister to different ethnic groups living in a context of daily survival. The apostolate in the slums requires, not only inculturation, but also inter-culturation where all people from different ethnics are called to live together in harmony.
- The slums present an ecumenical challenge. In some of the slums of Nairobi you find more churches than latrines. The vast majority of churches ignore the needed prophetic dimension inviting the faithful to fall into "escapism."
- At the same time, inter-religious dialogue is essential between Christians, Muslims and other religions. In this dialogue we are invited to present the uniqueness of Jesus at the level of his love, service and identification forever with a suffering humanity.
- The slums offer an ecological challenge whereby integrity of creation is very much at stake.
- The slums are calling for a reconsideration of the ecclesiological model "Church as family." Plenty of our parishes are like broken families where the most needy i.e. the slums-dwellers, are considered an appendix in the pastoral programmes. "They feel that the Church, as it is, cannot be their own Church, the Church of the poor, of the marginalized ones." The well off parishioners ignore the reality of suffering at their doorsteps.
- The slums challenge our theology. You will discover the need to come up with a new and relevant theology for the slums, springing up from the real experience of the slum-dwellers who are the vast majority in the African cities. This new evolving theology will share elements of a theology of the cross, a theology of struggle and a theology of survival.
Finally, taking into consideration the different pastoral challenges, I agree, with Moschetti, that the African Church "has to come up with a well-formulated strategy of apostolate and presence in urban areas, but particularly in the slums of Africa's cities. Such apostolate and presence demand a really complete rethinking of most of the old pastoral methods."

2.3.11. BEING FULLY ALIVE
As we have seen we are in front of a very complex world, a challenging one, a world demanding an extremely alert attitude. This particular world requires people of faith with a profound prayer life; willing to carry the cry of the people, always ready to decentre themselves towards the cause of the most marginalized. The slums demand from us a compassionate and prophetic sensitivity. The slums require endurance in times of failure and solitude, accepting martyrdom as part of your vocation. The slums ask for creativity, flexibility, intellectuality, humility, and giftedness for community life. In one word, the slums ask for people in love with reality, people fully alive.
All these demands are the ones which have to be faced and tackled during our formation period, if not our formation will become idealistic and removed from the concrete reality in front of us. Our religious formation must develop within us Christian attitudes, with a clear YES to accept the demands of a radical following of Jesus.

3. THE SLUMS: A CHALLENGE TO RELIGIOUS FORMATION

I would like to clarify from the very beginning that I am not tackling religious formation from a holistic perspective but from a particular one: the way it inter-acts with its context.
The slums, in the context of Nairobi, are posing a real challenge to our religious formation. The challenge is basically at the level of how efficient and competent our formation is once we have to face the demands of a crucified people. My personal experience tells me that our formation is not efficient in this respect. Our formation rarely prepares us to dialogue meaningfully with the world of the marginalized. Their demands must be key-factors in shaping our formation. It is in this particular period that we must learn how to face them.
Hence, my purpose, in this last section, will be to highlight different dimensions of our formation that must be taken seriously if we want to make it competent enough to face the sign of the times: a crucified people.
The very first dimension is to inculcate in us a sense of urgency.

3.1. TOWARDS A SENSE OF URGENCY

In the latest Plenary Council of the Missionaries of Africa, it was stated: "We shouldn't hesitate to rethink our model of formation."
I believe, that was a prophetic statement shaped by the urgent nee