Kahawa West Parish Centre

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The initial church structure at Kahawa west outstation of Ruaraka Parish was at the current day Pambazuko grounds. It was made of wood. It was built through fundraisers organized by various small Christian communities. The first of the itega type was done in 1987. The actual construction began in 1988 through the efforts of the then St. Joseph Mukasa small Christian community. Later other small Christian communities emerged like, St. Charles Lwanga -Kahawa West Estate, St. Matthias Mulumba -Jua Kali and quickly other pioneer Jumuiyas followed like St. Kizito and St. Ludigo. Indeed by the time we became a parish in 1992 they had already matured.

THE BIRTH OF PARISH

After the birth of the parish in 1992 the work of evangelization and human development began in earnest. As earlier stated the starting point of our parish was Soweto. It is there the Consolata missionaries inheriting the good work of Fr. Alex Zanotelli build on it. The idea was to build a church that is community and made of persons rather than that of stone. Therefore the first initiative was for human promotion and empowerment. It was for this reason the dispensary, the informal school and the pastoral centre were given the first priority.Fr. Thomas used to say: it was better to first build the church in the hearts of the people first, before building the physical church structure. The pastoral centre, part of which is now being used for projects like the Computer College and Tailoring school, was meant for continuous training and formation of the Christians. The informal schools at both Soweto and Marengeta were meant for the same purpose.

PASTORAL FORMATION

The parish leadership believed that by creating small Christian communities and ministries it would be easier for the priests would have time for spiritual guidance and care and other leaders of the communities would engage in other activities. It is through this understanding that various projects that served the community were started like St. Joseph Mukasa Dispensary in March 1997 and the Soweto informal school which later became Vendramini education centre which is now managed by the Elizabethian Sisters. The Mary immaculate sisters across Kiamumbi also assisted in starting and informal school for the less privileged. All these efforts which were later supplemented by the community of John XX111 have assisted to create a vibrant cosmopolitan faith community which impacts positively our environment. The efforts of creating a faith filled church climaxes today with the construction of a multimillion shillings church which we are all proud to consecrate today. The church is therefore fruit of the work of individuals and small Christian communities eager to have a place worthy of praising the great God who has walked with us over the years. Thanks to the work of the development committee for the patience and the constancy the magnificent church will remain a great testimony of self-offering of many a talents for the service of God.

SPIRITUAL CARE

In line with the mission of the Church, Kahawa Parish has remained committed to building the Kingdom of God among the people in the area. On Sundays, seven Masses are celebrated. We also have daily evening Masses and Saturday morning Masses. According to the census conducted in 2011 there are about 7500 Christians in the Parish. We have 59 Small Christian communities in the Parish and seven Ministries (hudumas] namely. Justice and Peace, Catechism, Youth and Children, Marriage, Communication /Ecumenism , Liturgy /Eucharist and Poor/Sick. The groups serving in our parish are two; Franciscan Elizabethan Sisters- and the Mary immaculate sisters. The former take care of Vendramini Education Centre and the St Joseph Mukasa Hospital. They also support Bethania Group which comprises persons living with HIV/AIDs. The latter run Mary Immaculate Primary School & Mary immaculate Education Centre. Daughters of St. Ann is another religious community that work in Familia Ya Ufariji, a home that take care of street children’s. The parish has also a Lay Missionary organization by the name Community of Pope John 23rd which is involved in both spiritual and social development especially in Soweto area. St. Joseph Mukasa Self-help Group has also made a major contribution in the socio-economic development of the Christians in the Parish.