JBMS NEWSLETTERPublished by The John Bradburne Memorial SocietyPO Box 32, Leominster, Herefordshire HR6 0YB, UKTel: 01568 760632 e-mail: info@johnbradburne.com

website www.johnbradburne.comUK Registered Charity No. 1046483

SUMMER 2013

On the 28th December2012, I found myselfsinging Psalm 122 I re-joice when I heard themsaying “Let us go up toGod’s House ...” And nowmy feet are standing withinyour gates, O Mutemwa.Rarely does scripturecome so true, real and ful-filled. This has been partic-ularly true for me as Ifound myself at the HolyPlace of Mutemwa. In-deed, I rejoice and wasglad for it is here the Chris-tians come, the people ofGod pray and praise theLord’s name.

When God finished hisgreat work of creation, hesaw that is was good, inother words Holy (Holi-ness implies, as God in-tended). Mutemwa waspart of that creation whichwas acclaimed Holy(Good). Yet some placesare made holier than oth-ers due to some phenom-ena; Mount Sinai for

example, was made Holierthan others because Godspoke to his people there;at Horeb, God said toMoses, “Take off your san-dals, for the place whereyou are standing is HolyGround.” Holy place there-fore reflects the placewhere John Bradburnemet God and a covenantwas made. Indeed, it is aplace where thousands ofChristians do meet Godtoday and daily covenantsare made. I met my Godhere and thus I pen downmy experience.

What happens whenan individual makes acovenant with God?He/she is changed and willnever be the same again.At this place calledMutemwa John waschanged and was never tobe the same John again.There was a covenant oflove and service, love thatentails the washing of feet,yet not ordinary feet, but

the worst feet of all times,feet that were bleeding,bleeding yes but not ordi-nary blood, blood with lep-rosy infection. JohnBradburne saw himself asthe St. Francis of our time,a Christ in the twenty firstcentury, a Saint of ourtime.

BEHOLD OUR FEET ARE STANDING WITHIN YOUR GATESBy Fr Nyson Manujova OFM

JBMS was founded in 1995 to support the Mutemwa Leprosy Settlement in Zimbabwe in the name of its late warden.

Left - Br Nicholas BnhwaCentre - Br Mughelisi Siganda

Right - Br Nyson Manujova

Archbishop Robert Ndlovu of Harare has granted permission for a

Franciscan religious presence at Mutemwa. Three Franciscan Brothers

have settled happily and have embraced the spirit of the place

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The story of leprosy inthe 12th-13th centurywould not be completewithout the mention ofFrancis of Assisi, likewise,the story of leprosy in the21st century in Zimbabweand the whole world with-out John Bradburne wouldbe incomplete. He com-pletes the story in a trulyinspiring fashion, heleaves everything behindand entered a convenantwith the abandoned, giv-ing them dignity and pur-pose. That is why Fr. Dovecalled him ‘The StrangeVagabond’, a title thatcould be fitting for Francisof Assisi and with Christ.There was somethingstrange and unusual aboutJohn Bradburne, strangeenough to make an im-pact; strange enough toremind us of Christ;strange enough to make adifference.

It is the contact be-tween John Bradburneand God in this place thathas elevated it, or rathermade people realise theholiness of this place; andnow my feet are standingwithin your gates OMutemwa. As a Priest sta-tioned here, I am left hum-bled and challenged withthe numbers that flockhere, thousands and thou-sands come and I am leftwith questions; what willbecome of this place? Yetthe answer is here, thisplace will become a meet-ing place. Meeting placeyes, of people from allover the country, of all de-nominations, a realchance for real ecu-menism. It is a meetingplace between God and

Humanity. My experiencehere presents me with thevulnerability of humanity,the intensity of the needand hunger for a holy lifein the Christian fold. It isamazing to realize thatpeople drive from the fur-thest corner of the countrysearching for a religiousexperience; it shows howempty the people feel. It isbreathtaking to see a manor a woman on crutchestrying hard to climb Chig-ona mountain against allodds, elderly people andfive year olds all lookingfor this glimpse of holi-ness, a real need of ourtime.

The most interestingthing about this place is not what it has done /achieved already butrather the vast potentialburied in and around thisplace. Mutemwa is like anewly discovered gold-field. Given a chance whowould not want to buy anun-extracted gold field?There are four places inMutemwa for me that arebreathtaking. First is theJohn Bradburne site; a vis-ible reflection of Holinessand significance. It is as ifJohn Bradburne stillmoves around the place,you can actually feel hispresence somehow. It isnot going to become aHoly place because it is already one. The secondplace for me is the littleleper Chapel, possibly theHoliest place for me. ThisChapel is my Mount Sinai!Celebrating Mass every-day looking into the eyesof the lepers, preachingeveryday to the lepers,and most of all dropping

the body of Christ on totheir tongues becausethey have no hands to re-ceive, is more than fulfill-ing to me as a Priest.Mass in this great Chapelis like Mass in Heaven forme, it is a dream comingtrue; it is the holy of holiesfor me. My third place isthe wood path. From theJohn Bradburne site to thefoot of the mountain is a path - an avenue ofjacaranda trees with theChapel on one side andthe Clinic on the other. Youwill not miss the beautifulsound from the Clinic ofone crying or singing, notforgetting the unique smellof flowers that takes yourheart into another world.My final place of pricelessvalue is Mount Chigona.The most inspiring thing ofthe Mutemwa experienceis that the way you will useto climb Chigona wasused before by John Brad-burne. Exploring the wayon the mountain, you needto be conscious and feel-ing alive at what you aredoing. You cannot sleepand move, every push youmake climbing the hill reminds you of John Brad-burne and your personalintention. Up the mountainis the giant cross dedicated to our brotherJohn Bradburne. A deeppool of water cannot bemissed as you reach thetop near to where an Altarhas been built to theKNOWN God, Yahweh.

This is Mutemwa forme, a goldfield ready to bemined for the bettermentof our souls and for theglory of our great God.Amen.

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I’m glad to inform you that John’s biography in French, on John Bradburne, ‘Le Vagabond de Dieu’, has been awarded the Grand Prix Catholique de Littérature 2013. Thisprestigious Prize in theFrench Catholic world isawarded by the Associationdes Ecrivains Catholiques,which has included among itsmembers famous writerssuch as Paul Claudel,François Mauriac, Jean Guit-ton, Daniel-Rops andJacques Maritain.

This Prize was a com-plete surprise to me. I wasperegrinating along St JamesWay, passing through Laredowhen my wife sent me a textmessage. My first reactionwas of disbelief, and I typedon my phone to her : “It’s ajoke ?”. But well before re-ceiving her answer, I knew itwasn’t: in minutes, the rainstopped suddenly, the skycleared, and the sun shonefor the first time for almost aweek. A synchronicity whichwill not surprise John’sfriends ! But when I believedthe news, I really panicked. Itwas too big for me! Andwhere I was, I could call uponthe services of a special psy-chological support unit to helpme to cope with it … But aftera few moments, I was released from my anguish, byGeneral Jaruselzki, the for-mer Number 1 of CommunistPoland, or rather by the sudden memory of his

reaction after the first Presidential Election inPoland following the collapseof Communism, when he said: “Even a donkey, provided that he wore aheadband with ‘Solidarnosc’written on it, could have won”.I burst out laughing: “Ofcourse! This Prize is not minebut John’s! And it is not toobig for him. His personalitywas such that even a learneddonkey would have earnedthe Prize if wearing a head-band with ‘John Bradburne’on it.” I alone have been thefirst ass wearing this head-band”. This thought liberatedme, and if I have sometimesforgotten it, when saying to

people that I have receivedthis Prize, it’s only simplevainglory of a tired pilgrim.Forgive me, John...

I left St James Way forfour days, two to Paris bytrain and two to return toNorthern Spain, and a fewhours in Paris in between inorder to receive the Prize, abeautiful bronze medal. Theceremony took place on the

22nd of April in the Town Hallof the 7th arrondissement ofParis, presided by the Presi-dent of the Catholic WritersAssociation, Mr. Paulot, andby the Mayor. A Jury membergave an interesting lecture.He found new analogies be-tween John and saints suchas Godric of Finchale, StBernard, St John of theCross, St Francis-Xavier, StTherese of Lisieux, BlessedMother Teresa, the RussianIurodivi, and Mother MarieSkobsova. In my response Itold the Laredo story men-tioned above, and thankedthe Jury for this Prize whichwill certainly allow John toenter into the lives of morepeople in France, for theirgood, and which will allowthese new readers to dis-cover this wonderful discipleof St Francis, deep andsometimes wacky, com-pletely given to God and tothe poor lepers, this wonder-ful companion in faith. TheEditor declared that he wouldpresent the book to book-sellers, with a headbandabout the Prize.

Of course, this Prize en-courages me to continue withmy commitment to makeJohn known and loved in mycountry. John, about whomJean Vanier wrote in the pref-ace of the book so beautifullyand accurately that his life"has revealed a surprisinglywonderful, good, smarter andmore creative God than wecan imagine".

Didier Wins !

You may recall that in the last Summer Newsletter we announced a new book

on John Bradburne by Didier Rance. Now read on…

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At the start of 2013 Iwas blessed with the op-portunity to visit Mutemwafor the third time in my life.I owe a huge amount ofgratitude to the Commu-nity of the Resurrection,Mirfield, who generouslyhelped to fund my airfareto Zimbabwe. On my lastvisit to the country I hadbeen at Mutemwa for theannual John Bradburnecelebrations in September2011, however, on this occasion my visit would be a much quieter andmore peaceful experience.

On my arrival at Harareairport I was kindly col-lected by Fr Liam Mc-Carthy OFM and taken tostay at the nearby Friary toget some rest and sleepbefore heading down toMutemwa the followingmorning.

The next day I met upwith Marge Chigwanda,the manager of Mutemwa,who had driven up to

Harare to conduct somebusiness and to kindly col-lect me and take me backto the village. Marge doesa wonderful job in manag-ing the centre atMutemwa; she sees it asher vocation. She has anextremely difficult and timedemanding job to care forthe residents at the centre,but she does this work ex-tremely well, and alwayswith a smile on her face. Iwas most impressed andhumbled by how muchshe gives of herself to carefor the residents, she hasextensive knowledge ofevery single patient andyou can tell she is muchloved.

Marge has manydreams of making im-provements at Mutemwa,all focussed on improvingthe welfare of the resi-dents and developing thecentre, but of course thisall comes at a cost. Lackof funds holds back somany of the improvementsthat Marge would like to in-stall at Mutemwa. I havepersonally pledged toMarge that I will try mybest to help raise funds forthe JBMS so thatMutemwa can continue todevelop.

Mutemwa is a deeplyspiritual place, it has an at-mosphere like I havenever previously experi-enced; the presence ofGod is simply all around

the village. Before I arrivedat Mutemwa I had beengoing through a periodwhere my prayer life was astruggle, I was feeling spir-itually empty, something Iam sure most of us can re-late to at one time or an-other; by the time I leftMutemwa, my prayer lifehad been transformed!

During my stay atMutemwa I was able tosay the daily offices inJohn’s hut, which is an in-credibly moving experi-ence, almost overwhelming.It was a tremendous privi-lege for me to pray to Godin the hut of someone Ifirmly believe is a saint.While I was at Mutemwa Ialso prayed the Rosary asI walked up Chigona; themountain beside the vil-lage that John would climbon a daily basis. The viewsat the top of Chigona aresimply breathtaking, milesand miles of African coun-tryside stretching out,priceless beauty.

On the last day of mystay I was collected by FrNicolas Stebbing CR, myZimbabwean friend who isa long standing member ofthe Community of the Res-urrection back in Englandbut still visits his homecountry twice a year towork on various charityprojects. It was the firsttime Fr Nicolas had visitedMutemwa since he lastwent in 1975 to see John!It was quite a moving ex-perience for him to stand

A Report on my Pilgrimage to Mutemwa 2013

By Ben Bradshaw

Ben standing by John Bradburne’s tin hut

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SAIROS SARUWAYI 91 YEARS

Sairos was born inMalawi in 1921 and he suf-fered from Leprosy in 1983.He left his country looking fora job in Zimbabwe, thenRhodesia, in 1953. He gotemployed in Chiendambuya,Rusape as a farm worker. Heworked for T. J. VenMerwe atthe tobacco farm for morethan 10 years and left thefarm when he became seri-ously sick.

Sairos was then admittedhere at Mutemwa Leprosy

and Care Centre on July 281998. He was married to Eliz-abeth but then separated andby the time he left his owncountry his wife was sixmonths pregnant.

Sairos could not return tohis country because of thewar and therefore never sawhis child. He believes that hisfamily might be thinking thathe is dead because it hasbeen so long since he leftthem. Sairos was born in to afamily of four and he was thethird child. His parents werevery hardworking peasant

MUTEMWA LEPROSY AND CARE CENTRE

PATIENTS’ PROFILES

in John’s hut for the firsttime since he last saw himalive some 38 years ago.

Everyone at Mutemwamade me feel extremelywelcome; I was given myown guest room for mystay at the centre. I sharedmy meals with the threeFranciscan brothers whohave recently moved toMutemwa and who arecurrently trialling the pos-sibility of a permanent reli-gious presence at thevillage.

I would encourage any-one who ever gets thechance to make a pilgrim-age to Mutemwa. It is atruly unique and spiritualplace that gives all whovisit the chance to deepentheir relationship to God.You are guaranteed a

warm welcome from staffand residents alike who al-ways enjoy meeting JohnBradburne enthusiasts.

As for myself, I am al-ready missing being atMutemwa. Put simply, Ilove being in Zimbabweand I love being at

Mutemwa. For the timebeing I will concentrate onmy ministry here to thepeople of Braunton, NorthDevon, but who knowswhat God has got plannedfor me after my time inDevon is complete.

Ben is happy to come and talk to Church groups and organisations about lifeat Mutemwa and the JBMS and show some photos in a bid to raise funds.Guaranteed entertainment as he tells some funny stories as well.

Call 01568 760632 if you are interested.

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farmers who survived throughfarming.

It can however be notedthat this could also be thereason why Sairos liked farm-ing so much that he evenhelped at Mutemwa duringthe rain season.

Likes: Smoking (tobacco)Challenges:Walking is a big issue.He does not see very wellHe has a problem of dizzi-ness “Dzungu”

Sairos gives thanks to allthe administration staff whocontinue to take care of himand the job they are doing atMutemwa leprosy.

JESSIE BROWN74 YEARS

Jessie Brown was born in1939 and she came fromMozambique and was mar-ried to the late Petros Sukiri.She never went to school andwas a housewife for the restof her life.

Jessie was affected byleprosy in her teens and shebelieves that this was as a re-

sult of a curse from one of theheadmen from her area inMozambique who she re-fused to marry.

It was later realised thatshe had leprosy when shewas pregnant with her firstchild and her husband di-vorced her when he foundout.

Jessie Brown was livingwith her grandmother whenshe got affected. Her grand-mother then sent her to Zim-babwe, then Rhodesia,where she received her med-ication in Harare. She waslater transferred to Mutemwain 1970 a year after JohnBradburne arrived.

Jessie was re-married toone of the patients atMutemwa who had also beenaffected by leprosy and theyhad four children together.

Three of her childrenhave now died and she is leftwith one who lives inMacheke. She often comesto visit. Jessie has sevengrandchildren.

Jessie was dischargedfrom Mutemwa at one time,but due to the poor living con-ditions at her daughter’splace she was re-admitted tothe Centre in June 2011.

Likes: She likes talking topeople but she is quite reserved. She also likesgoing to church.Challenges: Cannot seevery well.

GOLIATH MUBAYA89 YEARS

Goliath Mubaya was bornin 1924 in Machikumba,

Malawi and is a leprosy

patient. He was born in afamily of two.

Goliath went to school inMalawi and left when he wasstill a young boy.

Goliath came to Zim-babwe before Independenceand worked in mines. Heworked at Mazoe, Mhangura,Jomo and Mutorashangamines.

He got married at Jomomine to his wife, Patience,and they had one daughternamed Miriam.

Goliath was diagnosedwith leprosy in 1982 but con-tinued working until 1995when the disease had height-ened and was treated inHarare before he was trans-ferred to Mutemwa Leprosyand Care Centre. He hadalso become destitute andwas admitted to the Centrewhere he is now being lookedafter.

Likes: Drinking beerChallenges: He has somedifficulties in walking.

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To be able to travel out toZimbabwe each year is sucha privilege and so I found my-self once more on the roadfrom Harare heading for Mu-toko at the end of January. Iescaped from a cold and verywet UK winter to a hot andvery wet summer in Zim-babwe. Between Christmasand mid January there hadbeen unprecedented heavyrainfalls so the countrysidewas looking very beautifuland lush. The downside to somuch heavy rain was floodingand damage to the dirt roadsand the one leading from Mu-toko Centre to Mutemwa wasno exception!

There is a very happy at-mosphere amongst all wholive at Mutemwa both resi-dents and staff. The resi-dents all support and helpeach other in many differentways. If one has difficulty inseeing someone who cansee will help, if another hasdifficulty in holding a spade orhoe etc, someone who canwill help with that. Near eachhouse is a patch of mealiesgrowing and many are alsogrowing sweet potatoes,tomatoes, sunflowers andrape. Most have chickensand there is an increasingflock of turkeys who roamaround and are very noisy,particularly so during SundayMass! The Security Guardsnow have dogs to help them

which has also helped tokeep the monkeys from steal-ing mealies!

Over the past year therehas been development oftheir Income Generating Proj-ects. A new five pen piggeryhas been built in addition tothe existing one so the pig-gery project is beginning totake off. At present most ofthe meat goes to local outletsbut some does makes its wayto Harare! The egg layersnumber 926 and are produc-ing five to six crates per day.There seems to be a hugedemand for eggs in the areaso there is no problem in sell-ing them. 250 day old broilerchicks have also just beenbought and there is a verygood market for them. Thecattle now number 7 and arebeing reared for meat to helpsupplement the residents’diets and the settlement isnow self sufficient in greenvegetables. Maize produc-tion at Mutemwa remains in-adequate, mainly due to thedifficulty in getting the fieldsirrigated sufficiently well.

In December 2012 twoFranciscan Priests and oneFranciscan Brother came tolive at Mutemwa. Their ar-rival has been welcomed withgreat joy and celebration byeveryone in the area. Thereis daily Mass either in theChapel at Mutemwa or the

one at Mother of Peace Com-munity. The Franciscans arealso helping the Priest at AllSouls Mission who told me hehas 135 stations in his parishand it takes him a wholemonth to visit them all!

I was horrified to find howexpensive everything is inZimbabwe (e.g. filling up mylittle Mazda 323 with petrolcost me $45!) The Adminis-trator at Mutemwa, MargeChigwanda and her Projectstaff are aware that they can-not rely on donor funding in-definitely and are committedto developing their IncomeGenerating Projects. Elec-tricity and water bills are veryhigh and JBMS UK is lookingfor funding to upgrade thewater system at Mutemwaplus replacing the out-of-dateSolar panels. If these twoareas are covered there willbe a sustainable supply ofelectricity and water plus noneed to have further bills fromZesa and Zinwa!

All at Mutemwa continueto offer prayers and praise forthe donors who support themand are aware that withoutJBMS the settlement wouldclose. Thank you so muchfor all you do to help.

God Bless you all,

Christine Pratt.

TO MUTEMWA AGAIN

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I thought you would like toknow that John has been verybusy helping Ellen ourgrandaughter(who has specialneeds and is in care). The flatshe was in was suitable forher, but the girl who lived be-neath was very noisy andliked to set the Fire Alarm offwhich upset Ellen. Last weekthey moved her to a house,within the same complex,which she shares with twoboys. The house suits hermuch better because apartfrom her own en-suite bed-room she has her own littlelounge and dining room withaccess to her little garden.There are also large windowsin every room and becauseshe is so interested she willsoon be enticed to explore thegarden. Ellen is reasonablywell and still eating very wellnow. Her carers are pleasedwith her progress and I’m cer-tain that John will continue towatch over her.

We are well even thoughthe years are beginning totake their toll. Again Johnkeeps an eye on us. Godbless you and all the work inMutemwa.

Margaret and Derek Parks

I have had so many upsand downs in 2012, terriblestruggles in my life but I nevergave up and always continuedmy novena to John. He is mypersonal friend in Heaven anddoes ask God to answer myprayers.

Mr P. M.

It would be wonderful tohave an up to date documen-

tary on John for televsion. Ihad just switched on the tele-vision and felt compelled towatch the old documentary onJohn on EWTN some yearsback.

John Bradburne continuesto be an inspiration to manypeople that I have spoken to,a man of many talents, but de-spite this he is so very downto earth in all his matters, giv-ing us an example that we areall destined for Sainthood, butsomeone to whom we can re-late closely in our everydayexistence.

Edna Sampson

I gave John the Francis-can habit because he was liv-ing a Franciscan life, wascommitted to St Francis andmade the values of St Francispresent- prayer,love,poverty,generosity, joy, deep faith… Icould go on…

When I visited him atMutemwa I found him caringfor the lepers with great com-passion, deep service andlove. He was for me an icon ofSt Francis and I would haveliked to live as he did. Andnow what joyous news, Johnhas been working overtime!“At the request of the Arch-bishop of Harare three Friarshave accepted responsibilityfor the Mission at Mutemwaand the township of Mutoko”.

Fr Sean Gildea OFM.

About the same time that Idiscovered John Bradburne,my partner was diagnosedwith advanced cancer. Ibegan praying to John, talking

really, asking him to intercedein gaining whatever comfortand assistance he could pro-cure on our behalf.

I am a pianist by trade.(John would approve). Theday after I began praying, Ihad a gig with a local jazzquartet. Just before westarted, the bandleader an-nounced that all the tunes wewere going to play that daywould begin with the letter “B”.He said, “It is all B’s today- Idon’t know why, it just came into my head!” Strangely, it was-n’t until the break, when hemade the same announce-ment to the audience, that itsuddenly struck me what washappening. In the middle ofwinter, this was John Brad-burne’s way of sending amessage. All the bees! I had aquiet chuckle. Saints are re-puted to have an impishsense of humour. There havebeen many other, similar oc-currences, often quite subtle.

Skeptics like to offer banalexplanations, but I know bet-ter. The universe is a farstranger place than we canpossibly imagine.

Meanwhile we live inhope, and try every treatmentthat’s going. I do believe inmiracles, but I also believethat our coming and departingare fixed. This leaves us freeto concentrate on the onlything that really matters, livingthe best life we possibly can-every second it lasts, just likeJohn did. Whatever happens,I know John will be there tohelp.

Nicholas Capocci

© The John Bradburne Memorial Society. All rights reserved.

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