Lenten Gift 2025 – St. John – St. Paul Catholic Collaborative

An Update on the Progress at St. John Paul II Church in the Archdiocese of Bamenda, Cameroon

Last year’s Lenten Gift campaign supported BUILD THE FAITH’s project to construct a church for the St. John Paul II community in the Archdiocese of Bamenda, Cameroon where Fr. Gabriel and Fr. Lesley both served as pastor. This thriving, faith filled community was celebrating the sacraments in a converted chicken coop that only held about half the congregation.

Our gift is helping BUILD THE FAITH turn the dream of a proper church where the community could worship together into a reality! Please see this post from last spring for an important recap of this amazing project – and check out the amazing progress pictures below!

Turning Dreams into Reality: An Important Update on Our Collaborative Lenten Gift

We have been the grateful recipients of the outstanding Pastoral Ministry of Fathers Gabriel, Lesley and James… The mission of building a church in their local community in Cameroon was a tangible way to make a difference in the lives of the growing population of Catholic Christians.

And BUILD THE FAITH has a special connection with our Collaborative, as it was inspired by the unwavering faith in God exhibited by Christina Dangond Lacouture, a young girl from our parish who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer at the tender age of 6…

It also inspired us to set an unprecedented goal of $100,000 for our gift…

Lenten Gift Story Part 3: The Connections

When Fr. Gabriel arrived in the St. John-Paul II community in Bamenda, the people had no place to worship together and were hanging on by a thread. He told himself, “We must have a church here.” The people asked him, “Father, how can we have a church here? We have no land, we have nothing.” He answered, “We just pray. God will show us a way.” Fr. Gabriel told them to look for anything – any building, any place someone offers to start their church. A family came to him and said, “Father, we have a piece of land, and a chicken coop…”

So they cleared out the chickens, cleaned up the building, and started their church. Even this seemed like a small miracle, despite the fact that half of the large and growing congregation had to remain outside during Mass. They continued to dream of and pray for the proper church they would build someday – even if it took 30-40-50 years – where the whole community would be able to worship in together…

Lenten Gift Story Part 2: The Catholic Church in Bamenda, Cameroon

Christianity is the dominant religion in Cameroon (about two-thirds of the population), with Roman Catholics making up more than half of the Christian population. Cameroon faces numerous crises that threaten its social fabric, which are rooted in the country’s colonial history…

Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya, who stayed with us and celebrated Mass at St. Paul Church last year while in the U.S. visiting the scholar priests from his diocese, said, “My churches are all bursting, and I don’t have space to keep the young people… and my shortest Mass would be about two and a half hours.”

Against this backdrop is Build the Faith’s new church project in the Archdiocese of Bamenda, the home diocese of Fr. Gabriel and Fr. Lesley… Both have spoken about the needs of these flourishing faith communities to have physical spaces to worship and to serve as centers of community in these unstable areas…

Lenten Gift Story Part 1: Build the Faith

BUILD THE FAITH was inspired by the unwavering faith in God exhibited by Christina Dangond Lacouture, who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in December 2012, at the tender age of 6. In the months and years after her diagnosis, Christina and her parents, Monica Lacouture and Fernando Dangond, members of our Collaborative, began to organize rosary groups and retreats. The family also heard of a proposed Catholic church in their home country of Colombia that was to be built in an area stricken with poverty and in need of funding. They held fundraisers and collected donations, and together made rosaries to sell for the cause. In 2016, they founded Build the Faith as a non-profit to “help build the Catholic faith around the world.”

In 2017, Christina and her family flew to Colombia to present the church with a check for $20,000, and in February of 2018, a month after Christina died, Monica flew back to Colombia to present the church with another check, this time for $25,000…

Thursday, March 20: Lenten Gift Lecture – “Turning Dreams into Reality with Build the Faith”

Please join us on Thursday, March 20 at 7:00pm in St. John Powers Hall for “Turning Dreams into Reality with Build the Faith.” The evening will offer a comprehensive introduction to our 2025 Lenten Gift recipient, Build the Faith, and their current project which our gift will support – the building of a church in the Archdiocese of Bamenda, Cameroon.

Monica Lacouture and Fernando Dangond will share the story of Build the Faith, which was inspired by the unwavering faith in God exhibited by their daughter, Christina Dangond Lacouture, who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer at the tender age of 6.

Fr. Gabriel and Fr. Lesley, who both served as pastor in this community before joining us here in Wellesley, will share their experiences…