Young Christian Workers (YCW) Malawi, a religious movement for the Catholic Church comprised of young Christians between 15 to 40 years of age, school leavers, either working or looking for employment opportunities, last Saturday November 12, 2016, celebrated a 60th year anniversary at Mua Catholic Parish in the Diocese of Dedza.
Among other activities to mark the day, YCW members from all the eight dioceses in Malawi cerebrated a Eucharistic Celebration which was presided over by Bishop Chairman for Pastoral Commission at the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM), His Lordship Peter Musikuwa who is also Bishop for Chikwawa Diocese. WYW also donated Mattresses to Mua School for the Deaf.
He said it is sad to note that most of the people involved in the malpractices that bring about the challenges Malawi is going through, are Christians who are mostly young people. “Let us utilize the strength that we have as youths by contributing positively to our society. We should not be the ones causing problems in the country rather we should be agents of change by ensuring that we do right things all the time,” said Bishop Musikuwa.
He said youths should refrain from being involved in corrupt practices, mismanagement of public resources and from being perpetrators of political violence among others.
He also said as the Church, they are deeply concerned with marriage break-ways among the youths due to unfaithful behaviours hence should strive to be prayerful and love one another when they are married.
“Let me thank you for thinking about the students who are facing various challenges here at Mua School for the Deaf. Such generosity is what is needed from a productive youth citizenry and a Christian. Being the year of Mercy, it is right and just to share our love to the needy,” said Bishop Musikuwa on the sidelines of the donation of 68 Mattresses that YCW members made to Mua School for the Deaf.
“It is our mission that we assist the school which has been facing a lot of problems especially when it comes to the issue of Mattresses. We managed to raise funds through fundraising activities and of course, other well-wishers, both individuals and institutions came in to assist us,” said Mulomole.
Mulomole said as YCW they will strive to go out and preach the word of God through actions and as such they plan to strengthen their financial base by setting up income generating activities right away from Small Christian Community, Parish, Deanery, Diocesan level etc.
Meanwhile, Mulomole said they are working on finalizing the YCW Malawi Strategic Plan and strengthening the movement through trainings for leaders.
Parliamentarian for Dedza West, where Mua School for the Deaf is located, Juliana Lunguzi commended YCW members for choosing Mua Parish where the movement started in 1956.
She agreed with what Bishop Musikuwa said during his homily that youths should indeed be agents of change.
“Wherever we are, be it as politicians or we are working in government or non-governmental institutions, let us demonstrate that we are Christians and productive youths. We have issues of Climate Change and you find that we the youths are the ones contributing to this, lets change for the better,” said the youthful Parliamentarian who is also a member of YCW Malawi.
YCW was born in 1924 in Belgium with Rev. Fr. Joseph Cardjin as its founder. Fr. Sam Safroy established the movement at Mua Parish in 1956. YCW Malawi is a member of the International Coordination of Young Christian Workers (ICYCW), an international body which comprises a number of YCW National Movements across the globe. Every four years ICYCW holds an international Council and YCW Malawi sends its representatives.