Over the next few weeks we will publish a series of articles that give an insight into the lives of SMA Seminarians undergoing formation in Africa. These are written by the Seminarians themselves have been gathered and published in the SMA’s Family Vocations Community (FVC) Newsletter 2024. FVC members, by committing to make annual donations for a period of eight years, directly support the upkeep and education of these and many more young men training in SMA Houses of Formation in Africa.
See below for information on how to join the FVC.
My name is Bernard Chola and I would like to share with you a little about our life as a seminarian in the SMA Formation House in Kabwe, Zambia. We live in this SMA house while we carry out our studies at St. Augustine’s Major Seminary in Mpima, Zambia. Because of the distance between the SMA House and St. Augustine’s Seminary in Mpima, we have bicycles to get us there and back.
The SMA Formation House is set up in a way that exposes us to all the main areas of formation to priesthood, i.e. Spiritual, Human, Academic and Pastoral. The programme of the house encourages us to grow spiritually. Each day we have Mass, the Prayer of the Church, adoration and other devotions.
In addition to these we are encouraged to organise creative prayer services that encourage us to develop and strengthen our relationship with Jesus Christ. Each seminarian also has a spiritual director to help him on his spiritual journey. We are called to live together in community and in our house we are encouraged to develop our communication skills. Our skills are developed through manual work, sports and other community activities. Our life in community encourages us to develop good relationships with each other and grow positively as humans. We also have organised social evenings and events for the whole community -formators (staff) and seminarians.
In addition to our academic studies and formation in Mpima Seminary, we also try to develop our intellectual skills in the SMA House and develop critical thinking skills. The 
house introduced pastoral work/activities. On Saturdays and Sundays we have been given pastoral work to do in nearby parishes and hospitals/ hospices. This pastoral dimension is very important in preparation for our mission in the future.
All these programmes in SMA House Kabwe are there to help us in our lives as seminarians preparing for SMA priesthood.Â
If you would like to support the education of SMA Seminarians, please use the contact information below.Â
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