“For when I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
Matthew 25:35-40 (NIV)
According to Albert Einstein, “only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” Driven by the desire to touch lives, Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Munebe Bekomson, Chaplain of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Chaplaincy, at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria, recently shook the Social Media Community which debated over what transpired in his Chaplaincy recently. What happened? An eye witness narrated: “The cleric asked if there was anyone in the congregation who could give him N5,000. Quite a number of people stood up and walked near the sanctuary where he stood. He prayed for them and pronounced God’s blessings upon their lives. After he did, he appealed to them to move to the position of his right hand. They did! “
The story continues: “He looked at the congregation and asked: ‘Is there anyone sincerely in need of N5,000?’ One can easily guess what the response was in this present harsh and hard economy. As a good number of faithful moved towards him, he asked them to stand at the side of his left hand. Then, he turned to those at his right hand and requested of them to adopt at least, one of those by his left hand and give to him or her the N5,000. It was such an emotional moment. It was amazing to realise that some of the donors gave more than the initial N5,000 to the recipients they adopted. Most of the beneficiaries were students and youths.” It goes far to signpost the level of frustration and joblessness among our youths. We are always quick to blame the government but we fail to realise that we can actually extend a helping hand to someone in need without losing anything. Infact, giving is an act of investment into the unknown future. To corroborate this claim, a great writer, Jeff Warner once wrote: “We are not put on this earth for ourselves, but are placed here for each other. If you are there always for others, then in time of need, someone will be there for you.”
Sadly, the present society we live in has become hostile to many people including our youths, who have found respite in church. It is gratifying to note that it was not the first time Fr. Bekomson was canvassing for a survival fund from the rich to the poor. It made news on the Internet and vis-a-vis the social media because many of the beneficiaries of that day’s gestures were first-timers to that worshipping community. With that singular gesture of charity, the atmosphere was charged. It was no wonder because as Thomas Aquinas once posited: “Charity brings to life again those who are spiritually dead.”
Bekomson is synonymous with charity. Since he assumed as the chaplain of that chaplaincy and long before that church was built, the cleric often organises a charity fair where foodstuffs, clothes and household items are freely given to those who need them. Also, he packs up Malaria, Typhoid and Pain-killer drugs and dispense them based on doctor’s prescriptions, to patients who cannot afford them. His missionary approach to evangelisation has attracted and won many souls for Christ.
The slogan of the Chaplaincy is: “Making family out of strangers” and “Fr. Beks” as he is popularly called, makes conscious efforts to live by this slogan. He is charitable with inspiring words. As a shepherd, he lends an ear to listen to the complaints and cries of the sheep entrusted into his care. This points to one of the reasons he is so loved by students and those aspiring to make a career in life. They need and they get from him, the motivation to get going amidst the tough and challenging times of life, and he offers it to them in full dose.
Compassionately, his closest friends are the patients in the hospital, the core essence of his being at that chaplaincy. He sits by them, listens to them, counsels them, hear their confessions, absolve them of their sins, anoint them and offer to them the body of Christ. It takes one with the absolute grace of God to minister to the sick and the dying. It takes a compassionate soul to admit to certain glaring realities that beset fellow human beings. This priest has seen them all. Last year, in solidarity with cancer patients, he skinned-cut his hair and went bald to identify with them. Inspite of his personal health challenges which are not known to many, he strives to avail himself to the sick and the dying in their agonizing pains and sorrows that accompany them on their sick beds.
In his hunger to touch lives as he is always hungry to do so, outside the hospital environment, Bekomson runs a charity outreach where he visits the poor, the needy, and those who are seemingly untouchable, looked down upon by the society and are even regarded as the “dregs” of the society. He goes in search for them at slums, ghettos and shanties. He walks through the muds, ascends and descends on hills, crosses through rivers and valleys to reach the poorest of the poor. Almost always, he demonstrates the words of Mahatma Gandhi: “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” He is often accompanied by members of his team; a group of young men and women who volunteer their time and services in the charity movement. Some of the places Fr. Beks, has visited with his team members include but not limited to: Borro Pit- Satellite Town, Jonathan Bye pass – the dumpster Etta Agbor, to name but a few. Some of the items he distributes include; foodstuffs, bags of rice, beans, tubers of yam, spices, stove, blanket, mats, soap, yam, tissue, toiletries, detergents and so on.
According to the priest, “Inspiro” the name he christened his evangelism cum charity movement, suggests a practical way of reaching out to those in need beyond words, in order to inspire them to love and serve God as well as humanity.
Why not share in the charity mission of this compassionate cleric? Remember the words of Mother Teresa: “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then just feed one.” Let us be motivated by the desire to touch lives. Having in mind that: “At the end, it is not about what you have or even what you have accomplished. It is about who you have lifted up, who you have made better. It is about what you have given back.” Denzel Washington.
Anthony Ekpo Bassey, PhD is a Calabar-based Journalist and public affairs analyst.
