BAZAAR OF ST. JOSEPH’S CATHOLIC CHURCH

St. Joseph Catholic Church, Kirikiri town is the most popular church in Kirikiri town. It is located at the Southern part of Kirikiri town close to the link bridge and it is the first building on Dillion Street although its gate doesn’t face the street but its fence extends

through. This church is however the largest church in Kirikiri town in terms of population but not in land mass. The St. Joseph Catholic Mission Clinic is located in the same premises. Known to cater for women and children and their mission are to provide affordable quality services that are geared towards health promotion, diseases prevention and cure. Their passion is to see individuals, families and people fully alive and abundantly joyful. The clinic is run by the Sisters of Charity.

The bazaar is a yearly compulsory program and it brings people from far and wide into Kirikiri town to celebrate a year well spent and to thank God for his guidance and protection during the course of the year. A program that causes men and women to become creative as one idea of organization could not be used twice. The Bazaar day as fondly called was held this year on the 31st Sunday of the year according to the Catholic calendar was filled with many people from different parts of the Nigeria and the world. The church premises, however, contained all of the invitees and guests. 

This year’s program was titled ‘Harvest of Abundant Blessing. God is in charge’. The host of the program is Rev. Fr. Muindi .J Kioko SPS. 

The editorial team did a good job on the program brochure giving it a new design; making the front cover spot lamination and the back cover fold in, not forgetting the beautiful concept. The key of the brochure design is perception. “we would like to use this editorial channel to reach out to our past models, Fr. Pat Murphy, Fr. W Dowlin, Fr. Mike Maidigan, Fr. Jim Inglis, Fr. Simeon Irabor, Fr. Big Joe Archibong, Fr. Tommy Greenan and Sr. Muriel Lakin as once being part of St. Joseph family who touched the lives of many positively and whose valuable contributions to the edification of the church community will remain evergreen in our hearts” expressed on behalf of the editorial team, Miss Rosemary Emovon.

The order of thanksgiving started with pregnant women, nursing mothers and all those seeking the fruit of the womb after them the nursery and primary school children followed suite and ended with Rev. Fathers of the church and the Sisters of charity and other religious groups. The program of the Bazaar started with the introduction of the master of the ceremony then the introduction of dignitaries and guests to the high table followed almost immediately and ended with the closing prayer, Dance! Dance! Dance! Followed next.

The program was actually proceeding in three subdivisions. One was the men and women at the bazaar section, the second was another set of women who displayed and were probably selling their food items such as fruits, chicken and rice. For those who love beans, sorry, there were no beans available. The third section was the youths. They were on the second floor of the multipurpose building of the church thanking God in their own way. They were seen exhibiting their youthful exuberance in different ways and they looked good in their different outfits. The men and women wore a unison St. Joseph customized Ankara cloth which were designed stylishly to their individual taste. 

The members of St Joseph Catholic church are mostly from the eastern part of Nigeria called Ibo or Igbo tribe. The rest are from other tribes and ethnicity. Due to the Igbo dominated nature of the church members, the Bazaar is usually done like a village meeting but in an upgraded form. One of the agenda of the Bazaar buttresses my claim – the breaking of Kolanut.

Men were seated on the high table while children were seen playing and running around the premises joyfully. The youth’s consider this day as a day to socialize among themselves and many of them see it as fun. The traffic caused by the program was massive as trailers carrying containers, cars parked on both sides of the road seemed to be excessive meanwhile the road is not encouraging.

St Joseph Catholic Church runs fellowships or extensions called Small Christian Community and they are named using streets of Kirikiri town. The Comfort Oboh Small Christian Community, Dillion Small Christian Community, Agunbiade Small Christian Community, Magbesa Small Christian Community, Creek View Estate Small Christian Community, Abdulahi Small Christian Community, Mary Omobhude Small Christian Community, Johnson Small Christian Community, Block A4 Medium Barracks Small Christian Community, Fakande Small Christian Community, Cardoso Small Christian Community, Olubaka Small Christian Community, Ilaje Small Christian Community felicitated with the Pastoral team, Sisters of Charity and the chairman and members of the 2013 harvest committee. What happened to all other streets? If your street isn’t mentioned, an upgrade is required to that effect.

The program was a success and we look forward to next year’s Bazaar.

Make http://fedricxconsult.blogspot.com your favorite home page to read daily articles, story series, and news concerning Kirikiri town.

Our motto still remains.. Upgrading Standards.