A Change and an Addition of Functions
Dear friends,
I have served as the Rector of SAMS for four consecutive academic years: 2021/2022, 2022/2023, 2023/2024, and 2024/2025. After four years, the bishop of Kumbo, Mgr. George Nkuo, wants me to take on new roles and responsibilities. I have served faithfully at SAMS with your support in many ways. The living standards at SAMS have significantly improved, and students and staff members are happy and grateful for everything that has happened at SAMS over the past four years.
I am leaving SAMS with my head high because of your support for KumboKids and Community. Through your final support, I was able to achieve the following projects in SAMS alone:
Solar system electricity
Portable drinkable water
New beds
New lockers (benches)
New chairs
Side bed cupboards
New mattresses for students to rent instead of bringing them from their homes
Renovation of the roof of the seminary chapel
Installation of security cameras
Yearly tuition and fees for some 15 students
Constant repairs of damaged materials
Renovation of the soccer stadium
Renovation of a classroom
Acquisition of office equipment (Printer, computers)
Repair of the Toyota Hilux
Education spans across various pillars of formation. Education is the main goal of KumboKids and Community. At the Minor Seminary, I have worked over the past four years to provide a well-rounded education to the young. This includes human, pastoral, spiritual, and intellectual growth. All of this was possible thanks to your help, and I am deeply grateful to all the supporters of our projects.
For all of this and much more, I thank you. With you, I can echo Pope Saint John Paul II in saying, “Remember the past with gratitude, live the present with enthusiasm, and look forward to the future with confidence.” It has always been my goal to leave my workplace better than I found it. You have helped me achieve this goal, and I thank you sincerely from the bottom of my heart.
My bishop wants me to oversee all Catholic schools, from Kindergarten to High School, instead of managing just one school, SAMS. Therefore, on June 18, 2025, I was transferred from SAMS, Kitiwum, to the Catholic Education Secretariat to serve as the Secretary for Catholic Education in the Diocese of Kumbo. Additionally, I was appointed the Vocations Director for the Diocese of Kumbo.
Before then, on May 10th, 2024, the Diocesan priests of the Diocese of Kumbo elected me the president or chairperson of the Association of Diocesan Priests (ADP) for the Diocese of Kumbo. The bishop verbally appointed me the Facilitator of Ongoing Formation for Priests in the Diocese of Kumbo. In effect, I have the following functions:
The Catholic Education Secretary for the Diocese of Kumbo
The Vocations Director for the Diocese of Kumbo
The Facilitator for Ongoing Formation of Priests in the Diocese of Kumbo
The President or Chairperson of the Association of Diocesan Priests (ADP)
My role as the Catholic Education Secretary will be to collaborate with all Catholic schools and coordinate with the Government. The Education Secretary is responsible for employing teachers at all levels of Catholic Schools. He must remain alert to avoid missing any information from the government, the bishop, or other sources regarding schools. He needs to send reminders to all schools about deadlines for various activities throughout the school year. To begin, I will need to visit all the schools to familiarize myself with their locations, environments, staffing, enrollment, and the condition of their infrastructure.
As a Vocations Director, I promote all vocations, including marriage, male and female religious life, and diocesan and religious priesthood. I organize the Vocations Camp, where members of religious congregations come to find candidates for their communities. The 2025 Vocations Camp took place from Wednesday, June 25th, to Sunday, June 29th. There were over 200 participants and more than 20 religious congregations. I also propose candidates for the Diocesan priesthood to the bishop.
The education of a priest does not end with his ordination. Pope St. John Paul II’s post-synodal apostolic exhortation, Pastores Dabo Vobis (“I Will Give You Shepherds”), outlines four key components for both ongoing post-ordination education and seminary priestly formation. The pope emphasizes the importance of continuous development for priests after their ordination. He explains that ongoing formation is another way of describing personal growth, intellectual and spiritual development, and any practices that help priests deepen their lives in the way of the Lord. Priestly formation, by its nature, must be “increasingly perfected throughout the whole of the priest’s life” (Ratio Fundamentalis, 1985). It is no surprise that such formation is a lifelong process—a way of life. Christ describes himself as the way, the truth, and the life (see Jn 14:6). Therefore, my role as the facilitator for the ongoing formation of priests will be to identify topics and discuss them with the bishop and the priests. Sometimes, the bishop can decide what he wants to be addressed. I have already done this twice since the verbal appointment by the bishop last year, 2024.
The Code of Canon Law defines a diocese thus: “A diocese is a portion of the people of God which is entrusted to a bishop for him to shepherd with the cooperation of the presbyterium, so that, adhering to its pastor and gathered by him in the Holy Spirit through the gospel and the Eucharist, it constitutes a particular church in which the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church of Christ is truly present and operative (Can. 369). The “presbyterium” refers to the priests working with the bishop. Firstly, the diocesan priests form the core of the presbyterium in a diocese. As the Chairperson of the diocesan priests, I will organize meetings twice a year, in May and in November, to discuss issues concerning the diocese. We would find ways to improve our performance and output. At the same time, I will look for ways to improve on the welfare of the priests. The diocesan priests receive a yearly allowance of $400. This is minimal for their upkeep. Already, we have bought a Palm Plantation Farm. We shall produce palm oil and sell it, and the revenues would be used to augment the income of the diocesan priests.
Dear friends, amidst all this, lies the mission of KumboKids and Community, which states that “donations go directly to:
Help ensure access to education for Kids in Kumbo by providing families with tuition and fees for school.
Construct a church in the village to provide a space for gathering and worship.
Provide funding for projects deemed most necessary by the village community members.”
I have been carrying out the mission of KumboKids and Community mentioned above. The only difference now is that I will identify more areas in need of help than before. I will encounter more children who need our assistance, more projects to serve the community, possibly dilapidated school buildings requiring renovation, and communities lacking access to clean drinking water. While continuing with ongoing projects—the church construction in Nkanchi village and support for children with tuition and fees—I would like us to acknowledge that our horizons have expanded and that your help is more crucial than ever to sustain the mission of KumboKids and Community.
I thank you for everything you are doing for KumboKids and Community. I thank all the groups and individuals, the various communities, the former students (SAMSEA), and indeed everyone who supports me in fulfilling the mission of KumboKids and Community. May God bless and reward you abundantly.
At the same time, I continue to ask for your help because our needs are growing while our resources remain limited. May God continue to bless and reward you for your generosity. Please pray for me so that I may carry out the tasks entrusted to me with wisdom, understanding, integrity, and dignity that befit every aspect of human life. Pray that our Lady, our mother, may intercede for me.
May God Bless and Reward All of You. AMEN.
- Fr. Emmanuel Fale Lon