"This is how God works..." (St Lucia Retreat Centre - update)

Bishop John Ricard from the USA bishops' conference visited the Vicariate of Ingwavuma few months' after I was ordained bishop (in 2009). A delegation of bishops and lay people were visiting our Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC) and part of the group went to the Vicariate of Ingwavuma. Mr Fritz Zuger was also part of the group. They stayed at different lodges in St Lucia. 

Last week Bishop Ricard and Mr Zuger came to Swaziland for a quick visit on their way to Mozambique. I suggested we visited St Lucia. The USA Bishops' Conference had financially supported the "St Lucia Retreat and Training Centre" project. The Centre is nearly ready and I felt it would have been a good opportunity to see it. 

I asked Mr Rudi Redinger (St Lucia resident and member of the "advisory team") if he could be available to "lead a tour of the project". He would be a real blessing being able to explain to Bp Ricard every detail of the process followed since June 2013.

I thanked God he was. We spent there more than an hour at the site.

By the end of the visit, and being myself absolutely impressed about everything I had seen I told Rudi: "Had I known how beautiful the project would be and the size of it... I would have probably not started it. I would have probably felt it was too big, too difficult..."

Rudi replied: "this is how God works...".  Indeed.

Some updates:

Click HERE to see the cottages

Click HERE to see the hall

Click HERE to see the church