Ambrose Mbire Wanyonyi


Ambrose Mbire Wanyonyi, 28, of Bungoma, Kenya, is a Glenmary candidate interested in pursuing missionary priesthood with Glenmary. He arrived in America in early August 2011, and he says he is "very glad to finally be with members of my Glenmary family."


He and Godfrey Musabe are actually part of Glenmary's 2010 formation class. But the two completed their first year of studies during the 2010-11 academic year at the Tangaza College School of Theology in Nairobi.

He was raised as a Catholic and attended religious education and sacramental preparation classes as a boy. And for a period of six years, "I loved being a server at the altar," he says. The priests at his parish became his friends, encouraging him to join the minor seminary in 1997 for his secondary education.

"For me the call to priesthood has been gradual. It has been a process of discernment," says Ambrose. After completing secondary school in 2000, "I decided to pursue priesthood with the aim of following Christ more closely." The next year he joined the Claretians, and he stayed with them for a period of six years until 2008. But then he entered a period of discernment with Glenmary Home Missioners.

He first heard of Glenmary, he says, from a friend who was studying in Rome. To him, being a Glenmary missioner means being called to evangelize other peoples and learn from other cultures. Ambrose says that Glenmary's charism inspires him—especially its ministry to the spiritually and materially poor in rural mission areas.

He says that Tangaza College is "a friendly environment that is very conducive to learning" and that the past year prepared him well for his future studies. At the same time, he is glad to be here in this country with his formation directors, other Glenmary members and fellow students.

On Ambrose and Godfrey's first weekend after coming to America, Father Vic Subb, one of Glenmary's formation directors, took them to visit three Glenmary locations in eastern Kentucky: Glenmary Farm and the Grayson and Vanceburg missions. 

After an initial two-week orientation to Glenmary and American culture in mid-August, Ambrose and Godfrey will be joining other Glenmary students this fall at St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana.

Ambrose says he is eager "for things to unfold in the future." He is looking forward to becoming a Glenmary priest so he can "share the love and joy of Christ through his word and sacraments and follow the charism of Glenmary."

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