Young diocesan missionary teaches refugees

Luke Ebener believes he is proof positive that, if one really listens to God's call, the answers will come.

A graduate of Glenwood High School in Chatham and St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa, Ebener was leading a comfortable life in Davenport, just a few hours away from his parents and his hometown. However, at 24 years old, he somehow felt unfulfilled.

At an interview during a home visit a few weeks ago, Ebener explained how he went from working in finance in the central United States to teaching English in a simple high school in South Sudan. He's already more than half-way through his one-year commitment, having begun his work in Africa last September. He works with the Salesian Lay Missioner (SLM) program at St. Bosco Parish in the capital city of Juba.

Ebener says he has always been active in the church. However, it was when he was working as a financial advisor for MassMutual Financial Group — and helping with youth ministry at Our Lady of Victory Parish in Davenport — that he had an encounter that set his calling in motion.

In late 2011 Luke was visiting his family when he and his mother, Shelley Ebener (who is a member of St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Chatham) happened to attend Mass at Little Flower Parish in Springfield. There Shelley recognized an important person from their past, a woman named Pat Titone, the now-retired Neonatal Intensive Care Unit nurse manager who took care of the very premature Luke at St. John's Hospital in Springfield.

"To understand the encounter you have to know more of my story. I was born three months premature and at 2 pounds, only had a five percent chance of survival. It is through many prayers of family and friends and the grace of God that I am here today," Ebener says. "However, my miraculous birth didn't have a lot of meaning for me until I met the head nurse of the neonatal care unit where I was born.

"She happened to be a lector at the Mass and my mom recognized her right away," he says. "The stories she shared after Mass about my birth started me thinking and reflecting. God had a plan for me when I was born and I began to ask myself, 'Is the life I'm living in line with God's plan?'

The Calling

"I couldn't honestly look at myself in the mirror and say, 'Yes.' Something was missing and I wanted more," he says, explaining that he began to pray about it. "After weeks of prayer, reflection and spending time with Jesus through the Eucharist and adoration, I finally got my answer." That answer was full-time missionary work with the Salesian Lay Missioner program.

But hearing the call didn't come easily. "When I was discerning the call, I kept reading and thinking of the phrase from the Bible: 'Do not be afraid.' (Isaiah 41:10) So, after several more weeks of wrestling with God and trying to come up with something, anything besides this, I finally surrendered," he says. "There was so much peace in my life at that moment."

Ebener still had much to learn about the Republic of South Sudan, which is the newest country in the world. It was born July 9, 2011 after five years of autonomy from the government of the North, as a result of the comprehensive peace agreement that ended many years of civil war. Located in Northeast Africa, South Sudan is about the size of Texas and is one of the poorest countries in the world.

Parental concerns

Shelley Ebener, a fifth- and sixth-grade teacher, was understandably concerned that her younger son — one that she nearly lost in infancy — decided to volunteer in a country that is so new and seemed dangerous.

"It's a motherly instinct to worry," Ebener says. "So, yes she was worried. You name it, she was concerned about it. But she understands that it's a call that I have. That helps her."

Luke's father, Josh Ebener, was also worried, so he visited South Sudan this winter. After the visit, he was more comfortable with his son's work.

The mission area — a compound that contains a parish church, two schools, a place for missionaries to stay and a formation house for future priests — is safe, says Ebener. It is surrounded by an 8-foot tall fence and a security guard is on hand 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Working in the area feels right, Ebener says. "I joined the SLM's to help spread the Good News to the children of the world and be a living example of the Gospel. I hope I am bringing light and hope to all who I encounter in South Sudan."

Teaching 'South Sudan-style'

Josh Ebener, who is in high school administration, was a little taken back by his son's primitive teaching conditions. "My dad describes the school as having an 1800's classroom," says Ebener. The barebones rooms contain desks and blackboards and have no electricity. The school is in its first year, so it will be expanded year by year.

"It has been very hot there; especially in the school," says Ebener, who found coming home to the cold of Illinois an abrupt change. In the dry summer of South Sudan, which happens when Central Illinois is experiencing winter, the daily temperature can easily reach 110 degrees. Then the rains come. Of course, mosquitoes, which carry malaria, are another concern.

The school year in South Sudan runs from May through March. So, when students begin classes at the high school next month, there will be both sophomores and freshmen in attendance. Most of those students are in their late teens and more than three-fourths of them are men.

"Education for women is rare in South Sudan. They don't see a reason to educate them," Ebener says, explaining that there are, however, a number of seminars aimed at empowering women. He teaches one young woman who walks several hours each way, back and forth from her home, to attend her daily classes.

"Also, teachers come and go all the time there," Ebener says. "They teach any number of subjects. I teach English but I could easily teach any subject (at the high school level)."

The students in South Sudan speak both Arabic and English. "Those are the two official languages. They are moving toward using more English. The students are very eager to learn English, so it is seen as a freedom. But it is English with a very heavy accent. There are no 'N' or 'P' sounds, so for example Pepsi is Bepsi."

The South Sudanese people

It may be difficult for people in the United States to fathom what the people who are flocking into South Sudan have been experiencing, Ebener says. "The war affected everybody in varying degrees, and just about all the people in South Sudan are refugees. Poverty is everywhere. There is still a lot of tribal violence, but with the people I work with the joy is everywhere. There is always laughter. They enjoy every single moment of their freedom."

Many adults come to Mass on Sundays but in some ways they don't live as Catholics, Ebener explains. "For example, the average man has four wives and the average woman has three husbands."

But the faith of the young people is very strong, he says. "We pray the rosary Sunday through Thursday. On Friday we have a prayer group and adoration. We have the Stations of the Cross during Lent and on Saturday night we pray the rosary and have Mass. After that we project a movie. We have probably 400 kids there. They call it 'watching a cinema.'"

A great believer in physical fitness, Ebener— who is known by the locals as "Luke from America" — is also teaching the young people to play basketball, something they truly enjoy.

Ebener says for him, the living conditions in Juba are fairly comfortable. His home has concrete floors, a restroom with a shower, Internet access and a mosquito net to sleep under at night. He also eats three meals a day. He knows he is much more comfortable than the thousands of refugees that flock into the country every single day.

Still the people in Juba are happy and totally embrace their newfound freedom. "The more I experience the culture in South Sudan, the more I see that everything done here is done out of love," Ebener says. "Love for God and love for each other."

The road ahead

Ebener's mission duties in South Sudan run until September, but he hasn't made up his mind what will happen next. "I am on leave of absence from MassMutual and I can go back there. And after the one-year mark they (the Salesians) are flexible. But I don't know," he says with a smile that reaches his eyes. "We'll see what God has in store."

If you or a family or parish member is responding to the call to serve in overseas missions, please contact Vicki Compton, director of the Office of the Missions at .