It was 5.30am on Maundy Thursday in 2015 when the people of Garissa, Kenya, woke up to a gruesome massacre, with the shooting being heard across the area, in-cluding at a compound where two Maltese bishops were based.

“Some four Al-Shabaab gunmen had entered Garissa University, a kilometre away from the compound, with the intention of killing people,” Mgr Paul Darmanin OFM Cap, who served as bishop of Garissa for 32 years, told the Times of Malta.

“They singled out Christians for point-blank execution. My heart wrenches every time I speak about it: 148 youths were killed in cold blood,” he recounted.

The Garissa University College attack was the biggest tragedy in Kenya since the 1998 US embassy terrorist bombing.

The book Ġrajjiet: Minn fomm missjunarji Maltin u Għawdxin. Photos: Jonathan Borg

The only thing we could do after the massacre was to forgive, and pray for relatives who had seen their children off to college as students and recovered them as cadavers, Mgr Darmanin said.

The bishop was speaking of the ordeal following the launch of a collection of accounts by 50 out of the 700 Maltese carrying out missionary work abroad.

The first of its sort, the book is called Ġrajjiet: Minn fomm missjunarji Maltin u Għawdxin. Considered a milestone for Missio Malta, it took two years to compile and was the brainchild of director Mgr Salvino Micallef who believed it would be a pity not to record Maltese missionaries’ experiences of despair, perseverance and hope.

Missio Malta director Mgr Salvino Micallef and Mgr Paul Darmanin OFM Cap.

Among others, Mgr Joe Alessandro OFM Cap, who is the current bishop of Garissa, recalls the day when he was shot by bandits and had his vehicle stolen, while the passengers in his car were abandoned in the bush.

Sister Natalie Abela speaks of the heartache in Pakistan when she came face to face with child labour, while Hector Pickard recounts an earthquake in Peru which felt like “the end of the world”.

Mgr Darmanin expressed hope that the book will be the first in a series of narratives.

He urged lay people carrying out missionary work to contribute to future publications.

The book, edited by Charles Buttigieg, can be bought from Faith, Hope and Charity in Merchants Street, Valletta; Dar Missio, Triq Lorenzo Gafà, Mosta, or Uffiċċju Missjunarju, Triq l-Imgħallem, Rabat, Gozo.

More information on 2123 4328, 2033 0015 or 2155 0267.