As long as he can remember, Deacon Christian N. Njodzela, 28, has felt a desire for the priesthood.
The youngest of eight growing up in Vekovi, Kikaikelahki, Cameroon, Deacon Njodzela said he often attended daily Mass with his mother, where he first felt the desire to become a priest one day. At the age of 5, he had not learned to read yet, and at Mass, he would worry, “I want to become a priest, but if I become a priest, what happens when I celebrate Mass and it is time for me to read the Gospel?”
After he received his first holy Communion, he became an altar server, which in Cameroon involved more than serving at daily Masses. During the week he attended special practice and information sessions. He also accompanied priests on visits to mission churches. On Saturdays, he joined his pastor in bringing Communion to the sick, including his great-grandmother. “Those people were always anxious to receive Jesus,” he said. “You could see the joy in them.”
Those visits were a turning point in Deacon Njodzela’s vocation story. After those visits, he thought, “I wish one day I would be able to bring Jesus to people, especially those who are old and cannot come to the church — so, the church will go to them.” From then on, he was assured of God’s vocation for him.
After high school, he entered seminary in the Diocese of Kumbo. Several years later, he received an unexpected phone call from the diocese’s bishop, Bishop George Nkuo. “He said, ‘Christian, do you still want to become a priest?’ ” Deacon Njodzela recalled. The question immediately sent him into a panic: “I had not even expressed any concerns in formation about becoming a priest.” He immediately replied, “Yes, bishop, I still want to become a priest, if that is God’s will and if Mother Church sees it fit.”
Much to Deacon Njodzela’s relief, Bishop Nkuo wasn’t calling to dissuade him from the priesthood. Instead, he told the young seminarian, “I want you to do the rest of your studies in the United States of America, and you will go to the Diocese of Arlington. Christian, what do you think about that?”
Deacon Njodzela had never traveled outside of Cameroon before: “I had no idea where the Diocese of Arlington was,” he said. He sat in shocked silence for a few moments, before Bishop Nkuo prompted him, “Christian, are you still there?”
Deacon Njodzela was obedient to his bishop and arrived in the U.S. to continue his studies at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md., in 2021.
Although the adjustment was difficult — Deacon Njodzela’s mother initially worried about his health and wellbeing, often asking, “How are you going to cook?” — he said that he found a family in the diocese. “I have made family here,” he said. “When I go to my home parish, St. Andrew in Clifton, I know that I’m home. I call it home. And the people (make) it home for me,” he said.
After ordination, Deacon Njodzela will be parochial vicar at St. Veronica Church in Chantilly.
Deacon Njodzela said he hopes the faithful will pray for him before ordination, “that I will celebrate the sacraments reverently, worthily and in accordance with the church.” He hopes to return to Cameroon after ordination to visit family and friends. But most of all, he anticipates celebrating Mass and bringing the Eucharist to the faithful: “To bring Jesus to the people has been my wish since my early days.”
