“I cannot say yes,” a startled friar Juniper Cummings said to friar Wayne Hellmann, then Minister Provincial, “I have never said no. I cannot say no.” This was the gist of a 2:00 am telephone conversation between Louisville, KY, and Kitwe, Zambia, where friar Wayne was presiding at the Custodial Chapter of the St. Francis Custody of Zambia. (A Custody is a `province in the making’ that operates somewhat independently from its founding province) Friar Juniper, who was then serving as Guardian of St. Anthony Friary in Louisville and also serving as the Province’s Director of Development, had been roused from a peaceful sleep to be informed that he had been enthusiastically elected the new Custos of the Zambian Custody. Friar Wayne advised friar Juniper to sleep on it, and he would call him back in a few hours to continue the conversation. “Sleep on it! How can I go back to sleep with this on my mind? This is a nightmare!” friar Juniper exclaimed. (Anyone who knew friar Juniper could easily picture this scenario.) Juniper’s consent was needed in order to officially declare his election so that the Custodial chapter of our missionary friars could move forward.
At that time, our Minister General had urged me, as Minister Provincial, to find a leader for our province custody in Zambia who could inspire and motivate the friars of our Custody and the Italian Custody in Zambia to form one province. This would be no small feat to accomplish, but I thought, “If anyone could do this, friar Juniper could.” When the Custodial Chapter convened in Kitwe, I suggested to the missionary friars that they elect friar Juniper.
Friar Juniper had served in many leadership roles within the province and the Order. Whatever his job, Juniper was consistently dedicated to supporting friars in the Missions, consistently begging for funds to support them and to further their work. In conversations with me and other friars, Juniper expressed a desire to serve in Africa, so I knew that he might be open to the idea; I also knew he rarely said “No” to anything.
The next morning, the above-mentioned conversation continued. It resulted in his agreement to accept that assignment for only three years. “He could not say no” because he had never before said no to any assignment he had ever been asked to do. He agreed to three years in Zambia; he stayed for twenty-two years, well into his eighties.
Friar Juniper’s secret was simple, especially among the Zambian friars and people at large. Everyone who met him immediately felt loved. His compassion became well-known; he would sit on dirt floors for hours through the night to accompany the sick and dying, as well as make regular morning drives through sparse villages to pick up the corpses of those who had died (many of whom were victims of AIDS, which was ravaging Africa). Many parents sought him to baptize their children. Today, there are many young adult men in Zambia who share the same name: Juniper.
When friar Juniper left Zambia in 2011, he left behind a flourishing, united, single new province, The Province of the Franciscan Protomartyrs, the first missionary friars and first martyrs of our Franciscan Order. St. Francis, in referring to the friar Juniper of his day, famously said, “Would to God my brothers, that I had a forest of such Junipers,” a sentiment that I and countless friars of our province and order share wholeheartedly.
