Mission, The (ATOM Study Guide)

The Mission is a four-part documentary series about three Nigerian priests who take up the challenge to journey to Tasmania as modern-day missionaries. Their mission is to reignite the Catholic faith among an ever-diminishing congregation.

Fathers Christopher Igboanua, Felix Ekeh and Kene Onwukwe are all in their early thirties. They began training for the priesthood at twelve and spent the next seventeen years in a seminary. Whether in rural village compounds or the often dangerous city streets of Onitsha, the missionaries are used to being surrounded by their own tribal people, a largely poverty-stricken population of over 1.5 million devout Catholics.

Will the missionaries cope with a climate they were told could kill them? Survive on food they have been told they won't be able to eat? Will they struggle to be welcomed into a largely white community that some in Nigeria believe doesn't want black priests? Or will the dwindling congregations of ageing Catholics, coupled with the resistance of the local clergy prove too hard a cross to bear?

From their arrival on Hobart's coldest winter day to their assignments in the remote corners of Tasmania during the first year of the three-year mission in Tasmania, the priests experience a rollercoaster ride of faith, dedication and culture shock in their new parishes.

This study guide to accompany The Mission by Roar Film in association with Screen Australia and Screen Tasmania has been written for junior, middle and senior secondary students. It provides information and suggestions for learning activities in English, Geography, Media, SOSE/HSIE, Religious Education and curriculum projects exploring the concepts of mission and faith.

Each episode runs for approximately twenty-six minutes.