Fathers Christopher, Felix and Kene arrive in Tasmania on its coldest winter’s day. Fr Brian takes us behind the scenes of the priesthood, welcoming the Nigerian missionaries into his Presbytery, where they’ll stay for their first four weeks. It’s a whirlwind of ‘enculturation’ Tassie style as the young Fathers encounter Tasmanian Devils, colonial villages, snowfields, and the even colder reality of elderly congregations in largely empty churches, with an aging local priesthood.

After four weeks Archbishop Doyle sends the Fathers to work with his overstretched Aussie priests. Fr Kene goes to Launceston where the harsh reality and loneliness of being an African in Australia starts to bite. Fr Felix, sent to Tasmania’s isolated West Coast, struggles with a church culture vastly different to his own. Fr Christopher stays in Hobart’s Cathedral Parish, and while he is expected to ‘learn the ropes’ from Fr Brian, it is clear his mentor doesn’t believe importing priests is the solution. Six weeks into The Mission it looks like a rocky road ahead for everyone.