In Rwanda there were two sessions of “Come and see” and here we share three comments from the participant. The first two testimonies are from Butare and the third from Kigali.
“Dear sisters! Receive our greetings from Rwanda in Butare community! We are very grateful to God for the warm welcoming we received from the sisters, the joy and happiness we have experienced with them. We were touched by their openness during the three days of session. We were also happy to see them living together from different countries, cultures and with different ages. This increased our desire to continue Journeying with the sisters and to join them. We were seven young women. We finished our S6 this year and we are waiting for the result. Care for us in your prayers.
Each one of us was very touched by the MSOLA Charism and apostolic work, like working against Human Trafficking, creating awareness about Climate Change, taking care of creation and environment, Justice and Peace, working with the refugees and marginalised, children, youth, women and many other activities.
We were happy to watch the videos sent by our sisters Mukatabaza Xaverine who is in Malindi, Dusenge Domina who is Algeria and the Novice Xaverine who is in Burkina Faso. Their witnesses opened our eyes and gave us a great view on the congregation of the MSOLA. It helped us also to understand that God calls us differently but gathers us together as one family through community life. We saw also that the one he calls, will be given the strengths to follow him even through difficulties.
We watched also a film on discernment, which helped us to learnt the importance of listening to our heart’s desires, and how to weight the two alternatives for a better choice. Reflection and prayer were very important for us during this session and we will continue to own it in our daily life.”
Here is the second testimony from Butare
“Dear friends, greetings from Rwanda Butare. From 25th up to 28th July 2022, 8 of us arrived to the missionary sisters of our lady of Africa in Butare community for a three days session. Our desire was to know this congregation, its charism and to know what is a vocation.
We were touched by the warm welcoming of the sisters and the novices learning English in the community. We were also touched to see people from different countries and tribes leaving together as sisters. We felt at home and trusted the sisters.
The theme of our session was to know the MSOLA. Their charism is to proclaim the Good News of Christ to all people specially those most in need. Here in Butare they are working with women and young people who struggle with their daily life. They are also called to be all to all and work with all people specially the Muslims. They are called to be apostles. These were some of the points from their charism which touched our hearts.
We were also happy to hear the witness of sister Elyse from Cyangungu which encouraged us on our searching of God’s will in our lives. She shared with us her joys of being missionary and her challenges. She invited us to trust God and the sisters journeying with us.
The last day we were sent two by two. Some of us were afraid but as Jeremiah, we felt assured but the word of God, ’do not be afraid, I am with you’. We were also strengthened by the faith and courage of the first missionary sisters as well as the witness of sister Elyse, who gave us light and courage. On mission we helped people who were in need and we took time to chat with an old man who shared with us his love story. This confirmed us the importance of being all to all, an apostle, and working with different people from different religions.
We felt that all was possible because of God’s presence with us. He enables us to trust people we met on the way and welcome their trust.
Now we are back in our homes and it is our turn to be missionaries and to share with those who did not get this opportunity to come for the session. May the light of God continue to remain with us so that we maybe the light of the world.”
This is the third testimony, from Kigali.
“From the 02 up to the 5/08/2022 we arrived at CML, the center of the Missionary of Africa in Kigali. We were 23 young students from S4 and S5, from five diocese: Butare, Byumba, Nyundo, Kabgayi, and Ruhegeri. For Some us, it was their first time to leave our homes to Kigali. We were happy for the warm welcoming and joy we received from the sisters with a nice meal, and beds prepared just for us. This helped us not to feel our tiredness. We thank the sisters who listened to our desires and gave us this session together, though the three days were not enough!
Each day we learned new things. We understood better the meaning of vocation as a call from God to love, to be with him and serve Him. We were set aflame with the calling of St. Paul, (Acts 9:1-9), Mathew, Samuel and Mary (Luke 1; 28-38). From their vocation story, we discovered that each person is different and unique in answering God’s call. We realized that God who calls us, gives us also strength to overcome all obstacles and the courage to go on. Some of us were afraid that it will be difficult for us to learn French. But the witness of novice Xaverine and sister Domina, encouraged us. We saw that we are not the first on the journey. It was also very interesting to see hear the witness of our brother Egide Missionary of Africa, who was newly ordained. He answered all our question about the mission and charism and his own challenges in his vocations.”
