Sr. Victoire Niyonzima from our Gitega community, shares the work of the Missionary Vocation Animation in Burundi
We have been blessed with young aspirants who came to follow two vocational discernment seminars.
We divided them into two groups: the first for those who came first and had not yet reached their final year of studies plus those who still have one year remaining to finish their secondary education. The second group was made up of those who, during this academic year, have finished their studies and have taken the State Examination plus those who have finished their studies a while back. The first group of 13, were there from 24th to 27th July 2024. The second group of 22 was with us from 6th to 10th August 2024.
For all these seminars we are grateful to God who enabled us to organize and carry out this project. Being a community of 4 sisters, one of whom was in Spain for her holiday, we could have given up, saying that we might not be able to follow up those participating in the programs. But with the good intention to follow up the candidates with whom we have been in contact and to help them deepen their vocation we went ahead and invited them for the vocation seminar.
We are grateful to God because we had two sisters who came for their home leave during these days of vocation seminar and they played a big role in planning with us these two meetings, doing some of the teaching and accompanying these young women. We were blessed to have a young woman to help us in preparing the lunch and supper and because of this we were able to concentrate on other matters. We are grateful also to each one of the community members present because each member contributed.
We invited a diocesan priest to teach about how to discern one’s vocation. His teaching had a big impact on the young women since part of his teaching was a slogan that they will not forget while speaking about the discernment of their vocation.
We were impressed with the active participation and continuous presence of some young children from a neighboring family. These children did not want to miss the teaching and any activities. We don’t know what they understood in all this and we can never measure the impact it all had on these “young novices” as we called them jokingly.
We pray the master for the harvest to send more laborers into his vineyard. May he fortify the vocation of all these young women who came for the seminars and all the others with whom we keep in contact.
May Our Lady of Africa, Cardinal Lavigerie, Mother Marie Salome and our ancestors in vocation and mission intercede for us that we may welcome more vocations into our congregation.
Amen