By Sr. Xaverine Mukatabaza, Malindi Community, Kenya
“Our only goal is to make God known, loved and served” (Thoughts of Mother Marie Salome, no 167)
Dear sisters, brothers and friends of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa,
It is my joy to share with you the experience of a of a 17-year-old girl who visited our community and stayed with us for three days. I begin with her words as she was sharing with me how she had perceived the sisters and our lifestyle.
Her first impression she said: “What a joy to live with you sisters!” I asked her why? She responded that she could not imagine that we are from different countries. We are four sisters: Ghanaian, Congolese, Ugandan and Rwandese. She admired our way of living. She said,
“You are like sisters from the same parents because of the love that you have for one another.”
“Be true sisters to one another.” Mother Marie Salome.
This girl recognized this aspect of being true sisters as the sisters share together their joys, challenges and difficulties. She was impressed by our collaboration, our sharing at table about the apostolates and life in general.
She was touched by our charism to truly be apostles nothing but apostles. Being here and there for the people to whom we are sent. She felt so much touched and challenged to see how the sisters tirelessly fight for the rights of the vulnerable children of Kenya yet we are not Kenyans.
Through our sharing, she told me that her wish, is to see that at least, people in their societies especially women and children are being supported and helped to fight for their dignity. For this reason, she appreciated our MSOLA charism especially the mission of helping vulnerable children and women. She has been visiting congregations but she had not yet found the one where she could start journeying with them as she continues to discern what God wants of her.
Personally, I was touched by the passion of this girl who is easily touched by the suffering of others and she lets herself be transformed into the image of God. Her readiness and openness to share whatever she has, challenges me and calls me really to support this girl who desires to give the best of herself for the restoration of human dignity especially of children and women.
This girl is you and me, let’s not close our eyes to the sufferings of our brothers and sisters and our children in the streets and at home. Let God be known, loved and served by our example, our hospitality and our sharing. What we live and what we do, this is what shows people who we are. Our lifestyle and our apostolate helped this girl see Christ in the midst of his people and see God’s work in this world, so torn-apart.
Having this girl in our community and her sharing, makes us feel that at least there are some young people, not really 100% but a few of them, who are ready to give their life for others. For the hope that the Risen Lord gives us in every step that we take and looking for the quality in girls not the numbers. We pray that God will accompany this girl in her desires and dreams. In this world where technology and modernization have changed many things, we pray that the youth will not be led by worldly pleasures which destroy their life.
Dear friends, let’s also pray for families who are a great support for the growth of their children. When we visited the family of this girl, her father was interested to know what she was doing during her stay with us. This speaks a lot to us because it shows the concern that these parents have for their daughter. We explained to them that she had come to see how we live and we also had an opportunity to tell them that from time to time, she will be coming to visit us so that she can be helped in vocation discernment. These parents appreciated this and we agreed to support their daughter.
As a community, we promised them our prayers and to have meetings with this girl from time to time so that together,
God’s Will can be done in her life.
