Sr. Maite Oiartzun Nshimirimana, missionary of Our Lady of Africa sent to Burundi, shares the joy of her Jubilee of 25 years of missionary life
In this year of grace and blessing, when we are celebrating in the Church the Jubilee of 2025 years since the birth of Jesus, 200 years since the birth of our Founder Lavigerie, and we are also celebrating my Jubilee of 25 years of missionary life, for me it is essential to root myself and put my trust in the YES of Jesus, the YES of Mary, the YES of Lavigerie and of our MSOLA sisters, and the YES of my parents, and from generation to generation all these yeses have given me a lot of courage.
I felt the strength of the Holy Spirit to continue to commit myself with Faith and renew my YES to Christ forever, and all this on the occasion of the celebration of my jubilee of 25 years of Missionary Religious Life in the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa family.
The day chosen for the celebration was 29 March 2025, because I also wanted to celebrate 65 years since my birth and baptism. And the place chosen was our Mucunguzi Parish in Gitega (Burundi). So, like a miracle, everyone turned up.
My Jubilee became THE JUBILEE OF US ALL.
Here is the Gospel of John 15:9-16 ‘Abide in my Love…that you may bear fruit and that your fruit may abide’ to give thanks to the Lord for his infinite and unconditional Love which has shaped my missionary life throughout these years and all the fruits harvested in the different countries where I was sent on Mission: Burkina, Burundi, Mexico, Kenya, Italy, Spain and especially Burundi where I had the gift of spending most of these years.
Putting my faith in the words of Jesus, ‘nothing is impossible for God’, I had long since begun to dream of celebrating my 25-year Jubilee in Africa, with so many people with whom I shared the mission, and today I continue to share my missionary life in Burundi in the Apostolates of Catechesis and Integral Ecology in the Schools and High Schools of Gitega, with so many friends of different ages, religions, social conditions… and also my dream was to invite my family and friends from Spain to take part in this historic celebration.
I’ve been preparing for this great adventure since 2023 in the Bible course I did in the Holy Land, following in the footsteps of Jesus of Nazareth.
What’s more, in February 2025 I was given the gift of a 10-day retreat of prayer and reflection on the life of our founder Lavigerie ‘for a passionate and renewed commitment to the peoples of Africa’, because this year we are celebrating the 200th anniversary of his birth. During all those years, I experienced the presence of ‘providence’ in many situations, and for my Jubilee, it was there too! And little by little, obstacles and difficulties were transformed into opportunities, because everything is grace!
Archbishop Emeritus Simoni Ntamwana, who welcomed me to Burundi in 2000, was delighted to preside at the thanksgiving Eucharist. Sr Ania Wójcik was sent by the MSOLA Congregation. Gema, Miguel and Aloña from the lay group ‘Nakupenda Afrika’ flew to Burundi to represent my family, my dear mother Teresita and my friends from Spain. Their presence built a bridge of fraternity and international openness, beyond borders, which people appreciated very much. My companions from Burundi, with whom I share the apostolate at the Ecole sociale and the Ecole d’Art, and at the Lycées Sainte Thérèse and Christ Roi, also came. Our friends from the Gitega community were also with us.
The Jubilee celebration was splendid thanks to the collaboration of everyone
My community, the Christians of our Mucunguzi parish and many people who got involved: the ‘Cantores de la Paix’ children’s choir, the dancers, our lay groups, the Bene Tereziya and Nazareth Family sisters, the brothers of Saint Camille.
We joined the community of our Albino friends from Gitega to prepare the festive meal. The young Scouts, always ready to serve, to decorate and serve the meal with our 6 young pre-postulants from our community, the presence of our brothers the Missionaries of Africa, our Muslim friends from our neighbourhood also came to show their friendship. The mothers of our parish whom I have known for a long time, now grandmothers, also had a place. And at the end of the party, my friends the ‘street children’ came to dance with us. Everyone ate and we didn’t lack for anything.
From near and far, we were in communion with the whole congregation, my family and the Carmelite nuns in Spain, who supported us unceasingly with their prayers. The Jubilee was a gift from God to welcome so many fruits of 25 years of mission, inspired by the values of our Charism and the Joy of the Gospel.
We thank the Lord for so many blessings and graces received.
And with a heart full of gratitude, I set out for the future with a new missionary impetus. And as a good fruit of the Jubilee, thanks to the solidarity of my mum Teresita and the Friends of Nakupenda Afrika, we went to Gitega Prison to share 170 blankets with the women and the sick, along with 200 kg of rice. This initiative to go and share our jubilee with the poorest and most vulnerable was a commitment to solidarity full of love and joy!
And with my heart full of gratitude, I sing:
How can I not praise you Lord Jesus, you who have burnt my heart at the crossroads of the Scriptures… turn my senses inward, force my steps to adventure so that the fire of your happiness to others may take hold!’
May Our Lady of Africa, star of Evangelisation, always accompany us
