From our Sr. Xaverine Mukatabaza, Malindi community, Kenya
Mother Marie Salome said
Little things are a constant witness to our love of God. Let us do them faithfully, fervently and generously.” (N.M. N° 55)
Personally, I believe in little things as a witness of our love of God.
Through my experiences of training young women at the skills training workshop, I know that love is shared there with these women. The skills gained, the language used and the collaboration with them, makes them more independent and confident as they strive to build a better future for themselves and their children.
They not only learn how to knit sweaters and sewing in general but also moral and Christian values. These values have helped both of us to come to the same understanding of collaborating and supporting each other.
I also learn from them as they share their experiences of life, their joys and challenges. They have taught me patience, humility and perseverance. Everything has its own time. Working with them, one needs to be resilient, as we strive to help them overcome cultural habits, for example: a girl is made for marriage and therefore, education is not their priority for the girl child.
As a community, our door is always open for all people especially the young ones.
They feel at ease to share with us their experiences. From there, we sisters see how to support them in various ways.
Working with the young people has transformed me personally because welcoming young people for spiritual support, counselling, financial and relational support comes naturally. As a community we have learnt that the young people need only the person who can understand them and challenge them when necessary. We learnt as
well that confidentiality about their shared experiences builds trust and healing.
Here I am sharing with you my experience of working with the group of Wana Maria (children of Mary) in Malindi diocese.
It is a joy to share with them my experiences. I believe that it brings another perspective to their daily life because we study various topics which help them open their minds and hearts. These sessions help them as well to approach life with hope and faith. I encourage them to consider the past as just the one chapter of life which does not define them. To live means to change, to grow and have an impact on their society. What is most important for them is a listening, attentive ear without judging them.
Personally, and as a community sometimes I/we feel vulnerable because there are so many needs here in Malindi for young people, but also for children, women and even for men. We cannot respond to all of them which makes us feel sometimes sad, helpless and powerless.
For me the transformation journey at any level, from congregation to the personal level is summarized in the word of Cardinal Lavigerie:
love them as a mother loves her child.”
Only this kind of love will motivate us to go even where we don’t want to go. This is the same love which makes me do all that I do and go to far-flung villages to talk to young people because I believe that I am called to be Christ to
others and transmit all what I have received from him.
One day, I went to one of the farthest peripheries of an outstation in Malindi diocese. I like such areas because the young people need a lot of support. Their knowledge about faith and education is still low. Being with and talking to them motivates them. They are willing to learn and change the family setting because many of their families have nothing to do with church matters and they are also ignorant and poor.
This is the challenge that most of these young people face because they are trying their best to become better persons, filled with God’s love but life seems to treat them unfairly. I cannot respond to all their needs but my presence with them is a source of hope.
Through my daily encounters I discover God’s will and respond to it.
I feel how God is working in me because despite the challenges in the apostolate, God continues to reveal himself in the life of his people and in the events of life. Prayer becomes a breath of my soul as Lavigerie says. It is through prayer that I receive strength and courage to go on in my mission. God is with us and he goes always before us. There is nothing in this world to be afraid of.
The need to go beyond my comfort zone has challenged me and has helped me become a woman who believes that change is possible and it has to start with me. The humility, simplicity and zeal for the mission that Mother Marie Salome and her sisters transmitted to us have to grow in me and us who believe that Christ is present in the people
through our encounters.
Transformation is a journey and a process to undertake.
Being aware of that, every experience becomes an opportunity for growth and transformation. The more I grow the more I have come to learn that only God can satisfy our longing and he makes the impossible possible.
We only need to live the invitation of Cardinal Lavigerie “to be women of faith and prayer” – “to love them as a mother loves her child.”
