The sisters on temporary vows of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa (SMNDA) took part in a period of formation, sharing and renewal centred on the theme: ‘Taking root in Christ, the source of our charism’.
This took place during their meeting organised by the General Council. It was held in Ouagadougou, at the monastery of the Benedictine monks of Koubri, from 16 to 30 July 2026.
Sister Nadine Nana, from the Ouagadougou community, gratefully shares the fruits of this session.
The session was led by Sister Jeanne d’Arc, Assistant General on behalf of the Council, together with Sisters Margaret Kibola, Carmen Sammut and Vickness Muleya, who accompanied us throughout the session and the retreat. The Mission Committee also contributed to this gathering. We express our deep gratitude to them for their availability and commitment.
The theme of the session was explored in depth through several topics essential to religious and missionary life: the spiritual life and the apostolic life, the charism, the mission, stewardship and structures. Among these themes, I would like to share with you a few that touched me most deeply.
Prayer and apostolate: finding the right balance
Spiritual life and apostolic life are two indispensable dimensions of religious life, particularly for us SMNDA. The session helped us to recognise a tendency that can sometimes take hold in our daily lives: giving more priority to apostolic activities than to prayer. When the apostolate takes precedence over the spiritual life, we risk becoming more activist than spiritual. Yet prayer must remain a priority. It is through prayer that we come to know Jesus, that we learn from him, and that we draw the strength needed to fulfil the mission entrusted to us. Reflecting on this, I liken a consecrated woman who does not pray to a vehicle without an engine. That is why we are called to seek a balance between our life of prayer, our community life and our apostolic life. This balance involves, in particular, a renewed attachment to Christ, the Lord of the harvest, who calls us and sends us out into his field.
The session also reminded us of the importance of discipline in the spiritual life: being faithful to our times of prayer and adhering to the established schedule, except in cases of genuine emergency. This daily fidelity helps us to remain rooted in Christ, even amidst the demands of the mission.
The mission is God’s
Another important outcome of the session concerns our understanding of mission. The mission we carry out is not primarily our own: it is God’s.
It is He who calls us, chooses us and sends us out to take part in his work. We do not, therefore, own the mission. This realisation invites us to make ourselves available to embrace Christ’s mission and to fulfil what he asks of us.
Today, we are sent out into a world marked by consumerism, the constant pursuit of productivity, the ubiquity of social media, conflicts and wars, but also by a culture of endless entertainment.
Faced with these realities, our mission is to offer, through our lives, an alternative path:
that of silence, fraternity, simplicity and encounter.
Being rooted in Christ thus enables us to bear witness, at the heart of the world, that a life founded on the Gospel can give deep meaning to our existence and to our relationships with others.
A call to remain rooted in Christ
At the end of this session, we set out with a powerful invitation: to remain deeply attached to Christ, the source of our vocation, our charism and our mission.
May the Lord grant us the grace to be religious sisters faithful to prayer and ready for mission.
May Cardinal Charles Lavigerie and Mother Marie Salomé intercede for us, so that, day by day, we may become true missionaries according to God’s heart and in keeping with our founder’s missionary vision.
