Testimonies from the WYD in Lisbon
The following beautiful testimonies were sent by Sr. Alice Geron from Belgium. She met the young people from the parish who were participating in WYD in Lisbon, on their return she asked if they could give a testimony. There were 4 young people from their pastoral unit accompanied by Sr. Odette, Sister of the Holy Family. Please find below the testimonies of Lucily and Trixia (2 sisters) and Lynne. Testimony of Lucily, 15 years old Standing in front of the buses with my huge rucksack, I was still wondering if I was ready, if I had all my things. But I wanted to give myself over to the adventure of this WYD in Lisbon. The three coaches leaving BXL were heading for Paray-Le-Monial and Lourdes, our stopovers before Lisbon. At Paray-Le-Monial, where more than thirty apparitions of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary took place, the basilica made me…
Mission Saturday at the MSOLA
First Saturday of the month and the first day of April, but not ‘April Fool’s day’ at all, because it was also our Mission Saturday. Whereas usually these meetings are held on the second Saturday the festive time changed the habit somewhat. We began the meeting with our friends by an encounter with the Word of God. We pondered and shared the Sunday Gospel. Then we took time to get to know each other, our names, countries of origin (it was multinational!). We sang a Lenten song in English and some even got the opportunity to try playing an African instrument. I don’t think it was easy at all! While munching on delicious snacks, we chatted with people we hadn’t seen for a month or more, or with new people. Holly then introduced herself to us, explaining the meaning of her name and talking about the country she comes from,…
You are precious in my eyes and I love you
The MSOLA as experienced by a young woman in a silent retreat in Lublin Poland. The White Sisters in Lublin, Poland, started December quite busily! On Friday evening 2nd December, we 3 young women made ourselves at home in their house, beginning a 3-day retreat in silence. The theme of the recollection was taken from the 43rd chapter of Isaiah, in which the Lord explicitly says – “You are precious in my eyes and I love you!” Shortly after our arrival, in order to better prepare ourselves for the upcoming meditations, we familiarised ourselves with the retreat schedule and, later that evening, we were invited to enter into silence. Of course, the norm in this situation is to completely disconnect from all electronic devices and other appealing things such as books or the on-going World Cup. We greeted Saturday morning with a breakfast in silence, after which we…
Testimonies from the “Come and see” in Rwanda
In Rwanda there were two sessions of “Come and see” and here we share three comments from the participant. The first two testimonies are from Butare and the third from Kigali. “Dear sisters! Receive our greetings from Rwanda in Butare community! We are very grateful to God for the warm welcoming we received from the sisters, the joy and happiness we have experienced with them. We were touched by their openness during the three days of session. We were also happy to see them living together from different countries, cultures and with different ages. This increased our desire to continue Journeying with the sisters and to join them. We were seven young women. We finished our S6 this year and we are waiting for the result. Care for us in your prayers. Each one of us was very touched by the MSOLA Charism and apostolic work, like working against Human…
Sharing the “Come and see” in Burundi
“Come and see” is an invitation that God launches to anyone who wants to know his plan of Love. In our community in Burundi, this summer 2022 we organized two missionary sessions for girls who feel attracted by our missionary vocation and who seek to know for what project God created them, and how they can engage in his life, to respond to the Will of God. From July 12 to 15, the session was for students studying at the second level, we call them “pre-finalists”, there were 4 girls, plus Evelyne, our young postulant who came from Congo for her leave and who is preparing to leave for Burkina Faso. From August 8 to 12, the missionary session was for girls who have finished high school and who have many questions about their future. There were 9 girls from different regions of Burundi. The sisters of the community,…
Missionary vocation camp in Deli, Chad
This month was marked by a missionary vocation camp where we welcomed 20 girls coming from different parishes of our diocese of Moundou and wishing to know our congregation. They are interested in a missionary and apostolic life. The session was from August 7 to 12. The themes were: “Ecological conversion with Jesus” and “What are you looking for?” Each of us participated in the session and gave our part according to the proposed themes. In these two themes, we find that what marked the young people is that ecology is a question of loving and taking care of creation, starting with oneself. And for the second theme, vocation is to live a happy life with others and for others. We had the joy of sharing with them about our congregation: charism, spirituality and why we were founded by Cardinal Lavigerie. After that we had a day of sending on…
Skiknaba
From July 18 to 25, as part of the summer activities for young people and Christian students, our sister Franceline Hien had the joy of leading a training session called “SKIKNABA” with four priests in the diocese of Constantine and Hippo in Algeria. This year more than twenty Christian students took part in this formation activity. There were four workshops: one on knowledge of the Bible, one on the influence of social networks in student life, one on the introduction to the Arabic alphabet and a final workshop on sexuality and Christian life. We started in Skikda from Monday to Thursday morning, then continued to Annaba to finish on Monday morning. I liked the program of the session and the way the workshops were organized. We had four hours each day for the workshops. At the end of a day, each animator had spent an hour with each of the…
“Come and see” in Kigali – Rwanda
The disciples asked Jesus, “Where do you live?” He said, “Come and see.” (John 1:38-39) The Missionary Sisters of our Lady of Africa, are inviting young women who finished their secondary school or university for a discerning vocational session which will take place in Rwanda at the Cathedral of Butare in the community of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa. The session will start from 25/08/2022 (evening) up to 28/08/2022 (morning). This session will give you an opportunity to pray with sisters and other young women who are discerning their call. It will help you to know more about our charisma, spirituality and our mission, it will help you to have your questions answered. Requirements : Your Desire to pray with us and discern your call; Come with your bible, a pen and a notebook. And all things needed for you during the three days. Please do not…
“Come and see” in Kigali – Rwanda
The disciples asked Jesus, “Where do you live?” He said, “Come and see.” (John 1:38-39) The Missionary Sisters of our Lady of Africa, are inviting young ladies from form 4 and form 5 secondary school who are interested in discerning their vocation and who wish know our congregation ,to a vocation session in Kigali Rwanda. The session will start from 02/08/2022 up to 05/08/2022 at the Missionary of Africa center in Kigali, which is near Sainte Family Catholic . This session will give you an opportunity to pray with sisters and other young ladies who are discerning their call. It will help you to know more about our charism, spirituality and our mission, it will help you to have your questions answered . Requirement : Your Desir to pray with us and discern your call; Come with your bible, a pen and a notebook. And all things needed for you…
‘Come and see’ at the MSOLA house in Malawi
This article is an extract from MVA/MSOLA Network Letter n° 25 “Come and see” is a stage when a young woman who is interested in religious life comes to stay in our community. Just as Jesus did with his disciples when they asked Him “Master where do you stay,” He told them to “come and see” (John 1: 39). Here is a testimony shared by young Sphiwe Gervazio who stayed at our house in Lilongwe with three other girls, from 17th to 20th December 2021. Dear sisters! Receive our greetings from the warm heart of Africa! We are very grateful to God for the warm welcome we received from the sisters, the joy and peace we have experienced, the kindness and openness they showed us during our stay in their community. We came to the sisters and witnessed how they live their religious life. This increased the desire to join…