Perpetual vows of Sister Béatrice Wêndpouiré Badini
On Sunday, the 23rd of April 2023, in the parish church of St. John XXIII, a parish of the Archdiocese of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso run by the Missionaries of Africa, Sister Badini Wéndpouiré Beatrice pronounced her perpetual vows. It was a great joy for us Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa, as well as the Badini and Sawadogo families. After 9 years of temporary vows, she pronounced her perpetual ‘YES’ to follow Christ according to the charism of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa (MSOLA). Her vows were received by Sister Celina Natanek, of the North West Africa Entity Leadership Team (NOUA), during a mass presided over by Monsignor Justin Kientega, Bishop of Ouahigouya (the diocese of Beatrice). Concelebrating with him were 14 priests including Beatrice’s younger brother, Father Damien Badini. Sister Beatrice made her postulancy in Ouagadougou in 2010 – 2012, then, she did…
Final vows of Sr. Redempta Kabahweza
The 16th of April 2023, the day of final commitment of Sr. Redempta Kabahweza, was a great day of joy in our MSOLA family, in the family of Sr. Redempta and the entire church center of Kabata, Fort Portal in Uganda. It was a joy of participating in the event of a young woman who took the step to give herself totally to God and to God’s service until death! It was a celebration of Sr. Redempta’s final “YES” to the Lord’s call, to leave her country and proclaim God’s love to all the people she encounters. After listening to many people, the simplicity of Redempta in choosing the local church center for her feast was impressive. During her speech, she shared that it was in that vary church that she experienced her first encounter with God, where she came to know God and fell in love with Jesus…
A time of Grace – Juniorate 2022 – 2023
Picture taken at the end of the closing Eucharist: the juniors with Sr. Carmen Sammut, Superior General and the animators of that formation period. From left to right: Srs Mapendo Masirika (animatrice), Carmen, Béatrice Badini, Redempta Kabahweza, Aurélie Dushime, Maamalifar Poreku (animatrice). At the end of the juniorate which was held in Rome from September 2022 to February 2023, we, the juniors Aurélie, Béatrice and Redempta, want to express our gratitude and appreciation for this time of grace that the congregation has given us. We are grateful to God the Father for all the graces received. We borrow the words of the psalmist “How shall I render to the Lord all the good he has done me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord” (Ps 116:12-13). The facilitators of the sessions spared no effort to accompany us. The sessions have…
Be a witness to Christ in a broken world
In the photo the aspirants with Sr Helene on the left and Sr Anociata on the right Here is the report of a three-day session for aspirants in Kinshasa. There were four aspirants, three of whom will be presented to begin their pre-postulancy in Goma. This session brought a lot of joy to the aspirants and to us sisters because the aspirants participated actively during the session. We are grateful to our sister Hélène Kavula who accepted to animate this meeting during her home leave. For this session, we chose the theme of “discernment” in order to help our candidates discern their vocation better, before making the decision to put everything in God’s hands by handing over their documents to be studied before admission or a re-orientation. We began the session with some time for getting to know each other: we stood in a circle in our television room…
How a dream became reality
One day, I saw Cardinal Lavigerie in a dream giving a lecture. I wondered what could be the meaning of my dream. Well, this is how the dream was born in me to have an open day to make our Congregation better known and to respond to the call to open ourselves to the different forms of belonging. This stayed with me for a long time before I told my sisters in community. One day during the community meeting, I shared it. So, we started to organize by writing an announcement that was read in all the masses at the cathedral in Ouagadougou. When the day came, “our sister the rain” visited us to the point that those who came to the first three Masses quickly returned home without coming to our house. I then felt that it was up to me to go to them, to look for…
Resilience training – Ouagadougou, ICOF 2022
When I received the information on the training I was going to follow, I was a little reluctant because I imagined receiving classes where there would be few breaks and a lot of reflection. But since I had no valid reasons to refuse, I accepted. So I went to this training “Resilience and Religious Life” with a little apprehension and curiosity. We were 5 from the same congregation and I saw the other enthusiastic sisters. I followed the group. Upon arrival, I saw sisters from other congregations that I knew and those that I did not know. The atmosphere of reunion gave me joy. From day one we had to answer the question: What helps me when I face a difficult situation? For me it is the meditation on the life of Jesus through the prayer of the rosary: from the Annunciation to the Resurrection. And I ask the…
The General Council meets the sisters of temporary vows
The meeting is held from 12th to 17th of December in Nairobi, Kenya. Its main objective is to prepare the contribution of our Sisters of temporary vows to the General Chapter 2023. The sisters pray and share using the method of spiritual conversation. We entrust them to your prayers!
A novice participates in the vows of five sisters
I would like to share with you, dear readers, what I experienced during the preparations and the day of the celebration in a few words. On the 8 October, I participated in the first religious profession of our 4 sisters: Clementine Hanyie and Neema Kavugho Kyuma from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sylvane Roumaba from Burkina Faso, Xaverine Mukasinga from Rwanda. The same day Sister Agnieszka Lyskawinska transfered to our Congregation from Poland and made her perpetual vows. A few days before the celebration, we had the joy of welcoming our sisters from Ghana, Mauritania, Mali and Ouagadougou. You can imagine the joy of reunion. The house was lively. On the day of the celebration and especially during the homily, I was touched by the questions asked by the main celebrant, Father Jean Michel Laurent Missionary of Africa: “Which missionary do I desire and would like to be? Which missionary…
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…
Becoming a formator in Missionary and Vocation Animation
From Sister Bouda Julienne, Ukusijoni Community, Uganda From the 30th of July to the 4th of September, I participated in a workshop on Formation, organised by the Association of the Religious in Uganda (ARU) – Arua Branch in Lodonga, Northern Uganda. By formation, we were reminded that by the nature of our religious consecration, we are formators in our different ministries, though the majority were formators in their various institutes. We were 28 participants including the animators, from 10 Religious Institutes. The formation consisted in presenting to the participants the ARU- Formation Resource Book and its Guideline. We were taught about ecclesiology and charisma of consecrated life according to the teaching of the Catholic Church. The main objective of this meeting was also to gather the religious of the Arua diocese to know each other and live the motto of the ARU: “No longer strangers but friends” Jn: 15.15, and…