My vocation : I Had a Dream …
Sister Maite Oiartzun Baraibar, from Spain, tells her story… Tell us what led you to Africa: I went to Africa, Mali, as a tourist. I had been invited by a Spanish White Father I knew. The reality of Mali astonished me with its 1.8% of Christians. I felt the need for missionaries to share the faith, the Good News of the Gospel, so that those who did not yet know Jesus Christ could meet him.I was a teacher in Spain. Seeing illiteracy in Mali, I felt called to collaborate with others, so that children could learn to read and write. School is the base of education. I was very involved in Spain in the youth group ENCUENTROS DE PROMOCION JUVENIL. Christ was the driving force of my life, my treasure. Why a Missionary Sister of Our Lady of Africa? The sister who welcomed me in Mali was…
Surprised by the Spirit… twice!
In defining our new Community Apostolic Project we of Winooski were very pleasantly surprised by what happened. We are seven, of very different characters and personalities and often find it difficult to come to consensus. Some are independent living and others needing infirmary care. However one sister suggested that what was needed was a new word carrying a new emphasis. After a pause, she proposed that HOPE was becoming very meaningful to her and could be such a word. The idea was contagious. It was as if it passed from one to the other, each one endorsing it. It was easily translated into “becoming a Messenger of Hope”. We all liked that. Then we could almost feel the invisible Spirit spelling out to each one the direction she could take. One said it could only be according to her own gifts and her God-given strength which varied…
Relations Africa – Europe
Africa Europe Faith and Justice Network (AEFJN) AEFJN is a Christian Network that strives to eliminate injustice and to promote Equity and Economic Justice in the relations between Europe and Africa. We do that by lobbying (working towards promoting just legislation and transforming the laws that cause Injustice and poverty). The members are Catholic International religious Congregations working in Africa and in Europe. About 80,000 persons in Africa and Europe are involved directly or indirectly in the activities of AEFJN. The International Secretariat in Brussels lobbies the European Union while the 11 national antennae in Africa and Europe lobby the national Governments and Parliaments. AEFJN was born in 1988 from two calls The deteriorating of the economic situation in Africa, despite developments efforts, and the call of missionary congregations to transform that situation. The call of Pope John Paul II to the missionaries to be present…
Different stages in the formation
An itinerary of formation The Congregation offers young women who express the desire to become a Missionary Sister of Notre Dame d’Afrique an itinerary of formation. Each stage is at the service of the human and spiritual growth of the person in view of her choice of life. First discoveries Thanks to a 9-month pre-postulancy in her own country or in a neighbouring country, the candidate gradually discovers life in a community of the Missionary Sisters of Notre Dame d’Afrique. She also works and takes courses. The international postulancy This is a first spiritual stage where the apostolate, initiation into a life of personal and community prayer and teaching are experienced with other young people from different countries. It lasts two years. The international novitiate This is the foundational stage of our initial formation to missionary religious life. It lasts 18 months. This time of ‘desert’ and deeper listening…
First vows of Anna, Thabita, Fidès, Julienne, Caritas, Marie and Edith in Arusha 2013
By our religious profession, we say ‘yes’ to God and to the Congregation, where we are welcomed and of which we are now members. Sister Margaret Kennedy, the Regional Sister for East Africa, received our vows as representative of the Superior General. The Eucharistic celebration of our first profession took place in our house. It was presided over by Father Simon Drasiga sj, assistant at the Jesuit novitiate in Arusha. The novices from the Missionaries of Africa helped us with the singing. We had chosen songs in different languages, and people were struck by our ability to master each other’s languages. Among the guests were our neighbours, parishioners and religious congregations. Our sisters from Dar-es-Salaam and Mwanza, Tanzania and from Nairobi, Kenya joined us for the celebration. This day has opened a new page in our lives; it is the beginning of a new story and a new…
They do not let themselves be discouraged by these daily sufferings
As I was discovering how Mary personifies hope, I felt the strong link between Mary and the Congolese mamas. I understood why these mamas personify hope for me. MAMA SIFA rapidly comes down the hill. It is 6 am. She goes to Lake Kivu like every morning, with a plastic bag and … her rosary. On the shore, she fills her bag of roughly 50 kg of sand. She puts it on her back and ties it with a braided belt that encircles her forehead. With other mamas, she slowly climbs up the hill, a long calvary of a half hour, an hour or more … Whether the sun shines or the rain falls in torrents, She carries on, head bent. Mama Sifa is young. She can make three trips a day. Her rosary in hand, heart full of hope, she walks; happy to think of…
“Caritas” and the Pelican
Lavigerie, an apostle of charity :On becoming bishop, Father Lavigerie took the motto “Caritas” and as his episcopal coat of arms, a pelican – this bird which feeds its young with its own blood! His life illustrated the motto and coat of arms he had chosen. Arriving in Algiers, he addressed the Muslim Algerians: “I claim the privilege of loving you like sons …” At the bishop’s house he welcomed orphans and he founded two missionary societies to help them – the Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers) and the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa (White Sisters). He required their members the same compassion that he himself had towards the Africans. For our love to bear fruit, we must see Our Lord Himself in the patients we care for and in those touched by our charity and our patience.” Is that what…