Agustinas Misioneras

Nairobi, January 26th, 2007

Dear Sisters,When three weeks ago we arrived in Nairobi, with our luggage of excitement, enthusiasm and hope, for being called to this Encounter that wanted to favour and listen to the young beat of our Congregation, we received the invitation to live an experience of communion united by the same Spirituality, Charism and Mission. During this time, accompanied by the team Talita Kum, we have let our young hearts beat in the rhythm of Saint Augustine, sharing and deepening, from our experiences, the three dimensions of our spirituality as a challenge to continue growing in our being Augustinian Missionaries … in communion with a changing world; Augustinian Missionaries…who find God in the interiority; Augustinian Missionaries … women consecrated to serve. We have enjoyed this encounter with joy and intensity, feeling called to share the experience we have lived here in this time of grace and personal growth.

We feel fortunate and grateful for this opportunity of knowing one another, of recognizing the history of our sisters and of coming closer to the presence of our Congregation in each place in which an Augustinian Missionary Sister builds a new history of incarnation. Enriched with this living together, with the sharing of our culture, and from the different realities in which we are present, we feel that we are growing in the sense our belonging to this congregational family; this sense of belonging that helps us to enlarge our universal communion, contemplating life with a look of faith, and discovering the impulse of the Spirit that invites us to renew our way of being present in the world.

During this time we have been witnesses of the miracle of the encounter and we have celebrated our life with passion and joy, convinced that the Lord, our God, is glad and dances joyfully among us, like in the days of feast (cf. Soph. 3, 17-18), and we want to continue celebrating the life with all of you, and amidst so many peoples, with our brothers and sisters, in the common home of the diversity, sharing at the table of love, forgiveness and solidarity, from our being young women, disciples, companions in the journey and educators. We want to proclaim, with all our sisters, the perfume of the gospel that urges us to go and meet the poor of the world, so many women, men and children that are longing for a new world full of humanity.

We feel challenged to live in a changing world, strengthening our identity of Augustinian Missionary Sisters: consecrated women who want to live passionately the sign of fraternity and, with our life, be an alternative amidst societies less and less humanized. But we are conscious that we are not the ones who started this history, and we know that we cannot journey alone. That is why the beat of the young Augustinian Missionary Sisters wants to reveal an attitude of deep gratitude. Gratitude to Clara, Monica and Querubina, who enlighten our path. Gratitude to each one of the sisters who have preceded us, for their courage and bravery, being able to go and announce the gospel, sowing the good news. Gratitude also to each one of you, our sisters, who share your life pouring the perfume that God has given you. Gratitude to God that trusts us. Heirs of this common dream, we want to keep that flame shining.

We want to dream, and we dream looking at the present time as the seed of the coming time, believing in what we are today so we may build a bridge for the future to which we want to contribute with courage and faith. We experience that this event is the sign that makes us believe that a new world is possible, and we are called by the God of Life to change this dream into reality, following the way of Jesus of Nazareth, who turns our water into wine each and every day. Knowing that we are in God’s hands and that we are part of his history of salvation, and strengthened in this encounter, we want to love and serve with audacity and risk, because, as the disciples of Emmaus, we feel our heart burning with the desire of announcing the good news to the whole world; and with the woman of the gospel, we want to break open our jar with the freedom and availability of the one who loves with all intensity, assuming the challenges of our time and discovering, even in those situations that bring about death and despair, the perfume of a full life.

With the intercession of Our Mother of Good Counsel, and following the intuition of Saint Augustine we trust the past to God’s mercy, the future to his providence and we make of our present an act of love with all our heart.

Augustinian Missionary Sisters

Nairobi