Africa: Beginning of the Novitiate

on 21 Oct, 2020
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Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), 10/21/2020, Vice Province of Africa.- "They may bring with them, wherever they are called, the knowledge of Jesus Christ and His mysteries” RG XIV. To make this noble invitation of Marie Poussepin effective, it is also important to consider the following: "They will omit nothing in training persons who could perpetuate these good works after them”. 

One cannot reach fulfillment without the other. Because of this reason, the accompaniment of young people in their search and formation remain a challenge and a priority for the Vice Province and for each community as we recognize that the quality of our prophetic witness depends on the quality of formation. Preaching through service (works) of charity is the Charism that Marie Poussepin has gifted us and it continues to inspire young girls today.

On Wednesday, October 14, on the feast of Marie Poussepin, four young girls entered the novitiate in the Vice Province in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. They are of different nationalities:
- Mboyo Bokotsi Colette from - Democratic Republic of Congo
- Uwingabire Jeannette - first vocation from Rwanda
- Banzouzi Nkoussou Vanne - first vocation from Congo Brazzaville
- Okandeji Ejiro Mayfred - from Nigeria.

We thank the Lord for gifting us with these beautiful vocations from various countries in Africa.

If interculturality is a challenge for the whole Congregation today, for the Vice Province of Africa, novitiate community with its six nationalities, is no exception this year. For this reason, sessions on interculturality are now part of the formation program in view of a more radiant and fraternal religious life in our communities.

In the previous years, the Vice Province of Africa had three houses of formation: a postulancy for Central Africa in North Cameroon, which is currently closed due to insecurity in that zone, another for West Africa in a small village not far from the capital of Burkina Faso and the novitiate, which has been functioning since 1996, in a working-class district of the same city.

Novitiate which consists of two years, including a canonical year, a human and Christian formation is strengthened and spiritual formation is emphasized through different courses and sessions, daily life, accompaniment, etc...

Through the intercession of Marie Poussepin and Saint Dominic, let us entrust to the Lord, the journey of each one of those in formation and their formators so that some may be blessed with docility and others with wisdom in the goal of a formation that integrates all the dimensions of a person.