To
Experience a Living GodTo
Experience a Living God
(from Misioneros Xaverianos)
t’s
not easy to share what God has allowed me to experience here as
missionary in Africa. But
it provides me a chance to talk about the good and the difficult
moments with all of you. I
feel blessed that through the Church I had the possibility to live
and share our faith with those who do not yet know Christ and feel
God’s children. After
six years of training work in the Seminary of Salamanca in Mexico,
my superiors gave me the green light for my departure in Africa.
My work as a missionary encountered a few challenges: the climate, the poverty of these peoples, and the diverse races and cultures. Also the violence and injustices that these people encounter on their daily lives. I felt useless and powerless in front of this avalanche of difficulties. But it is only through a deep friendship and trust in God that the missionary is able to continue to proclaim the message of a loving God, the only one who can change these situations of injustice and sorrow into situations of family bonding and hope. My first assignment was in Cameroon, where I lived for three years, working with the youth in Douala, one of its most violent cities. Douala is the most important port and door of entry to all Central Africa.
In 1998, I was asked to work in Chad, a large country, bordering with the Saharan Desert. In Chad, I met a new face of Africa, a face of suffering and poverty, but also a face of gentleness in the people who share from their hearts. One of these beautiful experiences has been my working side by side with the catechists, truly the right hand of the missionary. In my parish there are about 1000 of them! With good will and personal availability, they proclaim the Gospel to their brothers and sisters.
I felt useless and powerless in front of this avalanche of difficulties. But it is only through a deep friendship and trust in God that the missionary is able to continue to proclaim the message of a loving God, the only one who can change these situations of injustice and sorrow into situations of family bonding and hope.
Another great experience that sustained my life was the welcome and unconditional appreciation I received from this people: they make you feel at home, part of their own families, especially when they share the little they have, such as their food, their house, as well as their time, friendship and availability, with their pains and sorrows. All this allows the missionary to offer up to God his pains and fatigues.
When I see this people grow in their love for God, enthused as they are to know and love Jesus and his Gospel, I feel that it was worth my efforts and my consecration to God, so that the world may become a single family. It was worthwhile to leave my country, my family, and my people, to proclaim that Christ lives and is present among men and women who believe in him.
Yes, these peoples knew god in their own way, with their images and forms, a god whom they had to sacrifice things in order to receive his protection, daily food, and posterity. But Jesus shows us the true face of God: a Father who is a friend, a human being who loves us till death, even nailed to the wood of the Cross; a God who keeps on living and being present among us.
(From Mision Joven - Misioneros Xaverianos April 2001 - Magazine from Mexico)