Missionary Experiences

We’re happy to share a brief account of our departure from Guatemala and arrival in Brazil.

We started last year with the confirmation of our departure, and with that came the documents from Brazil to process our visa—and then the complications began: our vehicles broke down, many of our household appliances failed, work piled up, and our parents fell ill. Amidst a storm, we reached January without knowing the exact departure date. We bought the tickets and had to change them for a month later because the visa hadn’t come through. While we waited, the visa arrived, and a day later we traveled to Brazil.

How comforting it is to know there is a community waiting for you; the prayers of our community and those who welcome us help sustain us. Without a doubt, the first impression is a shock—even though we know the culture, language, and customs, it always hits you head-on, and stepping out of your comfort zone stirs your very core. You remember the beautiful things, the glorious moments, the joys, but in that instant you remember the difficulties, the lack, what you leave behind, and you turn back to God because only He can sustain you.

We arrived to work… getting off the plane and preparing a topic to share at a parish women’s gathering. We found the roof broken and in need of repair, because it rains more inside the house than outside—dampness and other issues—and thank God, Cristina had already cleaned the house, which had been empty for seven months. The car broke down three times, and we’ve only just begun!

With great effort and joy, we cleaned and repaired the two houses to welcome the laypeople who are going through their discernment process to become CLM of Brazil during Holy Week, and amidst these trials, we managed to get our children started on their studies.

Today, after settling in, establishing a routine, and beginning to work on parish activities, we feel more at peace and have a clearer sense of purpose.

We have resumed activities at the Comboni House, a small group of us, a house that carries out social and human development work in the region. We started with the women’s crafts group and are in the process of integrating other educational and community service activities into the house, as it has been closed for a long time.

We are accompanying two communities that are somewhat struggling and short-staffed; we have begun working with the neighborhood association and we are waiting for their issues to be resolved so we can start Spanish and English classes. Meanwhile, we have already begun premarital catechesis, meetings with the family ministry, and accompanying the Comboni spirituality group.

We are getting to know the place again, reconnecting with the people. It brings us joy and strength when they greet us warmly, and above all, it presents us with a great challenge: to do our work well for the glory of God. The provincial came to visit us, which undoubtedly gave us even more encouragement to move forward and organize together the work to be done as a Comboni family.

We celebrated these three months with the Feast of Corpus Christi and the parish festival of Los Centinelas, a time for fellowship, sharing, and encouraging the community.

There are many emotions, sorrows, longings, and reunions; every missionary needs time to calm the spirit, to settle into the mission field, to find clarity of mind and heart. We love to work and be with people, to accompany them and evangelize them, but above all to be witnesses to God’s love.

May St. Daniel Comboni continue to intercede for each of us, for all his missionaries, and may the upcoming celebration, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, be a time of unity for the entire Comboni family, which struggles with daily challenges, precariousness, and so many other problems that Comboni himself endured.

With love and great hope in God,

The Camey Figueroa Family

CLM of Guatemala in Brazil