Comboni Lay Missionaries

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Missionary Experiences

New Experience in Brazil

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LMC Brasil

We arrived! On June 3 we set foot in Piquiá!

At the airport of Imperatriz we were received by CLM Xoán Carlos who took us by car to Açailândia.

After about a one hour journey we reached the house where we will stay, which had already been prepared for us with the help of the local community.

At 7:00 p.m. some community leaders, the Comboni Missionaries, Xoán Carlos and his wife Dida came over bringing something for a lovely supper we all shared together. We were given time to introduce ourselves individually, to chat and share in relaxed and vivacious atmosphere.

The next day we had lunch with the Comboni Missionaries and the team that gives social and legal support to the people of the community of Piquiá de Baixo, who are in the process of resettling.

So, a little at a time, we are getting closer to and getting to know the situation and the people, in order to integrate ourselves in this common journey in the establishing the Kingdom of God.

We count on the prayers of all of you!

LMC BrasilFlávio and Liliana

Second Meeting of Mission Promotion Guatemala-El Salvador

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LMC Guatemala

On Friday, June 30 we, members of the CLM-PCA of Guatemala were sent to El Salvador by our community.

The first meeting took place in December 2016. On that occasion in our mission promotion we shared about St. Daniel Comboni, the members of the Comboni family, the CLM, how we are organized and, at least a little bit, how in Guatemala the community followed a journey based on the indications of the directory.

On this second occasion, the mission promotion part took place on Saturday, July 1 and lasted from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

These were the points of our program of activities:

To go back to recognize St. Daniel Comboni, the Comboni family and the charism that identifies us;

The missionary vocation and how to be community in the Comboni style;

The directory and an explanation of the stages of human, spiritual and Comboni formation. At the same time, as an example, how we took care of our formation over two and a half years;

A small workshop on human development to end the day and to explain a little bit the role of the CLM in the field of the integral development of the person.

Results of the meeting:

Identification of and connection among the people who will be the contacts between Guatemala and El Salvador;

Several people were motivated to know better the Comboni charism in order to discern their vocation;

To start having meetings the last Saturday of each month, beginning now in July;

From our part, a commitment to nurture properly and periodically the seed that has been planted;

To pray for fruits and for our brothers of El Salvador.

We, the CLM of Guatemala, believe in the name of Jesus and with the intercession of St. Daniel Comboni, that this work is from God and will have success. The people of El Salvador are intelligent, fighters, lovable, accessible, open and, above all and most importantly, full of faith and of love of God and ready to serve the most needy.

This past weekend, we, from Guatemala, without any merit on our part, have enjoyed and shared in the mercy of God.

“THE MISSIONARY MUST AT TIMES BE HAPPY WITH SOWING A SEED THAT WILL GIVE FRUIT WITH THE MISSIONARIES WHO WILL FOLLOW.”

St. Daniel Comboni

LMC Guatemala

COMBONI LAY MISSIONARIES OF THE PROVINCE OF CENTRAL AMERICA

“HOLY AND CAPABLE MAKING COMMON CAUSE WITH THE POOREST AND MOST ABANDONED.

St. Daniel Comboni

 

Holiday Return of our CLM María Augusta

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LMC Portugal

Our dear CLM María Augusta has returned for vacations from the mission in which she was called to serve over these last few years, the Republic of Central Africa (CAR).

Her return to Lisbon, yesterday afternoon July 4, was marked by a warm reception at the airport where her family and some CLM were waiting for her.

Currently, María Augusta is at Janeiro de Baixo, Pampilhosa da Serra, with her family, for a time of vacation.

Welcome María Augusta! Thanks for your generosity, dedication and commitment in the service and responsibility of mission. We wish you a good and well deserved vacation!

CLM of Portugal

“Go to meet love”

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LMC Portugal y Brasil

Today, June 15, our CLM Flávio and Liliana left for their mission in Piquiá, Brazil. Our CLM family and some of their relatives were present at that moment, sharing with the couple the joy of having accepted the invitation to “Save Africa with Africa.”

You go to meet love. You follow the steps of the one who invites them (…)

You accept the invitation to go.

May God give light to your paths and in sharing life with other people.

Thanks for your presence and sharing, personally or in prayer.

Kisses

(words of our friends already in the plane)

With love, Carolina Fiúza

Sharing life and knowledge

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saberesWhat is there in common between an over 70 Russian woman with a university education and an uneducated woman of about 50 from Guinea-Bissau? Perhaps the fact that both live in Portugal, in a low class neighborhood of the great city of Lisbon and that they both want to learn Portuguese.

And so it is that in the Quinta de Mós, in a space given by City Council for the use of the parish of Camarate, based on the concrete need of these two people, a literacy program for adults came into being. Based on the method of Paulo Freire, suited to this specific reality, we start classes in the afternoon. The learning levels and the individual needs vary greatly. But with this method, that fosters learning starting from the concrete reality, and allows the person to look critically at herself, interaction is possible and, even more, it creates solidarity between the people involved.

A little bit at a time, people are joining the group and we open a new class in the morning, because some of the women work in the afternoon. The flow is constant. There are desertions due to work, health, domestic problems.

The two classes are made up of women. A group ends and three continue. The two original women are still there and another girl, much younger who only has a second grade education.

Classes involve more than alphabet and words. They consist in conversations, in sharing of difficulties, of support, help in filling out documents, finding apartments for rental, translating conversations, clearing doubts from day to day, improving pronunciation… One has to leave her home, but another has a house to rent; One wants to learn sewing, and another knows how and is willing to teach; One finds food and shares it with another who draws no salary… And so we move on, sharing life and knowledge, promoting learning and the appreciation of the person, the sharing and the solidarity! “Saving Africa with Africa!”

CLM Flávio Schmidt