{"id":3312,"date":"2016-01-19T16:07:11","date_gmt":"2016-01-19T21:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scarboromissions.ca\/?page_id=3312"},"modified":"2016-01-19T16:23:20","modified_gmt":"2016-01-19T21:23:20","slug":"vocations-5","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.scarboromissions.ca\/scarboro-missions-magazine\/previous-issues\/vocations-5","title":{"rendered":"Vocations"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Sr. Ann MacDonald, C.S.J.
\nJanuary-February 2016<\/p>\n
F<\/span>rom a place of restlessness and an inner desire for a new challenge in ministry, when I turned 60 I began to pray the words of the Prophet Jeremiah in earnest, \u201cI know the plans I have in mind for you, plans for peace\u2026\u201d I was confident that the Spirit was working within me and knew my desire for the more<\/i> in my life. I would have to trust and wait on God.<\/span><\/p>\n I began to look at possibilities to serve in an African country and visited the missions of the Sisters of St Joseph of Chambery who were working in Tanzania. It was a six week \u201ccome and see\u201d visit. Upon my return to Canada, the attraction to serve in Africa was still present, but as part of my discernment journey I had to complete a training program for people seeking to be volunteers in overseas mission.<\/p>\n With the blessing of my religious community, I began the four-month preparation program at Scarboro Missions along with lay people who were also discerning a call to join Scarboro Missions for a three-year commitment. The program prepared us in various ways to live and work in another culture. We were given tools that we could use in mission when we felt overwhelmed walking in a new culture and learning a new language, as well as ways to deal positively with our own loneliness.<\/p>\n I was missioned to Malawi, to the Diocese of Mzuzu where other Scarboro missionaries served. I had been told that Malawi was known as the Warm Heart of Africa and I was curious as to what that might mean personally as my journey began.<\/p>\n At the end of my comfort zone<\/b><\/p>\n My first days in Mzuzu were a blur. I met many people and visited various places where I might choose to do ministry. I found the market and grocery store, arranged to get a phone, and found the shop where I could send emails. Even with all the activity of settling into a new environment, I was feeling sure that this was the place where I was called to be at this moment in my life. Language classes began and I tried to adjust to a very relaxed pace of living, which was indeed a challenge for one who loves activity.<\/p>\n I met other religious, both sisters and priests, who were working in the diocese of Mzuzu and stood proud when I heard of the legacy left by previous Scarboro lay missionaries. Hospitality is a value among the Malawian people. An invitation to share a meal with a family was a time to meet all of the relatives and neighbours who gathered around the table because the mzungu<\/i> (white person) was visiting. I was experiencing, firsthand, the warm heart of Africa.<\/p>\n As I spent time meeting people in various places, one of my learnings was that in spite of their personal situation or their daily struggle for survival, they lived from a deep faith and trust in God that all would be well. Nothing was termed bad luck; it was always \u201cGod will look after us and we will be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
\u201cOne goes overseas so as to come back\u2014as an activist, <\/b>a marginal person, and a perpetual sojourner…<\/b>It is impossible to unbecome what our <\/b>overseas experience has helped us to be.\u201d<\/b><\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n