With signs of optimism and gratitude for the experiences lived and by the instruction received, the participants of the First Meeting of the Planetary Mission Network returned home. The event was held in the Community-of-Light of Figueira from April 28 thru May 1st, 2016. The activity was organized by the Fraternidade – International Humanitarian Federation.
‘I was delighted with the whole work of the Missionaries. It was an experience of healing for the whole group, I felt a very strong presence of the Holy Spirit, the group aura that was formed was one of pure harmony, in the gesture, in the feeling, in the order, the prayer and the silence. I believe that all the hearts were deeply touched, both the hearts that gave and the ones that received. It was impressive to see how we could do things we had never done as if we were experts, and all this without arising pride nor vanity, but just gratitude and love’, declared Denise Neides Gomes, a collaborator of São Paulo, Brazil.
Ailen, a volunteer of the Community-of-Light of the Brotherhood, Cordoba, Argentina, stressed the spirit of readiness of the Missionaries, being always attentive to the needs of the others. What drew her attention was the receptivity found in the home visits and in the House of Elderly People of Carmo da Cachoeira, as well as in the center of rehabilitation of Varginha. They all expressed a wish that we might soon return’.
Mariana Aranda, from Santa Fe, Argentina, said it was a ‘marvelous meeting, very good, everything flowed with a lot of simplicity, we are leaving very happy and very much willing to continue. The messages of Saint Joseph touched our hearts’.
‘The contact with the elderly people from Carmo da Cachoeira arose in us love, compassion’, expressed Valdir Ferreira, from São José do Rio Preto. ‘This Meeting was an excellent opportunity to discover our potential and to guide our steps towards the fulfillment of our part in the Evolutionary Plan’, he added.
‘It was very beautiful to see how with such simple acts you can be an instrument of God and make the others so happy, sometimes with a visit, with listening to someone, meeting their basic needs’, manifested RenataMangini, from São Paulo.
To Maria Elena Billefort, from Belo Horizonte, it was important to discover that for poor people the most important thing is ‘the love that you take within and with which you offer help or a donation’. She added that in each visit ‘an interaction takes place, which permits to understand the other’s pain, and a mutual relief is generated, you also learn how not to complain so much’.
‘The opportunity to embody service’ was the most outstanding point to Mara, an Argentinian collaborator with stay in the Lands of the Union, an extension of the House of Light on the Hill. ‘It was an experience that all should live, being with the neediest really helps us forget about ourselves, and see Christ in the brother or sister’. She also mentioned that the proximity with the consecrated Missionaries was very healing, ‘being within their aura is something that pervades you, you feel a lot of protection’.
Maria Regina Godinho Marques Dias, a collaborator of the Nucleus-of-Light in São Paulo, said it was an experience that helped expand the limits, learn about simplicity, readiness, the availability for any task, obedience; ‘it removes us from our comfort zone, develops our creativity, works our faith’. In the end, she declared, ‘I want to confirm myself as a missionary of the secondary group to serve in Latin America’.
