Sierra Leone Narrative

My mission to Sierra Leone Africa started when my pastor invited to go. One morning after morning prayer he asked me to stay after the prayer; “Eduardo, I was thinking to invite you to join the missionary group this summer,” my answer was fast “yes” I said with a smile in my face, in this moment a lot things came to my mind. My first motivation was to travel to a new country and to do missionary work was because I just use, to see when my family had a subscription to a magazine from Misioneros de Guadalupe in Mexico, all the work of priest and lay people in Africa. The magazine called “Ad Gentes” has those beautiful pictures from Africa, smiling children holding some fruit or a bowl of rice, green landscapes where I could almost feel the

This lived experience over there has been very intense, very full of God and a true experience of the Church. what happened to the first off the plane was a peculiar smell, “did I forget to put on deodorant?" I wondered to myself, but only a few minutes were enough to realize that they were the people who smelled so. when I left the airport the mission began. I have had other experiences short of Mission when I was in Mexico, but nothing compare whit Sierra Leone; before to go to Africa, I have felt very close the suffering of the needy, the poor and those who suffer and trough this experience I felt the presence of God, but non at the beginning. I could see the love, joy and sacrifice that lay missionaries and religious communities and their efforts to bring Christ to every corner of the earth. In each of these experiences, the Lord gives light to understand and to love in a different way, God is always ahead. An example of the missionary work and the example to love other was with Henry an 8 year old kid who was attacked by a strange virus, which was eating his bones; Support Missionary Sisters of the Poor Clares was enormous, they took Henry to Spain to heal him and within six months he was back in Sierra Leone, after that through surgery the virus was removed from Henry´s body. Even with difficulty walking, I still remember his smile and his perfect Spanish. "I

I could fill pages and pages with stories like this, but what I feel right now is gratitude. Gratitude first the sick and workers of the home and school, by his example and his company have made me see that I have great weaknesses, and being aware of them, I can try to amend them. Thanks to the Poor Clare Missionary Sisters, who are known for hosting even the poorest of the poor, I can not forget the day of the end of Ramadan in which came to buy beads for Muslim patients in the home could celebrate their day big. That respect and interfaith relationship that lived in the house marked me a lot. Every time I see the videos of the missions and close my eyes, I can smell the wet grass in the field, hear children screaming for my path "otopo" which means white man, smell the bread cooked in the village, and Mangue every corner of this in my heart. I will never forget that experience was marked by moments of difficulty that made me doubt even about myself ; Sierra Leone taught me to be a better person and to always give thanks with a smile because as one of the young form Sierra Leone Said, "after strong