The central theme of Shalom’s 40th Anniversary Convention this Sunday is “Friends of the Poor” and one of the highlights of the program is to hear the testimonies of several of the missions that will share their love and service to the poor. One of the actions that will be presented is the one from the Warsaw Mission in Poland, which is living the experience of welcoming Ukrainian refugees from the war against Russia. According to the local responsible (LR), Isnayde Barreto, the Mission has worked with about 100 Ukrainians (mothers and children).
She says that 98 refugees were welcomed in a retreat house next to the community house. This happened right after a strong moment of prayer held at the Mission. “We also welcomed in our community house five young people and a woman with her six-year-old child, because there was no more room for them in the retreat house. From this experience we started some actions: dance classes for the mothers and the children and also a painting workshop for the children. We began to divide the groups with the missionaries in order to be able to take care of each reality. We also offered Polish classes for the mothers, they wanted to restart their lives in Poland and many of them needed to learn the language.
A Ukrainian woman participates in the Convention
To testify to the fruits of this service, the Mission brought Nathália, a Ukrainian mother of two teenagers, to the Convention. She will share a little about the experience of finding peace amidst the suffering of war. Gosia Kopania, a young Polish woman from Obra Shalom, will also speak about her service to the refugees. Her mission was to teach the language to mothers and young people in Warsaw.
The service to our Ukrainian brothers and sisters renews the missionaries
For Isnayde, the apostolate with the Ukrainians generated a vocational renewal of the missionaries. “In the mission we experienced that not only they received, but we also received a lot. They taught us a lot, we grew a lot. It has been a vocational experience to be able to experience in a new way the peace that is Christ and to deepen what we are, ministers of peace”, she says.
Also according to her, serving the Ukrainians for the Mission was the fulfillment of one of the prophecies of the Listening of the General Council of the Community. “It is a great grace because it was a prophecy of Listening in which the Lord told us that He would infuse Divine Charity in the Community. And for us it was a great opportunity to incarnate and live this prophecy in our lives in a very concrete way. We received much from Him and today it is a joy to be able to share what it is really like to live that Divine Charity.
Service
Shalom Convention 40 years
Date: September 23-28
Place: Rome
Theme: Shalom: Friends of God, Friends of Young and Friends of the Poor
More information: http://comshalom.org/40anos