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Sister
Stories
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Hope
in Our Community – Liberia Mission
In January 2010, Sister Raphael Ann
Drone, ASC, returned to serve Liberia as a lay missionary
with the Society of Missionaries for Africa. She continues
the Adorers’ faithful mission of evangelizing
and empowering the people of Liberia some 18 years after
five American Adorers were murdered in that country.
“Just the fact that our Sisters came back, just
our presence” offers a message of hope to the
people of Liberia, Sister Raphael Ann said in an interview
this November. The people, she said, “don’t
see me as Sister Raphael Ann, they see me as ASC.”
She recalled one man telling her, “‘You
never can leave here because your Sisters’ blood
is in our ground, so this will always be your home.’
I think they feel that way, and I will always feel at
home there and welcome. We are a reminder to them that
they are worth our lives and our effort here and that
we’re willing to still help out and support them
in their struggles.”
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Hope
in Our Community – La Posada Providencia
When Solomon left La
Posada Providencia, his life was better for his
stay. Solomon was only 14 when he was conscripted
by the Ethiopian Army – an assignment for life.
He escaped and braved a solo journey to the United
States to find freedom and peace. He arrived in south
Texas and found shelter at La Posada, operated by
the Sisters
of Divine Providence. While his case went through
the court system, Solomon learned English and United
States culture. When his asylum was granted, he had
friends and supporters to celebrate with him, including
Sister Zita Telkamp, CDP, who operates the shelter.
Solomon departed the shelter with few possessions,
but with life skills and with hope.
His heart was full.
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Hope
in Our Community – Let’s Start
Six times a year, Sister Jackie Toben,
a School Sister of Notre Dame who directs the Let’s
Start program, arranges for a 2-hour bus trip from St.
Vincent DePaul Church in Soulard to the Women’s
Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center
in Vandalia, Mo., so dozens of children can visit with
their mothers. Sister Jackie believes faith can help
kids cope with the separation. She also believes, as
does the Missouri Department of Corrections, that the
best way to get moms to succeed after prison is to keep
them connected to their families. “Kids don’t
look at their mothers as criminals; they look at them
as Mom. The heart of the visit is the relationship between
mom and child,” Sister Jackie says. “What
matters here is that we really, really support these
kids so that the cycle of incarceration can be broken.
For more information on the Let’s
Start program, visit http://www.letsstart.org/home.html
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