The mystery of presence
Our Lady's Missionaries in Guyana are sustained by the people they accompany and serve
By Sr. Norma Samar, O.L.M.
May 2007
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L-R: Sr. Joan Missiaen, Anie Montejo, Sr. Cecile Turner and Sr. Norma Samar in Guyana. Anie was there for mission exposure as she discerns her vocation with Our Lady's Missionaries. Sr. Norma, a member of the leadership team, was visiting from Canada.
What a privilege it was for me to visit our missioners in New Amsterdam. In that small section of South America, I met people who are warm-hearted and welcoming despite their overwhelming poverty.
My visit was a grace-filled time, an opportunity to see the Sisters' ministry to the Guyanese people who embrace hardship with warmth and kindness toward their neighbours.
The Sisters are working to heal poverty's wounds among the sick, the elderly, the lonely, the mentally challenged and prisoners. Every time the Sisters visit the people, they are welcomed with bright eyes and big smiles. The Sisters not only bring the joy of Christ to their Work and to the Guyanese, but they receive His love in kind from the people that they touch.
It is a two-way relationship of giving and receiving, of tenderness and compassion, of joy and thankfulness – each group sustaining the other by becoming one.
Sr. Cecile Turner with Charity sister Noella and the little ones in her care at the Missionaries of charity Orphanage. New Amsterdam, Guyana
Even I, in my short stay in Guyana, could feel how strong the bonds have grown, over the years, between the people in New Amsterdam and Our Lady's Missionaries Srs. Cecile Turner, Joan Missiaen and Doris MacDonell.
Early every morning, an elderly neighbour, Betty, comes to the door of the Sisters' house to ask for her breakfast. And each time, Sr. Cecile rushes to the kitchen to make Betty a sandwich, which she places in a small bag along with sundries. The two seem to enjoy this routine; I am at a loss to say whose day is more blessed by it: Betty or Sr. Cecile. Do they both not reveal and receive Christ's goodness?
This is the face of Guyana that I saw, this loving presence that could break through the walls of poverty and sickness in a small country struggling to survive. This is mystery. This is where Christ lives – in open hearts and open hands.
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