After a year of Pauline presence in Ghana, we can say that we have indeed experienced the providence of God, which has not been manifested through big initiatives but through the many small things he has enabled us to carry out with great love. Here is an account of our experiences among the people with whom we live and work.
In 2000, the Archbishop of Kumasi, Peter Kwasi Sarpong (now Archbishop Emeritus), invited the Daughters of St. Paul to come to his diocese. Due to a lack of personnel this project was only fulfilled 17 years later, thanks to the fact that more young women joined our Congregation. Warmly welcomed by the people and strongly supported by the Local Church, we were also graced by the visit of Archbishop Emeritus Sarpong, who celebrated a special Mass for us, introducing us and our mission to Ghana and to the Archdiocese that had patiently waited for us all these years.
Since our arrival in Kumasi, our main apostolic activity has been to pay regular visits to the various dioceses and major seminaries throughout the country. On these trips, we have truly felt and experienced the providence of God through the countless benefactors who have offered us accommodation and food free of charge. Most of these are our dear brothers and sisters of other religious Institutes, as well as bishops, rectors of seminaries and parish priests, whose generosity has been instrumental in helping us reach many souls.
2019 opened with and continues to be marked by many blessings. On the 10th of February, we had the opportunity to welcome to our home the rectors, formators and seminarians of the major seminaries in Ghana, who had gathered for a meeting here in Kumasi. They usually come together once a year, rotating from one seminary to another, and this year the event was held in St. Gregory Provincial Major Seminary, which is very close to our house. Why not take advantage of this golden opportunity, we asked one another, and invite them all to our community for a meal? We receive so much love and attention when we travel to different dioceses of Ghana to carry out the Pauline mission, now it is our turn to let our benefactors get to know us better as an Institute and show them our appreciation for their collaboration in our work of evangelization.
We were deeply touched by the words of Msgr. John Opoku-Agyemang, Rector of St. Gregory Seminary, who said in his speech for the occasion: “We are grateful that our meeting today will solidify the bond of friendship between us and the sisters, and help us forge ahead in our common ministry of evangelization. I want to make a plea in favor of the Daughters of St. Paul to all of you present here today. We know the Sisters but perhaps they do not know our dioceses or even our bishops. Maybe we can talk to our bishops about their ministry and to our priests about what they do, in case the sisters venture into our dioceses to explore the possibility of establishing communities or finding vocations. Let us act as go-betweens for them so that their presence in Ghana will be deeply felt and very meaningful.”
Our sincere thanks to the very generous Local Church of Ghana. We want to make an equally generous commitment to helping the people of this country see and find the merciful face of the Divine Master in us and in our mission. We ask all our sisters to pray for this latest Pauline “sprout” in the rich soil of Africa.
Best wishes to all of you from the FSP Ghana community:
Sr. Justine, Sr. Mariuccia, Sr. Yvonne, Sr. Jennifer and Sr. Elidemidah.
