Explore Mission

Youth explore Mission

Welcome to the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary Page: Missionary Journeys.
We hope you will enjoy your visit.
We invite you to come with us on a Mission Journey through four different countries.

Meet people in these countries,
              Meet the missionaries who work with them. 
                                       And meet the children!

When you have finished the journey you will have made many new friends. 

I will guide you on the journey.  Let’s start here!

Did you notice the big pictures at the top of the HOME page when you opened the website? They showed Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Kenya, the River Zambezi in Zambia, the fourth longest river in Africa, and the city of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.  You could not see them fully because of the writing.  Maybe you could google them to get a better look.

Why am I showing you those pictures?  Because they are in Africa and I  want you to know how beautiful Africa is. But they do not show the people of Africa.  The most beautiful part of every country is — what?  The most beautiful part of any country is THE PEOPLE!  When you go to a new country or a new area, the first thing you get to know is the People!  You learn their names and what they do, and see how they are different from your home people, and how they are the same! Because all people are created by God and blessed by God and loved by Him.  And that means we are all brothers  and sisters.  We learn to greet our neighbours and respect them and learn from them. And when they are in need we try to help them out. 

Missionaries
    Missionaries are people who go to other countries to bring God’s love to the people there and work with them for their good.   Holy Rosary Sisters are missionaries and have have been working in Africa as missionaries for almost one hundred years.  Let us take a tour of some of their missions.

There are four sections to this tour.  After you have finished reading them, you can go back and choose one section and write what you have learned from it.  There are questions below to help you to write.  
                                                                                                

1.  First we go to Ethiopia.

Find Ethiopia on the map of Africa above.  It is in in East Africa, very near the Horn of Africa.  See the Ethiopian flag right here.

 Meet Sister Celly.   (Her real name is Sister Cellestina but everyone calls her Celly).  She is a Holy Rosary Sister on mission in Addis Ababa the capital of Ethiopia.     There are many fine houses in Addis, but not in the part where Sister Celly lives.  There the houses are leaking and the walls are falling down.  “What are we going to do?” the people were sighing. 
     Sr Celly said, “Do not sigh. Do not lose hope. Let’s get together and see what we can do.  We will look for some money and work hard and repair the houses.”  And that is what they did.  Everybody in the family helped with the work.  The children carried buckets of water from the tap down the street to mix with the cement. 

Here are some of the houses BEFORE and AFTER they did the work. 

Do you think they are happy?  Yes, and proud! 

In Wonji Clinic outside Addis, Sister Angela is a nurse. Sometimes the parents bring very sick children.  These children are not only sick, they are hungry too, and that is why it is hard for them to get better.  There is a lot of hunger in that place.  At first Sister Angela and the other sisters  felt like crying over the way people were suffering.  But they said, “There is no point in crying, we have to DO something.”  So they started a food programme.  You can see them here sharing out the food.

Sister Celly also trains young people to be hairdressers and cooks.  She tells them “You have to be able to earn your living.” 

Talking point.  Point to Ethiopia on the map.  Point to the Ethiopian flag.

Who is Sister Celly?  Where is she on Mission?   Do you like the work she is doing?  Why?
     Here are some favourite names  people give their children in Ethiopia
                Boys:   Afewerek, meaning One Who Speaks Good Things
                              Benyam, meaning Son of My Right Hand
                              Dawit, meaning David or Beloved
                              Desta, meaning Joyful
                Girls:    Aster, meaning Star
                              Aida,  Princess
                              Genet,  Promise of Heaven
                              Gete,  My Jewel

2  Our next visit is to Liberia.   

Find Liberia on the map of Africa above.  It is in West Africa, on the left .
Do you see it?  Do you see the Liberian flag right here? 

Now look at the photos.

Are the children in these pictures happy?  No, because they have lost their parents and brothers and sisters.  They died, because of Ebola.  Ebola is a terrible disease that is very hard to cure.

Sister Ann is talking to their Aunties and Uncles. 
She is telling them, “Look after these children as if they were your own. 
Make sure you send them to school.  I will help you.”
Would you like to say a little prayer for these children?

                            Pray for Sister Ann too.

When the children go to school they learn  that it is important to wash their hands. 

This helps to stop Ebola and other diseases from spreading.  

The children like doing this. 

They go home and tell their parents and aunties and uncles about it.

Yes, these children are going to go to school.  Hawa and Bendu are wondering how it will be.  But the children in the other picture are looking forward to it.  They will make friends and learn many things.  Do we know their names?  Some of them:  Hassan, Maryamu, Grace, Musa, Elija, Helena ….  We pray for God to bless them all.

Two little girls, Hawa and Bendu.

Yes! We have their names: Elijah, Fatima, Maryamu, Bitrus and Hassan: these children are going to school!

This is the Liberian Coat of Arms.  It tells us a lot of things, like how did the people come to this country, and how did they hope to make their living?  We can see the rising sun, a dove flying, and a book.  And at the top, their motto.

Talking point  Talk about what you have learnt from this section.  What colours are in the Liberian flag?  What is Ebola?  Who is looking after the children whose parents died?  What do the children teach the grown ups when they come home from school?  What do we see in the Coat of Arms?

                                                                          *****************************************

3. Our next visit is to Cameroon.

Look for Cameroon on the Map of Africa above.  It is near the middle:  draw a straight line across from Liberia and you will find it.
This is a great flag.  The Cameroon team is famous for Football – look out for the African Nations Cup!

  We are going to Ndu in South-west Cameroon to meet Sister Mary.  Here she is, planting a tree.   The children are helping her.  Is it good to plant trees?  Why?                                                      

    Let me tell you a story about the Eucalyptus tree.  This is a very greedy tree.  It likes to drink water.  It drinks up all the water from the land and the streams and the ponds.  Then it puts down roots deep into the earth and drinks up all the water there too.  Soon there is no water for anyone to drink, or wash, or water their gardens.
  That is what happened in Ndu.  Sister Mary and her team said, you have to cut down all the Eucalyptus trees.  But it was not easy for the people to do that.  They said, what will we do for firewood to cook our food, or wood to build our houses?  She told them they would plant another kind of tree that would grow fast and give them wood, and fruit, and shade. The new tree was Prunus Africanus and it would grow well in Africa.  But still the people were worried.

   It was the children who led the way.  They learned about the new trees in school and they bought home the news.  They marched through the town to demonstrate the trees they were going to plant.  The grown-ups learned from them and began to plant too.  The greedy Eucalyptus trees were gone and the new trees grew up fast.  And the water returned to the land!  We thank God!
  

Maria tells the class about the trees.

John, Peter, Venita and Susan have their work pages ready.

The children marching through the town to plant the trees.

The grown ups learnt from them and started planting too!

Look at all the water in the stream. Hurray!

Sister Mary was so pleased with the children that she gave them football jerseys.  They wear them when they are playing for the Holy Rosary Cup.  She brought them from her home parish in Ireland.

Talking time. In what country is this story taking place?  Can you find it on the map?  
Tell the story about the greedy Eucalyptus Tree. 
How did the children help Sister Mary and her team?  What happened in the end?

                                                             ****************************************

4. Next we go to Ireland.  

   

   Is Ireland in Africa?  No, it is in Europe!  Are there any Africans in Ireland?  Yes there are!  Sister Sabina is one, and she is a Holy Rosary Sister.  You can see her in the centre of the first picture.  

Sister Sabina is from Nigeria and she is on Mission in Ireland.  She has made  friends with many different women in Ireland, and they noticed something.  They all have faith, but they do not all belong to the same religion.  They said, “We need to know about one another’s faiths.” 

So they formed a group called Sisters of Faith For Peace. 

Women of Faith: Nasreen, Sabina, and Doris.

Mrs Sabina Higgins with the Sisters of Faith.

They come from different walks in life.  Sabina is a Holy Rosary Sister, Doris is a wife and mother, and so is Nasreen.  What they want is, to get to know and respect people from different religions so as to build peace.   Sabina is a Catholic, Nasreen is a Muslim, and Doris is a Lutheraan.

“How can we overcome the thick walls which divide us?” asks Doris.  “I see my ten year-old daughter:  she has friends from different religions.  At her birthday party they were all there.  They are simple and innocent about their friendship:  their differences do not worry them. Instead they feel richer because of them.  Perhaps we should learn from the children.”

The Sisters of Faith for Peace were honoured by the president of Ireland, President Michael D Higgins  for their work in building peace among people.  As a sign of unity they planted a special tree.   Look carefully at the tree.  Why is it a sign of unity?

Visiting Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin

Lighting the Haunkkah candles at the Jewish synagogue.

Friends between the Faiths

Talking time: 
 What faith or religion do you belong to?  Where do you go to worship?  What do you like about the place where you worship? 
Are there people of different faiths where you live?   Where do they worship?  What do you know about them?
Do people of different faiths always get on well together?  If we all call God our Father, why shouldn’t we be brothers and sisters?
What do the Sisters of Faith want to do in Ireland?
                                                          *************************************************

Well done!  You have read about missionaries in four countries.  Which one did you like best?  Which one did you choose to write about?  Did you notice all the children in the stories?  Children do so many good things in the world!  

Missionaries whom we know
 Have you ever met a Missionary?  Tell us about her or about him. What country does the missionary come from? Where is he or she on mission?   

Jesus Christ is the first missionary.
    Did you know that?  He came to this world to show how God loves and cares for us. 
    People loved meeting Jesus.  One day he was sitting outside on a mountain and people came with all their sick and blind and handicapped brothers and sisters and put them down in front of Jesus.  What did he do?  He spoke to them, one by one, he put his hand on them, and he cured them.  That was a day of great happiness.
    But then Jesus became worried.  He called his disciple and said, “I feel worried about these people.  They have been with us for three days now and have nothing to eat.”  The disciples said, “There is no way we could get enough food in a place like this to feed so many people.”  But then a little boy came along with a few loaves of bread and some fish.  Jesus asked him, “Will you give us your food to share with the people?”  The boy was delighted that Jesus had asked him and said, “I will certainly.”  Jesus thanked him, and thanked his Father in heaven, and blessed and broke the bread and fish.  What happened next?  Everyone had enough to eat!

    That’s how Jesus does things.  And he said to the disciples, “Go out to the whole world and bring this good news to all peoples.”  And that’s why people go on mission right to this day.
  
    A prayer to Jesus
Dear Jesus, thank you for coming to tell us how God loves us.  Please bless all missionaries who go to different places for your sake.  Bless us and our parents and teachers, and help us to bring your goodness into the world.  Amen
                                            **********************************************************

*************************************************************************************************************