After my first farewell in Berba in Eypt I spent time in Brazil, Guatemala and Costa Rica. Now for the final say good by I come back to Berba once more. The road to Ein Karem, in order to take up my new ministry within the congregation leads me via Rome. Today its Sunday, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. This gave me the opportunity to share Sunday Mass in the church Andrea delle Fratte. It was in this church where 172 years ago, Alphonse Ratisbonne was lead to his Baptism through the intervention of Mary Mother of Jesus, Mother of God. I prayed for God’s blessing on our new ministry the International Novitat in Jerusalem. And I asked Father Mary Alphonse and Father Theodore to pray for our Congregation “Notre Dame de Sion“ which was founded by Theodore Ratisbonne, the oldest brother of Alphonse Ratisbonne when he heard from his brother about the event of January 20th1842 in this church. “She said nothing, but I understood all.” Alphonse Ratisbonne “Mary’s silence, when …

Quetzaltenango, (oder mit dem einheimischen Namen Xela) ist die Stadt, wo ich Spanisch lerne. Xela liegt auf einer Meereshöhe von 2300 m, und anfangs merkte ich das sehr stark, weil mein Blutdruck stieg. In der Region von Xela leben ungefähr 225000 Menschen. 61 % sind eingeborene Indianer, 34 % Latinos, und 5 % Europäer. Die Stadt wurde am 7. Mai 1524 gegründet. Es gibt hier etwa neun katholische Kirchen und auch den größten Mormonentempel in Mittelamaerika. Die protestantischen und evangelikalen Kirchen zählt man gar nicht, weil es so viele sind. Auch Baptistenkirchen und freie Kirchen findet man überall. Die Kultur der Mayas ist besonders mit dem katholischen Glauben vermischt. Die Frauen haben farbenfrohe Kleider und tragen ihre Kinder eingewickelt am Rücken. Die Guatemalteken am Land sind klein: Männer nicht größer als ich, und Frauen noch viel kleiner. Die Bewohner in der Stadt sind offenbar gemischter; man nennt sie Latinos; sie sind größer und haben eine hellere Haut. Der 1. November ist ein großes Fest für die Toten, ähnlich wie Allerseelen in Österreich. An diesem Tag …

Quetzaltenango, usa su nombre indígena de Xela, es la ciudad donde estoy estudiando español. Xela tiene una altitud de 2.300 metros, y en los primeros días me sentí muy debil, como mi presión arterial sube. La región de Xela tiene una población de alrededor de 225.000 personas. 61 % de ellos son indígenas, 34 % ladinos y el 5% de europeos. La ciudad fue fundada el 7 de mayo de 1524. En Xela hay nueve iglesias católicas, así como el templo más grande de los mormones en Centroamérica. Tú no puedes contar las iglesias protestantes y evangélicas, ya que hay muchas. Iglesias bautistas y libres también se pueden encontrar en todas partes. La cultura maya se mezcla en todo con la fe cristiana católica. Las mujeres se visten con ropa de colores y llevan a sus hijos puestos en su espalda. Los guatemaltecos del área rural son bajos : los hombres no son más alto que yo y las mujeres son mucho más pequeñas. La gente de la ciudad parece ser una población más heterogénea, …

Quetzaltenango, or to use its indigenous name Xela, is the city where I am studying Spanish. Xela is at an altitude of 2.300 meters, and in the first days I felt this quite stronge as my blood pressure incrised. The region of Xela has a population of about 225.000 people. 61% of them are indigenous people, 34% Latinos and 5% Europeans. The city was founded on May 7th, 1524. There are about nine Catholic churches, as well as the biggest temple of the Mormons in Central America. You don’t count the Protestant and Evangelical churches as there are so many. Baptist and free churches can also be found everywhere. The Mayan culture is mixed in especially with the Catholic Christian faith. The women dress in colourful clothes and carry their children wrapped up on their back. The rural Guatemalans are short: men are no taller than I and women are much smaller. The people in the city seem to be a more mixed population; they are called Latinos and are taller and with a lighter …

Vocation leaflet in Brazil begins with “Jesus is saying: Let’s go and meet the Congregation “Our Lady of Sion”, Sr. Jacky and Sr. Mary Carmen arrived in Berba on Wednesday, October 3, 2013. The Gospel for October 4, which is also the feast of St. Francis, was Luke 10:1-12. “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go.” The disciples are sent only to places where Jesus himself wants to go. Jilvaneide and I are visiting sisters, we meet faith communities and individuals in the city of Rio de Janeiro and up in the North-East, Santo Amaro, Divina Pastora, Aracaju and Salvador. We go two by two and come to places where Jesus himself wants to go. After arriving Monday the 7 of October in the evening around 10 pm,  the morning the next day I visited the school of Sion in Rio de Janeiro where my first impression showed me the past glory once shared in …

On October 13, 1992, I, Sr. Juliana, got off the plane Cairo just two days after the great earthquake. Cairo was in a state of emergency and everybody was cleaning up since it had been one of the worst that ever happened in Egypt.

Since the revolution of January 25, 2011 (which led to the deposition of President Mubarak), safety is very fragile in Egypt, and the legal system has unsolvable problems. Crime rate has increased dramatically: indeed a bottomless pit! Where should people hide when they could be killed without any obvious reason? When kidnappings of well-off persons, especially of Christians, happen every day without ever being resolved? A year ago, a young man from a neighbouring village was kidnapped; he has not reappeared till this day. Why? Since ransom was not paid in time? No, it was because the family and neighbours, witnesses of the kidnapping, had gone to the police instead! And so the booty that did not bring any money has probably been disposed of somewhere in the desert. Now, a man from our village, El Berba, has been kidnapped. He was on his way on his moped between the villages, when he was brutally dragged into a Toyota by a group of men. Osamer, the victim, is father of three children aged between 14 …