Last summer, Sr Anna, with seven young women aged 18 to 28, had a wonderful missionary experience in Albania.
From 13th to 22th July, they were in Albania to live a missionary experience with Anna, a young woman from Bergamo who spent a full year in Albania. They went to stay with the Franciscan sisters of the Gospel, an Italian Congregation in Albania for 30 years.
Throughout the country...
The adventure started in Shkodra, a city in the northern part of the country. “Through our listening to people and visiting significant places, we could touch first hand the great faith of the Albanian people who paid a high price during the communist regime: many Catholics, Orthodox and Muslims have lost their lives. In 2016 the Church recognized 38 blessed martyrs killed between 1945 and 1974”, recalls Sr Anna.
Another highlight: Bilisht, in the south-east, on the border with Greece, Sr Anna and the team shared the same life that the Franciscan sisters live daily: a mission made of prayer, meetings with people, visits to families, and animation for children in the 42 villages entrusted to them. They “were struck by the difficult economic and social situation that many families, especially in the villages, live: lack of water in the houses, lack of hygiene and adequate health care, lack of adequate schooling, underlines Sr Anna. All this has led us to live the essential and give the right value to things!”
What to take away from this experience?
Sr Anna and the young women testify :
“An enriching experience that taught me to live a prayer that has to do with daily life in a harmonious way, to face fatigue, to go beyond one’s own needs. Going beyond allows you to make real what seemed to be unsurmountable.”
“It made me understand what I want to do in life: I wish to spend one year in Albania and maybe in other parts of the world. I realized that I ‘m not doing enough in Italy and I wondered what I could do more. In the area where I live there are many foreigners: I see racism against them and now, that I also experienced being in a foreign land I understand what they may feel”
“I agree in saying that it is not easy to bring our experience to Italy from Albania and to talk about it. I felt a hypocrite, an egoist, but in reality, I understood that it is not so if I try to be a seed of good in my daily life, helping my parents, doing voluntary works or small gestures that seem to be little but are not.”
Thanks Albania, Thanks Albanians!
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