Project Europe: multicultural community of Amsterdam
By Cl. Cirilo de Deus, SDB
Timorese missionary in Amsterdam, BEN provinc
Amsterdam, Netherland, 31 December 2017 -- I wish from afar but deep down in my heart a Blessed Christmas and happy new year 2018 to all of you. May the Child Jesus bring bountiful joy to your life, your family and community. I am sure that everything will be good in the next year if we really reserved always a special place for Christ in our hearts.
Here, I want to share with all of you my personal reflection as a missionary ad gentes. In a nutshell I want to say that it has been a very difficult year to be assigned as a missionary in Europe. Thus, I have always asked myself: “How can I survive and living to the full my vocation as missionary ad gentes in Europe?"
I would like to share three main answers or motivations that I have been able to provide for myself during past months in Belgium North - Netherland province: Grace of God - Vision of Faith - Prayer.
It is the grace and will of God
Nothing is impossible for God. The story of Jonas in the Bible makes me think about my life. God sent Jonah to Nineveh to ‘facilitate’ the repentance of the sinners but he tried to escape at the beginning of his vocation - mission. He refused to cooperate with God. It is interesting that Jonah was not able to go about his own plan as he wanted to. At the end, God is able to make him cooperate and even ‘enlarged’ his own vision.
I consider my missionary life to be the grace and will of God because of my daily challenges I experience: the language barrier, the cultural shocks (in big and small sizes), the (cold) weather, the style of life, the way of living the faith. All of these life difficulties have impact on my missionary life. Sometimes I wanted to do things in my own way and according to my whim. Yet, I have learned so far that God has made me humble and grateful in following him wherever He may lead me. He does everything to me as he did to Jonah.
The vision of faith
As a human being in the secularized world it is difficult to accept something beyond the explanation and proofs provided by science. How to find God in such a world which is heavily influenced by scientific dictate? I do not believe in the dualism between science and faith. I affirm that God intervenes in our life. If I look back and reflect what I have experienced, it was God’s care and protection. He did not let me alone in time of difficulties. And He would always be with me in every circumstances, as he promised
"I am with you always, even to the end of the ages.” (Mat 28,20)
Prayer
I am powerless to control the world even myself when I face difficult situation. I need someone who understands me deeply. He is God. I brought everything that I felt and experienced and expressed it through my daily prayer. This has been a reliance which I have rebuilt in myself since my first dream to become a missionary when I was still a novice. Until now, thanks be to God, I maintain this contact with the Lord through daily prayer both in community and personal prayer such as: rosary, thanking the Lord before sleep and wake up, etc. That is the strongest point in my life that I do regularly and trying to faithfully and devoutly fulfilling them. I have experienced that the Lord heard my cries
These are the three reasons that strengthen me and keep me happy and optimistic as a missionary.
I am joyful in my assignment here in Amsterdam (Netherlands) with four confreres from our province, Belgium North and Netherlands. We are a multicultural community of Belgian, Indonesian, Indian and Timorese. Our community mission is entrusted with four parishes, five churches, at distance of seven kilometer away from our community. We have just begin new pastoral activities for youth such a sort of Lectio divina and Taizé style prayer gathering.
We hope that through the intercession of our Mother everything will be better in the next year and bring more fruits to the Kingdom of God.
