Missionaries of Charity

Through Mercy Ministries, members of the crew have the opportunity to visit and serve at different sites in Benin. I was able to join in on a weekly visit to an orphanage run by 5 sisters of the Missionaries of Charity order, started by Mother Theresa in 1950. The sisters have taken public vows of chastity, poverty, obedience, and wholehearted and free service to the poorest of the poor. They wear simple white saris with blue stripes, just as Mother Theresa did. We played with the children and helped to feed some of the younger ones their lunch. Most of all, they just wanted to be held and hugged. We were encouraged to learn that all of the children were in the adoption process with 60% to be adopted by families in Benin and 40% by families in Italy and France.

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness,light;
where there is sadness, joy;
O divine Master, grant that I not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved , as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
(poem by Mother Theresa, thanks to my friend Dunja)



Missionaries of Charity brought Ibrahim, a child with a large facial tumor to Screening Day

Ibrahim waiting to be seen on Screening Day joined in on some arts and crafts activities with the other waiting kids