Pallegudem – India
Delia, General Councillor for Formation in our Pallegudem Community (India) for almost two months.
Delia, she has helped us so much in the spiritual life (always) first in the Chapel in spite of the heat, then we reaped the fruits in community life and also in pastoral work, especially in outreach work, going down to the street to visit some families in Telangana and all this has led us to drink from her fountain as General Councillor for Formation. Her presence alone has left its mark on our lives as a community in formation.
Sister Delia arrived in our Community on the 30th of May and will be with us until the 20th of July, almost two months. She is a wonderful person, very kind and generous, and as we said, she is a walking encyclopaedia, a complete library, because from her we learn about everything: how to find the strength to go down to the street, how to work in the garden, how to find firewood, cooking, sewing, visiting the different families to comfort them with her presence, participating with devotion in the Eucharist in spite of the language barrier.
These months have been a wonderful experience to share and learn from, they have been able to understand the people they have come across despite the difficulty of the language as we have said, our aspirants have learned to understand and above all to greet with much enthusiasm in Spanish, and some other words more than others. In the kitchen we have also been able to share with her, she has taught us how to prepare some dishes such as Asado, Puri, and also Paraguayan soup, a culinary variety that we have been able to appreciate. With her we have been able to visit hospitals and accompany the sick, praying with them or simply visiting them.
We have seen in it the value of respect for the culture of others, here in India different religions are present and each one celebrates its own faith. One of the external ways of evangelising is with music: at half past four in the morning, the music of a Hindu temple begins to play at full volume, then at five o’clock the Muslims continue with their different religious manifestations and later we, the Christian temples. It can be seen that this has not been a hindrance to live their experience among us with much joy and enthusiasm that we have seen reflected in their daily joy in the community… the manifestation of each religion is part of the cultural and religious variety that enriches and makes India unique. India is a spiritual reference, it is what one breathes in everyday life.
We can also say that her teachings of patience, of knowing how to observe and gently help us to understand things and situations better, encouraging us to be better missionaries in this sacred land, have also been very present.
She has been for us a great sister and more than a sister. She has been very present in the life of the community, very close to our families, her smile always present with her “good morning” has filled us with joy. Always united in prayer, Sister Delia, thank you for your company during these months, pray for us and count on our prayers. We will continue “Forward always forward”.
H. Pauline Fouafoana
