Sister Francesca Kearns

Sister Francesca Kearns recently transferred from her ministry in Kenya as our Congregation’s Vocation Animator. In the following interview, she reflects on her experiences with the people, culture and spirituality of Africa.

 Q:        How long were you in Africa?

A:         I was in ministry in Kenya, East Africa, for nine years. In the beginning I worked primarily in family life and with the young people. My work with the young people led me into vocation ministry, which had been my full time ministry for the last six years.

How would you describe the people?

Kenyans are a people of courage who share great hospitality. They also have deeply religious beliefs. Some may not be Catholic or even Christian, but they have a very deep sense that God has given us life and life is a gift.  In terms of the acceptance of religious life, a family’s strong religious beliefs might inspire them with the feeling that they are giving a child back in thanksgiving to God for the gift of life. I once met a Muslim lady who had one son who served in the local mosque and another who was a Catholic Priest. She said that the important thing was that the both served the Man above.

How did your ministry put you in contact with Kenyan families?

Part of my work was to visit the families of young ladies who were considering Religious Life in our Congregation.  In some ways it is like the traditional custom of visiting the family of the prospective son or daughter-in-law. It is very important to do this for good communication and clarification of expectations. 

Life in Kenya is more family oriented than in our individualistic western culture. When a person makes a life decision, it is seen as influencing the family.  The family also takes an active part in helping the young person make a good decision.  Many times during the family visit, the grandparents will also be present and frequently a representative of the small Christian community.  The families would show me their family pictures and I would share a copy of The Word Among Us with them. They are particularly interested when the articles are about Kenya or have pictures of our Kenyan members.

 
Is there an interest in Religious Life among women in Kenya?

There are a growing number of young women in Kenya who are looking at religious life. What is exciting is that it has only been about 100 years ago since the first missionaries went to Africa. Since the people of Kenya are very religious, they accepted that Word very seriously. Like Latin America, the parish works through the small Christian communities. Thus, when the person enters the seminary or religious life the community is involved. This means that other young people are aware of those who take the risk to join full time service in the church and they may be inspired to do the same. I say risk, because becoming a parent is a very important value, and it is a big sacrifice to give up that privilege that others may have life. But many of the candidates have the experience of how missionaries spent their lives giving life to their parishes and they now want to do the same.

The good news is that various congregations now have Kenyan members who are missionaries in other countries such as Colombia, Ireland and some of the more traditionally Catholic countries that now have fewer native vocations.  The missionaries from Nigeria and Kenya are coming to make their contribution to these countries that helped them in their initial evangelization.

 
Where is the Novitiate?

The novitiate is located in Karen, Nairobi and is called Saint Bakhita. The new building was dedicated on October 23, 2003 and is named in honor of a new Saint. The story of St. Bakita’s life is beautiful, sad, but inspiring. As far as we know Josephine Bakhita was kidnapped into slavery at the age of eight and suffered a life of extreme pain, persecution and exhausting work.  From her memories it is interpreted that she was born in present day Sudan. She worked as a slave in Africa and then was fortunate to be sold to an Italian family. The Italian family recognized her right to freedom. She went with the family to Italy where she met the Canossian Sisters. The people she worked for went back to Sudan, but she chose to stay with the sisters. She was baptized and later joined the sisters. In the suffering of Christ, she found the comfort and an acceptance of the great suffering that she endured as a child particularly while she was a slave. Her story is very inspiring, and the video of her life is a favorite with our candidates

 
Have you visited Sudan? 

Although I have never been there, I feel a great identification with Sudan.  The stories that I hear from missionaries working there, remind me of El Salvador during the civil war.  One of my great hopes is that some day, not too far away, we will minister in Sudan. There is a picture of St. Bakhita in the entrance of the Novitiate: I always greet her with, “St. Bakhita, please send us to Sudan.”

 
You were also in ministry in Central America; however when you entered the Congregation, there were no ministries in Central America or Kenya. When did you first experience a calling for missionary work?

I wanted to be a missionary before I wanted to be a Sister. I don’t think I looked specifically at Africa or Central America. Actually, I was particularly attracted to China. For some reason, China always had a calling for me. I am grateful for the short periods that I was able to minister there.

 
Are young women still being called?

In Africa today, many young women are interested in Religious Life. I think it is because of the suffering of their people. They also see that the church has been concerned and has given a great deal of leadership in setting up hospitals and schools. For example, the Catholic Church organizes the best programs caring for patients with AIDS. The religious have been very creative in finding different ways of responding to the problem of AIDS. They are practically the only ones who have good educational programs on prevention. These ministries inspire the young people to serve their people in a similar way.

How did you approach vocations?

I always work from the basis of Christian vocation. I visited many secondary and tertiary schools promoting the idea of life as a gift and the need to make good decisions. We developed a pamphlet showing how making wise decisions about study and sexuality gave one freedom from AIDS, drugs and other problems. We encouraged the youth to have good friends, to pray and to take time to make good decisions about their lives.  Most of the students do not have the opportunity for guidance and counseling so they are very receptive to our programs. 

While we went to the schools to work with Young Catholic Students, YCS, many of the students including Muslims were eager to participate. From these general groups we had smaller groups with monthly follow up on vocation. We called these groups Vocation Seekers. We work with the readings from Scripture e.g. Luke 3:22 focusing on the fact that they are the beloved children of God and that God chose them to express his love for the world in a unique way. I always wanted them to be excited about the fact that everyone has a vocation or a special mission in life. God chose them for that mission.             

We felt that this sense of dignity in life gave a positive foundation from which to reflect on Christian vocation. When we had developed a basis for Christian vocation, we moved with a smaller group of students to look at religious vocations in general and CCVI vocation with those who felt attracted to serve with us. I would go around in circles and the biggest circle was Evangelization and then the second circle was Christian vocation and then the smaller circle was religious vocation and the central circle was religious vocation as a member of our congregation. Even at our seminars we worked with the Franciscan Brothers who are based beside us in Molo. We worked with the Holy Rosary Missionary Sisters. So we had mixed groups in our vocation seminars.

We worked hard to give the participants a good foundation in prayer, Christian living and the Sacraments as well as decision-making related to vocation choice.  Our seminars promote student participation and decision-making. We usually had from 50 to 70 participants from our three congregations in these seminars. 

Young people were glad to have the opportunity to study, to reflect and to pray.  From these seminars students move to look at vocations to marriage, religious life and priesthood. Some of these students became affiliates and then we worked with them more specifically on preparation for religious life. Some people looking at the Gospels see vocation as command, call or attraction. I saw it mostly as attraction.

 
Driving around an unfamiliar country must have posed some dangers. Did you fear for your life?

I have always thought that somehow my vocation is tied up with adventure. I like adventure. Every ministry I have had for the past 40 years has required travel in mostly uncharted terrain. When I was in ministry in Houston, I worked with 50 Catholic schools between Houston and Galveston; I found where I was going by asking. In Central America, I worked with community health, which included 21 parishes in the rural diocese of Huehuetenango. Some of the villages had paths passable only by an animal or a bike. I enjoyed the challenge of riding a motorbike through the Cuchumatanes with their spectacular views. Most of the time, I was lost, but the people were always very helpful. Half the time I barely understood the language. Even when I understood Spanish well, many of the rural areas used an Indian language. However, it is a very salutary experience for a missionary to realize that she is understood only about half of the time. So the question for me would be how could I do ministry without the adventure of unknown terrain?

When I first moved to Kenya, mostly I did not know where I was going and that was scary. Again from village to village there are different languages. We had a matata, which literally means a vehicle for more than 3 people. It is a small bus, usually a Nissan van. When I was lost, I would ask the Matatu driver how to get from here to the desired destination. They were very helpful and gave me good information and had a good sense of humor.  So in the lost situations, I have discovered some very gracious people.

 
So you used to drive around visiting people?

Usually around Christmas time, I set apart two weeks for home visits. I visited the family before the young lady entered the Affiliate Program. I choose this time because it is not a time when we have programs and people are more likely to be at home. I really enjoyed sharing with the families. Most of them are at home during this season. There is time to just visit, and enjoy a family celebration. When our Novices or Annually Professed sisters are with their families they sometimes join me in the visits. In this way, the family gets to meet several members of the congregation.  It is very encouraging for the candidate to meet someone from her own area who is already a member of our congregation.

 
How did you adjust to the change in diet?

I enjoyed Kenyan food.  We had a typical food in the Kikuyu area which is called giteri and irio. I like the tea that Kenyans made with milk, and it is called chai. Many of the families knew that I liked chai so they frequently had a thermos of chai ready for me when I arrived. They were very gracious about remembering my likes and dislikes. They also have something that is similar to the tortilla; it is like a pancake, but not sweet, it is chipate. It is quite delicious for eating with food and can also be used as a dessert. In the area where we worked, lamb was fairly common. For special events a sheep or a goat might be killed, but in ordinary times a chicken is more common. Since I like animals, I didn't eat meat.

 
How did you cope with the language barrier?

I speak Kiswahili; the official language is English and that is what I spoke when I visited the schools. But when I visited the families, I used some Kiswahili. Most districts have a third language, which is called the mother tongue and varies from tribe to tribe. I went to a school to learn Kiswahili in Tanzania. The program was set up by the Maryknoll missionaries. They tried to give us a good orientation as to new situations that we might meet.  We not only learned the language but also had speakers on culture.

The language school was in a rural area, and I would walk around and meet the people. That was a wonderful opportunity not only to practice the language but also to get to know the people in their homes and to understand their customs.

In your ministries in Central America and Africa, did you see comparisons with the three founding Sisters of the Congregation?

When I first went to Central America, I had just read Sister Loyola’s book, Serving with Gladness, and I found many parallels. I think I empathized with the first sisters coming to a country and not knowing the language. I remember being in C.A. and trying to learn a phrase so that if I got lost, I would know what to say.  I had just arrived in Mexico and wanted to let the Sisters know that I arrived safely.  I got out my phrase book and practiced to say, “Donde estan los correos?” meaning, “Where is the post office?  I repeated it to myself all the way down the street. When I got close to the indicated place, I asked a police officer in my broken Spanish and he nicely responded in English, “It’s around the corner.”

In developing countries many needs demand an immediate answer. There are fewer alternatives. We do the best that we can with the supplies that we have at that time. As I read about our first Sisters, I think that their situations were similar to what we still face today in missionary situations. These unplanned situations require initiative and flexibility. One of the things that is difficult for us and I think for our early Sisters, is that at the end of the day, one feels that there is still so much more to be done. Our early sisters were sensitive to the suffering and responded with love. Sometimes they only had two fish and five loaves for the multitude.  But they trusted God to do the rest. They still challenge us to take great risks in times of need. In developing countries there are always times of need.

  
What about the needs that  you recently saw in Kenya?

There is a saying that in Kenya every person is either affected or infected by AIDS. In Kenya we tried to help through education, counseling, medical care, and foster care. So that is where I see the similarity with the first three sisters…coming to an unfamiliar area and focusing on the needs of the people as they are.

We are in Africa today, because of a commitment to the poor and sick. Maybe not always having the best plan, but having the heart to see suffering and let our hearts tell us what needs to be done and letting our head guide us and helping us to work with others.

Sometimes not knowing the language has an advantage because it makes us conscious that we need the help and the perspective of the local people. I can read a map and see the big cities, but when I get into the villages, there is no map, and then I have to ask help from the local people. We need to let the people express how they think the needs can be met and be generous in sharing our experience and resources with them also.

It is not what we do for the people; it is what we do with the people. And I think that ties into Vocation Ministry. It is not that we have come and have all the answers or all the personnel, but that we need people to collaborate with us. There are many needs… so the situation creates the need for us to work in collaboration to meet the needs of the people as Jesus would. 

Is there one story that stands out and touches your heart?

There are so many stories. Working in vocation work, I had an opportunity to deal with people on the deep level of their dreams for their lives and how that intersects with God’s dream for them. I didn't specifically do vocation work for our Congregation, but to help the young people search for meaning in their lives. Working on this level has been very inspiring.

There are two people. One is a young lady named Elizabeth who lived in a very distant area called Kabernet. When Elizabeth got to know our Congregation she was teaching preschool. She wanted to finish her training before joining Postulancy. When she had a school break, she immediately went for training. So she was either teaching or taking her in-service training. Just her steadfastness and courage to do that is very commendable. Since her training took place during the times that we have seminars she has not been able to attend. But I wrote a summary of the seminar. She always reviewed the summary with me and asked for clarifications. Two other ladies from that region started out with Elizabeth, but did not continue. That meant that she had to travel long distances alone. I was inspired by her commitment.

The second person is a young lady from Nigeria. She received our address from a priest who visited Sister Michael. And she wrote to me. I told her our Congregation was not in her country, but I would like to continue to correspond with her and eventually we arranged an interview. She was in a university and her university had frequent strikes, so she was not able to finish her education as quickly as she had hoped. But we continued our correspondence over four years. During that time I visited with her once. I made a visit to her family and her school. As soon as she finished the university she wrote asking when she could come. When I met her at the airport, she cried. It was like meeting someone you didn't know in a strange country. She was from West Africa and she crossed the continent to come to a Congregation in a country that she didn't know. I was very touched by her faith and steadfastness. I may share the history of the Congregation with the candidates, but they are the ones that show me that the spirit is alive. These two ladies have some of the courage and perseverance of our founding Sisters. As I write this, both of these candidates are now in Postulancy and I hope that they become the founding Sisters of a new mission in Africa.

 
Why do women become Sisters?

Many times when a woman comes to me, she says she has seen a promotion by the Congregation. It is interesting that the call of Bishop Claude Dubuis seems to resonate many of the young African women. For example, the affects of AIDS in Africa are tremendous and they see the opportunity to help those who are suffering. We work with the sick, the orphans and the abandoned. These are the people with the greatest needs today. Many young ladies recognize that they have better education and health than many. When they reflect on the goodness of God in their lives, they also think about sharing that gift with others. In Kenya, God is recognized as the source of life, so they are very touched by this gift God has given them. They come with the question: “How can I give something back for the goodness of life that God has given me?“ These women find it exciting and inspiring to share their experience of God with others through Religious Life.

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