Have you ever had a caring and dedicated teacher who made a profound positive impact on you? Back in Catholic grade school, I recall a Dominican nun named Sr. Igna, who taught us the Mass parts and responses.
Sr. Igna was no nonsense. If you failed to properly recite the Agnus Dei or sing the mystery of faith prayers, she would grab you by the arm and shake you while literally shouting “I’m going to shake you up!”
My memory of Sr. Igna is proof that she loved her students, as shown by her insistence that we prayerfully participate in the Mass.
In HEAL’s mission, we are providing 200 students with formal and religious education. Like the Dominican nuns who taught me long ago, the MOJ Sisters have been a guiding light for our students.
Rev. Leo Okonkwo, MOJ Founder, explains, “The sisters formed students into Servant Leaders by living and working with them, leading them in prayer, and catechizing them all in the Self-Emptying of Jesus Christ (Phil 2:6-11), the spirituality I teach.”
While the MOJ Sisters are temporarily inactive, our lay missionary teachers have admirably stepped into their shoes. Currently, 12 students are preparing for 1st Holy Communion and seven for Confirmation.
Gabriel, a teacher and catechist, says, “While not a vowed religious, I still rise early each morning in the Spirit of Self-Emptying to catechize our students in the sacraments they will receive as Divine assistance toward their ultimate goal of becoming future Servant Leaders.”
The efforts of Gabriel and our teacher-catechists are bearing fruit spiritually. 11th grade student, Ofurum Divine, entered BOMCA academy as an Anglican, but will enter full communion with the Catholic Church upon her reception of Holy Communion and Confirmation.
Ofurum’s conversion is in response both to what our catechists have taught her in class about the sacraments and to the prayers and devotions that are integral parts of HEAL’s faith formation program.
About this aspect of her education, she says, “In praying the traditional way of the Cross in common with my peers every Friday, I have come to appreciate Christ’s self-emptying love for me as signified by the blood and water that poured out from His pierced side.”
{First Name}, you and I can call to mind that faithful lay or religious catechist of our childhood who helped us to come closer to Jesus. In HEAL’s mission, catechizing children in the Catholic faith is the centerpiece of our goal of forming them into future Servant Leaders (Mt. 20:26-27).
In Nigeria today, runaway inflation and scarcity is making life hard for the average citizen, including teachers. Please support their selfless service on behalf of our students with your best one-time or monthly gift.
May God bless and keep you!