English 
Mission: to discover God in optimism and joy!
I am from the village of Mushuria, in the South of Bangladesh. I was born in a catholic family, I have two brothers and one sister. Maybe my story could be a little bit surprising…the surprises that God makes! First of all, because I’ve never seen any missionaries of the Immaculate before joining since they didn’t have any community in my area at that time. Moreover, when I was a child, my village was far from the parish, so we couldn’t go there and participate in the celebrations very frequently. Now the catholic community has grown and the situation is changed.
My parents introduced me to consecrated life, sharing with me many stories of priests and sisters they learned from the missionaries that were there many years before. Those moments have been for me a good opportunity to understand the importance of behaving well in life and of choosing the right values. They prepared me for my future life choice. After finishing my studies in Borishal, I recognized deep inside my heart a desire to be a religious sister and so I express my will to the parish priest.
My parish in Narikulbani is the place in which I came to learn about missionary life and charism, through the intervention of my parish priest, F. Silvester, who was a close friend of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate. He explained to me many things about missionary life and choice. Thanks to his suggestions and teaching, I decided to meet the MSI and I went to Dhaka to stay with them and begin my formation journey. My parents were happy with this choice, they could also understand the profound meaning of leaving our home and go abroad. Missionary Vocation is in fact really special because it gives us the opportunity to go out of our understanding, reach the peripheries, live an international life among our communities.
During my formation, I had to face many challenges: changes in weather, food, environment, …We were only a few girls and in a few moments, I also remained alone.
What could help me at that time was my positive attitude to take it easy, laugh and remain joyful. I’ve always felt in my heart the presence of God, in that deep happiness that helped me to face any circumstances.
Destination: Cameroon!
I’ve been destined for the mission after my final profession. When I went to Italy for an international junior course, I understood my moment had come. The step of learning the language of the new country could be difficult, but for sure it is really useful and interesting. While learning French, I could discover many things about the culture and the people I was going to meet.
I strongly believe in the choice of our Congregation to live in international communities. Internationality means continuous discovering. In our communities in Cameroon the majority of us is a foreigner and this, that could be a weakness and a disadvantage, actually becomes a key point and an advantage. In fact, we can really accept each other, as we know that every difficulty one sister experiences can be considered true also for all the others. We strongly feel communion and unity, we are really ‘together’, facing the same challenges. This helped and still every day helps me to embrace my vocation totally, without competition or jealousy.
And now what is missing? Just come and visit us !!
Come on my mission to Cameroon. WELCOME!
sr. Lina Baroi – Province Camerun
