Sr. Antonella and her missionary experience in Papua

Sr Antonella Tovaglieri, of the Missionaries of the Immaculate, recounts her experience in Papua New Guinea.

The people of Papua New Guinea are welcoming and Sr Antonella has embraced their simple lifestyle, listening to their problems and working for evangelisation. One of the challenges in Papua is the lack of financial resources for young people who thus have limited access to education, resulting in limited job opportunities. Sr. Antonella’s missionary work consists of training girls in the Christian community, trying to integrate faith into daily life.
One of the challenges of missionary work is isolation and lack of communication. The nearest city 200 km away requires a 24-hour boat trip. The experience of collaboration, rather than domination, is crucial to the success of missionary work and evangelisation.