English 
The first image that comes to our mind when we think about sr. Teresa is that of a simple, gentle person, with the smile always on her lips, capable of listening and of a sincere friendship.
Originally from Gaeta (south of Italy), she joins the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate in 1967 with the dream of “becoming a missionary sister and serve the poor in a village in Africa or in a leprosy centre in India” because she was listening to the passionate stories of the PIME missionaries during the youth gathering in the Sanctuary of Montagna Spaccata in Gaeta.
In 1983 comes the appointment for the mission: it is not Africa nor India but among the tall skyscrapers of Hong Kong. In front of this surprise sr. Teresa is convinced that “our life is not guided by us, the Lord knows us and knows what is the good for each one of us”. With faith and missionary courage sr. Teresa arrives in Hong Kong and for two years dedicates herself “with the head and the heart” (as she said) to the study of the Chinese language. It is a “hard period of insertion and of attempts of making myself understood in a language (she said) that is very rich of symbols and very beautiful, but also so difficult to learn”
She understands that in order to witness Jesus, “everything starts from human relationships” and that “friendship is the first step to go closer to Chinese people”; she tells that the persons she meets are welcoming, friendly and generous. She said: “when I was sick they used to bring me the Chinese soup and we on our part were trying to get interested in their lives, convinced that this is already a form of evangelization which pass through the relationship of trust and friendship”. Sr. Teresa inserts herself in the local pastoral work starting from the children who helped her to improve the language skills and then with the girls of our school in Shek Lei. Later she works in the pastoral ministry in the local Christian communities (in Kam Tin, Tai Po, Fanling, Tsing Yi) with a particular attention to the poor, the far, to go and contact the families and create warm relationships.
Sr. Giovanna Minardi who with sr. Teresa shared a lot of time and experiences says: “She was a person happy of her mission, enthusiastic, she would never withdraw, she had a great spirit of self-dedication, a missionary spirit. She had served in the parish pastoral ministry and had always worked with determination and enthusiasm, sure about where she wanted to reach but very serene and always available, also in the community. She worked with joy creating good relationships with everybody. She was a person who aroused admiration”.
Thus sr. Teresa remains in Hong Kong almost 40 years with a short interruption in the years 1998 – 2001 when she is in Rome, for a service to the General Direction.
And also when, in the early 2000s, the first signs of her sickness appear, sr Teresa continue with courage and great missionary spirit her mission, adapting her missionary service to the concrete circumstances of her life; she writes: “it was a shock for me understanding that with the coming of the sickness I had to stop many of the initiatives I was doing and live my witness in a different way. Nonetheless, even in the context of my staying in the hospital and of my recovery process there were so many special people with whom I could share my suffering and continue the dialogue of life which conveys the values of the Gospel and leads to Jesus”.
Eventually, back to Italy, to Monza, in December 2022 because of the worsening of her health condition, the dialogue weaved with missionary spirit with the people of Hong Kong is not interrupted: every day she receives a message or a phone call from the persons with whom she shared a piece of road in Hong Kong. “What do I have left of the mission?” sr. Teresa was reflecting: “what remains is friendship”.
