EDITORIAL
The torch passes to another missionary
On July 1, 2018, the superior general of the Missionaries of Africa, with the consent of his council, came to pick me up in South Africa to send me on a mission to the province of the Americas. After several years of mission abroad, I returned home, still full of great missionary zeal. Thanks to a very dynamic team made up of members from different countries, we supported our colleagues working in Brazil, Mexico, the United States and Canada. Over the last six years, you have seen how we give hands to our faith and our missionary commitment, whether here in America or elsewhere, especially in Africa.
On July 1, 2024, I pass the torch to my successor, Father Barthélémy Bazemo, originally from Burkina Faso. He takes charge of a province which has found a new freshness and a spirit of creativity thanks to the arrival of young colleagues, especially from the African continent. The dynamism and multicultural experience of Father Barthélémy will surely be able to constructively animate our communities and the projects that are close to our hearts. You can guess that I am very happy to give way to him. It is time for me to return to Africa, probably for a few years, since I am getting older and my health is likely to fail one day or another.
In this issue of the Letter to Friends, we speak to you about the missionary experience of a Brazilian confrere who, at the age of 30, decided to follow Jesus into the great missionary adventure which would take him as far as in Africa and Mexico. We will also tell you about the new parish entrusted to us in Querétaro, Mexico on March 17, 2023.
And like every issue, we invite you to support a project in Africa. This time, it is to give drinking water to children in a nursery school and to adults who attend the parish of Usagara managed by our confreres in Tanzania, a country where I worked for 12 years in the past. You will also receive thanks from our colleague Erasto Shayo in Nigeria whom you supported last year.
May reading this Letter to Friends keep your missionary spirit alive.
 Réal Doucet, M.Af |