My name is Juliet Mbatha Musyoki. I am from Kenya, Machakos county. I contacted the Daughters of St Paul in January 2024. In June 2024, I was invited for the Come and See Program in Nairobi, which took three months. For one month and a half, I was with my companions and the rest of the time I was with the sisters in the community.
My experience among the Daughters of St Paul has been like an opener in my vocation which in each stage I continue discerning. I am very glad to share my experience with you as you discern what you want to be for the rest of your life.
The Daughters of St Paul are very welcoming. On my first day meeting them, they received me very well. The warm welcome was a lesson to me as a young person discerning my vocation. I wished to belong to the Pauline sisters for the rest of my life. They are loving and caring. Love makes people of different places, nationalities, tribes, skin, colour, etc., stay together as sisters peacefully and care for each other. Love and care create happiness among the Daughters of St Paul. I also got to know that obedience is very important. The sisters obey their superiors and the superiors respect the other sisters and consider their opinions. Also, even the elder sisters respect the young sisters. This inspired me to become a Daughter of St Paul.
On 7th October 2024, I was admitted to join pre-postulancy in Kampala Uganda. It was my first time to be out of the country. In Uganda the climate is good and also there is security. In Thecla Formation House Kampala, I met the postulants. They received me with a lot of love and happiness because of having young people following them. The postulants introduced me to different departments such as apostolate and many others. I really feel at home for the time have been here.
On the side of the apostolate, the daughters of St Paul evangelize through means of communication such as radio programs, books etc. I involved myself in different activities in the printing press like cutting, gathering and folding signitures and many others activities which I found myself enjoying. I came to understand that it is not just about working but it about helping many people by reading books to change their lives and follow Jesus master. I also went for propaganda which helped me to understand the saying “if the people don’t go to church, let the church go to the people”. During this time we meet many people who really need help from the challenges they are facing, where they expect you should be able to help them. We direct them to a specific book which when they read they will be able to get solutions of their challenges. I do feel inspired by the spirit of St Paul that we use in our mission.
On the other hand, I was interested by the fact that the daughters of St Paul have Pauline Co-operators. At first, I did not understand the meaning of Pauline Co-operators and what was their work. It interested me that, these are lay people who commit themselves to help the sisters to carry out the mission. Also, the cooperators sometimes have prayers with the sisters. This clicked in my mind that when you get to know Christ, also help others to come closer to him but not making them to become whom you are, but can following Christ in their own way of life. As I conclude, the Daughters of St Paul is a congregation which is always ready to welcome young people also to be formed so that the congregation continues in being. Also to help young women to know Christ and discern their vocation. I encourage you to be open and listen to God’s call and respond according to it.