VMY and ther Vincentian Family in Eritrea

Eritrea is a country which is found in the north east (horn) of Africa. It became independent in 1991. It’s a small country with about 5 million population. It is bound by Ethiopia (in south), Sudan (west and north), and Djibouti (south east) and in the east it owns the largest share of Red sea. It has nine ethnic groups and four religious groups (Catholics, Orthodox, protestant and Muslim) which lives together with harmony.

VMY and the family(in Eritrea)

We would like to present this theme from different perpsectives

• In ordinary family- Family in Eritrea had been and still remains to be the core means of peaceful coexistence among the different ethnic groups throughout the country. Especially we as Catholics tend to have a very united, respectful, loving relationships among members of individual families. It is from our families that we draw the catholic identity we claim to have. It can be said it plays an influential and decisive role in ones life.
• We VMY members owning Marian identity play prominent role in our families. We try to reflect on and live the sole Marian spirituality by being obedient, humble, caring, and ready to serve. We try to be living examples in our family’s spiritual lives. As an example during rosary recitation and bible sharing we try to be the light and salt of our families and role models of our young colleagues.

• The association of VMY as a family – one of the exceptional nature of VMY in Eritrea is its membership is not age bounded. Once an individual offers himself to be consecrated as a member of VMY, it is a vow made for life. As a result its members aren’t only children and youth but also fathers and mothers. This uniqueness in composition creates a sense of family belonging. As a family we organize programs(in our groups, regionally and nationally) that us meet together in prayer, retreats, creating an environment for sharing our experiences, our joys and the hardships and challenges we encounter while serving the ones in need.

• VMY as a member of Parish family – Since Mary is our role model, we tend to live under the guidance of our parish priests. We believe with all our parish members are called to serve in the Lord’s vineyard. Our uniqueness is that we constantly remind ourselves to be the right hand of our parish priests and in all and every aspect of our parish activities. Cleaning the church, being members of the choir group, taking part in liturgical services, leading prayer programs, evangelizing the young through creative means, identifying and serving parish members who are most in need and also organize outreach sharing events for youth group who are outside VMY. Events organized by VMY members like visiting orphanage and the like are open to all parish members regardless of their membership in VMY.

• VMY in Vincentian Family- We VMY are not alone, we are part of parcel of the bigger Vincentian family. As members of the same family we draw our inspiration from the rich Vincentian heritage that is handed to us by our formators (C.M & D.C) members. Our unity is demonstrated in the efforts we show to be on the side of the needy that is when we give witness to live our Vincentian charism. As a family we serve and evangelize the poor as the same time. And we believe we learn a lot from those in need when we let ourselves be evangelized by the poor.