It all happened very quickly and
unexpectedly. On February 14, we were informed that within 14 days we had to
leave Kamchatka. Otherwise, we would be deported ... In the passport, in the
permission for temporary stay, we got the stamp which said: canceled. We were in shock. There were lots of questions in our minds. Especially one of them kept returning to us
like the echo: Why? 14 days can be a lot of time, and can also be not enough
time. Where to start? How can we prepare babushkas to hear that message?
Our parish started praying for us. Maybe
there is still some hope? We tried to work as always, give our hearts, pray, and
serve to the end, after all this is why we were missioned to Kamchatka. After the tears, the time came for
thanksgiving. We have experienced so much here. We watched small miracles with our
own eyes. If you read our blogs entries,
then you will see them. Kamchatka and the Parish of St. Teresa has become our
home, and all parishioners and the people whom we met in the city have become
our loved ones. How many times strangers asked us to pray, how many times our
Muslim brothers greeted us, Marian Sisters, how many times we gave a smile and
a kind word to renew hope in someone ... how many times ... hard to count them
all. And how can you not give thanks and
praise to God for so much good graces! The seed was planted, someone else will
water it and someone else will reap.
Even on the last day a man came up
to us asking: Please bless me, Mothers,
and pray for me and my son, and our Muslim brothers moved us to tears when
they confessed: We prayed to Allah that
you may stay here. It was hard to say goodbye, our hearts were in
pain. The hardest part was to look at
the tears of babushkas and parishioners. It was also not easy for us... The
last days, the last hours, last hugs ... On February 27, we left Kamchatka by
plane, and thus our mission is over. Are
you sure? The fact that we are not still among the parishioners, does not mean
that we're not together. They will stay forever in our hearts and prayers.
Dearest sisters, friends and benefactors! Thank
you for your prayers for us, for your good, kind words, your suffering, and for
your closeness. We know that you were with us spiritually while we were missioned
in Kamchatka. Please do not forget the Parish of St. Therese of the Child Jesus
in Petropavlovsk Kamchatsky.
Keep
praying and thank you
for everything!
Deo Gratias!
Your Sisters
Donata and
Jana
