MY BRIEF HISTORY OF MY DOMINICAN VOCATION

Dear sisters, I joyfully share with you the brief history of my vocation. However, it is not always easy to speak about myself. I was born into a Christian family with ten children, including six girls and four boys. I am the ninth of ten.

It was in 2004 that I met the Dominican Missionary Sisters of the Rosary through an aspirant named Mireille BITAKA, when she went to Ecuador for her sister’s funeral. Mireille told me about the Dominican Missionary Sisters of the Rosary, who are open, joyful, and simple sisters who welcome young women with their strengths and weaknesses and who work on five continents. She also gave me the phone number of the sister responsible for young vocations in the Province. That’s how I began my journey as an aspirant in this great family.

From 2006 to 2009, I completed my postulancy, and from 2009 to 2011, I participated in the novitiate. On August 8, 2011, I made my First Profession and on November 3, 2018, where I definitively committed myself to the Congregation. I completed all my preparation in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Throughout my journey, I have always experienced God’s love in my sisters, who daily accept me as I am and help me grow together in the love that called us all. I also cannot forget the support of my biological family and others, who help me overcome the difficulties inherent in religious life.

During my 14 years of religious life, I have tried to remain open to the charism of the Congregation, which sends us wherever the Church needs us, in simplicity, in love for what I do and for those I meet, giving the best of myself. For there is more happiness in giving than in receiving (Acts 20:35).

Sister Ikoli Bokanzu Françoise