DAUGHTERS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
MISSION APPEAL FOR AFRICAN MISSION
July 1, 2020
The Daughters of the Holy Spirit greet you, unfortunately, not in person. We thank Bishop Deeley and Fr. Doustou for inviting us to introduce ourselves and our mission in your parish bulletin by relating something of the founding of our Congregation and her missionary focus.
The Daughters of the Holy Spirit is an international Religious Congregation of women, dedicated to the Holy Spirit, and founded in Brittany, France in 1706. Over the course of 325+ years, our missionary outreach has expanded over 5 continents, namely, Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, and North America.
The Daughters of the Holy Spirit began their Nigerian Mission in 1964 in response to the Church’s appeal for missionaries to Africa. Today, there are 73 Native Professed Sisters serving in five Dioceses in Western Nigeria. As from our beginnings, they focus strongly on providing quality education to children and youth, who, in Nigeria, make up over 50% of its immense population, some 200,250,000 people! We manage multiple schools on both elementary and secondary levels, manage a hospital, and provide health care in several clinics, which includes outreach to surrounding villages. A rehabilitation center for physically and mentally challenged persons is in our care, as is offering assistance to the elderly. Adult literacy programs, especially for women, are on the rise. Weekly visits to the sick/poor in their homes (including a leper community), shape our pastoral outreach. In all local parishes and outstations where we are, catechesis and children’s liturgy are priorities.
This year has brought on ever greater hardship for many in the wake of the Covid 19 pandemic. The Sisters are noting the following as more urgent needs:
All of the Daughters of the Holy Spirit thank you for your prayer and missionary support in whatever way your means allow. May God keep you all well and safe.
Sr. Jeannine Legere, dhs (former missionary to Nigeria)