‘A Mission Companionship with Cameroon Orphans’ is the theme of the Mission Thursday to be held online on Feb. 15. Sponsored by the Global Episcopal Mission Network (GEMN), the 2 p.m. webinar on Zoom will feature Sister Monica Clare, superior of the Community of St. John the Baptist in Mendham, New Jersey.
Register for the webinar on Eventbrite here. The gathering is free and open to the public.
The Good Shepherd Home for Children is located in the Northwest Province of Cameroon, an area in West Africa where an estimated 50,000 children are orphaned. Over 150 of those children have found a home at Good Shepherd, where they are sheltered, fed, clothed, educated and loved.
The home is administered by the Benedictine Sisters of Bethany, a religious community of women affiliated with the Anglican Church of Cameroon that is led by Sister Jane Manka’a. Their life is one of prayer, worship and work. The orphanage is recognized by the Cameroonian government for its high quality.
Sister Monica Clare will discuss how the Community of St. John the Baptist is involved in the orphanage ministry through visits and fundraising in its companionship with the Benedictine Sisters of Bethany.
The webinar will highlight the continuing role of Episcopal and Anglican religious orders in international mission. The Society of St. John the Evangelist, based in Cambridge, Mass., had a house in Japan, and the Order of the Holy Cross, based in West Park, N.Y., had work in Liberia and currently has a priory in South Africa. The Society of St. Margaret, based in Boston, has continuing work in Haiti, with a number of Haitian sisters as well.
Mission Thursdays are one way GEMN fulfills its purpose to gather, inspire and equip people to participate in God’s global mission. Our core values are humility, inclusion and companionship.
Photos: Top: Sister Mary Lynne, CSJB, with orphans at Good Shepherd Home.
Above: Sister Jane Manka’a, BSB, serves meals to the orphans.
Bottom: Sisters of the Community of St. John the Baptist, with episcopal visitor Bishop Mary Glasspool (2nd from left).