II Marist International Mission Assembly
In the next twelve days I am going to relate the impressions of a naive reporter concealed amongst the members of an international and mixed Marist community. In their luggage, the participants will have brought the experiences they lived during the process of preparation in their AUs. Information from these preparatory stages is available in HYPERLINK "http://www.champagnat.org" www.champagnat.org. The underlying purpose of these delegations, as I have been told by reliable sources, is that upon returning to their places of origin they will try to explore new lands for news lands for Marist mission.
The backpack
Each participant receives a backpack with an ID badge. On the front of the badge stand the logo and slogan of the II IMMA: on the back, appear the logos of Brazilian FTD and Spanish Edelvives Group can be seen. Both Marist publishers produce millions of textbooks annually. Inside this backpack can be found: two notebooks for taking notes, a water bottle, a T-shirt and three tools for the work of the Assembly namely three books entitled "Guidlines", "Songs and Prayers" and "Marist logbook".
Each participant is welcomed in "Guidelines": "Your presence at this Assembly is a wonderful gift. You bring in your heart and mind the experiences of the local and provincial meetings and the reflections and intuitions shared in your Province, District or Region”. The booklet dubbed "Songs and Prayers" offers the Ordinary of the Mass and the Eucharistic Prayer II in four languages and a rich collection of lyrics from numerous songs – "many of them are Marist to the core”- written in the four languages of the Institute as well as in Swahili. The purpose of this cast is "to sing the joy of our brotherhood, the joy of the encounter, the feeling of hope and excitement for a new beginning … to raise our voices in a single choir". The presentation of this book ends off with: "Africa opens her heart to beat with you to the beat of your tunes". The “Marist logbook" is meant to be “a tool to help us discover the steps of God" during the celebration of this II IMMA. It consists of blank pages to be filled in day by day with personal experiences. This logbook tastefully bound and can become a beautiful memory of the twelve days in Nairobi.
A proposal under the sign of the communion.
The main dynamics of the Assembly will involve the formation of twelve small communities of eight people each. These communities composed of lay people and brothers will be invited to share life, their experiences, and reflections during the event. The dynamics of the IMMA is essentially that of a community of communities.
The proposed action of the groups is aimed at "sharing the personal experience of the path traveled up to the Assembly; sharing the life and the challenges of each province or district". It is also about reflecting on the life experiences and proposals emerging from the workshops in order to build the future of Marist mission. All this wealth of life and reflection will be recorded in a document, letter, message or final statement.
Morning prayer will be complemented by personal reflections arising in the afternoon. It is during this process that the journal will be compiled in the Marist logbook. The calendar of the twelve days of the Assembly is guided by twelve symbols: home, hands, table, earth, fire, tree, horizon, eyes, drums, dance, coals and logo. These symbols provide guidance for the theme and motivation of each day.
Along with the prayers a privileged space will be given not only to the opening and closing celebrations but also to the themes of fraternity, cultures, solidarity, communion, ecology, and the Eucharist. Fire, rhythm and color will have a central role in these events.
Culture, feast and folklore
After supper, three expos are to take place. In these the cultural, artistic, gastronomic and Marist elements from each continent will be included. On two nights, after dinner, a festive space will be open to welcome the "Hakuna Matata" and the theme of gratitude "Asante Kwaheri”.
The young
A novelty in this assembly is the presence of the youth. Eleven young people coming from the various Marist regions and a young brother studying in the MIC will join this II IMMA. They will participate in the overall Assembly but with thoughts of their own with which they will surely enrich the Assembly.
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AMEstaún – 16 September