CANA Fraternity in Chad

This month of February was also for us, Bruno & Anne Marie COUTELIER, the opportunity to visit the CANA Fraternity in Chad, to take stock of the situation of the mission in this Sahelian country and to see how the Holy Spirit works and strengthens what has been sown.

In February, a week of formation for fraternity leaders brought together half of the couples in charge of the country in the same place. The couples, who came from the five dioceses where the CANA Fraternity is present, had often made a long journey to take part (a day’s bus journey from N’Djamena). The training was given in French, but the translation was provided in Ngambay, a language spoken in the south of the country.

Thirty-five couples, seven of whom were serving the other couples, Father Elysée and Agnieska from the Community and 12 children made up the group.

This week, built on two days of personal retreat and three days of formation in the responsibility of the fraternity, was an opportunity for the participants to meet and get to know each other, within the same diocese as well as from one diocese to another, and thus to strengthen the unity of the CANA Fraternity at the national level. It was also an opportunity to revisit the fundamentals of this mission to couples (prayer, listening, service…).

Despite the difficult situation in the country (transitional government, rivalries and clashes between farmers and herders, difficulties in moving around, climate, agricultural production crisis, etc.) we were able to see the dynamism of faith and creativity of this mission, a real support for couples and families in the current context.