On the eve of Pentecost, Wilfried & Rose Adrienne KOUNDE, leaders of CANA in Senegal, recall how the “wonderful Holy Spirit” has guided them from the time they met until now, and how He always brings them back on the right path.
Our encounter was no accident
By way of introduction, it must be said that our encounter was not by chance, but by the will of the wonderful Holy Spirit. Father Judicaël said at the beginning of his homily, and I quote: “If I had been told that Rose Adrienne and Wilfried would be here before the altar of God, before the congregation and myself as pastor of the church, I would immediately say “no way” and those who know their story would say the same thing (laughs…).
The Holy Spirit had already inspired the theme of our Marriage in Joshua 24:15: “I and my house will serve the Lord” and we thank God that this word has come true for us and our children.
But it should be noted that we are both from the Catholic Charismatic Renewal where we had the grace to experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit, for me in 2013 and Adrienne in 2007.
During the period of our engagement, we opted for a spiritual preparation and also a formation to really know how to live the marriage according to God. This helped us a lot, we were rooted in the word of God and we built our marriage on the rock that is CHRIST. This has enabled us to always stand and listen to the wonderful Holy Spirit who leads us every day of our lives.
The wonderful Holy Spirit
For me Wilfried, marriage is a school of life where one has to update oneself permanently and especially as a husband and be more attentive to the wonderful Holy Spirit in order to receive the vision to give to one’s home. I bless God for my wife’s life, which is a gift of God in my life, as well as for our children, but I have learned to always put God first, before my wife or our children, and on her side it is the same, which leads us to understand that my peace does not come from my wife Rose Adrienne, nor from our children, but from the wonderful Holy Spirit, in the same way that for her also her peace comes from God alone and not just from me or from our children.
Of course, it took us some time to reach this spiritual maturity for our couple and our home, but today we experience it every day and it is one of the many graces we have received from God. With CANA and its tools, we give thanks to God and we are very hungry to go further. We pray that other couples in Senegal, as well as in the world, may experience CANA and its tools for the greater Glory of GOD.
I am extremely grateful for His presence
For me, Rose Adrienne, the Holy Spirit is my daily companion, my very present counsellor both in my former life as a single woman and even more so now in my life as a wife and mother.
In our moments of conflict as a couple as well as in our moments of joy, His voice resounds within me to give a directive to follow, to correct an attitude, an encouragement etc… answering all my questions buried within me.
On several occasions, faced with difficult situations, I almost gave up, but it was His voice reminding me of the promises of the Father, coming through Jesus Christ, which enabled me to get back on track and continue my journey. I am extremely grateful to Him for His presence and I still pray to Him to make me even more sensitive to His presence.
The Holy Spirit always leads us back to the right path
In conclusion, we can say that the Holy Spirit was always at work in our life as a couple, even in our most difficult moments. He was faithful and knew how to bring us back together each time. He sometimes enlightened us with words or teachings that one of us could listen to, but it was as if He was speaking directly to us, or sometimes through our eldest son, Elijah-Marie, who came up with one of his phrases, so typical of him, which would make us wonder where he had found it. In short, the Holy Spirit always leads us back to the right path!