“We have very complementary roles in the life of the priory.”

Aged 27 and 25, Gauthier and Constance decided to dedicate their first year of marriage to a mission for Eastern Christians. Their testimony in the midst of a complicated journey is strong.

We are Gauthier and Constance, we got married in September 2019, and decided to go on a mission for our first year of marriage. We were to leave with the Oeuvre d’Orient for the Holy Land in March 2020. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the borders of Israel closed at the time of departure and thus forced us to change our plans. The Oeuvre d’Orient finally redirected us to another mission, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with the Brothers of Saint John, while waiting for the reopening of the Israeli borders.

From a mission that was supposed to last only a few weeks, here we are again in Addis after 6 months! Since March, our missions have been very varied, from French and English courses, translations of archives, setting up fundraising projects for communities, organisation and animation of camps for young people, and we are now in charge of the construction site of the Brothers’ chapel.

The departure:

We had discerned this desire to go on a mission since our engagement. We had wanted to save the Christians in Iraq with all our heart. However, we quickly decided that it was better to put ourselves at the service of Eastern Christians in general for the Work and to trust them in the choice of mission.

Once we were certain that we were going to leave, the difficult and liberating act that changed everything was for both of us to announce our departure and resign. So, to explain to our families, friends and colleagues why we were leaving. The mission had already begun!

The Brothers of Saint John in Ethiopia:

The Brothers of Saint John have been living in Ethiopia for 10 years. They have three main missions in Addis Ababa: youth ministry animation in Ethiopia, animation of the French-speaking community of Addis Ababa, and the formation of brothers.

We are installed in the new brothers’ centre on Entoto Mountain. The buildings, to which more than a dozen volunteers of the Work have contributed over the last 4 years, are almost new, and big enough to welcome the brothers, young people, volunteers, families… It is a house that lives, there is always something going on. The last phase of the construction project of this centre is the Chapel so that everyone has a dedicated place to pray. We have been seeing it take shape for the last 6 months.

Because of or thanks to the Corona, we have arrived overnight in the life of the brothers and the priory. We were with two other volunteers of the Work. First of all we gave French and English lessons to the postulants, then, when the other two volunteers left, we took over the work on the chapel. Since the beginning of March, the activities at the Priory have been put on hold, and for the past few weeks they have resumed, with prudence and confidence, so as not to let this faith fall asleep in the hearts of the Ethiopians being supported.

Life in Community:

We discover and share the community life of 8 brothers, 2 postulants and 3 volunteers (including us). We are surprised by the youth of these brothers; they are our age. They are almost like roommates but with a prayer life.

We have been in Addis for 6 months, in a male community, where Constance is the only woman. The meals and the spaces are communal, our private space as a couple is therefore very small, we share our joys and our disputes with the brothers!  Each of us had to adapt ourselves to community life and the brothers to understand our needs as a couple.

To all this we add a lot of cultural differences, it took time and discussions to get to know each other, and to accept each other as we are. This is what makes the richness of the community. Thanks to the brothers, we have a very dynamic life in Addis, and we meet many communities, many young people, and this allows us to deepen our knowledge of Ethiopia in depth. Without them, our mission would not have been so rich in so little time.

After this period where everyone has had to find their place, living together is going really well. We have this chance to share our testimony of God’s love with each of our commitments: religious life or Marian life.

Mission and everyday life:

What a joy to be together at every moment of the day, to have lunch, to work, together. To be able to have real discussions at any time of the day, to not have to make a single phone call for 6 months. We have the chance to build our marriage based on our missionary life, of which there will be many in our future life in France.

It is a great richness to be able to serve the Church as a couple, we learn a lot about each other, have the chance to marvel and be amazed at everything together. The construction of a chapel is also a magnificent symbol when we start a life together, nothing is really built without the presence of God.

We had to find our own role in this mission and this place according to our own appetites and abilities. Gauthier takes care of the day-to-day running of the site, he anticipates and solves all the problems, he spends a lot of time in the field. Constance has more responsibilities in the life of the priory: organisation of the camps, daily life, workshops… She also helps the brothers with the aesthetic aspect of the chapel; the cross on the roof, the furniture and paintings, layout… We have very complementary roles in the life of the priory, which allows us to work together without constantly stepping on each other’s toes, and therefore work serenely with the brothers.

Being a missionary couple in Ethiopia:

We are always happy to meet Ethiopian families and to be able to share about married life with our so different cultures but sharing the same faith and the same sacraments.

We have chosen to live a slightly different fertility for this first year of marriage, but our situation here is always surprising. That we can devote this year to something other than having children is surprising, and they are quite right! It was also a difficult choice for us, but we are more than happy and fortunate to be able to live these rich moments of discovery and time together before devoting ourselves to our family.

We are in constant contact with many young Catholics from all walks of life in Addis: students, children, young professionals, teenagers… We are fully aware of our duty to witness to our sacrament of marriage. As everywhere in the world, the tendency is not towards commitment; therefore we have an important role to play: to show that through our faith and commitment we can transmit, on our own small scale, the joy and realities of family love, despite all cultural differences.

Finally:

Surrender and trust. Since we have given up everything (job, flat, family…) even if it is not pink every day, we receive graces by the thousands. In the beginning, we had to take on ourselves, go towards others, make our talents and desires known and develop them. Now, we are reaping a lot of the fruits of these efforts.

We do not know what the next 6 months will be like, but we trust in God’s plans for the end of our mission.

This article has been published in french on the website of the Oeuvre d’Orient at the following address:
https://oeuvre-orient.fr/actualites/ethiopie-le-temoignage-de-gauthier-et-constance-nous-avons-des-roles-tres-complementaires-dans-la-vie-du-prieure/