Our Spanish family

Our Spanish family

There are some persons we’d like to introduce to you. These are the people that host us, that make us part of their projects and that inspire us. These people have all great stories and wisdom to share and it makes us happy to be around them.

Father Antonio (the first from the right) is the priest of the parish in Vicar and he initiated the idea of this small temporary community in Puebla de Vicar. He loves Taize and has been there many times (with Father Manuel and other people from Vicar and the region he worked before). We love his enthousiasm and that when he sees people suffer wants to do what he can to help them. Sometimes he is like a caring father for us and he tries to make us feel at home here.

Father Manolo (the third from the left) is the priest of the parish in Roquetas. He is also full of passion about Taize and has been there many times with father Antonio, introducing Taizé to a lot of young people. We go together with him to the prison and also have some of our Taize prayers in his parish. We really like the way he greets the prisoners as friends and sees the good in every person.

Jonas (the second from the right) is studying to become a priest of a missionary congregation. He is from Burkina Faso and is in Spain for two years for his internship. He gives for example Spanish classes to the immigrants, and also alphabetization for those that cannot write. He is very funny and full of life, he always makes us smile a lot when we meet him.

Maria Angeles lives in another city, nevertheless she is always at our morning prayers. This shows us her love for Taize. She is a very active churchmember of Antonio’s parish and helps out with a lot of practical tasks. A wonderful person that always picks us up with a lot of love and a big smile.

Karin is a missionary that came last week to Almeria to see if she could start a project here. She comes from Madrid, and was missionary in Germany for the past years. It was great to have her around last week, she took the time to come with us to different activities to translate.

The first days Lotte and Irma stayed in the house of Carmen, Mila, Carmen and Marrique and they gave us a very warm welcome. They are Carmelite sisters and it is so inspiring to hear their stories of what they do here in this area, or the missionary work they did in the past in other countries. They show something of God in their love, patience, gentleness and faith. Last week we celebrated that Carmen is sister for already 50 years. We visit the children together with Carmen and Mila. Furthermore, Mila helps the children here in our house, Cosario, with their homework.