My name is Mother Joaquina, I am in my first steps as a missionary and I am currently working in the community of Huangascar, in the prelature of Yauyos, Cañete and Huarochirí, Lima, which is at 3800 metres above sea level.

We went on mission together with Mother Milagros, to a village belonging to the community of Viñac, called Apurí. We went to prepare children and young people for the sacraments of baptism, communion and confirmation. We always took advantage of these opportunities to visit our faithful in their homes. Thus we arrived at the home of two elderly people: Don Antonio and his wife, who is in her eighties. She treated us very kindly and begged us to go and see a nephew of hers, about 40 years old, because he was in a serious condition and was bedridden, unable to speak or eat. We didn’t know what was wrong with him, but the aunt faithfully brought him his food, but he was not getting any better. So they begged us to go to see him to give him some medicine, and the best medicine of all was God himself.

Mother Milagros blessed him with holy water and prayed a prayer of inner healing in his ear, while she made him take the crucifix in his hands. I was very impressed to see how he sat up, listening to the Mother praying to him, although he did not utter a word. When Mother recited the Our Father, he, who had not uttered a word for some time, began to pray with great difficulty. He did the same with the Hail Mary and with his weak strength he made the sign of the cross. His aunt could not believe her eyes, she thought her nephew was going to die.

Mother Milagros began to talk to him, asking him questions. In spite of his weakness he told her that he used to be a Catholic, but decided to become a Protestant. Sometimes the lack of formation of our faithful makes it easy for them to change religion. Within a month of making this decision, he fell ill, starting with great weakness until he became prostrate. He received no support from anyone except his uncles.

“I should never have left the Church, I want to return to it,” he said.
“Do you want to go to confession?” asked the Mother.

Saying “yes”, he began to cry. Taking advantage of the priest’s visit to administer the sacraments, he was able to go to confession, receive communion and God’s blessing. The grace and forgiveness that God had poured out on him and that he could feel so vividly in his soul was overwhelming.

We missionaries are simply instruments, but sometimes God uses us to bring his children closer to him.