By Alex Vásquez Ocampo, Unit Communicator and GSIF Latin America Communications Officer (Province of Colombia / Venezuela)
Between June 19 and 28, 2025, sisters in partners-in-mission in Colombia and Venezuela were delighted to be able to welcome Congregational Councilors Sisters Yolanda Borbón, Erika Sánchez, and Cristina RodrÃguez, representing the Congregational Leadership Team. This visit, held in the context of the 100th anniversary of the Good Shepherd’s presence in Venezuela, powerfully rekindled the spirit of communion and hope in the Good Shepherd mission.
From their arrival in Bogotá, the sisters were received in a festive and spiritual atmosphere. In the Corazón de MarÃa Community, a symbolic planting ceremony took place—a sign of the desire to cultivate hope. Women participating in the programs offered a theatrical performance that powerfully illustrated female resilience and communal healing as fruits of the Good Shepherd’s charism.
During their visit to Ibagué, the sisters were greeted with balloons, music, and a generous warm welcome. Mass, presided over by Archbishop Orlando Roa Barbosa of Ibagué, highlighted the Eucharist’s value as a mystery of communion and service. Moments of spiritual dialogue and conversation with both contemplative and apostolic sisters created sacred spaces for listening and reflection on the challenges facing religious life today.
Palmira-Cali was another significant stop. There, the sisters saw firsthand the work being done with migrant women, led by the Fundación El Buen Pastor of the Province of Colombia / Venezuela. This mission, rooted in service to vulnerable populations (especially migrants and women), was recognized as an embodied expression of the Good Shepherd charism. It combines accompaniment, human trafficking prevention, and psycho-spiritual support as concrete paths to empowerment and freedom. This experience reaffirmed the province’s commitment to the most excluded and to a mission that directly addresses the wounds of humanity.
Rionegro-Antioquia offered a setting of deep communion. The MarÃa Droste Community welcomed the sisters with joyful songs and celebrations. As part of the preparations for the commemorative triduum marking 100 years of the Congregation’s presence in Venezuela, various activities were held, including spiritual conversations, artistic moments, and a poignant puppet show that recounted the story of the Good Shepherd Sisters from their beginnings to the present in Venezuela. These moments stirred love for the mission in every heart.
On Thursday, June 26, a spiritual conversation was held on the topic of partnership in mission. Sisters and partners-in-mission acknowledged that walking together means letting go of individual protagonism to embrace a spirituality of communion—a missionary body animated by tenderness and love through Being, Doing, and Relationships. Additionally, there was a virtual connection via Zoom with Venezuela, where women partners from the Centro Esperanza shared insights about the current state of the mission.
The central event of the 100-year commemoration took place on June 27 with a Eucharistic celebration in thanksgiving. A message from Congregational Leader Sister Joan Marie López was received as a profound echo of hope. In it, she acknowledged the quiet faithfulness of those who have remained steadfast in Venezuela despite the crisis. Her letter invited reflection on what it means to be pilgrims of hope amid painful contexts and urged everyone to build—personally and communally—a universal culture of justice, tenderness, and communion. She encouraged all to give thanks, to celebrate, and to deepen their role in God’s work with courage and renewed love.
This Congregational journey was not merely a physical trip but a spiritual movement. The presence of members of the Congregational leadership brought fresh air, ignited the heart of the province, and rekindled the flame of the charism through new questions, gestures of closeness, compassionate listening, and meaningful presence.
The communities bore witness to God’s present tenderness made visible through visits, dance, dialogue, history, and prayer. This visit marks a turning point for the Province of Colombia / Venezuela – the closeness, simplicity, and hope have renewed our sense of Good Shepherd mission.
