In Burundi, the Chemin Neuf community is based in Bujumbura. The Saint Jean-Baptiste parish has been entrusted to them. The community house is located across the street. Seven community members live there, and seventy-seven live in their own homes in the capital. The Cana mission, missions for young people aged 14 to 18 and 18 to 30, as well as a retreat focused on reflecting on one’s life story, called “Siloé, ” are offered throughout the country.
Four Masses are celebrated every Sunday in the parish. Each Mass draws between 700 and 1,200 parishioners. Ninety-nine catechumens will be baptized by the end of June. Sixty couples are participating in marriage preparation. The missionary dimension is very much a part of the parish’s life.
All these missions are possible because they “spring from brotherhood,” notes Jean de Dieu Nimubona, a member of the Chemin Neuf community and assistant pastor at the parish. “Jesus also tells us that it is by the love we have for one another that we will be recognized as his disciples,” he continues .
In his daily life, Jean de Dieu experiences fraternity as “a call, a vocation, and a Gospel requirement.”
In addition to his duties as assistant pastor at Saint John the Baptist Parish, he is also in charge of the ministry for young adults aged 18 to 30.
Parish ministry demands a great deal of commitment from him on every level. “There is an immense thirst that strengthens and drives the missionary zeal that has been within me for a long time,” he explains.
“The bond of brotherhood and sisterhood is like a spring that nourishes my mission.”
Father Jean de Dieu, assistant pastor at Saint John the Baptist Parish in Bujumbura.
“Living within the Chemin Neuf community, the brotherhood and sisterhood among us is ‘like a spring that nourishes my mission,’” shares the youth mission leader. For him, community bonds are “a visible and invisible treasure” that help him overcome obstacles. These fraternal relationships protect him from the temptation to rely solely on himself. They are a source of comfort during times of sharing or quality moments spent with members of the community.
“I feel that the Lord comforts and strengthens me when I open up to a brother or sister. That strength allows me to move forward and have hope. In that sense, fraternal listening is a great gift on the path of missionary life,” the vicar shares .
Brotherhood as a Source of Spiritual and Human Support
As for the ministry to young people aged 14 to 18, 11 community members are serving. To assist them in organizing and leading the sessions, several young people come to help. The program director, Ange Paquitta Iradukunda, a member of the Chemin Neuf community, is “moved to see the bonds the Lord can forge between young and old, as we like to say.” The sense of community brings her “immense joy.” Whether during community gatherings or in simpler moments outside the community, “I often return home filled with gratitude and wonder,” says the leader.
Ange Paquitta, head of the 14–18-year-old program, surrounded by the young people involved in organizing the sessions
Brotherhood also takes the form of practical support. When Ange Paquitta has a concern, a question, or a favor to ask, she turns to her brothers and sisters in the community for support.
In the 14–18-year-old mission, the volunteers are either members of the community or young people who have already participated in sessions organized by the Chemin Neuf community. “ After a day of fellowship or at the end of a session, I feel a very strong sense of brotherhood among us, despite our different backgrounds,” shares the leader of the 14–18-year-old mission in Burundi.
Community ties fuel his desire to be a missionary. They remind him that “the Lord sends us out together on mission.” “ The community helps me recognize and welcome the gifts that God has placed in each of my brothers and sisters,” Ange Paquitta adds . The members of the community are not called to carry everything on their own, but to complement one another.
Fraternity provides spiritual and human support. Intercession is a source of support “when I have a prayer intention or am going through a difficult time. It’s a great source of strength to know that I’m not carrying the weight of what’s close to my heart all by myself, ” explains the community member. From a human perspective, simple, everyday conversations about life and shared experiences help her move forward with “greater confidence and serenity,” she sums up .
A treasure to cherish
Brotherhood is a treasure to be cherished every day. It should not be taken for granted. There are many challenges involved. Embracing differences in sensibilities, lifestyles, and commitments—as well as finding time to come together spontaneously, outside of meetings and preparations—requires time and personal investment. In Mission 14-18, these simple moments of coming together “allow us to get to know one another better, to strengthen our fraternal bonds, and to support one another more effectively in prayer, ” acknowledges Ange Paquitta.
“In our parish mission sites, the important thing is to ‘continue to build fraternal bonds with the people to whom the Lord sends us,’ insists Father Jean de Dieu. “We are in a country with a culture of brotherhood and Ubuntu, but also a country that has endured periods of political violence that have caused wounds, poverty, despair, mistrust, and so on.”
“Brotherhood is a solution to division, a remedy for hearts broken by hatred of others, and a source of hope for future generations,” he adds.
“Being a brother is a struggle to look at the past with faith and courage, to live in the present with the grace of the Risen One who invites us to be brothers and sisters in Christ, and to look toward the future with the hope of a united, reconciled, and fraternal nation and Church. This is possible because the Lord sends us out together to be a living parable of joyful brotherhood, bearing the Good News of Salvation.” “, concludes Jean de Dieu.
Translated by artificial intelligence