Chile, 08/18/2020.- From Chile we receive two testimonies of love towards the charism of Marie Poussepin.

"WHAT MAY I GIVE TO THE LORD FOR ALL THE GOOD THINGS WHICH HE HAS DONE FOR ME?"

Putaendo (Chile), María Cristina Contreras Muñoz, Lay Missionary Presentation.- My name is Maria Cristina Contreras, I would like to share with you my experience of spiritual life and about meeting Marie Poussepin in my life. Since I was a child, my parents gave me the studies in the Mercedarian Sisters where I received academic and religious formation, they led me to discover a GOD LOVE. Time went by and in 1995 I went to Santiago to study Pedagogy in Religion. Through the study of the WORD OF GOD, the desire to make Jesus known to other people was awakened in me; to make them see His presence in their lives, so that they could experience His love in every event they experienced.

I received an invitation, from some students of the course, to go to the missions on the big island of Chiloé (in the south of Chile), I was happy, because it was the way to bring Jesus to others, without a doubt God has his plans for each one of us and it was there that I discovered that I wanted to be a Missionary. So, from that day on I began my MISSIONARY WAY TAKEN BY THE HAND OF JESUS AND HE HAS NEVER RELEASED ME.

In 2000 I was already graduated, God gives me the gift of working in Santiago in a school located in the Pincoya, a marginal neighborhood of the capital, there I discovered the passion for those who have nothing and I gave myself with soul, life and heart as the song says and with all my strength, to share with children at social risk, lack of love, protection, abused, with parents in prison for drug trafficking, with mothers raising and educating their children alone, other women who were abused by their husbands... with all this reality I said to myself "This will be my mission field", it was five years of a beautiful pastoral-educational experience that strongly marked my life, there I offered classes, I prepared children and parents for the sacraments of Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation, it was a magnificent experience where I gave love and received much love above all the care of them for me, of knowing how to live there with them, this was the way to thank them, they marked my life because this place was for my Sacred Land.

The work circumstances made me return to my hometown to work where I had studied. After some time, I met again a friend of many years who had joined the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of Charity of the Presentation. She invited me to participate in the Missionary Community of the Presentation. In that way, I joined to the Missionary Community of the Commune of Putaendo in 2017.

Through the monthly formation that we have as a community, I discovered a great woman, Marie Poussepin, a woman who was captivating my life and my heart, her thoughts such as: "Keep God's presence in all your actions" lead me to taste more spiritual things and to know that my strength is in Him. Her concrete love for my neighbor leads me to give myself much more to each person I meet on my path, the sense of family that she made feel to each person she visited makes me more welcoming, her Love for the Eucharist where she discovered a God full of mercy who becomes one with us, leads me to give myself and practice mercy with the most disadvantaged who are the Lord's favorites.

Through this missionary experience, I am discovering the richness of the Charism of the Congregation, the legacy of Marie Poussepin la Charité, the fraternal, spiritual dimension. A woman who contemplate the reality, which I feel very actual. One of the things that has attracted my attention and which I feel is a richness is the experience of seeing the sisters and the laity together, working, studying and planning pastoral ministry, even studying the Word to see how to give it.

With all this richness that I have experienced, I feel that God is asking me to belong to this beautiful family of the Presentation, together with a group of lay missionaries who have already begun a process in the missionary community, of responding to the call that God is making to us in this Congregation, we told Sister Nilda Leticia Miranda Romero, Vice-Provincial Superior, that we wanted to deepen even more the charism gave by Marie Poussepin, to walk together with the sisters and to accompany them in the mission of announcing the Gospel. It was in this way that we began our spiritual formation given by Sisters Nilda Miranda and Carmen Rosa Murcia, after a discernment accompanied by much prayer, and by our sisters, we asked to make our Promises that make us bringers of the legacy of Marie Poussepin in the different places we met, it was a day of celebration, of thanksgiving to God together with our sisters for belonging to this great family of Marie Poussepin.

My life has already been impregnated with this beautiful Charism, today I am working at the Marie Poussepin School in Putaendo giving classes and forming children and young people in the sacraments, I feel happy because I know that the Lord wants me in this place, motivated by this great woman who was transforming her life in the hands of God and who today I feel I'm also doing this process in the potter's hands where every day he polishes this work that wants to give itself and give the best that the Lord has given me.

IN THIS YEAR OF GRACE, WE REMEMBER OUR HISTORY...

Vallenar (Chile), Julia Maybé Olivares Barraza, Medicine Altenative "Marie Poussepin".- In 2002, a sister belonging to the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation, named Esther Valencia Cárdenas, arrived in Rafael Torreblanca de Vallenar. During one of her first official presentations during Mass, I remember that she had invited the community to participate in a course on alternative medicine. Many of us were interested, few of us reached the end of the course, only four people.

In each of the meetings, Sister Esther began to speak to us about her foundress, her life, her charism, her service to the sick and especially her love for Jesus : "Marie Poussepin" was engraved in our hearts, the course lasted eight years, until we received a certificate, but we did not want everything to finish there, we wanted to continue with the legacy, and for this reason we decided to formalize our presence through a juridical personality, our mission is to give day after day our support to the most needy people, to help them to relieve their physical pains, to relieve also their psychological illnesses by massages and therapies, by syrups, ointments but above all by giving love, devotion, words of hope through the message of Jesus.

At present we have an alternative medicine project with several of the Cesfam (Family Health Centres) in our City and Province of Huasco, what fills us with pride is that we are known as "The Group of Alternative Medicine Marie Poussepin", all our presentations begin by telling the origin of our name, we make known the life and story of our guide and we are infinitely grateful for the presence of all the Dominican sisters who were in our city and community.

For 18 years we have been spreading the heritage, the imprint and the special love that Marie Poussepin dedicated to the sick, first in her own family and then in her surroundings. Her work throughout her life was at the service of others, we strongly feel that she accompanies and blesses our work, she shows us the way to continue to make visible the face of our good and Beloved Jesus Christ in each brother who suffers and who needs our work and our love.