Living to Serve

Objectives

· To share in spiritual living
· To live a testimony according to the gospel
· To share in daily living
· To live in Obedience, Poverty and Chastity

The Beginnings

In 1997 Sr Happiness Khumalo (a student from our first Year Training Programme) entered her Novitiate as the first Kenosis Sister. She is the acting prioress of the community and is responsible for women who are interested in becoming sisters. The community is an independent body. It does not fall under the responsibility of the church, but there are links to the different Lutheran Churches. Sister Lindeni Mavundla entered the Sisterhood as a novice in 2002. At present there are two Kenosis sisters.

Life in the Sisterhood

The Sisters are responsible for the devotional life of the Kenosis Community. They have regular morning, lunch and evening prayers, which are all open to the rest of the Community. They also offer Zulu prayer for Zulu speakers who live and work at Kenosis. Saturday morning is their 'day of silence' where time is spent in meditation and prayer. Furthermore they assist in the life of the bigger Community. Sr Happiness assists families in the wider community who are caring for orphaned children. Also she takes on the responsibilities of the director when she is away. Since May 2004 Sr Lindeni has been teaching in the creche.

Where do they live?
The Sisters live in their own house, Eden House, on the Kenosis property.

The process of becoming a sister

Entrance into postulate: Any woman wishing to join the sisterhood will be introduced to the sisters community life by living with them in the Eden House for a minimum period of six months as a postulant. The postulate is an initiation period into communtiy life.

Entrance into novitiate: The novitiate lasts for a minimum period of two years. During this time the novice has time to deepen her vocation and her true identity in Christ. This time is also a time where the novice is helped to get used to all practicalities within the community. She may be equipped or given training for a specific work in order to serve either within the community or outside in due time.

Temporal Vows: After a minimum of two years probation as a novitiate, a woman takes a step further to engage herself in the three vows for which she was prepared during the novitiate. The three vows are; obedience, chastity and poverty. After these vows have been taken, she lives according to them for a minimim of two years, before making 'final vows'.

Final Vows: The final vows are taken at the end of the process of formation. When making these vows the sister says 'yes' to a religious life, and to the community. The three steps leading up to her final vows help her to deepen herself in this kind of life and to decide in time whether such a life is her calling or not.