New Members - Glenmary Challenge

call to oath: As members of Glenmary and guests look on,Levis Kuwa and Michael Chidi Onuoha begin the Oath ceremonyby asking “for God’s merciful love and for the grace of servinghim more generously as Glenmary Home Missioners.” are sent, as missionaries, tothe nations to evangelize,” FatherDan said. The road as a Glenmarymissioner won’t always beeasy, “but through prayer youwill find the strength you needto share the love of God with allyou meet.”Brother Levis and Michaelwere inspired to pursuereligious vocations by themissionaries working intheir countries who ministeredsign of peace: Liz Dudas ofGlenmary’s Department of PastoralMinisters and Pastoral Servicesshares a sign of peace withBrother Levis.to them as children. And bothsearched until they found Glenmaryvia the Internet. BrotherLevis and Michael are among22 students in Glenmary formation,the most since 1987.Of those 22, 13 are from Africa,three are from Mexico and sixare from the United States.For Brother Levis, discoveringthat Glenmary ministers tothose who are forgotten was keyto sparking his initial interest injoining the home mission society.“That,” he says, “is what Godwants me to do.”Michael was drawn to the ruralnature of Glenmary’s ministry.He grew up in small ruralvillages in Nigeria that didn’thave a Catholic church, so heknows firsthand whatit’s like to not have theopportunity to attendMass.“I wanted to giveback what I received asa child from the missionaries,”he says. “As amember of Glenmary, Ican do that here in theUnited States.”Adapting to theculture of the UnitedStates and to the ruralareas Glenmary serveshas been a bit of a challenge forboth men. Glenmary’s formationprogram addresses these issuesand helps all the internationalstudents acclimate to their newsurroundings.As part of their formation,Brother Levis and Michaeleach have completed ayear of candidacy and twoyears of novitiate to reach themilestone of First Oath. Theyhave learned about Glenmary’scharism through their academicstudies. And they have seen thecharism lived out as they havespent time and ministered inGlenmary missions.Prior to taking Oath, BrotherLevis spent a year in Glenmary’sformer Idabel, Okla., mission.Since then, he has moved on toSt. Jude mission in Waldron,Ark., where he hopes to use histalents on a daily basis to meetcongratulations and welcome:At the conclusion of the Oath ceremony,Michael and Brother Levis arecongratulated by those in attendance.the needs he finds there.Michael is in his secondyear of theology at St. Meinradseminary. Although his studiesprevent him from spendingextended periods of time inthe missions, he still managesto connect his academic stud-10 Glenmary Challenge Autumn 2010 www.glenmary.org