Handing on the Faith ( Bahia ) '' By virtue of baptism - says Papa Francesco  - we are missionary disciples , called to bring the Gospel to the world. " Let's start with the words of the Pope to talk about our mission of Bahia in Brazil, where about eighty people live: sixty children and some  uncles and aunts. We feel  missionary disciples eager to pass on the faith that saved and transformed our lives . But it is not always easy, we are dealing with injured children who from an early age have gaps and deficiencies  difficult to fill. Every day we try to steer them towards the only true way of salvation : the one of Christ , of the " knees " ,  of the cross and  resurrection. A moment of true handing on of faith is at five o'clock in the morning where we gather in the chapel , dividing the  children according to age and to the houses of belonging - teenagers , pre-teens and children - . We pray the rosary and then, in turn , uncles and aunts comment on the Gospel of the day , or rather we " crumble " it to make it understandable to everyone. Finally, we take a commitment to live during the day and all go ...  to school ! Not always the results are immediate ; there are those who do not behave well at school , those who soon forget the commitments and the words of the gospel , but we believe , and this is what Mother Elvira taught us, those who sow consistently get good results ! Then , so to say, the whole day is for us, uncles and aunts, a gospel lived in the concrete , because the eyes of the children are always ready to see inconsistencies and shortcomings . We cannot always be good at everything, but at least we try to donate ourselves totally  and when we realize we make a mistake we stand before the Lord and start again .  In the morning while they are in school , there are  babies to look after. For some years , in fact,  infants arrived in Bahia like Joao Vito , for example, who came here with only three days of life , and now is a three year old happy boy even though he was wounded in  trust and abandonment . Then there are eight other babies ranging from eight months to three years : Samara , Marcelo Luis , Joao , Maria , Kiara , Alessandra , Touane and the little Mauritius . The aunts  stay with the children and they all agree that after  a bit  of time with them, they have found that motherhood is not what they thought or what they had simply forgotten. These children are the raw material to be molded and the thing that we want to sow in their hearts is their faith in Jesus and the tender love of Mary. But also  many times they amaze us and help us with their simplicity  and their unexpected gestures , as when an aunt in the chapel looks down , because for a moment in her heart prevailed sadness and closure, and the child takes her head and raises it high to the cross. Or when the baby  " clings " to the wooden cross around his aunts’ neck and give it a kiss , saying, "Jesus , tia , beijo , Jesus ." It seems that they show us the way to go, in times of suffering : to embrace the cross when all seems impossible. Faith in the mission is  just that: to give oneself to all without reservation and receive a lot, especially from children. And they look at you , you're their reference point , and if you do not smile if you do not share , if you stay in your pride, they see it , feel it and absorb it . You cannot expect a child to apologize , if you're not the first to do so , if you're not the first to live the Gospel in concrete and to hand it on . Sometimes the hardest things are  with adults , since all come here after a good period of community and it is hard to lose one's reason , it is difficult to step aside , make way . Only in prayer , in the hard "work" of the knees, we do find that harmony and peace of the family that allows the child to breathe a different air from the one  at  home, where the fights and beatings were commonplace day . For us, faith is believing that God is at work in our daily work in the hearts of our children and ours ;He heals the deepest wounds and protects our future , our projects , our choices . So some who arrived small children in our mission ,today are  studying courses to become nurses , others are at the university, others still work honestly and want to start a family . Of course there are those who failed to follow the way of good at  100% but the rewards are there, the harvest is plentiful. We missionary disciples of Christ  are ready to sacrifice every day , to die to ourselves, to sow a little good, a light of hope , a speck of faith . Above all this is our mission.   Thank you ; please pray for us and our "little ones" will pray for you!

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