From Prayer to Peanuts - The Second Full Day in Pictures

We began our day with morning prayer in the cloister at Dimesse House.  Br. Valentin, the Provincial of the Province of Central East Africa, and Br. Francis,
Superior of the West African District were invited to spread the fertile soil of Africa in an image of the continent outlined in rocks. 

Each participant was invited to place a rock from his or her country into the continent.  These rocks were later used at evening prayer in a ritual typical of people from the Andes.

During the morning, we met in small groups to discuss our personal and province journeys to the assembly and then met with our region (Arco Norte) to discuss areas of life and the common challenges faced by the provinces of the region.

The highlight of the day was the cultural program for the evening, that you read about in Alice's post.  Here is our display table and a picture of the "got marist?" team before our big game.

Day 3 - New Marists in Mission

Another incredible day here in Nairobi - so much to absorb!   Meeting in groups after the presentations helps to sift through everything.  New ways to be Marist - news ways of thinking about how our Marist spirituality will inform the future work of the institute.  The day ended with a beautiful  prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe

out in the garden - finishing with a singing of the Salve.
The photos are of Br. Steve getting the USA table ready for last night's cultural exchange - peanuts and Crackerjacks to share!  And from this morning's prayer around the fire

Make sure to go to the Nairobi2014 Facebook page for lots more photos.

USA's Cultural Exchange

We are into our third full day of the II MIMA.  The community building is complete.  We've formed small groups, regional groups, full assembly, not to mention performance groups for last night's cultural exchange!  Steve, Maureen, and I performed a short "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" skit.  We offered Peanuts and Cracker Jacks and a rain poncho from Marist youth, just in case the "game" was rained out!  The crowd went crazy when we played YMCA.  Turns out it is popular worldwide, go figure!!