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DAUGHTERS OF DIVINE LOVE
DEVELOPMENT MINISTRY, MAY-AUG 2015 NEWSLETTER
OPENING OF DAUGHTERS OF
DIVINE LOVE CHARITY HOME,
NIGERIA.
It became a matter of urgency when
part of the temporary accommodation was burnt. The place was never
adequate but then the whole situation
was becoming unbearable for the
residents, staff and Congregation.
These children of God who are
orphans, physically and psychologically challenged, deserve far more
than what the then present situation
offered.
The Congregation had purchased a
parcel of land for a permanent site.
They had good dreams and ideas of
providing the residents an adequate
and comfortable space to live in.
Sleepless nights were spent on the
dreams and ideas.
Then suddenly from the blues, God
sent an Angel of Abundance who
supplied the funds and within two
years, a gigantic edifice stood for the
inmates and staff. Rev Mother said
this is the first of its kind in the history
of the Congregation.
Saturday, December 20th, 2014, was
slated for the grand opening. The priests,
sisters, neighbors, etc were invited.
Before 10am, the whole compound was
bursting with people. There were smiles
on their faces. They praised and glorified
God for His abundant mercies and graces. Some wondered where Rev. Mother
got the money to accomplish this in such a
short time.
Who are they? Where are they? I
would have said!, etc. These names,
questions, exclamations and surprises
filled the air.
As they walked around the building, they
saw an inscription on the wall
God bless Bill and Cathy and all their
hard working farm families...
After the Mass, the blessing of the compound, bedrooms, parlor, refectory,
laundry, toilets, kitchen, etc took place.
The ceremony in the Chapel took a
longer time because the Blessed
Sacrament was installed in the unique
and beautiful tabernacle.
Our beloved Benefactors who made this
monument possible. Suddenly one can
hear murmurings like - oh! God bless
them! What a generous people! Wao!
At 10am, the Mass of Thanksgiving
began. The novitiate choir beat the instruments and all sang with a delightful
melody. Some swayed their bodies. The
music was a mix of solemn advent tunes
and joyful jubilations. The residents
danced during the offertory procession
carrying their gifts with expectant hope.
The orphans paid attention to the choreography, the physically challenged
marched to the rhythm and the psychologically challenged were guided and
they cared less about the "choreo" or
rhythm. I watched with almost wet eyes
at the acceptance of us all as the priest
welcomed and took over the gifts.
Then came the reception. There was eating, drinking, dancing, speeches, etc. The whole arena was full of merriment. The staff and residents took the opportunity to celebrate their Christmas party and launch their almanac. In her speech, the Rev. Mother thanked God.
She
expressed her profound gratitude to Bill and Cathy for their benevolence and generosity. The staff of Development Office and
American Region were also
thanked.
By evening, the staff and
residents were already
bringing in their belongings
and household utensils and
equipment into the rooms.
They made sure they slept
in their new home that night.
It was a joy and a more
than a Christmas gift for
"charity home". May the
Lord be praised!
DDL Development Office | P.O. Box 26,Highwood, Illinois 60040 | phone 847-433-2615 | fax 847-433-2638
Page 2
SR. UDO THE NEWSLETTER IS TOO LATE
Since Sr. Udochukwu Odoemena passed
away, our Development Office has not
produced its quarterly Newsletter.
Why? Because, among many other
things, Sr. Udo was the one in charge of
the Newsletter and saw to it that it
came out in good time. Udo, the gentle
and peaceful one, we miss you.
As I write this, we remember that October 7th day in
2014 when we thought the world had come to a standstill
and everything had stopped and came to an abrupt end.
At first, shock took over! Then wailing and cries filled the
Daughters of Divine Love convents everywhere when the
message went round : "Sr. Udo is dead".
What? What happened were the questions many asked.
Yes. Sr. Udo was hit by a speed train and on arrival of
the emergency ambulance at the hospital, she was confirmed dead.
Sr. Udo, you were a good religious woman, a team
worker, a hard working staff, serviceable, prayerful, loving and committed. You took your religious life and apostolate to heart and worked conscientiously to bring a balance between them in serving the Lord, your community
and humanity. May your gentle soul rest in peace, Amen.
***** U-do. Now that you are with the Lord, please intercede for us.
25 YEARS OF MISSION IN THE UNIITED STATES OF
AMERICA
The Daughters of Divine Love Congregation is celebrating
its silver jubilee of mission in the United States this year.
Highlights of the celebration are as follows:
Nov 27-30, 2014: Kick-off ceremony combined with the
inauguration of the Year of Consecrated Life during
the Daughters of Divine Love American Region Annual
Get-together.
March 25, 2015: Community celebration during the principal feast of the Congregation, the feast of the Incarnation/Annunciation.
April 11, 2015: Zonal celebration during the zonal day of
prayer
October 24, 2015: the climax of the celebration when the
sisters, their friends, benefactors and well wishers will
be gathered in profound thanksgiving celebration to
the Lord for His faithfulness and Love.
May the Lord shower His abundant blessing on the American Region.
SAINTS OF THE MONTH
May 14th - St. Matthias, Apostle
May 26th - St. Philip Neri, Priest
May 31st - Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
June 1st - St. Justin, Martyr
June 3rd - St. Charles Lwanga & Companions, Martyrs
June 5th - St. Boniface, Bishop & Martyr
June 11th - St. Barnabas, Apostle
June 13th - St. Anthony of Padua, Priest & Doctor of the Church
June 21th - St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious
June 24th - Birthday of St. John the Baptist
June 28th - St. Irenaeus, Bishop & Martyr
June 29th - Ss. Peter and Paul
July 3rd - St. Thomas, Apostle
July 11th - St. Benedict, Abbot
July 25th - St. James, Apostle
August 6th - Transfiguration of the Lord
August 15th - Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
THE NEW ARRIVALS
Please meet Sr. Pamela Eke, a new member of the
Daughters of Divine Love Development team. She
adapted to the job with ease and commitment. We
welcome her with joy and happiness. With her
around, the Newsletter will be published on time.
Please indicate whether you will prefer e-newsletter
or snail mail.
Also new in the American Region are Srs. Jacinta
Nwagwu, Christiana Ebunyebe and Elizabeth Ogbu
for United States, living in the Regional House and
ministering to the home bound and elderly. Srs. Agatha Ezeogwu and Joan Nwoko also joined the Jamaican mission. They opened a new community which is
the third community of the Daughters of Divine love in
Jamaica. They will be doing pastoral work and teaching religious education.
Welcome beloved sisters. Enjoy your mission. May the
Lord grant you His abundant grace.
THE SILVER JUBILARIANS
Congratulations to the Daughters of Divine Love 2015 Silver Jubilarians. They will converge from the different countries where
they minister for a month of reflection and evaluation in Enugu,
Nigeria where the Mother House is situated. The climax will be on
September 19th, when members of their families, relatives,
friends, benefactors and well wishers will join them for a solemn
high mass and entertainment. After which they will have receptions in their home towns accordingly.
Srs. Eucharia Amaefule, Ignatia Utulu, Blaise Chukwu and Victor
Egboka from the American region will be joining this group. We
wish them a safe journey as they travel back and forth.
Again congrats dear Daughters. May God reward your generosity all these years.
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GRADUATIONS
We congratulate all the sisters, friends, and benefactors graduating
this year. We wish you more blessings as the good and loving Lord
equip you for more effective ministry in His vineyard.
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

ANNOUNCEMENTS
 First Religious Profession of Young novices—July 16
 Final Religious Profession of temporary professed—Sept. 5
 Silver Jubilee Celebration of 1990 set of professed sisters—
Sept 19


Silver Jubilee of the Daughters of Divine Love Mission
in the United States - October 24, 2015.
Saturday, May 7, 2016: DDL "Simply Divine
Luncheon" at belvedere chateau, Palos Hills
We pray for our friends and Benefactors everyday.
Please feel free to make your prayer requests. We
will be very glad to pray for you. It is part of our
ministry.
The Development Ministry is open to receive volunteers and committee members. Please join and share
your God-given talents, time and treasure.
Don't forget the Daughters of Divine Love Congregation in your will.
BENEFIT LUNCHEON 2015
The 2015 Daughters of Divine Love "Simply Divine Love
Luncheon" was held on Saturday, May 2, 2015 at the Belvedere
Chateau in Palos Hills. Feed backs from some who attended said:
it was fantastic; amazing; wonderful; spirit filled; great;
excellent; it took me back to my roots; I love it. While many loved
everything, some mentioned different aspects of the program: the
sisters' dance, awareness of God's presence, auction items,
learning from presentations, fun games, etc.
Page 4
We thank the Lord for
answering our prayer and
for our generous friends
and benefactor, all those
who made donations,
those who bought raffles
and/or Luncheon tickets.
We thank you all for allowing God to use you as
instruments in promoting
our Ministry to the Needy. Furthermore it is important to note that
the success of the event was a testament of the hard work of the
DDL Development Advisory Board and the members of the 2015
Benefit Luncheon Committee. We are grateful to all of you.
This occasion provides us an opportunity to pay tribute to welldeserved recipients of this year’s Annual Award. The following
ladies and gentle man were honored for their service to the society with remarkable excellence:
 Lady Jane Ibekie
 Rev. Minnie M Robinson
 Debbie “Scarlett” Parks
 Lafredta Lust
 Judge Mitchell Ware
It was indeed a joyful day. Every item on the program was accompanied by music. MR. EMMA ONUA kept the atmosphere
quite inviting by making the music boom as the guests were being
ushered into the hall. And Mr. Patrick Achebe, with the microphone as the MC, recognized and kept smiles on the faces of all.
There was an atmosphere of God’s presence.
The Sister’s Dance
was quite exciting.
The
Nigerian
`Egedege` dance
attracted
many
guests and they
joined the dancing
group regardless of
their nationalities.
They took joy in
throwing dollars to
the dancing sisters as
a sign of affirmation.
RAFFLE DRAW: Raffle Draw was another exciting event of the
day. The raffles were in two categories: In-house and cash raffles. It was interesting to observe the excitement on people’s
faces as they listen to hear the announcement of the winners and
their prizes. The result of the cash raffle is as follows:
Prize
Ticket number
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
22753
40994
21673
02347
21169
39797
00652
43349
Winner
Cynthia Douglas
B Dekado
Stase Mikelevicius
Rodriguez
Anita Olson
St. Patrick- Donate Back to DDL
Mandeville
Mary Badgley
Although the above names appeared as winners according to
human reckoning, the fact remains that everyone who bought
the ticket is a winner because all have succeeded in making a
difference in the life of God’s needy child. God’s reward is
greater than any prize you can think of. Thanks and
congratulations to all. Remain blessed.
Non-Profit Org
U.S. Postage
Daughters of Divine Love Development Ministry
PAID
P.O. Box 26, Highwood. IL 60040
Phone 847-433-2615/Fax 847-433-2638
Email: [email protected]
Visit us at our Website: www.ddldev.org
HIGHWOOD IL
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