Jonathan Jamero is an Augustinian Recollect non-clerical religious.
He arrived from the Philippines to Sierra Leone in 2008, first in the mission of Kamabai and later in Kamalo.
Among his main responsibilities are the care of the mission facilities, the feeding of the community, the care of the volunteers and educational work.
Until the Covid period closed the training center, he was directly responsible for it.
The fact that he is a religious brother does not prevent him from carrying out an intense evangelizing work in the more than forty communities he serves in the Kamalo mission.
He prepares liturgies of the Word, catechesis, accompanies groups and, above all, is a witness of life for all those who share life with him every day.
Of his extensive experience in Sierra Leone, he emphasizes that “the great challenge here and the great mission is to be with the people, to work with the people and to live with them”.
Since their arrival in Sierra Leone, the Augustinian Recollects have left their mark on the country.
The Catholic pastoral ministry acts as a driving force, example and encouragement for the whole population, regardless of age, sex, religion or thought.
Their work in the areas of education, health and infrastructure has been recognized by the local authorities and by the trust placed in the many private and public donors who have financed development projects.
Catholicism is, in Sierra Leone, a minority within another minority, Christianity.
The country is mostly Muslim, although without signs of fundamentalism.
Interreligious coexistence is natural and does not pose any additional difficulties.
The Catholic population is scattered, you have to travel many kilometers on bad roads to meet a few Catholics, without social weight.
The non-evangelized customs exert a strong pressure also within the Catholic population itself: polygamy, habitual macho treatment, bloody initiation rites such as genital mutilation, secret societies, superchería, animism, child marriage, etc.
As Fr.
Jonathan points out, “We have to go little by little every day. Our life here has to be a model. Every day we have to make a difference with them.”
According to the Constitutions of the Order “The consecration of religious brothers constitutes in itself a complete state of profession of the evangelical counsels. Our Order, from its beginnings, has been made up of clerical religious and religious brothers. All of them, with the same rights and obligations, with the exception of those deriving from Holy Orders, participate in the same ideal of seeking and serving God, placing their talents at the common service. This vocation complements the variety of the mystical body of the Order with a particular mission. The religious brother imitates Jesus Christ in the service of men, and by his witness and work contributes to the life of the Church and enriches it. The value of his contribution does not depend so much on the kind of his work as on the faith and love that motivate him”. (OAR Constitutions 249-250)