Our Community
Koinonia John The Baptist is a community of consecrated brothers, sisters, priests and lay faithful. The consecrated members, having given their lives to the Lord Jesus in the spirituality of John the Baptist through the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, dedicate themselves to prayer, service and community life. They live in evangelisation centres called “Oases” from where they minister. All pastoral activities are inserted into the local ecclesiastical structures, bringing its own contribution to the realisation of individual pastoral plans.
Our community was established by Fr. Ricardo and a small group of young people called to live virginity for the Kingdom of Heaven together in the remote village of Camparmò, in the north of Italy, 900 meters above sea level. In that stupendous but inhospitable place, lacking water, light and telephone, they let themselves be forged by the Lord through prayer, work and intense community life and friendship.
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Non-Profit
The Koinonia John the Baptist South Africa is a non-profit corporation founded in South Africa.
It is headquartered in Lourdes Mission.
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Love for Jesus and the bond with the brothers and sisters were the two poles of the spirituality of each day. This is demonstrated by two hours of personal prayer, the Liturgy of the Hours, study, fasting and work that then included the livestock and dairy farming. To all this was added the welcome of people for prayer and evangelisation. This life is a call to live together as consecrated brothers and sisters, in friendship under the guidance of a pastor, with a specific rule of life. Clearly, consecrated brothers and sisters live in distinct areas where personal places of life are respected as a seclusion.
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At a distance of almost 40 years, today we have more than 250 consecrated persons who live the same spirituality of that time while adapting to new situations in different parts of the world.
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What characterises this spirituality? The intense moments of prayer that mark the day: two hours of personal prayer, the liturgy of the hours and community prayer; despite the brothers and sisters living in separate cloisters, moments like meals and work determine precious moments of friendship and sharing within the community life. The pastor of the Oasis seeks unity with the brothers and sisters through obedience, co-responsibility, dialogue, living friendship in a spirit of freedom.
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At the weekend, the community is regularly involved in numerous evangelisation activities, so Monday is a day fully dedicated to building community.
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Due to the fact that the community is present all over the world (and with new realities opening often) it is sometimes subject to changes in personnel to help the communities themselves and the new missions.