Grey Nuns Welcome in Groot Gouda and ULF Protectorate
President Michel Personally Welcomes Religious Order and Relief Workers

NORTHERN ISLE, ULF PROTECTORATE OF GROOT GOUDA -- The sounds of the last chirping beetles of summer are dying off in the woods and fields. So are the sounds of automatic small arms fire in the distance. For the past few months, life was difficult for the people of the former state of United Liberator Front (ULF). The archipelago nation saw civil war and piracy swiftly overcome civil order when the government fell into anarchy.

The nearby state of Groot Gouda, another member nation of the International Democratic Union, swiftly responded, moving in relief and security forces to keep the country from falling into all-out civil war.

The populace welcomed the international intervention on the northernmost island of the archipelago, but reports of piracy off the southwestern coast, and fears of civil strife on the island kept relief workers at bay.

Groot Gouda President Clears Way for Nuns

President Michel of Groot Gouda openly welcomed aid sent from the Kingdom of Listeneisse. Through his personal direction, a team of nurses sent from the Order of Grey Nuns was onboard the first relief vessel to arrive from Groot Gouda.

With the President's personal encouragement and approval, a new daughter chapter of the Order of Grey Nuns (OGN) was established in the Groot Gouda capital city. Additional chapter houses have also been opened in the region bordering the former state of King Ca, as well as on the northern island of the former ULF Protectorate.

"The women I have met on the island here are very brave, very sturdy, and very generous," spoke Sister Mary Magdelene, who led the organization of the chapter in the ULF protectorate. "We missed the worst of it all by the time we arrived, but the stories of those first days were simply harrowing."

Reports small arms fire by looters, would-be warlords and criminal gangs ripped through the once-idyllic tourist destination. Murders, arson, theft, and rape were widely reported to have occurred, but not as widespread as first believed. At least on the northern island.

"We have yet to get to the southwestern island," admitted Sister Mary Magdelene. "We've been advised not to go. So instead, we wait here. The women show up. Word is spreading. For many, we're their beacon of hope. We're all they would have left."

Many of the new sisters are widows, orphaned teen girls, runaways and women who left abusive relationships to find peace and calm in the sanctuary of a Christian monastic order. But not all of them were expressly victimized by the current conflict.

"Some volunteered out of pure goodness!" So spoke Sister Helena, who also arrived from Listeneisse on the first relief ship from Groot Gouda.

Sister Joan

Sister Helena introduced a moon-faced smiling woman dressed in the comfortable grey habit of the order as Sister Joan Happiness.

She was a ULF islander who had sought out the sisters when she first heard about them. Word of their arrival had spread to her village, which still suffered without power restoration. So she walked twenty miles to the main port city of the northern island to find the sisters at work.

"I wanted to change my name when I joined the order," she explained. "Who I was before is not as important as what I want to create now."

Fighting had been reported in her town during the early days of the government collapse. When asked, she admitted she had not personally suffered, but she saw plenty who had.

"I saw the boys with guns shooting. Women were hiding from them behind a car. It was like a game to the boys. So I yelled at them to put down their guns. These were real guns. This was no game. Those were not toys. I told them that their mothers' spirits watched them, even if they were not around. Then I went to the women, and told them not to be afraid. I took them away. The boys did not shoot us."

"She chose Joan after Joan of Arc," explained Sister Mary Magdelene, "Like the historical saint, she's a very brave woman!"

Rapid Growth of Chapters

The new monastic chapters are growing rapidly. There are over fifty sisters in the Protectorate, twenty more on the capital of Groot Gouda, and nine by the King Ca border.

They have also opened schools for children, and have almost a thousand attending classes. They charge nothing for their instruction.

The islander women are obviously not yet fully trained in Christian doctrine and divinity. They are first offered baptism and communion by a reverend minister, and take Third Order vows to the Order of Grey Nuns.

Matters are still makeshift. Many of the nuns from the mother house in Listeneisse still need to learn the local dialects. Textbooks written in English, though donated with great Christian goodwill, do little good for children who have yet to master the language.

As Third Orders, the new members of the Grey Nuns are free to live in or leave the monastic community as they wish. They wear the same habits as the other sisters, but are free to depart at any time. Some of the women admit wanting to marry, remarry, or resettle if the opportunity presents itself. Some of the girls in their teens wish to leave when they reach maturity. For now, the Grey Nuns are their safe harbor.

Yet others will eventually take the traditional lifelong vows once they have undergone full training.

"Yes, I know this is what I want to do now," spoke Sister Joan Happiness. "This is what God wishes me to do. And I would do it again and again, so long as I live. To save the women and help the boys to grow up."

"This was how Christianity grew so rapidly in those early centuries after the life of Christ," spoke Mother Mary Elaine Sarrasinte, Abbess of the Order of Grey Nuns, when reached by telephone in Listeneisse, "In a world filled with uncertainty and despair, the safe harbour of a nunnery was all that some had, but it was often precisely what was needed. It was an anchor in a storm. Indeed, an old term for a monastic was 'anchorite,' which means 'to make room for,' or 'to retire or withdraw.' We let these women withdraw from the chaos, and we make room for them at our table."

Food had been donated from many sources. A local widow volunteered her home to be the first convent. Chairs and tables for meals quickly packed the living room on the first floor and then spilled onto the porch. Soon they had outgrown the location.

A proper building for a growing chapter house was purchased from selling the home, along with additional funds sent from Listeneisse. Building materials for prefabricated classrooms were donated, delivered by relief flight to the island, and assembled by the Grail Templars. The soccer pitch was still a dusty lot, but at least the boys played with balls instead of guns as the sun set.

Tonight, Sister Joan led the prayer over dinner at the chapter refectory. "May we all find peace, and bring peace to others, and God bless the President of Groot Gouda!"

To which the assembled women gave a hearty, "Amen!"