Sudan is a country described by one of its own bishops as ?a living Lent?.

News reports and newspaper articles detail the civil war that has long-plagued this African nation, killing thousands, causing the persecution of the Church and its missionaries, and leaving the people without homes, and, at times, without hope.

?It is difficult for me to describe the suffering that the Sudanese people had to undergo and are still undergoing,? says Sister Josephine Tresoldi, a Comboni missionary Sister. A ?Good Friday? existence is the reality of all the Sudanese, she explained, both those living in the South and those clustered around the big city of Khartoum in the North.

Sister Josephine currently lives in Uganda with three other Comboni Sisters and a young Sudanese Congregation, Missionary Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Together, these Sisters serve the refugees from southern Sudan. ?We try to make Christ present to the people,? Sister Josephine said. She also makes regular visits to Sudan, to check on Sisters serving inside the country, and helps with the formation of local Sister novices and postulants.

Growing up in Italy, Sister Josephine, inspired by stories of missionaries who shared the message of love brought by Jesus, found herself wanting to go to the Missions herself. Today, almost a half century after she joined the Comboni Sisters, she finds her service still motivated by the need to tell all about the Lord?s great love.

Two groups of people stand out in Sister Josephine?s missionary life. First, there are the lifetime missionaries she has met, some offering the example of 70 years in the Missions. ?They did not have degrees but they had a great love for God and they shared it with the people they lived with,? Sister Josephine said.

Village women in Africa are the second group, ?especially for their capacity to endure suffering and to nurture hope in a better future for their children.?