Continuing our series of testimonies from participants in the Programme for the Preparation of Formators, we share the experience of Sr. Elizabeth Onoja, a member of the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary.

In this interview, she reflects on formation as a lifelong journey of transformation, where God lovingly works through every experience to heal, shape, and renew us. Her testimony emphasizes personal conversion, openness to the Holy Spirit, compassionate leadership, and the call to accompany others toward becoming the living presence of Christ. She reminds us that even our wounds can become places of grace, because "the gold is in the crack."

How has your understanding of formation evolved over the past few months?

Viewing formation through a different lens, I have come to a deeper understanding of a God who creates order out of chaos—a God who uses every detail of our lives to form us into his likeness. God is the Potter; he holds the clay with love and compassion, and within his divine embrace he carefully joins every broken piece together. He brings healing, he brings wholeness, bringing to life a renewed and transformed person.

The Divine Artist uses gold to bring these broken pieces together, and without doubt we can see that the gold he uses is visible in the cracks. This echoes the words of Saint Paul: "When I am weak, then I am strong."

One of the concepts that has deeply touched me during these months of participating in the formation programme is the concept of human becoming, which refers to our humanity as God's ongoing work. God is continually at work in and through our humanity.

For me, this is an invitation to become more attentive to the movement of the Spirit at work in my life, around me, and in the people with whom I interact. It is also an invitation to maintain an attitude of openness to God, whose Word is living and active, leading me to know who I am and whose I am.

What is the most important lesson you have taken from this period?

It's been quite an enriching experience being part of this formation programme. One of the most powerful lessons, or key takeaways, for me is that God loves me. God loves the whole of me. He loves me unconditionally. He is ever-present to me. He meets me where I am, and he uses every detail of my life to shape me into his image.

This is an invitation for me to become more aware of the movement of the Spirit within me and around me. It has had a profound impact on me as a person, on my spiritual life, and on my lived experience of community. I can truly say that I have been challenged to become more reflective in my relationships and conversations, to seek God in all that I do, and to respond to others with greater compassion.

I have been particularly inspired by the transformative power of the God who creates order out of chaos. In my own life, I am learning to see situations from a more positive perspective, to cultivate a positive attitude toward life and all the experiences it brings, especially the more difficult ones.

What challenges have you encountered during this period of formstione, and how have you responded to them?

Ah, it's been quite challenging as well. Recounting the positive aspects of this experience, I would also add that it has been quite challenging in the sense that it was my first time being in this part of the world, meeting new people, experiencing a new culture, different weather, different food, and even the frustration of losing my way while navigating from one place to another. It's been quite challenging, but one thing that has helped me in really embracing this whole experience is having the attitude, the mindset, that every experience has a message for me.

This has been quite life-giving, particularly the experience of losing or missing my way and trying to find it again. The frustration that comes with it was challenging, but in order to engage with and make meaning of the whole experience, having the attitude that this, too, is a message the Lord is bringing my way has been very instrumental.

It's like the song Lose Yourself in Me. Finding the grace to lose myself in God in that frustrating experience helped me a lot in finding new life and finding myself. It has been quite enriching, quite renewing, and quite fulfilling.