My name is Jovic Kouepou Kouepou. 

I am a young Cameroonian. I first learned about the Assumptionists at a vocation camp from a friend when he was back home on vacation. For four years, as I earned my college degree, I kept his words in my heart. Afterward I went for a visit and eventually was able to do a year of pre-postulancy and postulancy in Sokode, Togo, during which time I was able to discern my vocation with the Assumptionists. The novitiate year is an opportunity to take that discernment one step further.

I am Jean-Paul Lakaza, Togolese. 

I want to serve Christ in the poorest of the poor. It’s a desire that has filled my heart since junior high school. Unfortunately, I failed my first national high school final exam. I had to repeat a year and once I did so, I wanted to prove that I was capable of university studies. Not only did I succeed at the undergrad level but went on to get a  Master’s degree in the humanities and do two years of philosophy. I eventually ended up in Sokode as a high school teacher. There I met the Assumptionists and my old dreams came were rekindled.   As a novice I feel an inner joy that gives me a passion day in and day out to serve Christ and hasten his Kingdom in me and around me.

My name is Jean-Valère Kouwama from a parish right here in Sokode, Our Lady of the Assumption.

I am 22 years old. I joined the Assumptionists after finishing an undergrad degree in journalism. I am the Benjamin of my family, the youngest of four children in a practicing Catholic family. My vocation dates, I think, to the day witnessed my uncle being ordained in the cathedral church. I became an altar server and then joined the parish vocational group. Later I met Fr. Jean-Paul Sagadou, an Assumptionist. I am particularly drawn by the beauty of their common life.

Born on July 17, 1988, in the Togolese diocese of Kara,
my name is Honoré Bassagou Winiga.

My vocation goes back to the age of 10. At Mass, my eyes were riveted on the priest, so I became an altar server and joined a vocation group. After college I wasn’t ready to enter the seminary, so I went on to get a Master’s degree and begin my profess-sional life. Then, on a retreat, the director told me that he thought I had a vocation.  Teaching high school in Sokode, I met the Assumptionists and was drawn by their triple love of Christ and everything he loved, his mother Mary and the Church and by the simplicity of their life.

Hi! I am Marius-Thierry Amegnikpo.

I come from the capital city of Togo, Lomé. For a good while I was in the world filling my pockets with this world’s wealth, which never seemed to give me the happiness I was looking for. Yes, God knows what is deepest in our hearts and how to seduce us so that those desires might one day be fulfilled. I know that it is he who brought me to the Assumptionists. My first days were not easy but I have to come to realize that it is not easy to leave past ways behind. Now, with perseverance I have found a joy I longed for.

Shalom! I am Michael Armel Dakiswendé Yoni
from the archdiocese of Ougadougou in Burkina Faso, from a Catholic family of four children.

I came to know the Assumptionist at an archdiocesan-wide workshop in 2012 and began a year of discernment with Fr. Paulin, an Assumptionist who is stationed in my hometown. Accepted as a candidate first and then as a postulant, I came to learn of and love the life and work of the Congregation.  Right now, my sole desire as a novice is to make my own the spirituality of the Assumptionists. May the Lord of the Harvest  be with us throughout this year!

David Binidi. That’s my name.

I, too, am the Benjamin of my family of six children. I pursued training in decorative and clothing design. Early on in my life I was fascinated by the life of the priest, the liturgy and its beauty. Being an altar server and a member of the parish vocation group played a huge role in my discernment.  Eventually I began to attend vocation workshops looking for the right congregation. What drew me to the Assumptionists is their truly fraternal life, their out-reach to youth in so many domains, and their ecumenical sensitivity.

My name is Bernardin Kantchire
from Togo, the third of six children in a family
deeply rooted i the faith.

In college I studied education and philosophy. A friend of mine at the university who had become an Assumptionist put me in touch with the vocation team. They invited me for several weekend community experiences and I fell in love with the simplicity, the fraternal life, the openness, the welcome, and above all the apostolic zeal. My novitiate year is life like that of a couple engaged, an opportunity of greater mutual knowledge and love.