From Tradition to Vocation: Veteran Kenyan Sister Reflects on Why African Girls Chose Religious Life

She added, “I did not know what serving God meant. What I felt was the need to have this constant presence in the Church; and to do those practical little things like cleaning and arranging flowers.”

“Thinking about it even now, I still find it difficult to understand the ways of God. It is very hard to understand, and even explain, how one came to be called and for what. One realizes and discovers what it meant later on, as time goes on. That's what I felt,” the Kenyan Sister, one of the oldest ASN members, told ACI Africa during the October 2 interview.

Sr. Elizabeth Njoki wa Joel poses for a photo in founder McCarthy's room. Credit: ACI Africa

While Sr. Elizabeth joined Religious Life freely because her parents had allowed her to go to school, many other young girls weren’t as lucky. They left their homes in secret seeking to become Religious Sisters, but none of them understood what serving God meant.

“At the time, it was difficult for families to let go of their children who felt called to Religious Life. Our first Sisters ran away from home. No parent could give permission to a daughter to go to a life they did not comprehend. Parents did not know what Religious Life was,” Sr. Elizabeth recalled.

She added, “In our culture (Gikuyu), a girl was brought up to marry and have children. Marriage was at the heart of society.”

Sr. Elizabeth Njoki wa Joel posses for a photo against Archbishop McCarthy's artefacts. Credit: ACI Africa

ASN and a few other Sisters’ Congregations were also started during Kenya’s colonial time, a situation that made it difficult for them to thrive. “Kenyans were fighting with the British people, sending them away from their country,” Sr. Elizabeth said, and added, “There was war. That war brought a lot of confusion, and it was not easy for people who were Christians.”

Founded by Archbishop John Joseph McCarthy, the pioneer Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi (ADN) popularly known as J.J. McCarthy, ASN only admitted young African girls and still does that to date.

At the time, young girls who fled their homes in search of Religious Life were given refuge at an orphanage run by the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa (MSOLA), also known as the White Sisters.

Preserved vestment of Archbishop McCarthy inside ASN's Heritage Room Credit: ACI Africa

The orphanage had become a haven during the war, sheltering many children who had lost their parents and had nowhere else to go. Word had spread across nearby villages that there were missionaries offering care and protection to the poor and vulnerable.

Within that sanctuary, the young African girls came to know the life and mission of the Sisters. Inspired by their witness, they began expressing a desire to live as they did.

In the interview with ACI Africa, Sr. Elizabeth recounted the beginnings of the ASN Congregation, saying, “When the girls said that they wanted to be like the Sisters in the orphanage, even they themselves didn’t know what that meant. They were asked, ‘Do you want to belong to God and serve Him?’ And they said, ‘Yes.’ So, the Sisters understood they wanted to be women Religious. That is how our Congregation was started.”

Credit: ACI Africa

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It was the MSOLA Sisters who went on to form and guide the first members of the ASN, at the request of Archbishop McCarthy, helping the young women to shape their identity, spirituality, and mission as a new local Religious Congregation.

For instance, Mother Winfred Moris, a British-born member of the MSOLA, served as the first Novice Directress and the first Superior General of ASN – from 1956 to 1964. 

Details of how the Congregation was founded – and its growth to date – are in the ASN Heritage Room that was launched on September 14.

In the October 2 interview with ACI Africa about the ASN Heritage Room, a project that Sr. Elizabeth has overseen for the past 40 years until its completion, the Kenyan Sister also spoke about her 70 years in the Congregation, which received its Decree of Pontifical Recognition in 1998—a status that placed it under the direct authority of the Vatican rather than a Local Ordinary.

Archbishop McCarthy's kneeler. Credit: ACI Africa

Born to Protestant parents in Kenya’s Catholic Diocese of Nakuru, Sr. Elizabeth was attracted to the way of life of missionaries who educated her. Their example inspired her to learn Catechism, receive Baptism, and eventually join the ASN. In time, her parents too embraced the Catholic faith.

She recalled joining the ASN in 1960 alongside six other girls—though, over time, all but she left the formation journey, leaving her to continue alone.

Sr. Elizabeth also reflected on the many challenges that young African girls aspiring to Religious Life faced during Kenya’s colonial era, when societal expectations and cultural barriers often stood in the way of their vocational calling.

Credit: ACI Africa

“Before, if a girl wanted to be a Sister, she was brought to Uganda where African Sisters were,” Sr. Elizabeth narrated.

“In our time, however, the Assumption Sisters had been founded just for Africans. Our founder had informed all the missionaries in the Archdiocese of Nairobi that there was a place, in the Archdiocese, for young African girls who wanted to enter Religious Life. That they could be brought into the Assumption Sisters instead of bringing them all the way to Uganda,” she further recalled.

Archbishop J.J. McCarthy wanted a purely African Congregation for members who could work among their people, especially in Kenya. “He believed Africans know themselves and they can help their own people better, because they understand them very well. That's why he started us,” the ASN member told ACI Africa on October 2.

Sr. Elizabeth further recounted being taken for a “come and see” session at the ASN house in Karibaribi, off Thika town in the ADN. “I saw some African Sisters there, but even at that particular point, it didn't click in my mind that it was the life I wanted. I had known Sisters to be white, from those who taught us. And seeing some black Sisters, I was very surprised. At the time, I was still in school.”

Sr. Elizabeth Njoki wa Joel poses for a photo outside the ASN Heritage Room. Credit: ACI Africa

She joined the Congregation a year after the first ASN perpetual profession in which 10 young African women made their Perpetual Profession.

“Some of our pioneer members are still alive,” she told ACI Africa, adding that “they are all very old. Others are sick and we are taking care of them.”

After her First Vows in 1963, Sr. Elizabeth was assigned, along with other ASN members, to assist with domestic work at the home of their founder on Riverside Drive, just outside Kenya’s capital, Nairobi – the same location that now houses the ASN Heritage Room.