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Four Maryknoll Sisters— Sister Isabel da Costa Araujo, M.M., Sister Gloria Ardenio Agnes, M.M., Sister Juana Encalada, M.M., and Sister Hyun Jung Kim, M.M.—professed their final vows at a Mass Aug. 12 in Annunciation Chapel at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Ossining.
Sister Isabel da Costa Araujo, M.M., is a social worker and the first woman from East Timor in the South Pacific to become a Maryknoll Sister. She entered Maryknoll in 2009 and made first vows in 2011. The next year, she was assigned to Brazil to work with children in need. Her experience as a social worker in East Timor, plus her smile and quiet manner, enables her to comfort those she visits at the children’s shelter with the Legion of Mary, the homes of the sick elderly and the hospital.
Sister Gloria Ardenio Agnes, M.M., was born into a large family in the Philippines and earned a degree in religious studies from the Institute of Formation and Religious Studies in Quezon City in 2005. She entered Maryknoll in 2009 and made first vows two years later. She was assigned to Bolivia to do pastoral work, 2012-2013. In 2014, she was sent to El Salvador to work with people with HIV/AIDS. Each Wednesday, she oversees food distribution to AIDS patients at a clinic in San Salvador. During the rest of the week, she visits the sick in their homes in six villages, where she reassures them that they are valued and loved.
Sister Juana Encalada, M.M., was born into a large family in Peru. She entered Maryknoll in 1992. Three years later, she was assigned to Cambodia, where she worked in an AIDS ministry and in religious education. In 2001, she took time off from the congregation for discernment, but continued to work in Cambodia, where she helped destitute mothers with AIDS through the AIDS Patient Family Support Program, for which she served as coordinator until 2013. In 2014, she returned to Maryknoll and made first vows. She was assigned to East Timor, where she teaches English to children and young adults. She also provides aid to women with HIV/AIDS and children with special needs.
Sister Hyun Jung Kim, M.M., was born in South Korea, where she earned her master’s degree in social work at Catholic University in Seoul. While in school, she volunteered at Magdalena House, a shelter where she encountered Maryknoll Sisters in a red light district in Seoul. She was inspired by their work with sex traffic survivors. She entered Maryknoll in 2006, before taking time off for discernment. In 2009, she returned to Maryknoll. In 2011, after making first vows, she was assigned to Brazil to do pastoral work. In 2014, she was assigned to East Timor where she is a member of a parish clinic staff. She is part of a team that makes daylong trips to assist people in remote areas.
