Society for African Missions

The Society for African Missions (SMA) is a Roman Catholic missionary movement of priests, brothers and associated lay people who are committed to Africans.

Traditionally, the SMA is a religious congregation that sends out missionaries. Initially, it was sent exclusively to Africa, to numerous places around the world where Africans live. The SMA operates according to the philosophy of missionary presence. This means proclaiming the faith by standing alongside people and empathizing with them through evangelical compassion.

Founder
The SMA was founded in Lyon in 1856 by the French missionary bishop, Mgr. Melchior de Marion Brésillac (1813-1859). His goal was to spread the liberating message of Christ as the missionary calling of the Church. His two most important missionary statements were: "Go to the most abandoned people" and "establish the Church with our own native priests." This is how the SMA still operates today. West Africa became the society's first and most important area of operation.

SMA in the Netherlands
From a purely French movement in the mid-19th century, the Society for African Missions has grown into a global movement with several thousand members, active in some 20 countries on all continents. The SMA has been active in the Netherlands since 1892. That year, construction began on a mission college in Cadier en Keer, near Maastricht. The current Mission House remains the SMA's central office in the Netherlands, although over the years there have also been monasteries and communities in Aalbeek, Amsterdam, Bemelen, Heerlen, Nijmegen, and Oosterbeek, among others.

Management
The Dutch branch of the Society for African Missions is called a province and is governed by a provincial superior and two other board members. They are appointed for three years by the general board, on the recommendation of the members.

Locations
The SMA currently has two official locations in the Netherlands: Cadier en Keer and Amsterdam. The board and missionary procuratorate are located in the Mission House in Cadier en Keer. The SMA also has a home for elderly missionaries there. Various priests and lay members associated with the society also live throughout the country. In total, the SMA-Netherlands has approximately 30 religious (fathers and brothers) and several dozen associated lay members.

Africans in the Netherlands
In Amsterdam, the SMA is committed to supporting Africans in the Netherlands , especially those living under difficult circumstances in Amsterdam Southeast. The training center for new lay missionaries is also located here.

Missionaries in Africa
Over the course of more than 125 years, the SMA has trained and sent many priests and brothers as missionaries in the Netherlands. Currently, three Dutch priests are active in Africa. In addition, lay missionaries are regularly sent out on behalf of the SMA. Currently, five Dutch lay missionaries are active in Ghana, Liberia, and Tanzania. See the "Sent Out" button for information about the missionaries.

OLA sisters
The SMA is closely associated with the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of the Apostles, which can be considered the female branch of the same missionary movement, but is an independent congregation. Currently, there are two Dutch OLA sisters. They live in Cadier en Keer.