Sister Florentine was raised in a Muslim family in Indonesia, and became attracted to the Catholic faith when she was in junior high school. She was baptized when she was a student nurse, and entered the Medical Mission Sisters at the age of 29. "The Lord sowed the seed of my vocation to religious life, but it took time to get permission from my family," she explains.

After serving at our hospital in Solo in a variety of nursing positions (including head of the School for Nurse Aides, head of the Nursing Department, and member of the hospital's daily governing board), Sister Florentine moved into the area of spiritual leadership, becoming formation coordinator for Medical Mission Sisters in District Indonesia. "To live with and relate to young people is a challenge," she recalls. "One has to be able to adapt oneself to their way of thinking. It requires patience, understanding, and a firm attitude."

Seven years later, Sister Florentine moved to Jakarta, to serve as the district treasurer. At the same time, she joined the Jakarta Social Institute part-time, so she could assist with the health problems of rag pickers who live on the outskirts of the city, at the waste dump. She volunteered to visit people with AIDS, and to accompany AIDS patients who are admitted to the hospital.

"May we, in our journey together, be able to listen to one another, and appreciate and support the development of one another," she says of her fellow Sisters.

"I do hope we can learn from what Mother Dengel said," she adds. "Love is measured in sacrifice, because so many things go against nature … but our vocation is also a call to joy, to be engaged in God's service, in the service of one's neighbor."