Mother Teresa received the inspiration to form Missionaries of Charity in 1949. She envisioned a congregation of women which was officially started in 1950 with initial twelve members. The sisters took their final vows as Missionaries of Charity, a congregation found with a mission to satiate God’s thirst for love by personal holiness and by working for salvation and sanctification of the poorest of poor.
Over the years, the charity has grown leaps and bounds, and has gained enormous appreciation worldwide. It is now a large religious family with several branches all over the world. By the time of Mother Teresa’s death in 1997, The Missionaries of Charity sisters grew up to nearly four thousand in 123 countries.
The charity was setup with an initial mission to care for the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone.
The "Missionaries of Charity" throughout the world are aided and assisted by Co-Workers who became an official International Association on March 29, 1969. By the 1990s there were over one million Co-Workers in more than 40 countries. Along with the Co-Workers, the lay Missionaries of Charity try to follow Mother Teresa's spirit and charism in their families.
The Society of "Missionaries of Mother Teresa" has spread all over the world. They provide effective and enormous amount of help to the poorest people in a number of countries all around the world and they undertake relief work in the wake of natural catastrophes such as floods, epidemics, and famine, and for refugees. They also have charitable houses in number of countries to take care of the shut-ins, alcoholics, homeless, and AIDS sufferers.
Since the death of "Mother Teresa", several charitable trusts have been setup following the mantle of Mother Teresa that ‘Service of Mankind is Service to God.’
Tags: Mother Teresa Missionaries, Missionaries of Charity, Mother Teresa Charitable Trust, Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity