SDI Africa Gathering – June 2026
June 11 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm South Africa / Johannesburg
Date: 11 June 2026 Time: 4:00 pm GMT | 6:00 pm SAST | 7:00 pm EAT
We warmly invite you to the SDI Africa Mixer, a welcoming and reflective space designed for encounter, conversation, and shared learning. This gathering is a special opportunity to connect with fellow spiritual directors and those engaged in spiritual accompaniment who are living and working across the African continent.
As an emerging community, our hope is to deepen relationships, explore our shared calling, and nurture a network that honours the beautiful diversity of cultures, languages, lived realities, and spiritual traditions across Africa. Together, we will share who we are as SDI Africa, explore our connection to the wider Spiritual Directors International network, and prepare the ground for our formal launch.
This mixer is more than just a meeting; it is an entry point into an ongoing community of practice, mutual support, and shared leadership.
Who Should Attend? We are warmly inviting:
- Spiritual directors living and working on the African continent.
- Companions offering the practice of spiritual direction in different contexts, including chaplains, retreat facilitators, spiritual care providers, and life coaches integrating spirituality and spiritual direction into their vocation.
- Faith-based, interfaith and interspiritual spiritual directors, accompaniers and companions.
This invitation is for people who live and work on the African continent, regardless of country of origin.
Event Flow To honour our time together, we have prepared a gentle and engaging flow for our gathering:
- Welcoming – Wanjîkū J. Kîarîe: A warm reception to gather our diverse community and intentionally set our shared space.
- Opening Meditation – Marilyn Naidoo: A moment to pause, center ourselves, and ground our gathering in contemplative presence.
- Presentation: Who We Are as SDI AFRICA? – Althea Banda-Hansmann: An introduction to our vision of mainstreaming spiritual companionship in Africa, fostering cross-cultural experiences, and building a supportive, context-aware network.
- Open Questions & Answers, Setting Date for Next Meeting – Wanjîkū J. Kîarîe: An open floor for shared dialogue, identifying mutual interests, and looking toward our future gatherings.
- Closing Meditation – Bernard Omuse: A final reflective pause to express gratitude for our encounter and send us forth in peace.
We look forward to sharing this sacred space with you as we journey together.
