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Today’s missionary hero is a woman of our own times, a Belgian who devoted her life to the people of Papua New Guinea. In religious life, her name was Simona Noorenbergh.
Maria Noorenbergh (sometimes spelled Noorenberge and Noorenberg) was born sometime in 1907 in Ypres, Belgium.
In 1923, at the age of 16, Maria read a story in a French magazine about Papua New Guinea. She told her parents that she wanted to leave home right away to go to Papua New Guinea. Her parents, of course, said “no.” Sometime after this, she became very ill, and her parents feared she would die. They promised her that if she got better, she could go to New Guinea. Soon, Maria got better.
Maria learned, however, that the only way she could go to Papua New Guinea was through a religious organization. So, she joined the Sisters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (FDNSC) in Stockel, Brussels. In religious life, she was known as Sr. Simona.
In 1928, after she finished her novitiate, she left for Papua New Guinea. After a 3-month voyage, she arrived on December 8, 1928 at the age of 21.
Sr. Simona worked in many places in Papua New Guinea through the next 63 years, and she played many roles: social worker, community organizer, nurse, singer, welfare officer, clothes designer, organizer of primitive hospitals and schools, and guru. She is even credited with co-founding a community, Fane. Some of the difficult conditions she encountered throughout her life in Papua New Guinea were Yaws (a tropical disease), continual tribal wars, and cannibalism.
As for cannibalism, one of the tribes kept telling her they’d be honored to eat her. Then, her spirit would forever remain in their village. Sr. Simone politely declined to be dinner. She said, “My people in the tribes would consider it an honor if I offered them by body to be eaten. Having a look at myself, it would be for sure a long-extended meal.”
She also felt that her life was for the people of Papua New Guinea. Once, when asked if she would like to go back to Belgium, she replied, “I’ll never go back to Belgium. To do what? Is there still something to be done? Papua New Guinea is where I belong and where I’ll die.”
When she was 83-years old, Sr. Simona went to Australia for eye surgery, because she had become almost blind. The surgery was successful, but on the landing in Fane, the plane crashed. She was one of the 4 who died, while 8 survived. The date was July 5, 1990. Sr. Simona was 84-years old.
Sr. Simona is buried in Fane, the community she helped found.
