Sep 19, 2019
The first training session for the coordinators of the local Sunday school for the Mozambique mission took place at the end of June. The training sessions are being held on the island of Ibo, and the Sunday school will cover the wider area of our missionary community, including Meluco and Quissanga.
Launched in March 2018, the Mozambique mission began with MSCs from Brazil ministering in the Pemba diocese. This is an area of extreme poverty and hardship, where up until that point, local families had no access to church infrastructure or pastoral ministry.
Our MSC brothers immediately began working to bring about positive changes for local communities, and the mission has been going from strength to strength over the past year and a half – despite some extremely challenging setbacks.
Earlier this year, two cyclones hit north-eastern Mozambique over the space of six weeks. Hundreds lost their lives, and over 21,000 people were left homeless by the disasters. Homes, crops, and livestock were destroyed by floods and mudslides, while wells were contaminated, leaving the local drinking water unsafe for consumption, with the threat of cholera and malaria a real danger.
Our MSC missionaries have continued to work hand-in-hand with local families in the area, helping them to rebuild their lives in the wake of the catastrophe, and continuing in their original mission to bring God’s gifts of faith, hope, and love to those in real need.
The advent of the new Sunday school will provide a much-needed boost to the communities in the region, and we wish both staff and students the very best of luck on this exciting new adventure!
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MSC MISSIONS IN MOZAMBIQUE
Aug 29, 2019
We were very pleased to see these wonderful photographs from our MSC mission in Mozambique, when the community of Our Lady of Fatima paid a visit to the village of Mitepo at the end of July.
It was especially nice to see so many children and young people join the gathering, where they “animated the celebration” with their joyful presence.
This was a “very meaningful and blessed morning” for our missionary community, said the MSC Mozambique Facebook page. The visit ended with a special lunch – which, in Mitepo, is referred to as “a glass of water”.
The Mozambique mission began almost a year and a half ago, in March 2018, when MSC missionaries from Brazil began ministering in the Pemba diocese. This is an extremely poor part of the country, which was sadly lacking in any church infrastructure and functioning pastoral ministry. Here, our MSC brothers began the construction of a community house from which they could undertake their ministry and parish outreach, and they immediately began working to bring positive change to the district.
Just a year after the mission began, in March and April 2019, two cyclones hit north-eastern Mozambique over the space of six weeks, killing hundreds and rendering over 21,000 people homeless. Floods and mudslides destroyed homes, crops, and livestock, with no means of recovery. Many houses in the area were built of mud, bamboo, and wood, and so they didn’t stand a chance against the tremendous force of nature that struck them. “We have lost everything,” said one survivor. “Our house and most of our belongings were taken by the wind and the waves.”
MSC missionaries had already been working to rebuild struggling communities in the area before the cyclones hit, and in the wake of these disasters, they have been continuing to help devastated families to restore the shattered pieces of their lives.
We are sending every blessing to our MSC brothers and the communities they serve in Mozambique, from all in the Irish Province.
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MSC MISSIONS IN MOZAMBIQUE
Aug 22, 2019
We were delighted to welcome Sr Jenny Christie FDNSC to Cork this August, as she kindly took the time to visit the MSC Missions Office during her trip to Ireland. Sr Jenny originally hails from Australia, and now resides in Rome in her role as International Development Officer for the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (OLSH).
An invaluable branch of our Sacred Heart family tree, we have been very glad of the opportunity to work with our OLSH Sisters over the past year, with particular attention to the projects that Sr Jenny highlighted in our 2019 World Projects Appeal. The Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart do truly wonderful work on a global scale, from education projects in the Philippines, South Africa, Venezuela, Brazil, and South Sudan, to the provision of emergency aid to the survivors of domestic abuse in Kiribati. The OLSH Sisters also founded the Holy Family Care Centre in South Africa, where they currently care for 70 children who have been abandoned, abused, or are suffering the effects of serious illness such as HIV/AIDS and TB.
Sr Jenny has been professed for over 29 years, and has held a number of varied ministries in that time, including teacher, educational administrator, and Provincial Councillor. She has completed Masters degrees in Education and Theological Studies, and now works tirelessly to make a difference where it is most needed in her role as International Development Officer for the OLSH.
The support of our mission friends here in the Irish Province has been a tremendous help to the OLSH Sisters around the world. “The Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart would like to thank you most sincerely for the support of your prayers and interest, and for any donations to our mission areas,” says Sr Jenny. “Indeed, support such as yours help make our work possible, and for this we thank you and assure you of our continued prayers for you.”
It was wonderful to have Sr Jenny pay us a visit in person, and we look forward to working closely with the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart on their ongoing projects around the world.
PLEASE SUPPORT OLSH GLOBAL OUTREACH
Aug 8, 2019
In July, the MSC community in Mozambique celebrated their first retreat together, with the community of Our Lady of Fatima in Meluco.
The Mozambique mission began in March 2018, when MSC missionaries from Brazil began ministering in the Pemba diocese, an extremely poor part of the country with no church infrastructure or functioning pastoral ministry. Here, they initiated construction of a community house from which they could undertake their ministry and parish outreach, and they immediately began working to bring positive change to the district.
A year after the mission began, in March and April 2019, two cyclones hit north-eastern Mozambique over the space of six weeks, killing hundreds and rendering over 21,000 people homeless. With many houses in the area built of mud, bamboo, and wood, floods and mudslides destroyed homes, crops, and livestock, with no means of recovery. “We have lost everything,” said one survivor. “Our house and most of our belongings were taken by the wind and the waves.”
MSC missionaries had already been working to rebuild struggling communities in the area, and in the wake of these disasters, they have been helping devastated families to restore the shattered pieces of their lives.
July’s retreat was a wonderful opportunity for the MSC community and their parishioners in Meluco and beyond to join together in prayer, reflection, and unity. The MSC Mozambique Facebook page posted about the experience, saying that it was a special “moment to withdraw and pray, deepening our experience of God”.
With blessings and best wishes to our MSC brothers and the communities they serve in Mozambique – may this be the first of many powerful and positive retreats for you all.
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MSC MISSIONS IN MOZAMBIQUE
Aug 1, 2019
Two of our MSCs from the Irish Province returned to Venezuela in July, to minister to struggling families and communities who are currently trapped in the midst of the country’s extreme social, economic, political, and humanitarian crisis.
Fr Christy Coleman MSC
Fr Christy Coleman MSC ministered in Venezuela many years ago, before moving to Texas in the USA as a pastor and prison chaplain. He also acted as MSC Superior in the US Province for a time, and most recently returned home to Ireland to minister as a hospital chaplain. Throughout his travels, Fr Christy kept in close contact with the Venezuelan mission, and was a great support to our MSCs there, particularly the community at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School in Maracaibo.
As Fr Vincent Screene, the current Regional Leader of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in Venezuela, unfortunately has to return home for medical reasons, Fr Christy will be taking his place in on the Venezuelan mission. Here, he will work with members of the regional team to guide, motivate, and encourage MSCs ministering in parishes across the country as they provide life-saving aid and spiritual support in regions of extreme poverty and hardship.
Fr Tom Jordan MSC
Fr Tom Jordan MSC also spent some time in Texas following his ordination in 1966, before taking his place on the Venezuelan mission amongst the communities and parishes he has grown to love. Fr Tom’s generosity of spirit has been legendary in Venezuela; as Fr Vincent Screene said, “Wherever there is a need, Tom is there”.
Fr Tom returned to Ireland due to ill health last year, and during his time at home, he was vocal about the ongoing struggles of the Venezuelan people. Chai Brady of The Irish Catholic recently reported on Fr Tom’s response to Clare Daly TD, who spoke out about the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, downplaying its severity. Brady writes, “According to the Sunday Times Clare Daly TD said in a YouTube video that ‘even in the difficult days the poorest people get a box of basic food essentials every month’. She said although citizens have to register to receive the package there are no political strings attached, which Fr Jordan disputed.”
As reported by The Irish Catholic, Fr Tom has deemed these claims “absolutely” false. “He [Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro] gives out a little food maybe once a month and only to the ones who recognise him as the boss,” he said. “For somebody like that to come back to Ireland and say there’s no shortage in Venezuela, it’s very irritating.”
“It’s got worse, more people are getting out of it – those who can – and the electricity situation makes it worse. If your refrigerator goes in a climate like that you have no food, it’s wasted,” Fr Tom continues. “Then the escalation of prices to high heaven, and the income is virtually useless to buy food because the incomes hasn’t increased worth a damn.”
Fr Tom has now returned to Venezuela following his recovery, and we wish both him and Fr Christy all the very best as they bring their invaluable ministry to the Venezuelan mission once again.
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MSC MISSIONS IN VENEZUELA
Find out more about our missionary outreach in Venezuela
Read Fr Michael’s diary from his 2019 visit to Venezuela
Jul 18, 2019
Our Sacred Heart family at the MSC Missions Office in the Philippines recently reported on their current education project in the Hapag Community in Amparo, North Caloocan, where a helping hand has been extended to disadvantaged youths in the community whose parents cannot afford to send them to school.
This project has aimed to support students in order to allow them to continue their studies, despite difficulties with poverty and hardship in their home lives. Students have been provided with the supplies they need to attend school and complete their class projects and homework, as well as nutritious food to ensure their physical and mental health.
Not only has the programme relieved a huge amount of stress for young students and their families, but it has also addressed the growing issue of drop-outs from the local school. The drop-out rate has been a serious concern as families struggling to put meals on the table simply can’t afford to send their children to school. However, since the implementation of this educational assistance programme, there has been a zero drop-out rate in the 2018/2019 school year – all remaining students have successfully continued with their studies, many with consistently rising grades.
“[Our students] have continued their sense of paying it forward by leading our Big Brother and Big Sister Tutorial schemes, by participating in regular community clean-up duties, and by running a weekly youth prayer group,” reports the MSC Missions Office in the Philippines.
The MSC community in the Philippines now hopes to focus on building livelihood programmes in the area, to provide employment opportunities for parents and to give local families valuable tools for self-sufficiency. Thanks to the support of our mission friends and benefactors around the world, our MSCs in the Philippines can continue to shine the light of hope for communities and families in need, where the future once looked bleak.
Keep up to date with the MSC Missions Office Philippines on Facebook.
Visit the new website for the MSC Missions Office in the Philippines.
