REACHING OUT
acnmalta.org/reachingout
INDIA
Always on the GO for GOD
Sister Shobk a visit ing the faithfu l in rem ote jun gle reg ions
Sister Shobka Rani Talari on the new motorcycle sponsored by ACN
Sister Shobka Rani Talari is not daunted by the poor roads that she often has to take into the jungle as she carries out her work for the mission in Chhaygaon, which is located in the Archdiocese of Guwahati in the impoverished north-eastern part of India. She is always on the go, day after day, visiting people living in remote villages. Her help is urgently needed. In these villages, many of which are located deep in the jungle, there is no medical care, no electricity, and virtually no one can read and write. Poverty abounds, sanitary and hygienic conditions are poor, and families have a lot of problems to deal with. Sister Shobka visits families and checks to see if any of the sick require treatment – such as 10-year-old Benedict Rabha, who fell out of a tree and had to be taken to hospital. Her fellow Religious Sisters of the Congregation of the Daughters of Divine Providence run a small boarding school
Aid to the Church in Need www.acnmalta.org
to enable even those children living in remote villages go to school. She herself runs a village school with 100 pupils. The Sister also works with 80 women to guide them in helping other women – by providing care during pregnancy and birth, supporting them in raising their children, and educating them about the dangers of alcohol abuse and tobacco use. This assistance has become all the more necessary in the times of the pandemic. However, pastoral care is most important of all. The Religious work closely with the Priest. In this region, the Church is still young and its members, who belong to various indigenous ethnic groups, have converted to Christianity from traditional tribal religions. They are full of religious fervour and enthusiastically take part in Church life, but need someone to stand by them and encourage them along the way. In these remote villages, it is not possible to celebrate the Eucharist every Sunday and so the faithful meet to pray the Rosary or for other prayers and
devotions. Without transport, the work of such a “touring Sister” is quite arduous. Also precious time is taken up to arrive to these communities – time that could be dedicated to the pressing needs of these new Christians. Thanks to the support of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the Order was finally able to purchase a moped. “Since Sister Shobka got the moped, she has been able to double the number of visits she makes to the villages,” her Mother Superior is pleased to report. She adds: “We are extremely grateful for your generous help. You and all of the benefactors can be assured of our prayers. Please pray for us that we may always eagerly proclaim the kingdom of God through our words and deeds.” With your kind support, ACN can continue to provide transport for Priests and Sisters who struggle to reach remote parts of the world in order to bring the Word of God to the faithful.
Aid to the Church in Need (Malta), 39b, Mdina Road, Attard, ATD 9038 Aid to the Church in Need is a Pontifical Foundation of the Catholic Church and registered in Malta Reg. No. LPF-212, as a Foundation regulated by the second schedule of the Civil Code Chapter (16) of the Laws of Malta.
Reaching Out to the UNREACHED Fr Grzegorz Draus visiting Covid-19 patients in a hospital in Lviv
Bringing GOD’s love to Covid-19 patients Ever since the outbreak of the pandemic, Polish Missionary in the Ukraine, Fr Grzegorz Draus, has been visiting Covid-19 patients in hospitals twice a week. “I visit every room in the hospital,” he explains to ACN. “I bless the patients and comfort them by the Good News: God’s love. I tell them that Jesus Christ is very close to them in their suffering, for He suffered some of the same symptoms as those fighting the disease: He too struggled to breathe”. Fr Grzegorz has been exercising his ministry in the Ukrainian city of Lviv, for the past nine years and now, more than ever, when the Lviv region counts thousands of cases of Covid-19 infections with countless fatalities, his mission is all the more important.
In order to spiritually strengthen them, Fr Grzegorz hears confessions and gives Holy Communion. “Every day I experience a little miracle, for the number of people receiving Holy Communion is always equal to the number of hosts I brought with me,” he says. In nearly 25 years he has spent since his ordination, loving the poor and the needy, this priest has never “for a single day” regretted his Ordination. The only thing he desires is to follow the example of Saint Teresa of Calcutta, “who slept for only four or five hours a day, because she was full of zeal for her work and loved what she did. I too want to love what I do in the same way, right to the end,” he says. To support the work of Ukrainian Priests and Religious during the
If you wish to receive this leaflet by post please send us your contact details via SMS on 7999 9969
UKRAINE
pandemic, ACN is providing the necessary protective equipment - including face masks, gloves, antiseptic to 3,478 priests, 92 seminarians and about one thousand members of religious communities, for their own protection and to prevent the spread of the Covid-19. With your donation, ACN can continue to support these Missionaries to make Christ’s love a reality for those who are suffering the devastation caused by the pandemic in some of the poorest parts of the world.
Through Mountain Trails and Rocky Slopes
PERU
They travel to places where a Priest can rarely visit. In the poorest, remotest and most inaccessible regions, the Missionary Sisters of Jesus Word and Victim (Misioneras de Jesus Verbo y Victima) minister to the people in their poverty and abandonment and bring them hope. The congregation was founded in 1961 in Peru and is active today in no fewer than seven countries of Latin America. In the Archdiocese of Sucre in Bolivia, there are six of these Sisters living and working in three parishes of the mountainous Andes. Immediately recognisable by their blue habits, they come from various countries – one from Argentina and the other five from Peru. The mountain trails are long and difficult. There are poisonous snakes and the Sisters have to negotiate steep and rocky slopes, and sometimes even wade through streams that have turned into rushing torrents as a result of the heavy rainfall. And even before this, the Sisters have first had to learn the local Quechua language, which is widely spoken by the indigenous population. “That was hard!” recalls Sister Maria Augusta, who has now been working as a Missionary for 37 years. She tells us about her work: “We sometimes travel for 12 to 14 hours on mules or on two wheels, to visit our people, who are hungry for God. By the time we arrive we are exhausted, but recollected in spirit. The people are waiting for their ‘shepherdesses’.” The Sisters pray with the people, tend to the sick, comfort the dying in their last moments, bring Holy Communion to the people, baptise the children, conduct funerals and liturgies of the Word, and give catechetical instruction. They draw strength for their tireless service in these immensely difficult conditions from their contemplative life prayer. At the same time, they also bring the people real practical help in their needs of everyday life. Since there are no doctors available, the Sisters provide whatever medical care and advice they are able to. However, the Sisters themselves receive nothing for their livelihood and are completely dependent on outside help. Would you like to help these Religious Sisters serving the poor? We are sure they will remember you in their grateful prayers.
One of the Sisters teaching the village children the Faith
The Sisters also take care of the elderly and the sick
The Sisters undertake long journeys to the Andes mountain ranges to reach out to the faithful
2148 7818
@acn_malta
@acn_malta
Aid to the Church in Need Malta
You may wish to offer a donation by visiting www.acnmalta.org/donate or through APS Bank IBAN: MT72 APSB 7705 7008 5772 2000 1771 733
acnmalta.org/reachingout
Through Mountain Trails and Rocky Slopes
PERU
They travel to places where a Priest can rarely visit. In the poorest, remotest and most inaccessible regions, the Missionary Sisters of Jesus Word and Victim (Misioneras de Jesus Verbo y Victima) minister to the people in their poverty and abandonment and bring them hope. The congregation was founded in 1961 in Peru and is active today in no fewer than seven countries of Latin America. In the Archdiocese of Sucre in Bolivia, there are six of these Sisters living and working in three parishes of the mountainous Andes. Immediately recognisable by their blue habits, they come from various countries – one from Argentina and the other five from Peru. The mountain trails are long and difficult. There are poisonous snakes and the Sisters have to negotiate steep and rocky slopes, and sometimes even wade through streams that have turned into rushing torrents as a result of the heavy rainfall. And even before this, the Sisters have first had to learn the local Quechua language, which is widely spoken by the indigenous population. “That was hard!” recalls Sister Maria Augusta, who has now been working as a Missionary for 37 years. She tells us about her work: “We sometimes travel for 12 to 14 hours on mules or on two wheels, to visit our people, who are hungry for God. By the time we arrive we are exhausted, but recollected in spirit. The people are waiting for their ‘shepherdesses’.” The Sisters pray with the people, tend to the sick, comfort the dying in their last moments, bring Holy Communion to the people, baptise the children, conduct funerals and liturgies of the Word, and give catechetical instruction. They draw strength for their tireless service in these immensely difficult conditions from their contemplative life prayer. At the same time, they also bring the people real practical help in their needs of everyday life. Since there are no doctors available, the Sisters provide whatever medical care and advice they are able to. However, the Sisters themselves receive nothing for their livelihood and are completely dependent on outside help. Would you like to help these Religious Sisters serving the poor? We are sure they will remember you in their grateful prayers.
One of the Sisters teaching the village children the Faith
The Sisters also take care of the elderly and the sick
The Sisters undertake long journeys to the Andes mountain ranges to reach out to the faithful
2148 7818
@acn_malta
@acn_malta
Aid to the Church in Need Malta
You may wish to offer a donation by visiting www.acnmalta.org/donate or through APS Bank IBAN: MT72 APSB 7705 7008 5772 2000 1771 733
acnmalta.org/reachingout
REACHING OUT
acnmalta.org/reachingout
INDIA
Always on the GO for GOD
Sister Shobk a visit ing the faithfu l in rem ote jun gle reg ions
Sister Shobka Rani Talari on the new motorcycle sponsored by ACN
Sister Shobka Rani Talari is not daunted by the poor roads that she often has to take into the jungle as she carries out her work for the mission in Chhaygaon, which is located in the Archdiocese of Guwahati in the impoverished north-eastern part of India. She is always on the go, day after day, visiting people living in remote villages. Her help is urgently needed. In these villages, many of which are located deep in the jungle, there is no medical care, no electricity, and virtually no one can read and write. Poverty abounds, sanitary and hygienic conditions are poor, and families have a lot of problems to deal with. Sister Shobka visits families and checks to see if any of the sick require treatment – such as 10-year-old Benedict Rabha, who fell out of a tree and had to be taken to hospital. Her fellow Religious Sisters of the Congregation of the Daughters of Divine Providence run a small boarding school
Aid to the Church in Need www.acnmalta.org
to enable even those children living in remote villages go to school. She herself runs a village school with 100 pupils. The Sister also works with 80 women to guide them in helping other women – by providing care during pregnancy and birth, supporting them in raising their children, and educating them about the dangers of alcohol abuse and tobacco use. This assistance has become all the more necessary in the times of the pandemic. However, pastoral care is most important of all. The Religious work closely with the Priest. In this region, the Church is still young and its members, who belong to various indigenous ethnic groups, have converted to Christianity from traditional tribal religions. They are full of religious fervour and enthusiastically take part in Church life, but need someone to stand by them and encourage them along the way. In these remote villages, it is not possible to celebrate the Eucharist every Sunday and so the faithful meet to pray the Rosary or for other prayers and
devotions. Without transport, the work of such a “touring Sister” is quite arduous. Also precious time is taken up to arrive to these communities – time that could be dedicated to the pressing needs of these new Christians. Thanks to the support of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the Order was finally able to purchase a moped. “Since Sister Shobka got the moped, she has been able to double the number of visits she makes to the villages,” her Mother Superior is pleased to report. She adds: “We are extremely grateful for your generous help. You and all of the benefactors can be assured of our prayers. Please pray for us that we may always eagerly proclaim the kingdom of God through our words and deeds.” With your kind support, ACN can continue to provide transport for Priests and Sisters who struggle to reach remote parts of the world in order to bring the Word of God to the faithful.
Aid to the Church in Need (Malta), 39b, Mdina Road, Attard, ATD 9038 Aid to the Church in Need is a Pontifical Foundation of the Catholic Church and registered in Malta Reg. No. LPF-212, as a Foundation regulated by the second schedule of the Civil Code Chapter (16) of the Laws of Malta.
Reaching Out to the UNREACHED Fr Grzegorz Draus visiting Covid-19 patients in a hospital in Lviv
Bringing GOD’s love to Covid-19 patients Ever since the outbreak of the pandemic, Polish Missionary in the Ukraine, Fr Grzegorz Draus, has been visiting Covid-19 patients in hospitals twice a week. “I visit every room in the hospital,” he explains to ACN. “I bless the patients and comfort them by the Good News: God’s love. I tell them that Jesus Christ is very close to them in their suffering, for He suffered some of the same symptoms as those fighting the disease: He too struggled to breathe”. Fr Grzegorz has been exercising his ministry in the Ukrainian city of Lviv, for the past nine years and now, more than ever, when the Lviv region counts thousands of cases of Covid-19 infections with countless fatalities, his mission is all the more important.
In order to spiritually strengthen them, Fr Grzegorz hears confessions and gives Holy Communion. “Every day I experience a little miracle, for the number of people receiving Holy Communion is always equal to the number of hosts I brought with me,” he says. In nearly 25 years he has spent since his ordination, loving the poor and the needy, this priest has never “for a single day” regretted his Ordination. The only thing he desires is to follow the example of Saint Teresa of Calcutta, “who slept for only four or five hours a day, because she was full of zeal for her work and loved what she did. I too want to love what I do in the same way, right to the end,” he says. To support the work of Ukrainian Priests and Religious during the
If you wish to receive this leaflet by post please send us your contact details via SMS on 7999 9969
UKRAINE
pandemic, ACN is providing the necessary protective equipment - including face masks, gloves, antiseptic to 3,478 priests, 92 seminarians and about one thousand members of religious communities, for their own protection and to prevent the spread of the Covid-19. With your donation, ACN can continue to support these Missionaries to make Christ’s love a reality for those who are suffering the devastation caused by the pandemic in some of the poorest parts of the world.