austraLasia 1652
137th Missionary expedition - EAO both giving and taking
ROME: 18th September 2006 -- There are 23 intending SDB missionaries arriving in Rome in preparation for the 137th Missionary Expedition; 12 of them are from EAO, the bulk of these from Vietnam, and in a remarkable turn of events, two young African Salesians, one from Angola, the other from Tropical East Africa, are coming as missionaries to PNG-SI. The EAO region, then, is both giving and taking in a way that firmly marks the missionary spirit of the region. Of particular note is the 'internal' missionary placement within the region.
Mongolia is due to come up to full strength now with the arrival of Fr Paul Leung from Hong Kong. He will be replaced in his province by three others, Br Rhomel Mendoza from the Philippines North province, and two from Vietnam, Bros. Joseph Tran and Joseph Do. Other young Vietnamese missionaries will go to the Sudan (2), South Africa (2), Albania, Lithuania and Chad. Fr Henry Woo from Korea will be going to Zambia.
Missionaries from our region are often invited to reflect on their experiences and to share these. As all of them pass through the Pisana in Rome and a number spend several months there in language preparation as well as waiting for visas, contacts are established and they continue to remain in touch as they move on eventually to their mission stations - where almost inevitably another long period of time is spent in language preparation. Fr Vincent Minh, from Vietnam, is one such. After some time in Rome, then in Dublin, to bring his English up to an adequate level, Fr Vincent was appointed to Ethiopia where he began studies in Amharic. He has just been appointed as the principal of the junior school in Dilla where in addition to Amharic he now has to contend with the local language there! The lengthy periods of language study, frequent re-appointment to one or other community and grasping cultural differences are major hurdles faced by these young missionaries. Their response is always deeply rooted in prayer and missionary reflection and the realisation that it is God's call to mission that they are acknowledging. God never said it would be easy! As one young missionary now in Hungary put it: "I came from Asia and now I work for European youngsters. This is not easy. For me it means more patience, more suffering and overall I need Don Bosco's heart... I hope with time that the youngsters will recognise that all of my life in Don Bosco is being lived for them".
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AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com Try out BoscoWiki to be interactive. For RSS feeds, subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/RSS/rssala.xm A separate service entirely is called F/OSSERVATORE to help us keep abreast of trends in the digital world.
137th Missionary expedition - EAO both giving and taking
ROME: 18th September 2006 -- There are 23 intending SDB missionaries arriving in Rome in preparation for the 137th Missionary Expedition; 12 of them are from EAO, the bulk of these from Vietnam, and in a remarkable turn of events, two young African Salesians, one from Angola, the other from Tropical East Africa, are coming as missionaries to PNG-SI. The EAO region, then, is both giving and taking in a way that firmly marks the missionary spirit of the region. Of particular note is the 'internal' missionary placement within the region.
Mongolia is due to come up to full strength now with the arrival of Fr Paul Leung from Hong Kong. He will be replaced in his province by three others, Br Rhomel Mendoza from the Philippines North province, and two from Vietnam, Bros. Joseph Tran and Joseph Do. Other young Vietnamese missionaries will go to the Sudan (2), South Africa (2), Albania, Lithuania and Chad. Fr Henry Woo from Korea will be going to Zambia.
Missionaries from our region are often invited to reflect on their experiences and to share these. As all of them pass through the Pisana in Rome and a number spend several months there in language preparation as well as waiting for visas, contacts are established and they continue to remain in touch as they move on eventually to their mission stations - where almost inevitably another long period of time is spent in language preparation. Fr Vincent Minh, from Vietnam, is one such. After some time in Rome, then in Dublin, to bring his English up to an adequate level, Fr Vincent was appointed to Ethiopia where he began studies in Amharic. He has just been appointed as the principal of the junior school in Dilla where in addition to Amharic he now has to contend with the local language there! The lengthy periods of language study, frequent re-appointment to one or other community and grasping cultural differences are major hurdles faced by these young missionaries. Their response is always deeply rooted in prayer and missionary reflection and the realisation that it is God's call to mission that they are acknowledging. God never said it would be easy! As one young missionary now in Hungary put it: "I came from Asia and now I work for European youngsters. This is not easy. For me it means more patience, more suffering and overall I need Don Bosco's heart... I hope with time that the youngsters will recognise that all of my life in Don Bosco is being lived for them".
___________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com Try out BoscoWiki to be interactive. For RSS feeds, subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/RSS/rssala.xm A separate service entirely is called F/OSSERVATORE to help us keep abreast of trends in the digital world.
