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Divine Word MissionariesP.O. Box 6099Techny, Illinois 60082-6099

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P A I DDivine WordMissionaries

use the QR code orcall toll free 800-275-0626or visit our website at: www.svdmissions.org

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Join a special group offriends who are the heartand soul of our mission Become a DWM sustainer...join the Matthew 25 ClubGiving a monthly gift is easy and a great way to provide ongoing andpredictable support to our mission programs overseas. As a DWMsustainer you will be enrolled in the Matthew 25 Club. Your specialintentions will be remembered on the 22nd of each month in a novena ofMasses. Should you choose, you will receive a monthly email/mailing witha short mission story and your special intention request form.

Joining Matthew 25 Club means your generousmonthly commitment in support of our missionprograms will automatically renew each year atwhatever gift amount you choose.Joining Matthew 25 Club means your prayers willjoin with thousands of others around the world...changing lives around the world.Joining Matthew 25 Club means your gift willenable us to plan for the future and theever-changing hunger, health and educationneeds of those we strive to serve.

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mission stories from around the world

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Fall 2017

DIVINE WORD MISSIONARIES

update

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Contact us at:800-275-0626

for information on bequests orto talk more about different

way to include Divine Word Missionaries

in your Will or estate plan.

Seek the advice of your financial or legal advisor.

Divine Word MissionariesP.O. Box 6099 • Techny, IL 60082

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Tell them your hopes...

“By no means presume that thereaders know your conditions inNew Guinea, e.g., how manyworkers you have on your stationsand plantations. On the contraryyou yourself must introduce them tothe conditions. You will succeedbetter if you take a more humanpoint of view…. Tell all this with acertain reserved or balanced

openness, as the case may warrant. You could alsomention the trouble you have taken, the hopes you have,the support which you found in the beginning, and thenthe disappointments, problems, and irregularities whichcropped up later. Here you can go into more detail andturn your whole report into a feature article.”–St. Arnold Janssen, July 1906

This was Father Arnold’s advice to missionaries on howto write a feature article. Our founder knew theimportance of telling the “mission story.” He also knewpeople will pay attention if the story is told from a humanpoint of view.

More than 100 years later, we are still following theguidelines St. Arnold recommended to tell the humanstory of our mission work. Karl Fluch’s camera capturedthe joy, the pain and the incredible human kindness ofFather Heinz Kulüke SVD, our Superior General, and hismany trips to the Philippines. Both Father Cyril AgeraSVD and Father Jerzy Faliszek SVD describe in detail theimportance of education and the life-changing effect ithas on poverty. And once again we hear from BishopJozef Roszynski SVD with more stories of life in PapuaNew Guinea, the mission where St. Arnold’s letter wasdirected, a place that may be at the far end of the earthfrom us but where a child’s heart remains the commondenominator.

Yours in the Divine Word,Bro. Daniel Holman SVDMission Director

Contact me any time, my email address is:[email protected]

Ways toGive...

Remembering Divine WordMissionaries in your Willis a powerful wayto leave a meaningful legacy

The easiest way to give is through cashgifts. But creative gifts of assets caninclude stocks, bonds, and property(real estate and personal property suchas artwork). These can not only provideyou with charitable deductions, but oftenoffer additional tax savings as well.Here are some ways you can help...Cash, checks, and credit card donationsDonation of appreciated SecuritiesDonation of retirement-plan benefitsLife insurance donationDonation of real estateDonor-Advised FundBequest


Fall 2017 GIVE TODAY @ www.svdmissions.org 1

The Heart of a ChildBishop Jozef Roszynski SVD

HeinzKarl Fluch

Educating through Evangelization

and Evangelizing through Education

Jerzy Faliszek SVD

2

Divine Word Missionaries Mission Center • P.O. Box 6099 • Techny, Illinois 60082-6099The Society of the Divine Word is an international Catholic missionary congregation with over 6,000 members from 78 countries.

Divne Word Missionaries work in over 80 different lands on all continents except Antarctica.

Website: WWW.SVDMISSIONS.ORG

DIVINE WORD MISSIONARIES MAGAZINE, Vol. L XI No. 4 Fall 2017 issued quarterly

Divine Word Missionaries • Mission Center, Techny, Illinois 60082

Subscription $20.00 a year

Editorial Team: Bro. Dan Holman SVD • Carmelita J. Linden • Jeffrey Westhoff

They came closer,pulled some coins fromtheir pockets and said,“Maski pater peim em,”which translates to“Father, do not argue.Pay him.”

Jesus invited me to be a sower of his Word inthe never-ending fields of Latin America. Aftersome years, I came to the conclusion that thebest soils for sowing and growing the seed arethe hearts and the minds of the “little ones.”

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mission stories from around the World

www.svdmissions.org

School with a Difference

Cyril Agera SVD


update

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Written byCyril Agera SVD

Father Agera isheadmaster at NabajyotiHigh School in Kerjenga.

Odisha, one of the states served by Divine WordMissionaries India East Province, has a highconcentration of people that the Indiangovernment categorizes as Scheduled Castes andScheduled Tribes. These terms refer to groups ofhistorically disadvantaged indigenous people whoare among India’s most impoverished.

Fulfilling a preferential missionary option for theseunderprivileged groups, Divine Word Missionariesestablished Nabajyoti High School in Kerjenga,located in the town of Pallahara. Opened on July1, 2000, the school was designed at the outset toprovide quality education and all arounddevelopment for students from this area’sScheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

Located in the beautiful foothills of the MalayagiriMountains, Nabajyoti High School is situated inthe midst of tribal populations. The vast majorityof our students come from the Scheduled Tribesrather than the Scheduled Classes. Many tribeslive in Pallahara, including Bhuyan, Soharo,Juang and Munda. Predominant among them isthe Ho tribe, and it is within the Ho that ourpastoral ministry is concentrated. Lessons in theschool are conducted in Oria, the official languageof Odisha state.

The school opened in a makeshift location inKerjenga with 103 students in two classes (theequivalent of grade levels in America) of VI andVIII. A year later the school moved to its presentlocation. During its 17 years of existence,Nabajyoti High School has grown in stature andbuilt its credibility. It is recognized by localadministration and education officials as an idealschool for the area.

School with a Difference

An Option for the PoorNabajyoti High School, Kerjenga, Pallahara, Odisha, India



Today the school has 422 students—282 boys and140 girls—in five classes, VI through X. Provingthat the school is taking care of the impoverishedgroups, only one student of the 422 does not comefrom the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes orother disadvantaged sections of the community.

Being a tribal and low-caste stronghold,Pallahara’s environment is not conducive foreducation. The area’s literacy rate is far below thestate average, both for men and women. Povertyand underdevelopment of the area are the maincauses of illiteracy, along with social evils such asdrinking.

To create a productive study atmosphere for thechildren from this background, the schoolprovides dorm facilities for students—for boys andfor girls separately. Today there are 261 boys and118 girls in the dorms. These students hail fromnine districts of Odisha and even a few from theneighboring state of Jharkhand.

From its very inception, Nabajyoti High School hasmade its presence felt in academics. Even thoughit gets students who are at a high risk of academicunderachievement, the school has producedexcellent results thanks to the commitment anddetermination of the staff and management. The100 percent results on the High School Certificateexamination for the past five years illustrate thispoint, demonstrating the school’s academicexcellence and quality of instruction.

The school also has made its presence felt inextracurricular activities and sports. Studentsregularly participate and are rewarded at culturalcompetitions throughout the region. A few


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students, both boys and girls, have represented the stateat the national level in athletics, field hockey andkabaddi, a popular sport in South Asia that combineswrestling and rugby. Nabajyoti High School is thedistrict’s main school for archery, field hockey, kabaddiand kho kho, which is a competitive form of tag.

Students have proved themselves in otherextracurricular activities as well. During the 2014-15academic year, Joseph Jank prepared a science projectthat he presented at the state level.

Nabajyoti High School has taken keen interest in theenvironment. Planting trees is a regular activity that hastransformed the barren land into a lush green field.Students attend awareness programs on environmentalissues such as waste recycling and the ill effects of theuse of plastic. The school also conducts healthawareness programs, with special emphasis on personalhealth and hygiene. Sensing the necessity for computerliteracy, the school has introduced computer educationwith a well-equipped lab.

The learning curriculum of Nabajyoti High School isenhanced by the ability to have both the boys’ and girls’dorms on the property. These facilities provide thestudents a decent environment to live, guided study,opportunities to develop talents, spiritual nourishmentand faith formation. During the past five years not asingle student from the dorms has failed in the HighSchool Certificate examination, while 65 percent of themhave secured first division. Certainly, the school staff,and the students can be proud of this achievement.

Students’ progress, even after they leave school, is thejoy of the staff. We are proud of alumni who go on toexcel in their lives. While one alumna is training for herdoctorate, several other alumni are seeking theirdiplomas in engineering at Instructional TrainingInstitutes. Some have even taken up teaching as acareer. Our goal is to provide a chance at a better futurefor all who pass through our door. �


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A Wish list for our growingenvironment...Nabajyoti High School has 14 teaching and fournon-teaching staff. Because the school is not yetfinancially self-reliant, the Divine Word EducationalSociety supports their financial burden. The budget forthe teaching staff is pushed to its limit. Teachers leavethe school for higher pay and this creates a gap. We areworking to build up a payment plan that would ensure

continuity of the staff,continuity of curriculumand continue to growthe school’s credibility.

As student enrollmentincreases more dormspace is needed. Theboys’ dorm wasoriginally planned for150, but today 261 boysare being housed,causing over-crowding,and ultimately leading

to unhygienic living. While beds have been placed in theboys dorm, the female students still sleep on the floor.Beds are needed. Both the school and the dorms needadditional toilet facilities. Supplying these basicnecessities will help these students from impoverishedbackgrounds live in dignity and be proud of their school.

The school has other items on its wish list. A sciencelab for students to learn hands-on experiments, a libraryand a gymnasium. We are sure that as we grow, so toowill our wish list.


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Written by Bishop Jozef Roszynski SVDHe professed first vows in 1982 and was ordained a priest in 1989. His early pastoral work was in Poland,followed by language studies in Ireland. In 1992, Bishop Jozef began his mission assignment to Papua NewGuinea. He has served for 23 years in the Diocese of Wewak in parish ministry and in various leadershiproles in the Papua New Guinea Province of Divine Word Missionaries. Those roles included district superiorand acting provincial superior. He was ordained bishop of the Diocese of Wewak in 2015.

Papua New Guineathe heartof a child


7Fall 2017 GIVE TODAY @ www.svdmissions.org

From early on PNG kids are taught how to fish, garden, and hunt forbirds. At a very young age s mall girls mimic carrying the string bagstheir mothers use for transporting practically everything.

Unfortunately, Papua New Guinea is one of the countries in the worldwith a high mortality rate for newborn babies. Most babies are born athome in remote areas without the help of nurses or doctors. Babiesborn far from clean water, electricity and medicine have an increasedchance of infection. Sadly, for some families who are already deep inpoverty, the addition of another child is the addition of anotherburden—a burden that needs lots of care, shelter, food and, eventually,school fees.


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I was happy to know that this year the Church inPapua New Guinea decided to focus on thewell-being of children. No matter where you look inin this country there are many, many children. Fora long time, I was convinced that all the childrenhere were happy. But the closer I looked, the more Irealized I was wrong.

Very often the children are neglected. They gohungry and become malnourished. They areexploited or sometimes abused. Most of the timethey look after themselves and are forced to beindependent from their early years. On their ownthey are responsible for fishing, working in thegarden and finding food in the bush.

Once while driving I came across some boys carryingwhat they called “flying foxes” on a stick (I knewthem as bats). I asked them curiously where did theyfind these “flying foxes”? Thinking that I wantedsome “flying foxes” of my own, they told me I couldget them down by the big tree, where there wereplenty. I didn’t go.

There was not always such an abundance ofchildren in Papua New Guinea. Many customs indays of old had a side effect of family planning.Frequent tribal wars discouraged having children.Before going into battle, in order to remain strong,the men abstained from being with a woman.


9Fall 2017 GIVE TODAY @ www.svdmissions.org

In turn, during battle the women who were strongand not pregnant were able to grab their childrenand run from the war zone. In more peaceful times,planting and tending new gardens kept the manabsent from the family home for seven to eightmonths of the year. These traditions are gone,leaving Papua New Guinea with so many childrenwho must fend for themselves.

Like anywhere in the world, life in Papua NewGuinea can sometimes be maddening. One day Iwas going for a swim at the beach. On theweekend the beach gate charges a fee forentrance, but not so during the week. As I crossedthe gate that day a boy came running after meand angrily demanded a fee. I began to argue withhim that I would not pay because it was not theweekend. Near me were some children—theyknew I was a priest. They came closer, pulledsome coins from their pockets and said, “Maskipater peim em,” which translates to “Father, donot argue. Pay him.” They were ready to give theirmoney to help me out of trouble.

To this day I am still think of those children andtheir readiness to help me using their ownmoney—even though they barely had any. It showsme that the heart of a child here in Papua NewGuinea, and hopefully around the world, remainsloving and kind and open to helping mankind. �

Use the QR Code above or...Call toll free: 800-275-0626you can also visit our website at: www.svdmissions.org

Your GiftWill

ChangeLives

Your monthly gift will assist mission programs that range frombuilding chapels and churches, schools, hospitals and orphanages,to teaching farming, sewing, and digging wells, to spreading theWord through Bible studies and catechist training.

You can

HELP

Become a DWMsustainer...join the Matthew 25 ClubAs a DWM sustainer you will be enrolled in the Matthew 25Club. Your special intentions will be remembered on the 22ndof each month in a novena of Masses. Should you choose,you will receive a monthly email/mailing with a short missionstory and your special intention request form.

Joining Matthew 25 Club means your generousmonthly commitment in support of our missionprograms will automatically renew each year atwhatever gift amount you choose.

Joining Matthew 25 Club means your prayers willjoin with thousands of others around the world...changing lives around the world.

Joining Matthew 25 Club means your gift will besent to our missions overseas to be used in someof the most poverty-stricken areas of the world.

at�ew 252017 Matthew 25 Partners for Mission will focus on

the history of our first twelve missions. When establishing

those first missions we were blessed with many

successes, but we also faced many challenges. Through

all of the ups and downs, Divine Word Missionaries hold

dear these profound words from our founder, Saint

Arnold Janssen: “His Mission, Our Mission.”

For the next

twelve months follow father, leader,

and founder

Father Arnold Janssen– Saint Arnold Jan

ssen–and see his vision to proclaim Jesus

by word and example around the world.

China

Our very first mission was to China in 1879 Fathers John Baptist Anzer SVD and Joseph

January 2017


M


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On the second-to-lastday of my trip to thePhilippines, I had theopportunity once againto accompany FatherHeinz Kulüke SVD,Superior General ofDivine WordMissionaries, and view his work in thePhilippines. As inprevious visits, thecamera is my main toolto give people aninsight into hisincredible role.

Written and photographed by Karl FluchFor a number of years Primus Invest has beeninvolved in supporting Fr. Heinz Kulüke’s projects.Mr. Karl Fluch regularly visits the Philippines and itis here that he got to know Fr. Heinz. The regularvisits enable him to witness first-hand the necessityfor, and impact of, support of this program.

Photographer Karl FluchI visit Fr. Heinz Kulüke’s world every year and itenriches me every time: One day the world will bea better place, thanks to the endless effort of Divine Word Missionaries and their supporters.


Fall 2017 GIVE TODAY @ www.svdmissions.org We'd love to hear from you: 800-275-0626 11


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13Fall 2017 GIVE TODAY @ www.svdmissions.org We'd love to hear from you: 800-275-0626

In 2012, Fr. Heinz was elected Superior General for asix-year term. In the first four years he constantlytraveled from one human crisis area to another, sleptin 420 beds and visited 70 countries. He starts work at1 a.m. and sleeps two to three hours. Days off do notexist. He knows that this grueling schedule cannot goon forever.

His workload here in the Philippines was alreadyimmense. Then there is the emotional stress ofmissionary life in the Philippines, which amounts to apermanent residence in a war zone. There are weeksin which dozens of children are buried because theydie of diseases that would have been cured easily inother parts of the world. Some children are run over bybulldozers or others die due to violence.

One of the root causes of poverty is the problem ofcorruption. Due to corruption, advances that arelaboriously achieved are time and time again undone.

I met with Fr. Heinz at the Universityof San Carlo, a Divine WordMissionaries school that has thehighest of reputation in Cebu. Myplan was to take a picture of him inhis simple, modest office before wewent out to visit people at the rubbishdumps. However, now he no longerhas an office in Cebu. His office is inRome, where he stays, at most, onemonth a year. Technology (laptop,internet and the Cloud) allows Fr.Heinz to work from anywhere in theworld, at any moment in time. And atthis moment it was the university’spharmaceutical warehouse. So wetook a few portrait images in the lightof a neon tube and headed for theInayawan landfill, the largest ofCebu’s dumps, taking up 37 acres.


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As we were on the way, still in the city center, thenumber of homeless people lying in the dusty,heat-hazed streets became visibly larger. Thepopulation explosion is already having a dramaticimpact. The slums are bursting at the seams, andthose who cannot afford even a bed-surface in theslums instead lie on the road and struggle tosurvive. Divine Word Missionaries’ efforts to givepeople a bit of dignity, sustenance, education andshelter appear overwhelming in light of thetremendously fast-growing number of people inneed of help.

Although the overall picture is depressing, theaccomplishments provide a tremendous amountof joy. Thanks to the willingness of dedicatedindividuals, businesses and organizations whodonate to this missionary work, and to the tirelesswork of Divine Word Missionaries, the lives ofthousands of families are made more livable.

Even though I have seen it before, the contrast oflife in the slums and at the rubbish dump to lifein resettlement areas is unbelievable. In Cebu thisis mostly due to Fr. Heinz and the many otherDivine Word Missionaries who have created somany local projects that have saved the lives ofthousands of families that one month would notbe enough time to visit all the projects. Evenwhen the problems seem endless, it is alwaysheartening to drive to the successful resettlementareas to find healthy children living on cleanstreets and to know that these children are goingto have a future thanks to education.

No matter where Fr. Heinz goes he is met withgratitude. He talks to everyone, knows everyone’sstory, including that of a woman who brought 13children into the world and each one died due tothe hardships of living in the dump. She was notthe only one we met that day with this horriblefate. There are times I’m glad that photographyprovides a distance. For example, when we visitedan elderly lady waiting blindly in her hut fordeath. I watched, through the eyes of my camera,as she listened to Fr. Heinz’s comforting words.Outside the hut, grateful to be surrounded by thesound of laughing children, I step in black mudand trash and immediately, again, am stricken bythe harshness of this life.

I visit Fr. Heinz Kulüke’s world every year and itenriches me every time. One day the world will be abetter place thanks to the endless effort of DivineWord Missionaries and their supporters. This visitreaffirmed how valuable each and every dollar isfor Divine Word Missionaries and how efficientlyand well thought-out they work. I wish everyonecould visit this place as I did, and I can say fromexperience that you will view life in a different lightafterwards. Priorities shift—forever.�


Fall 2017


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The schools are a privileged place for ourmissionary efforts, which we describe with themotto: "Educating through Evangelization andEvangelizing through Education".

I am neither a teacher nor a catechist in any ofour schools. Nonetheless, in my assigned role asMission Animator for the whole province, I amable to meet and work with more than 10,000children and young people each year. The“Mission Weeks” which we organize are anintegral part of the pastoral program in ourDivine Word Missionary schools each school year.For practical reasons, the Mission Weeks extendwell beyond the month of October, which is themonth traditionally dedicated to the missions.

By way of example, I would like to share withyou the experience of my most recent visit to theColégio San José of Esperanza, the place wherethe very first Divine Word Missionary begantheir work in the New World.

The city of Esperanza, located in the seeminglyendless plains and prairies some 300 milesnorth of Buenos Aires. It had its beginnings as

The Divine Word Missionaries of the Southern Province ofArgentina have two main fields of pastoral activity:parishes and Colegios, schools that include grades 1-12.As for the schools, we operate six major institutions inArgentina, all of which have very long and prestigioustraditions of providing a solid Catholic education.

Written by Jerzy Faliszek SVD

Father Jerzy Faliszek SVD was born inBiecz, Poland in 1966. His family hasa missionary tradition, his uncle andcousin are Divine Word Missionarypriests in Papua New Guinea andKenya, and one of his sisters is a HolySpirit Missionary Sisters nurse inPapua New Guinea.

Fr. Jerzy was ordained a priest in1993. He was sent to Argentina in1996 and spent six years as a parishpriest, five years as a vocationalanimator, two years dedicated to themissiology studies in Bolivia and since2011, as mission secretary.



an agricultural colony and today, with its 40,000inhabitants, it has become an important industrial anduniversity city.

In Esperanza, it’s easy to discover the footprints left by manygenerations of Divine Word Missionary priests and Brothers.There are a number of streets that bear the names of DivineWord Missionaries, beginning with our Founder, St. ArnoldJanssen.

Esperanza can also boast faculties of agronomy andveterinary medicine founded years ago by Divine WordMissionaries. Immediately next door to the school you willfind the Museum of Natural Sciences, which featuresinteresting objects from all around the world.

But there is a lot more to Esperanza than the traces of thepast. The people of the town are very much aware that theirlives are deeply intertwined with those of the “ArnoldusFamily,” the Society of the Divine Word, the MissionarySisters, Servants of the Holy Spirit and the Sister-Servantsof the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adorati, the three religiousmissionary congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen.

I have been very much impressed by the spirit of the catechistsand teachers of our Colégio San José, who contribute so much


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to the school’s many missionary initiatives. Their enthusiasmis contagious and affects all of the students. The most recent Mission Week at Colégio San José featuredtwo audiovisual presentations put together by the studentsfeaturing the countries of Kenya and Brazil. Why those twocountries? Because they represent the places where Fr. Hugo and Brother George, two young Argentinian DivineWord Missionaries, have been assigned in recent years.

Some students were surprised to learn that not only didArgentina receive missionaries from other lands in the past,but that it is also sending Argentinians out of the countryas missionaries today.

The important thing to learn was that these young men whobeen sent beyond the borders of Argentina as missionariesrepresent the whole Argentine Church. The students ofColégio San José learned that there are two important waysin which they can actually participate in the missionaryactivity of men like Fr. Hugo and Bro. George: by prayingfor them and by helping collect material support.

The crowning jewel of each day of the “Mission Week” atColégio San José was of course the Eucharist celebrated inthe school’s courtyard, decorated for the occasion withstreamers of fabrics dyed the traditional colors of the fivecontinents. Family members joined the student body forthese Masses, raising the number of those present toalmost 2,000. The students enlivened these liturgies withsongs with a missionary theme, and even included severalsongs in other languages.

A week of mission animation, spread out as it was amongmore than a thousand students, proved to be too short. Theschool’s teachers and staff decided to continue deepeningthe theme of ‘Mission’ for several additional weeks. Duringall this time, the students were adding their coins to themission banks which were placed in each of the school’sclassrooms.

Teachers told many fine anecdotes about the generosity oftheir students, some of whom said that they were giving upsnacks. Others said that each day they were bringing some



small part of their savings to share with the children ofAfrica and the Amazon.

One of the mothers commented that her daughter askedher for 100 pesos so that she could give them away tochildren she had gotten to know through a film.

One girl convinced her mother to help by crying: "Youknow, Mama, those children’s stomachs hurt thembecause they have so very little to eat. We have got to findsome way to help them!"

It’s a truism that each of us lives out in our life what wehave learned in childhood. Childhood is also when wedevelop our attitudes of openness and generosity.

Some students of Colégio San José feel the need to widentheir missionary activities. To do this, they get together ingroups under the heading of “Missionary Childhood”(Infancia Misionera). The groups get together everySaturday in different parts of the city of Esperanza.

The program of formation and mission educationadopted by such Missionary Childhood groups isfar-reaching. At present, the children are learningsomething about being missionary by participating inecological events and in sports. During the past yearthey organized numerous bicycle trips–somethingnormal in a city where most of the inhabitants are usedto getting around by bike.

Esperanza is known throughout the region for the many“two-wheeled vehicles” in its streets. One of the longestbicycle routes (25 miles, there and back) leads to a historicchapel in a village dedicated to St. Wendel. It’s a small littleplace, but is very important for its role in the history of theDivine Word Missionaries in Argentina.

It turns out that the first two German Divine WordMissionaries to reach Argentina did not stay in one of thecities to learn Spanish. They had their first Spanishlessons in the little one-room country school in the villageof St. Wendel.


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There is one other thing that makes the local people proud: itwas in their midst, years ago, that Enrique Muhn was aDivine Word Missionary who one day would became the firstbishop of Jujuy.

At Colégio San José, there is a great deal of passion andinterest in the history of both the town and the school.Teachers and students together have just recently editeda book that contains many missionary anecdotes collectedduring recent years.

The students of Colégio San José also like to act. Some ofthem are discovering a vocation as a radio reporter thanksto a radio program that they prepare together and air eachweek at the school. The creativity and spontaneity of thesechildren is doing much to awaken interest that missionaryradio program.

Occasionally the students at Colégio San José have achance to take part in a real “missionary experience.” Forsome time now, “little missionaries” have been sent forthto the city’s central plaza. There, they cheerfully greetpassers-by and hand out small homemade cards whichcontain phrases from the Gospels and short messagesthought up by the children themselves. God sometimesmakes use of small things and of small people.

A person came came to the college and told the moving storyof her conversion. It turns out that the grace of God touchedher one day when a girl who was taking part in the school’surban mission smiled broadly at her and gave her ahand-drawn card bearing the sentence Jesus loves you!

I thank the Lord for having called me to serve my neighboras a Divine Word Missionary. I was born in Poland andlived my entire childhood and youth together with myfamily on our farm. I loved to go with my father when hewent out to sow grain in the fields. Eventually, he taughtme how to perform this task by myself.

But Jesus invited me to be a sower of his Word in thenever-ending fields of Latin America. After some years,I came to the conclusion that the best soils for sowingand growing the seed are the hearts and the minds ofthe “little ones.”

Let us work tirelessly so that all the children of the worldcan live in peace and love, study, play and dream of abrave new world. �

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Joyfully take partin the mission tothe nations. A monetary gift onyour part is a sign ofself-offering, first tothe Lord and then toothers; in this wayyour gift can become a means for the evangelization of humanity built on love.

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