Dumaguete City,
The Philippines
June 2010

Dear Everyone,

Months have gone by without our being able to send you news. We cannot resist sharing our life here and the wonderful experience we have with this new people and new culture! 

Ministry with God’s Disabled and Homeless People
Life becomes more intense and filled with surprises.There is so much to tell you about the Dumaguete mission. For now we will talk about about our ministry among the street children and the disabled who are also homeless.

We continue to improve and grow in our service toward the poorest and abandoned. We are serving lunch, offering shower facilities and a change of clothes to the poor; their wounds are also dressed with care by Sister Maria Atorino. We are offering guests the opportunity to do their laundry. A volunteer helps and teaches (especially younger boys and girls) to wash their dirty clothes. It is not an easy task, but we are prompted by two reasons: first, these children need to learn how to take care of themselves. Second, after the first two weeks, we ran out of shorts and tee shirts for children from six to fifteen years of age . Now, after almost a month of doing laundry, we can say that we are pleased with the results.  

School re-opened at the beginning of June. We would love to be able to send at least some of these poor children to school. We know for sure that the cycle of poverty that has been going on for generations can be broken. For this reason, with the help of some students who volunteer, we are preparing these children to go to school. Many dropped out for lack of financial means. We  also know that nobody can get good grades on an empty stomach.  

Our adult homeless, including the disabled, the blind and the families, arrive at about 9:30 in the morning to obtain a bowl of rice and to avail themselves of the other services we offer. Some are able to do their laundry. Of course, it is twice as much work for us; we need to be watchful so that the clothes that have been washed do not disappear... 

Moving Forward with Faith and Hope
Providence is not lacking. The hearts of people are open to give help in so many ways: the woman who arrived with bars of soap for the laundry, or another who arrived with shopping bags filled with produce and meat for lunch. Other help comes – this is really moving and encourages us to move forward with faith and hope.  

We are grateful to God for everything; for joys and sufferings, progress and the challenges that we encounter in our ministry. We thank the many friends that are present in thousands of ways and support us with prayer, offering their physical and mental suffering (which are precious fuel for the life of our newborn mission). I always remember what our dear Chiara Lubich said: “God’s work is built only on suffering, which is transformed into Love.” Thank you, therefore, to all those, young and not so young, who ensure that we have this precious fuel for our mission. 

Thanks to all of you. May the Lord and “Mother Mary,” as they say here, adequately reward every one of your small or great signs of love and generosity. 

Here is a bug hug from us! With love and gratitude, we continue to keep you in our prayers. 

Yours,  
Srs. Armi, Maria and Cristina

 Previous