Saturday, 24 September 2016 11:10

Philippines

 

About the mission
Prison ministry
"Adoption at Distance"
We live on donations

 

About the mission

The service in the Philippines – in Tagaytay in the south of Manila – was taken up in 2002. At first, three sisters went there, each of them was of a different nationality – one Italian, one Brazilian and one Polish sister. The field of work is situated right in the centre of the Ursuline charisma – catechesis, work with children, youth and their families, leading Bible and prayer groups. Since 2005, the sisters have been intensively involved in “Adoption at Distance”, help for children who should attend school but their families cannot enable them proper conditions for learning and worthy life because of poverty and other difficulties.

The sisters have lived in an own house since 2003. When local vocations occurred a new plot was bought and a formation house was built and consecrated in 2006. In 2012, a new community was opened in Pangil-Amadeo – 20 km from Tagaytay.

The apostolic activity of the sisters has a wide spectrum and comprises more and more people and social groups. The number of children adopted at distance is growing (already more than 200) and consequently the number of families involved in material and spiritual help is growing too. The sisters regularly visit three prisons, organize meetings, catechesis and material support for the prisoners and often for their families.

In both houses the sisters organize vocation and prayer meetings for youth. In 2012, the young Filipino sisters initiated meetings at the university where they hold conversations, give advices and share with their own experience of faith.

 

Prison ministry

It is true that not all inmates and prisoners are criminals, and even if others become “criminal”… it is because they are victims of poverty… Poverty of living under the scarcity of material necessities, lack of good education, and of good health… But above all, of spiritual poverty...

  • They have not encountered God in their lives; they don’t even know Him….
  • And sad to say many of them come from a dysfunctional family

Some are simply innocent with the crime being accused to them… Whether guilty or innocent, most of them suffer from the loss of dignity (the prisons are mostly overcrowded like You can see in our presentations on YouTube), rejection, remorse... while others try to repair, to forgive, to ask forgiveness and be forgiven.

Our mission:

To educate and create conditions that will:

  • minister the inmate’s families
  • help the inmates to function more positively within the prison environments
  • provide a link between the community and persons confined in the correctional institutions
  • support the inmates in their basic needs: spiritually, mentally, morally and materially
  • prepare the inmates in their re-entry into the society
  • assist inmates’ families
  • realize the dignity of each inmates
  • present the Gospel that will let them embrace it and receive Jesus Christ as a Savior
  • teach them the power of prayer
  • lead the inmates to experience the life-changing power of God that will free them from guilt, shame, negative emotions and addictions.

In reality it meens:

  • to visit and to be present with the inmates, and do counseling
  • to conduct Sacraments and Worship Services such as Holy Mass, Confessions, Baptism, Anointing of the Sick, Recollection, Bible Service, and Bible Sharing
  • to give liturgical instructions to facilitate their involvement as lector, commentator, choir, etc.
  • to prepare programs that is linked to the Universal and Local Church such as: Year of Faith, Year of Consecrated Persons, year of the Poor, Extra-Ordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, Year of the Family, etc.
  • to prepare activities during Annual Prison Awareness Sunday Celebration and National Correctional Consciousness Week.
  • To stimulate public and private institutions and to empower them to collaborate in the ministry
  • To link inmates with Catholic lawyers when they need legal assistance
  • To give assistance to the inmates’ families especially for the children when both parents are in the jail.
  • To provide medical and financial assistance when necessary (as well as in giving birth)

The persons most involved for forming the unit are: Bishop Luis Antonio Tagle (who then became the Archbishop of Manila and Cardinal), current Bishop of Imus Bishop Reynaldo Evangelista, Fr. Miguel R. Concepcion III, some Parish Priests in the Diocese, the Ursuline Sisters AHJ, and other lay volunteers from different parishes.

 

 

"Adoption at Distance"

Adoption at Distance is a material support for children that should attend school but their families because of poverty and other difficulties cannot enable them worthy conditions for learning and life. Until today, we have adopted about 100 children and care for them not only materially but we also receive them in our house every Saturday, offering our help in doing homework and deepening religious knowledge. The children can meet, get a nourishing meal and play together.

With the children we receive also their mothers and together they take part in activities, which help to understand the importance of formation, education and principles of Christian life in the family. Maybe this are small matters and gestures in the ocean of needs but somehow the support should get started.

What do we do?

We keep in contact with the children’s families. We visit their homes, in order to find out more about the whole family and their needs. Especially, we care for small children, to whom we want to enable attending school. We cooperate with each family at the beginning of the school year (end of May, beginning of June) and find out what does the child need: a school fee, books, school tools and the like: electricity (light) at home, learning devices etc. We ask the family to make a list of needed things signed by a representative of school. We pay for the purchase, which is documented by an invoice (we want to be sure that the money did not change its purpose). Also, in the case of illness we help to buy medicine. We cover travelling expenses for children, who have to get to school (because they have no money for public transport often they leave home at 4 o’clock in the morning to be at school on time…). At Christmas we organize a so-called Christmas party for the families of adopted children where we give foodstuffs as presents. During the whole school year we are ready to support families if necessary.

The commitment in “Adoption at Distance” should last at least one year and can be renewed for the next. If it is possible, it should last for the whole primary school time, that is six years. Afterwards the support can be finished unless the sponsor wants to continue it.

We are also thankful for every single support of our mission. These donations cover the costs of food for the children.

We keep in contact with our sponsors through occasional letters or e-mails. Above all, our gratitude is every day prayer for them.

What do we ask our sponsors for?

To pray for poor families, especially for children whom we want to accompany.

To cover the costs of living for one child by a monthly or annual payment (15 €/month)

Pay into the account:

Zgromadzenie Sióstr Urszulanek SJK
00-317 Warszawa, ul. Wiślana 2

account number: 86 1240 1109 1111 0010 1147 5072

reason for payment: donation for the Philippines

 

 

 

We live on donations

Financially missions in the Philippines maintain partly from the support of friends and mostly from the help of our Congregation through the communities in Italy. It is difficult to find work with higher incomes in the Philippines. There we are foreigners and as such we do not have any rights. The work for the poor does not bring us any financial profits, quite the opposite, this is our vocation. We are still open for what God shows us as our main duty and that is especially work for the poor. But even if we would have the possibility to find work which would give some income, it would still be too low and we would have to use support from abroad in order to continue our task. We are honestly thankful to those who support us and contribute their share to the missions, which are not only Ursuline missions but missions of the whole Church and that is a sign of Christian charity which comprises all involved in the project.

Dear Friends, we would like to encourage You to take up mission wherever You live and whatever Your situation is. Above all, through Adoption at Distance that is close to our hearts as it saves many children. Be sure of our remembrance in prayer in the communion of faith.

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