Marist Mission CentreBy John Burton Tuesday is the day that we gather at the Marist Mission Centre, a small group of volunteers ready to carry out any small task that is required.
It may be placing a donation slip in an envelope as the Mission Director, Fr Kevin Stewart is making an appeal in one of the Marist Parishes, or it may be preparing for posting thank you letters to Mission supporters. Then again, it may be just sticking stamps on envelopes. No one cares what the work entails. It’s good to be together and assisting in the work of the Mission centre.
When none of these or other tasks need to be carried out it’s back to” cutting stamps”
Many Mission supporters send in small bags of used stamps that they have collected, whilst some commercial enterprises allow us to collect their used envelopes, from which we remove the stamps and prepare them for sale to a phillatelic service maybe two or three times a year, providing some income for the Centre projects.
For approximately 60 years, the Mission Centre has provided for, initially, our missionaries in Japan, under Fr Lionel Marsden, the Pacific, South America, whilst today the emphasis has shifted to the Asia region, particularly Thailand, Cambodia, Bangladesh, China and Vietnam. Projects may be modest in size but can be very important to the local inhabitants, such as a small toilet block (the first) in a tiny village in China.
The Mission Centre relies on the generosity of its supporters to finance many projects that lead to the spreading of our Catholic faith.
So next time you’re in a Marist parish pick up a copy of the latest Marist Newsletter which I’m sure will be readily available and read about the work of the centre Marist Mission is our Mission . For more information goto http://www.maristmissions.com | |
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News December 2008 |
