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Twenty-six year old Liezel Casio spent her childhood living near a dumpsite, with her family scavenging to make a living. Today, thanks to an SVD mission project, she lives in newly built housing, is studying at university and says she is blessed.

The poverty of her childhood is still very much present, but Liezel can finally see some hope for a better life because of her education.

The Mission Office of the SVD Australian Province is supporting a magnificent program in The Philippines which helps to move families off rubbish dumps and into housing and sustainable development. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, the AUS Mission Office has been able to provide the financial resources to build 40 houses for homeless Filipino families in Cebu. The AUS Province Mission Secretary, Fr Henry Adler SVD recently visited the project, and explains the hope he found there.

The Mission Office of the SVD Australian Province recently responded to a request from the SVD missionaries of Central India Province to send some much-needed financial assistance to support the Mahatma Gandhi High School in Khurda - a school which helps educate the poorest of the poor from India’s Tribal peoples. This school, run by SVD missionaries, not only educates those who would otherwise remain uneducated, but also promotes their human dignity as people made in God’s image.

A key focus of the Mission Office is to support the mission projects of the SVD around the world. To this end, the Mission Secretary for the Province and a small but dedicated staff, work hard to raise and distribute funds for mission activities in overseas countries. An important part of raising funds is in sharing the stories of how people’s lives are being transformed by these projects and by the love of God as present in and through the SVD missionaries.

Being a missionary, immersed in a new culture, learning a new language, and being far from home, religious community or family, can sometimes have its challenging and lonely times. The AUS Mission Secretary and the Mission Office keep in touch with missionaries working abroad, to help support them and care for them, especially those who completed their formation in Australia.

Through the Mission Office, the SVD Australian Province fosters mission awareness in a variety of ways. These include the annual celebration of Mission Day at Dorish Maru College in Melbourne. The day consists of a public lecture, followed by a Eucharistic celebration and then a multicultural meal with members of the local church community and guests.

The Overseas/Cross-cultural  Training Program has developed in the SVD over the past several decades and has, by and large, provided participants with an enriching intercultural experience. The program has become an important element of missionary formation. 

I am working in a parish called Good Shepherd in a small mining town called Phalaborwa in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The parish is an African potpourri with locals and mine workers from all over the African continent trying to earn a living with the three mines situated beside the town. The surrounding villages consist of the Sepedi and Shangan speaking people, two of the 14 officially recognised languages of the country. Mozambique is about 80km to the east, and the Zimbabwe and Botswana borders about 150km to the north, thus this place is also a stopover for  travellers.

About 250 people gathered recently in Nong Bua Lamphu, Thailand, for a joyous celebration with Br Damien Lunders SVD as he marked his Golden Jubilee of taking vows as a Divine Word Missionary.

SVD Australian Provincial, Fr Tim Norton, and Fr Jim Knight were also among those who celebrated the milestone with Br Damien.

Bishop Joseph of the Udon Thani Diocese presided at Mass and also blessed the new SVD house.