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Philippines

Angela in Wonderland

By Sr. Angela Battung RGS

Sr. Mary Angela Battung was born in Tuguegarao, Cagayan where he parents are form. She has two brothers and a sister, who is also an RGS Missionary. She has spent twenty years in Korea. The Korean culture and sub-cultures brought her face to face with herself.

People were kind and friendly. There were invitations to picnics, to village festivities, and to famous historical places. In Seoul there were museums, art galleries, art exhibits, and operas to enjoy. There were parks and palaces of royalty; even the local markets and the department stores were part of the tour, as I did the “tourist thing”.

Find God in the Noise

By John B. Din

It must have seemed weird to the Brazilians on first meeting me to be greeted by just a handshake or a nod of the usual hug and kiss on the cheek. I know they were surprised to see me eat rice for breakfast, lunch and supper.

John Din is a lay missionary in Brazil. He hails from Zamboanga del Sur, diocese of Pagadian, John is one of 13 brothers and sisters and graduated from the Columban College, Pagadian with a Bachelor of Arts degree major in Psychology. He reflects here on the challenge of the culture of Brazil to him as a Filipino.

Help Me Dry the Tears of Malawi

By Sr. Lilia Conol, MMS

AIDS, ‘Edzi’ – These words strike fear, guilt and shame in the hearts of these found to be HIV positive in Malawi, Africa. Their days are numbered. They experience anger, confusion, denial, shock. Of the 10 million inhabitants of Malawi, more than one million are HIV positive, Blantyre, where I work has the highest HIV rate in Malawi. Of the pre-natal mothers coming for a check up at the Central Hospital in Blantyre, 38% were fund to be HIV positives in 1994. Hospitals can no longer accommodate them, so they discharge those HIV as fast as they come in and send them back to their homes with no guarantee of further help or follow-up.

7 Blessings

By Bernadine B. Racoma

It’s a dilemma married Catholic women face today: Should we or should we not use artificial means of birth control?

We know that the Catholic Church staunchly stands against artificial contraception. Yet in this day and age when many people believe raring children seems to be more of a burden than a blessing, it becomes increasingly difficult for Catholics to follow this Church teaching.

Au Revoir Titay

By Fr. Niall O’ Brien

To the Memory of A Very Special Friend

Sometime ago our little group held a Mass for Titay Hagad. As I prepared for the Mass I suddenly realized that not only were we holding a Mass for Titay but in fact our group would never have existed if not for her. A couple of years ago just after Johnny retired from being Ombudsman Titay came to me and said, I love MISYON. I think it’s great. I‘d like to promote it. [I am not making this up!] It was an editor’s dream. Anyway so was born our little MISYON Promoter’s group here in Bacolod, Negros Occidental.

The Street Walkers Will Go Into Heaven Before Us

By Sr. Alma Quisto, OSSR

Like Yesterday

Almost three years have gone since my passage from the Philippines to Venezuela. Yet, everything that transpired during those first few months of my stay here seemed only as if it happened yesterday.

Being a new comer, I was welcomed at our Provincial house in Caracas where I remained for eight months. Living there was great indeed inspite of the many times that I got homesick and the Spanish language was difficult for me.

They Make me feel special

By Rocky Culanag

Looking back, I consider it a real blessing that I got sick during my Physical Therapy internship at the University of the Philippines. It was during my ‘blues’ period that I got to hear about the community-based rehabilitation program in Fr. Conal’s parish of Malate. I decided to give it a shot and try to help. It turned out that these children were the ones who really helped me.

This is the story of these chldren who despite having problems in their mental growth have helped me grow as a person.

Clash of Culture

Vincent Ratnam, an Indian from Fiji tells about his journey to being a missionary priest. Part of his time involved a stay in the Philippines. The interview was conducted by Fr. Francisco Hoare.

An Interview with Vincent Ratman

Francisco: Where and when were you born?

Vincent: I was born on 31st March, 1966 in Lautoka Fiji islands. I have five brothers and two sisters. As the youngest in the family my parents, especially my dad, had emphasized hard work and being well off because we had experienced poverty. Dad work for an Australian company as a stone crusher operator and Mum used to supplement the family income by doing house work for neighbors.

He Will Never Grow Old

By Totet Banaynal, SJ

It was October 17, 1996. The Jesuits in their theological formation had just arrived form a three-day rest in a beach in Tali, Batangas. Refreshed, everyone was in high spirits as they took their lunch in the refectory of the Loyola House of Studies in the Ateneo de Manila University.

Suddenly the house went black. News came that Richie Fernando, a young Filipino Jesuit missionary in Cambodia was dead. At 9:30 that morning, Richie tried to stop a troubled student in the Technical School for the Handicapped from throwing a hand grenade at a class of other handicapped students most already injured by landmines. Her ordered the other to run away and tried to restrain the young man. However, the grenade fell behind Riche and the powerful explosion inside the school building hit Richie in the base of the skull, the upper and lower back and his legs. As he was hit, he flew into the air and dropped on his back but in the process fully shielded the man who wielded the grenade from being hit. Two other handicapped students also suffered from minor injuries but the rest of the students were safe. In a second, Richie was lying dead on a pool of blood gushing out from his back. It was his last act of love for his students and friends in this foreign land.

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