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Pakistan

Breaking the Language Barrier

By: Pilar Tilos

Pilar Tilos, a Columban lay missionary in Pakistan spent many years in every type of parish ministry in her home town in Hinobaan, Negros Occidental. Here she tells us of the struggle she had to break the language barrier before she could begin her new mission ministry in Pakistan.

Starting Straight Away
October, 25th, 1990, four days after we arrived in Lahore, Fr. Pat Raleigh, in-charge of the language studies, gave us an orientation for the language program. We were told to study Punjabi (the local language of the people) because we would be working in the rural areas. The language course was to be for a full calendar year and the classes were to be held in the house where we lived in Iqbal town.

A Strange Meeting on Foreign Shores

By: Emma Pabera

The Bad Guys!
Would you believe that it is only in Pakistan that I have spoken to Filipino boys and Muslim men in general? It sounds strange, but it is true. The Muslim are in Mindanao, in Southern Philippines, while I am from Negros in Western Visayas. All the stories I read and heard about Muslim brothers and sisters are negative. This is the reason why I had developed a bias and negative attitude towards them. Muslim in the Philippines are known to be brave and warlike people. Most pirates are Muslims. They cannot be trusted some say.

Into the Heart of Pakistan

By: Sr. Perlita Ponge

Sr. Perlita is a Filipino Columban who worked in Peru as a missionary. Having been transferred to the Columban mission in Pakistan she describes her new beginning.

“OUR HOLY WEEK celebration started on Holy Thursday, when Fr. Brendan Kennedy brought Sr. Maureen Donhoe and me to, a Parkari Kohli village. We arrived at 6:00 p.m. and were greeted by the village elders. After drinking a welcome glass of cold water, we went house to house meeting the villagers. The men were busy  preparing a meal in huge pots while the women cleaned up around their homes.

From Philippines to Pakistan with love

 
By: Emma Pabera

“There’s no place like home.” Yes it’s true. Leaving home and family is not an easy because we Filipinos are known for our close family ties.

Longtime Desire
In December, 1990, I applied to join the Columban Lay Mission Program. For a few years I had work as a member of the pastoral team in the diocese of Bacolod. I was happy in my work, but it had long been my desire to be a lay missionary. When Father Michael Martin, former superior of the Columbans in Negros, now full-time Lay mission Coordinator in Philippines, invited me to join the program, I didn’t hesitate to accept his invitation.

Tatlong Pinay sa Pakistan

By: Emma Pabera

In 1990 three, Filipinos, Gloria Canama from Mindanao, Pilar Tilos, and Emma (Ems Pabera from Negros arrived in Pakistan to begin their missionary work with the Columban Fathers and Sisters. A letter from Ems tells us of their first impressions.

A Lay Missionary’s First Impressions
Pilar, Gloria, and I (Ems) arrived in Pakistan on Oct. 21. Our plane touched down in Lahore at 10:30 AM on a Sunday morning. Waiting patiently for us at the Airport Terminal were two Irish priest and a Filipino nun (Dan, P.J., and Perlita). As they put garlands around our heads I felt the urge of happiness. IT is strange but I don’t feel like a stranger in this place. Maybe because the Columban support group is great and they’re so good to us.

Take My Daughter

By Sister Docilia Pizzaro, FSP
A Filipino Missionary

Pakistan is South Asian nation with over 100 million people. The land has a history of civilization at least 2,300 years old, but Pakistan as a nation is just 42 years old. Catholics comprise about one half of one percent of Pakistanis.

THE DAYS BEFORE TV

In those days when videos were not yet in circulation and film- shows were still in demand, we arranged to visit that ‘basti’ (barrio) of Quetta in Baluchistan with our film, “ Sacrifice of Isaac.

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