Mission Connections. From Whom and Where in the World do our stories come from? Katy Lentz Mission Office Page 6

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1 Mission Connections Volume 57 Spring 2018 A Mission Prayer Lord, our God, help us to walk with you on the pathway to the beatitudes, and to live out your mission in today s world. Help us to see everyone as our sister and brother so that together we may bring the Good News to the ends of the earth. Open our hearts and our community to the needy, the hurting, the oppressed. May we radiate the Living Christ and transform our lives in the hope of the Resurrection. This prayer we make to you, who is the living God, now and forever. Amen. Katy Lentz Mission Office Page 6 Year in Review Mission Office Page 2 Fr. Shaun Hong Kong Page 4 St. John s Area School Foley Page 5 Father Lawrence Cameroon Page 3 From Whom and Where in the World do our stories come from?

2 Each year in the Mission Office we continue to be blessed by your support. Thank you cannot even begin to be expression enough of how we feel!! Each year many of our mission groups make items to be distributed at various organizations locally and around the world such as: Red Lake and White Earth Indian Reservations, Centro Hispano, Sharing and Caring Hands, Hands Across the World, Youth House, Office of Marriage and Family, Place of Hope, Salvation Army, Operation Christmas Child, Cross Catholic Boxes of Joy, Noble Worship Center, Harbor Lights Center, Peace House, Mount Olivet, Haiti, Kenya and local individuals in need of assistance. In 2017 our Mission Office distributed: (this does not include the many items distributed directly by our mission groups) 92 Large Quilts 30 Baby Quilts 62 Lap Quilts / Afghans 12 Receiving Blankets 69 Layettes 30 Diapers 7 Dishtowels 8 Wash Cloths / Potholders, Misc. 6,417 Rosaries 3,621 World Mission Rosaries 96 Caps, Mittens, Scarves, etc. 367 Sundresses 280 Shorts / Pants 30 Shirts 112 Toothpaste & Toothbrushes 94 Misc. Personal Care Items 33 Ditty Bags 713 School Supplies Year End Report Page 2 The Mission Office coordinated, participated in, and facilitated over 70 Mission Education events or opportunities throughout the Diocese in 2017! Thank you for continuing to invite us into your parish communities, faith formation programs, etc. Because of the generous support of parishes throughout the Diocese, we were able to give over $30,000 to our local community through funds raised by the Rice Bowl collection. Over $40,000 was gifted last year to our missioners and mission connections through generous estate donations. Above you see several charts outlining the many ways that funds were raised for mission, as well as how these funds were distributed; a chart also indicates the ways that Mission Office staff divided their time this past year. MISSION CONNECTIONS is published by the St. Cloud Mission Office, 11 8 th Ave. South, St. Cloud MN (320) It is distributed to the Catholic faithful in the Diocese of St. Cloud and to others concerned with the mission of Jesus Christ and global solidarity and justice. There is no charge for the publication, but tax deductible donations for our educational work are gratefully accepted. Donations for any of the missioners or mission connections mentioned here may be made in care of the Mission Office. **Please direct comments, suggestions and articles to Katy Lentz, at katymission@cloudnet.com **The mailing list is managed by Lora Knafla, at lkmission@cloudnet.com **For further information about the work of the Mission Office, contact Elizabeth Neville, at enmission@cloudnet.com

3 The Growth of the Church in Mbissi Village The following article was written by Father Lawrence Otieno, a Mill Hill Missionary, serving the people of God in St. Jude Parish, Fundong, Cameroon. He is writing about the growth of the Church in Mbissi Village. Women played a great role in the mission of Christ. They were among the poor and the humble who opened their hearts to receive the gift of faith which Christ and his apostles shared with them. They became evangelizers as they invited others to meet Christ and to be his disciples. The story of the Samaritan woman highlights the evangelizing role of women in the Church (cf, Jn 4: 5-42). Like the Samaritan woman, a member of the Catholic Women Association in Mbissi Village in Fundong Parish, Cameroon encountered Christ in His Word, in the Eucharistic celebration and the community of faith in Fundong main mission, and felt inspired to share the gift of faith with her husband, children and the rest of her family members in Mbissi village which had no Catholics then. Prompted by this desire to start the community of faith, she requested her husband to join her and permit the family to pray in their home each Sunday. This request was accepted and the family started a house Church in This marked the beginning of the growth of faith and initial formation of the Christian community in Mbissi Village. As time went by, this woman and her family continued with sharing of the word of God and prayed together every Sunday. She went ahead to invite members of the village to join her family for Sunday prayers. This invitation bore much fruit in that the number of the people who met in the house church increased to a Small Christian Community with more than 15 families. This too increased and they formed a simple mission station which met in unused section of the shop of the man who had accepted the house church to be started in his home. The growth of the community of faith did not end at this point but the love, support and the commitment of the members kept drawing more people particularly women and their children to the church. As their number kept on increasing, the section of the shop became too small to accommodate all of them every Sunday. In order to create enough space, this Christian community moved on to assemble each Sunday in a village hall. However, the generous man who donated his house and a section of the shop was not happy. This is because the hall is used by the traditional leaders in the village for their traditional meetings. The village youths also use it for their entertainment in festive seasons. For him, these functions were not really portraying the church as a place of encounter with God and his message of love. Faced by these, he went ahead and donated another piece of land for Page 3 building the Church. The growing community of faith worked so hard and build their church in this new plot. They treasured it because it gave them an identity as Catholics in their village. It is amazing to hear of the growth of faith in this village, even after settling in their new place of worship, their number kept on increasing tremendously and at the moment their treasured church has become too small again for them. So they have bought another piece of land where they have put up a bigger Church (they call it Mbissi Cathedral). Women are the majority in this Church, they are poor but powered by the gift of faith. They have made the foundation of their new church, molded mud bricks, built its walls and roofed it. I was privileged to bless the foundation of this new church in December 2016.This was a day of joy to the community of faith in Mbissi. Building of this new place of worship is still going on and once it will be complete, the shift to pray in it. The growth of the Church in this village is amazing and inspiring. The tiny community which started in a family house is growing. There are 8 Small Christian Communities in this Church, regular visits to this mission station and reaching out to community of faith in their neighborhood were quite helpful. It enabled me to witness the presence of the Risen Lord in the poor. I witnessed his presence in their generous response to the gospel and in their commitment to the call to discipleship. Eight couples exchanged their vows in that Church in 2017, adults and infants baptism were also celebrated in its 8 SCCs. Glory to God for this generous response to the gospel. Like the people of God in Mbissi Village, may the Holy Spirit open our hearts to receive the gift of faith with joy each day, give it a chance to transform us and share it with others so that they too may become disciples of the Risen Lord. New Mbissi Catholic Church progress

4 Morris Newman Center Visits Fr. Shaun in China! Page 4 Fr. Shaun Crumb is one of our missioner priests who is teaching English at Liaoning University in the city of Shenyang, northeast China and says Mass at the Cathedral in Changchun. Night trains, speed trains, and subways were our primary means of transportation! I was blessed to receive some visitors from the USA in January. My brother, Scott Crumb, who is the director of the Newman Center in Morris, brought three of his students: Frances Burr, Alexandra Carroll, and Cody O'Hallerman to do a mission/ immersion trip to China. My brother and I were working on preparations for months so I when the day the group finally arrived in Beijing, I was excited to welcome them to China. Despite the 22 plus hours of traveling and running to make their University of Morris students visiting the Dalian Zoo connecting flight, they were energetic and up for anything and everything as they began their adventure in China. Their missionary spirit of adventure made my job easy because they were not afraid to get out of their comfort zones by experiencing a new culture and meeting new people. The population of Beijing is about 18 million compared to the entire state of MN having about five million. We quickly weaved in and out of the crowds and made our way to the train from the airport to the subway, then from the subway to the famous Beijing Railway Station. Then we hopped on a sleeper train with bunks, three beds high. Everyone was staring at us at the train station and when we got on the train, partly because we were a little late and partly because a group of foreigners going to northeast China is rare. Finally, we arrived in Jilin City, which felt colder than MN, if that's possible. Fr. Zhang was one of the first people to welcome us. He is one of the Chinese priests at the only parish in Jilin City with the population of over four million. Wang Wei also helped us get settled. She is Chinese and teaches English at the seminary, which we visited, and is the director of the Maryknoll China Teachers Program, in which teachers volunteer to teach for a year or two at various universities. We visited a home/apartment run by three Chinese Sisters who provide a better learning environment for poor students from the countryside. In the city the students have an opportunity to attend a better school. We also had the unique experience of going to the countryside, which is where about 45% of the population lives. Fr. Zhang invited us to meet his parents and share a meal with them. We ate dumplings, pork, rice, tofu, potatoes, and vegetable dishes. Fr. Zhang speaks English very well because he did additional theological training in the USA with the Maryknoll education program. Surprisingly, the village is made up of mainly Catholics. The small town has a rich Catholic history because of the missioners who helped them develop the church. Many years ago, the small town was the center of the diocese because they had the most Catholics and organized a seminary as the church began to develop more and more. We attended daily mass, which was packed with devout Catholics, mainly local farmers who grow corn and rice in the area. One of the highlights of the mission/immersion trip for me was not only my brother visiting China, but his students meeting my students. Currently, I'm teaching English at Liaoning University in the city of Shenyang, northeast China. A majority of the students are not Catholic or Christian or even heard of the Gospel, so I try to share my faith through my actions. In class I cannot speak directly about the scripture and religion, but I can teach through my example. Outside of class we were able to have conversations about faith and spirituality. The college students from the Newman Center organized games, led small groups, and ate pizza with my college students. My students' English is very good, so they were able to communicate well. Group with parishioners at the Dalian Catholic Church. Continued on Page 5

5 Spotlight on Mission Page 5 There are countless mission activities happening all the time in the St. Cloud Diocese, ranging from parish mission groups, to fair trade sales, to mission education and service. All these activities are important to the work of celebrating our global Church. In this issue we highlight St. John s Area School in Foley and their service project during Lent that focused around the Corporal Works of Mercy. St. John s school in Foley decided that instead of offering something up for Lent, they would serve others as a way to grow closer to God during those 40 days. Their project was called 40 Bags for 40 Days. Their goal was to collect enough items to fill 40 bags and to distribute them during these 40 days of Lent. Each week of Lent items were collected based on the Corporal Works of Mercy. During the first week they collected non-perishable food items for the food shelf at the C.R.O.S.S. Center in Foley. The Second Week of Lent they collected household items for Catholic Charities to help those who are moving from transitional housing to their own homes. The Third Week of Lent they collected baby items for new mothers and babies at Birthline and they also collected warm clothing for those in need and brought them to the Mission Office to be distributed. The Fourth Week of Lent they collected toiletry items for the C.R.O.S.S. Center in Foley. Also, students made cards for those in nursing homes that week. Finally, during the Fifth Week of Lent they collected blankets for Catholic Charities Emergency Services giveaways. Their goal was to give each woman or youth a blanket that they can take with them when they move from transitional housing to a place on their own. Also, students made cards for those in jail. Each Monday the whole school started the week with a prayer service concentrating on reflective prayer focusing on their Lenten journey. On Fridays, each classroom brought the items they collected to the gym and together they prayed over the items before bringing them to the facility they were collected for. Fr. Shaun Continued from Page 4 The Chinese students are very interested in America, so they had lots of questions for the group. They also shared about their college experience and family background. In some ways my students live in a totally different world, but in other ways, the experience of college is similar to the students in Morris. I was very happy my students could interact with my brother's students who came from half way across the world. We shared many meals together with many wonderful people. Food is a big deal in China, so we tried lots of different dishes: hot pot, chicken feet, many kinds of tofu, barbeque right on our table, and Peking Duck. The Fr. Shaun s group of students with the University of Morris students group must have had some practice with chopsticks before because they quickly figured out how to use them; otherwise, they would have been really hungry. We rode the speed train again to visit the Catholic Church in Dalian, which was founded by Maryknoll in the 1920's. I regularly preside at an English mass there for college students and foreigners working in China. There we could show our support to the local church. At times the local church may feel separated from the larger universal church, but our presence offers a connection to the global church. We shared a wonderful meal with Fr. Li and the two Chinese sisters who help staff the parish. It's a vibrant community and the city is on the ocean so it's a beautiful place. Time flies when you're having fun and before we knew it, we were in our bunks on the night train back to Beijing. Before departing, we visited the Great Wall, Forbidden City, and the Temple of Heaven. A missioner goes into an unknown world and soon it becomes a "home away from home," because of meeting the wonderful people along the way. I was happy the Newman group could get a taste of mission and experience the adventure of mission in China.

6 Page 6 Mission Office/SPOF 11 8 th Avenue South St. Cloud, MN Non-Profit Org. U.S.POSTAGE PAID St. Cloud, MN Permit No New Face in Mission Meet Katy Lentz, our new Coordinator of Mission Education at the Mission Office. Hello to all my friends in mission! What a whirlwind the past few weeks have been! It has been wonderful to meet some of you in person and many of you via . I look forward to putting names to faces! One of my favorite quotes from Mother Teresa is I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things! I believe everyone is gifted by our great God and we are all called to use our gifts for others and with others. What better way to see gifts in each other as well as use our own gifts than to walk side by side through life together? Think of all we can accomplish Today we were asked to answer the question: What is it that motivates you to get out of bed each morning and do the work that you do with the St. Cloud Diocese? Besides the wonderful coffee in the Mission Office, I said that it is the people and the experiences we share together that motivate me to do the work I do. I feel like I learn so much from all the people I meet. I look forward to getting to know you and sharing experiences with you! 5th Annual Save the Date The Barn Dance will be held at Shooting Sports Center in Parkers Prairie. Join us in celebrating our Diocesan Partnerships with Homa Bay, Kenya and Maracay, Venezuela. Saturday, October 6th 4pm 8:30pm We will begin with Mass with Bishop Kettler, followed by supper, live music, fun for the kids, and a live auction. * Free will donations support the partnerships and all our mission relationships.