Small communities with a big heart have joined together to kick off the SVD African Hurricane Appeal, by donating generously to assist the recovery of people in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Mali, who had their homes and communities destroyed.

Mission Secretary, Fr Truc Quoc Phan SVD, says that some of the Divine Word Missionaries’ ethnic chaplaincy communities and parish and chapel communities were among the first to respond to the call for assistance.

As I walked with my confreres from the parish to our community after Mass, it struck me that we were like the two disciples on their way to Emmaus. Like the two disciples, my confreres and I have had the same experience but whilst their experience was the death of Jesus, ours was growing up in a continent that has been stricken by poverty.

We thank God that we have taken the vow of evangelical poverty. However, we did sincerely ask ourselves: “How poor are our Religious in Africa compared with the local people?”