When the small Central Australian community of Santa Teresa empties out every year on the Sunday of the June long weekend as the residents head out to watch all the action of the Finke Desert Race, Fr Prakash Menezes SVD knows exactly what to do – he takes Mass to the people, trackside.

The tradition started about 10 or 12 years ago, long before Fr Prakash arrived, but he is happy to keep it going.

The chaplaincy relationship between the Divine Word Missionaries and Melbourne’s Indonesian Catholic community recently notched up its 25th anniversary, with the links between the two having grown strongly over the decades.

Fr Frank Gerry SVD was the first Divine Word Missionary assigned as chaplain to the Indonesian community in Melbourne during his time as Rector of Dorish Maru College from 1993-1999.

Fr Anthony Le Duc SVD loves his ministry with Vietnamese migrants in Bangkok, not only because he is able to serve these people on the margins and be part of their lives, but because he is also able to be a bridge to connect them with the larger church and the society in which they live.

Chaplaincy to Vietnamese migrants has recently moved from a volunteer ministry to one formally recognised by the Catholic Bishops of Thailand, a move he says which makes the ministry more systematic and effective.

Vietnamese Chaplains from across Australia came together in Sydney recently to discuss their ministry and to consider how Vietnamese Catholic communities can contribute their experience of faith life in Australia to the 2020 Plenary Council.

Fr Joseph Vu SVD, who is Chaplain to the Vietnamese community in Brisbane Archdiocese, says the chaplains gather every year to share with one another their activities, to listen and learn from each other, and to plan for the future.

Many years ago my professor in missiology went to the Holy Land to do some studies. In his course, he got invited to watch a contest between shepherds. In this contest, the shepherds are asked to bring 10 sheep each and they are placed in a big ring enclosure and all the sheep were mixed together.