A passionate appeal: Peace is a Pilgrimage; Let us join together
An appeal for peace from religious leaders in Myanmar: Cardinal Charles Bo, Archbishop Marco Tin Win, Archibishop Basilio Athai
Dear People of Myanmar, State and Non-State stakeholders.
Peace be with you all.
As leaders of major religions/faiths in Myanmar, we make this passionate appeal for peace, urging that all of us need to undertake the pilgrimage of peace.
The recent months have seen great threats to the sacredness of human life, the lives lost, the lives displaced, and the lives under starvation. In a country blessed with so many great resources, the destruction of lives is a heart wrenching tragedy.
Increasingly the places of worship and monasteries, where communities sought peace and reconciliation are themselves under attack and carnage. International instruments like the Hague Convention call for the protection of places of worship, places of learning, and places of healing. With pain and anguish, we ask why these sacred places are attacked and destroyed.
As a nation, we need to heal. Healing comes through our deep sense of interrelatedness. Places of worship to promote this interdependence, leading to peace. When they are burnt mercilessly returning to normalcy becomes a great challenge.
As leaders of the various faith traditions, our passionate plea to all stakeholders in Myanmar, is we have suffered enough as a people, let all guns fall silent, let us reach out to all, as brothers and sisters and start the sacred pilgrimage of peace - united as a nation and as a people.
For 13 years, Zainuddin has been giving refugees hope through his work with our partner Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Indonesia.
Zainuddin works on the Journey with De Facto Refugees Program, which provides support where it’s needed most for refugees living independently in Bogor and Jakarta.
As the Case Management Team Coordinator in Bogor, Zainuddin’s responsibilities extended to handling JRS’ COVID-19 response across the city during the pandemic.
“In the pandemic, refugees became even more vulnerable. If they got COVID-19 they weren’t guaranteed access to health services, they also starved if they had to be isolated,” said Zainuddin
For those refugees in COVID-19 isolation, Zainuddin was distributing emergency food packages and checking in on their recovery.
In addition to emergency pandemic support, the program provides vital psychosocial services, financial support for food and rent, livelihood assistance and access to health services, all of which has become increasingly inaccessible for refugees during the pandemic.
“As someone who had COVID-19, I was lucky because I had family and friends who supported me. I am also a citizen who has access to health services. But many of the refugees we support do not have these things,” said Zainuddin
Thanks to your generosity, in the last six months JRS Indonesia supported over 1,200 refugees in need.
“Wherever they are from, refugees are a group of people who have lost part of their lives. They just need to be protected, to keep their hope and dignity in order to be able to survive and thrive in their future,” said Zainuddin
It shall be said, “Build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstruction from my people’s way. For thus says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with those who are contrite and humble in spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will lead them and repay them with comfort. Peace,peace, to the far and the near, says the Lord; and I will heal them.
Isaiah 57:14-19
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1. Desire...I ask the Spirit to Remove Obstacles
I find and hold an object that symbolises for me the easing, or taking away of
obstacles, so that I can move forward in spiritual progress, in doing good.
I consider, 'What voices eradicate illusory obstacles to my good action'?
'What voices place spurious obstacles in my progress’?
'What is the contrary of a disquiet built on false reasons’?
I ask the Spirit for the gift that removes obstacles, clears the mind, and eases my way.
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2. Choice...Today I Choose the Open Way
I choose the open way, led by the good spirit who removes all blockages to God’s love.
I reject the obstacles, imagined or perceived, placed in my path by a bad spirit.
I turn and walk in the contrary direction, from dismay, to smiling heart, to peace.
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3. Progress... I live in the Freeing Trinity
I imagine I am surrounded by the Freeing Trinity. Father, Jesus and Spirit. Each
addresses me by name, saying, ‘Nothing will separate you from my love.’
I rest for a bit, in the dispelling of my fears and false reasoning, by the Trinity. I feel at
peace and free of deceptions of the bad spirit my way is easy.
I conclude giving thanks for the Spirit who removes obstacles in my spiritual progress.
PRAYER TIME: 10 minutes.
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Isaiah 57:14-19
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Click here to download the Prayer of Clearing Airways.
Thanks to the compassionate gifts left by Jesuit Mission supporters in their Will, change is afoot in the rural villages of Hazaribag in India.
These legacy gifts are supporting the Ankur Project, which is empowering Dalit people –previously known as the ‘untouchables’ – by opening up new ways to overcome stigma, access education and gain opportunity.
The Ankur Project provides tuition centres for Dalit children and began in response to school closures during the COVID-19 lockdown.
The project enables a local tutor in each village to provide tuition to village children, giving them the opportunity to continue their education and find a future path out of poverty.
The Hazaribag Jesuits aim to renew the interest of Dalit parents in education and encourage students who have dropped out to return to school.
The project is essential in also providing job opportunities to tutors, who are hired from each local village as they understand the context of their own community best.
Now teacher Ramashish runs an Ankur tuition centre, teaching 25 children.
studies remotely as there are no universities close to his home.
His father is a farmer, who only studied up to Year 9, yet he always encouraged Ramashish and his four other siblings to pursue an education.
Ramashish's education has earnt him a lot of respect amongst the local villagers and through this he has been able to encourage parents to value their children's education.
He joined the Ankur Project to help the children of his community to study and get a proper education so that they can improve their family’s situation in years to come.
A gift in your Will to Jesuit Mission can help us create real, transformational change for our sisters and brothers overseas, giving them the hope and future opportunities they deserve.
If you are considering leaving a gift in your Will to Jesuit Mission please get in touch with Susan Vaz for a confidential discussion on 02 8918 4109 or email susan.vaz@jesuitmission.org.au
Fr Tony Herbert SJ visiting Ramashish and his students.
For Jonia, a 28 year old mother, village chief, part-time coffee worker and graduate of the Jesuit-run secondary school NOSSEF, the installation of a water facility on her doorstep in Railaco has dramatically improved her community.
Thanks to the collaboration of many village leaders and your generous support, our four-year partnership with Jesuit Social Service (JSS)Timor-Leste has brought clean water to more than 15 rural villages, transforming the lives of over 5,000 people.
“It is all totally different now. Our house is very close to the water tank, just a few metres away. We can use it any time we like,” said Jonia.
Previously, Jonia’s community would walk over one kilometre to the nearest clean water source in the river, a trip that had to be made multiple times in the day by different members of the family.
“Since it was far to collect water, we only used that water for cooking. We had to wash our clothes and bathe in the river because it would be very difficult for us, especially the children,” said Jonia.
With clean water now nearby, Jonia's community is experiencing new agricultural opportunities and an improved standard of hygiene. Children no longer have the burden of collecting water before and after school.
“Water helps our children grow. We want them to be teachers, doctors, and engineers. We want them to have a good life,” said Jonia.
As a village chief and a mother, Jonia is ensuring that the next generation has access to all their basic needs and opportunity. Since the beginning of the water project in her village, Jonia was responsible for organising meetings between her community and the JSS team.
As a result, the people in her village were very cooperative and saw the significant change fresh water in the village could bring. Her community was happy to financially contribute to the facility, as well as provide the labour to build the water tank.
Your solidarity guides our mission and helps us plan the future of our work with our Jesuit partners to uplift the most vulnerable communities overseas.
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Merry Christmas 2022
We would like to thank all our supporters for their valued and ongoing support this year.
As our office will be closed from 24 December and reopening on 9 January, we leave you with a video Christmas message from our CEO Helen Forde.
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Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Empowered villagers bring clean water to their communities
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On 9 November, we held our latest webinar - Water the Gift of Life, about the uplifting impact of the Water Project in empowering rural communities in Timor-Leste.
The webinar welcomed special guests and project partners of Jesuit Mission, Fr Júlio Sousa SJ, Director of Jesuit Social Service (JSS) Timor-Leste and Jose Da Costa Pereira Soares, the Program Manager Assistant of the Water Project, who both spoke about the importance of handing over the project to local leaders.
“We encourage rural communities to be the main authors in constructing and implementing their water facilities. We want them to become the owner of the project and therefore the facility belongs to them and not to us,” said Fr Júlio.
Thanks to the collaboration of many village leaders and your generous support, over the last four years this partnership with JSS has brought clean water to more than 15 rural villages, transforming the lives of over 5,000 people.
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“The communities are very collaborative right from the beginning of the project until we hand it over to them. They actively participate in meetings, share their opinions and concerns and contribute as much as they can by working voluntarily,” said Jose.
With clean and safe water now nearby, communities have become empowered with more agricultural opportunities, have experienced an improved standard of hygiene and children no longer have to walk great distances to collect water before and after school.
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“Before (in the village Tocoluli) each student was required to bring five litres of water to school everyday, so that the school can prepare meals and clean the toilets… Just imagine five litres of water for a child to carry to school each day, it is a very heavy burden for them,” said Fr Júlio.
Thanks to your support, the Water Project will continue to provide 18 life-changing new water systems to rural communities over the next three years, which is vital in Timor-Leste where one-third of people in rural areas do not have access to clean water.
“The gift of water is too often overlooked here in Australia, while many of these vulnerable communities in Timor-Leste have never had the luxury of clean water nearby. This project is so critical in bringing this basic necessity to the lives of these Timorese people,” said Helen Forde, CEO of Jesuit Mission.
In some places where JSS has not yet constructed a water tank, villagers still have to buy water, which adds great financial stress to rural families.
“It is sad because even though we are already in the 21st century, people are still struggling with the basic need to access water,” said Jose.
This Christmas, instead of a traditional gift, why not give a gift that can change someone’s life? For $50 you can buy a bicycle for a rural student in Cambodia and help them receive a quality education.
You can choose from an e-card or postal card to share with your loved one this Christmas.
Jesuits escalate support for Myanmar hidden emergency
There’s a hidden emergency in Myanmar, where a military dictatorship has violently re-assumed power through a coup in early 2021.
Hear an update from our Jesuit Partner on the ground in the video below.
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Since February last year to September this year, the United Nations documented over 260 attacks by the military on schools in Myanmar.
Teachers and students, especially from ethnic minorities, have become the targets.
“We recently received footage showing young boys and girls in a make-shift refugee camp classroom, have become subjects for aerial attacks. The video shows the children’s faces are filled with fear, and many are crying and clinging to each other as they then run from the classroom into the jungle to hide,” said Helen Forde, CEO of Jesuit Mission.
Despite the risks, the Jesuits are standing right beside the Burmese people, feeding the hungry, providing shelter and medicine, teaching people new skills to earn an income and of course, offering children education.
“Since war was unleashed on the population, the people have known no relief. In the townships and communities where we work, hunger is only too evident,” said a Jesuit on the ground.
The need is significant, with over 1.3 million people now displaced and foreign investors having fled the country, Myanmar is experiencing massive economic collapse. Today, more than half the population is living below the poverty line, with no end to the violence and deprivation in sight.
This Christmas your support of our Emergency Action Fund can enable our Jesuit partners to provide emergency support to communities in Myanmar that need it most. If you’d like to contribute to the Emergency Action Fund please click here.
Your compassionate generosity is helping bring light to our sisters and brothers living in darkness around the world.
This Christmas, instead of a traditional gift, why not give a gift that can change someone’s life? For $50 you can buy a bicycle for a rural student in Cambodia and help them receive a quality education.
You can choose from an e-card or postal card to share with your loved one this Christmas.
