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Four New Brothers

After three years of religious study four young men have finally committed themselves to the life of the St. John of God Brothers when they made their first Profession in Aitape in June.

These four young men all come from the Sepik region of Papua New Guinea and are enthusiastic about embarking on the next stage of their journeys as Brothers. After a short holiday home to visit their families they will begin some professional training that will equip them to play an active role in the work of the Brothers in Papua New Guinea.

Newly Professed Brothers Samson, Augustine { Provincial Delegate} Lazarus, Adolf and Oliver

A New Province

At their 2007 Provincial Chapters, the Irish Province and the English Province jointly resolved to amalgamate to form a single entity. Over the past three years, the Brothers and the Co-workers have been working with great determination to achieve this. The result emerged at the current 2010 Provincial Chapter, with the creation of a new Province: the Western European Province dedicated to St John of God. Before electing the Provincial, the Capitulars commemorated the suppression of the Irish Province and the English Province in a simple liturgical celebration. The suppression of the two Provinces was symbolised by snuffing two candles bearing the names of the two Provinces. Immediately afterwards, the Father General lit another candle bearing the name of the new Province. The new Province has been established without transforming either of the existing entities into Provincial Delegations. The new Province will be headquartered in Dublin.

“Olallo House” - New Work in London

St John of God Hospitaller Services has opened a new hostel in central London for homeless persons. The focus of the hostel is homeless persons from Eastern Europe. Most of these immigrants find work and accommodation but a few fall into homelessness for a variety of reasons.

The hostel, dedicated to Blessed Jose’ Olallo Valdes, has 30 beds and an active programme that helps its ‘clients’ to get work and accommodation as quickly as possible. The hostel was opened by the then Archbishop of Westminster and took in its first residents during a cold spell of weather on December 30th 2008.
The dynamic focus of the hostel makes it unique in Britain. A review after its first six months of operation showed that 65% of the residents obtained a job and accommodation within 6 weeks.

Brothers Michael Newman and John of God O’Neil live and work in Olallo House and feel that they are “at the cutting edge of social concern and that our Founder would approve of this work with the new poor of London ... homeless and far from home”.

Aspirants in Timor

Having begun their work of health services support at Luclubar in East Timor in 2004, the Brothers began to receive requests to join the Order from young Timorese men.

In response, the Brothers established a programme by which men seriously interested in joining the Order could, after a period of familiarisation, be accepted as Aspirants.

The first stage of Aspirancy is spent living at home with the family. During at least one year, “Home Aspirants” gather once a month with the Brothers for a weekend, sometimes at a retreat house, to be introduced to such things as the place of the consecrated life in the Church, the Order’s Founder, history and Mission and other appropriate topics.

After a year or more some Aspirants come from their home to live in the Community at Laclubar and experience the normal routine and practices of religious life. The next stage is Postulancy which requires the aspirants to move to the national capital, Dili. Admission to the novitiate will require a greater move—to the novitiate of the Provincial Delegation of Brazil. At present there are 4 “Home Aspirants”. The two Community Aspirants and three Postulants are pictured above, with Brother Vitor Lameiras.

St John of God Brothers in Korea

A cafe launched by Korean church workers is giving a newfound sense of confidence to its staff of mentally challenged people. Marcia Choi Seung-mi, one of eight such people who work in Granada cafe, says she is now confident she can do things as well as other people, UCA News reports.
“Two-and-half years’ work as a coffeemaker here have given me that confidence and I really thank Brother Andrew Lee who helped me work here,” said Choi.“In the early stages I couldn’t tell the difference between cappuccino and café latte. I even made hot coffee many times when customers ordered it iced,” the 34-year-old Catholic told UCA News. Choi now dreams of becoming a barista, a coffee-house employee who prepares and serves espresso-based coffee drinks.

Kim Nam-deok, who like Choi works three days a week at the cafe, shared: “I work as a cashier and a waiter but I am still slow to calculate money. Customers wait for me patiently without complaint, for which I really thank them.”

“I am so happy here and don’t want to go to any other workplace,” he added with a smile. Choi makes coffee while Kim prepares to serve customers Cafe manager Yu Jum-hwa, told UCA News that as far she knew, Granada was the first coffee shop run by the Catholic Church for the welfare of disabled people.
The Hospitaller Order of St. John of God in Korea, which serves the disabled, alcoholic, homeless and aged, runs the project at its Evergreen Rehabilitation Centre in Seoul. Yu, who is also the social welfare worker at the centre, said that Choi and Kim are the star performers at the cafe and get 380,000 won (US$320) a month.
“When I got my first pay from the cafe, I bought a handkerchief for my mother and a necktie for my father. They were so happy they almost cried. I will never forget that,” Choi said. Center director Brother Andrew Lee Eun-myeong said Evergreen also runs small businesses such as operating vending machines, packing stationery and making religious items. People with disabilities are employed in all these businesses, he said.

The Work of Fernnando Aguilo

The "JOSEP PARERA 2009" is awarded in recognition of outstanding dedication by individuals and organisations to the service of community development in terms of its social, humanitarian and/or solidarity dimensions. Brother Fernando Aguilo, a Hospitaller Brother of St John of God, who graduated in Medicine and has worked for more than 20 years with commitment and humanitarian dedication to improving the social and health conditions of the people of Sierra Leone, has now been awarded with this recognitation.
In the words of the awardee, " I shall devote the cash prize to a new installation of solar panels which, linked to our generators, will provide the whole Centre with continuous power, 24 hours a day, and make it possible for the medical teams to continue working without the power cuts to save fuel oil.
"In Barcelona 'a hospital without light' is unimaginable, but unfortunately this is a reality in '- Africa where the vast majority of the rural hospitals have no electric power... This new solar panel installation will considerably improve the quality of the medical care they provide, as well as the comfort and security of our patients."
Bro. Fernando Aguilo was nominated for the award by the team of Volunteers of the Sant Joan de Deu Hospital in Barcelona and other professionals acquainted with his dedication.

St. John of God Health Care visit PNG

Almost three years ago the services of the St. John of God Brothers in Australia and New Zealand merged with the services of the St. John of God Sisters in what is known as St. john of God Health Care. St. John of God Health Care is a very large organization with much expertise in health care.

St. John of God Health Care incorporates an outreach program which supplements various programs in the Pacific Region. The Brothers in Papua New Guinea were fortunate to be able to host a visit from a delegation of this Outreach Program in February. The aim of the visit was to find out what ways the St. John of God Outreach Program could benefit and improve the work of the Brothers in Papua New Guinea.
Four members of the Outreach Program spent ten days in the Sepik area of Papua New Guinea visiting the works of the Brothers in Wewak, Walamu and Suwau. Difficulties in traveling in Papua New Guinea prevented the group from visiting Aitape where the St.

John of God Brothers also have various works.
Everywhere that the group went they were greeted with great enthusiasm from the local people.

Singsing groups in traditional dress sang and danced. Many speeches of welcome were made and many gifts presented. All this highlighted the esteem in which the Brothers are held by the local people and showed an appreciation of what already was being done to improve their quality of life.

Richard treats a sick child

Here in the bush we see many cases of marasmus or malnutrition in infants. This is because many people have poor personal and home hygiene. They also do not have the knowledge to be able to prepare a balanced diet especially for their young children.
Recently I had an infant, aged six months, that was brought to me at the Walamu Clinic. She was suffering from malnutrition. I taught the parents the importance of personal hygiene and how to prepare proper meals so that the child would have a balanced diet. I stressed the importance of how much the child should be fed each day. The parents were given a tin of milk supplement and bathing soap. They were told to come back to the clinic in one month.
The child and it’s parents duly returned one month later. Now the infant was much better. She was physically stronger, looked active and happy. She was also starting to gain weight.
Obviously, the parents were very thankful for what the brothers had done for their child and appreciated the support that they had received.
All of the milk supplement that is used by the Brothers to treat children with malnutrition comes by way of donations from various supporters. Without this support the Brothers would not be effective in improving the health of babies.

THE GRILLE REPORT BR. RICHARD TAWAMANA

Some time ago the Brother’s Walamu Clinic began a program to treat children, especially those five years and under who are suffering from an irritating tropical skin disease called “Grille.”
Those who are effected come to the clinic for assessment and are provided with medication and antiseptic soap. Because grille is caused by poor hygiene the parents are given instructions on how to improve cleanliness at home.
Currently there are 60 children under treatment. 25 of these are all but cured. However another 5 are not improving due to the parents inability to improve home hygiene. For this group treatment will need to continue. The other 30 patients have yet to be re-assessed.

MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER
FOR THE 45TH WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR
VOCATIONS
13TH APRIL 2008 – 4TH SUNDAY OF EASTER

THEME: “ Vocations to the service of the Church-mission ”

Dear brothers and sisters,

1. For the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, which will be celebrated on 13 April 2008, I have chosen the theme: Vocations to the service of the Church-mission. The Risen Jesus gave the command to the Apostles: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Mt 28,19), assuring them: “I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28, 20). The Church is missionary as a whole and in each one of its members. If because of the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, every Christian is called to witness and to announce the Gospel, the missionary aspect is specially and intimately bound with the priestly vocation. In the covenant with Israel, God entrusted to certain chosen men, called by him and sent to the people in his name, the mission to be prophets and priests. This is what he did, for example, with Moses: “Come, - God told him - I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring forth my people … out of Egypt …when you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you will serve God upon this mountain” (Ex 3, 10.12). The same thing happened with the prophets.

2. The promises made to our fathers became full reality in Jesus Christ. In this regard, the Second Vatican Council says: “The Son, therefore, came, sent by the Father. It was in him, before the foundation of the world, that the Father chose us and predestined us to become adopted sons … To carry out the will of the Father, Christ inaugurated the kingdom of heaven on earth and revealed to us the mystery of that kingdom. By his obedience he brought about redemption” (Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium, 3). Early in his public life, during his preaching in Galilee, Jesus chose some disciples as his nearest collaborators in the messianic ministry. For example, on the occasion of the multiplication of loaves, when he said to the Apostles: “You give them something to eat” (Mt 14, 16), he encouraged them to take on the needs of the crowds to whom he wanted to offer food so that they would not remain hungry, but also to reveal the food “which endures to eternal life” (Jn 6, 27). He was moved to compassion for the people, because while he went about the cities and the villages, he met the crowds, harassed and helpless, “like sheep without a shepherd” (cfr Mt 9, 36). From this look of love, flowed the invitation to his disciples: “Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest” (Mt 9, 38), and he sent the Twelve first “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” with precise instructions. If we stop to meditate on this page of the Gospel of Matthew, which is usually called the “missionary discourse”, we note all those aspects which characterize the missionary activity of a Christian community that wants to remain faithful to the example and teaching of Jesus. Answering the call of the Lord means facing with prudence and simplicity every danger and even persecutions, since “a disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master” (Mt 10, 24). Having become one with the Master, the disciples are no longer alone to announce the Kingdom of heaven, but it is Jesus himself who is acting in them: “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me” (Mt 10, 40). Furthermore, as true witnesses, “clothed with power from on high” (Lk 24, 49), they preach “repentance and forgiveness of sins” (Lk 24, 47) to all nations.

3. Precisely because they are sent by the Lord, the Twelve are called “Apostles”, called to go along the roads of the world announcing the Gospel as witnesses of the death and resurrection of Christ. Saint Paul, writing to the Christians of Corinth, says: “We – meaning the Apostles – preach Christ crucified” (1 Cor 1, 23). The Book of the Acts of the Apostles attributes a very important role in this process of evangelization, also to other disciples whose missionary vocation results from providential circumstances, sometimes painful ones, like the expulsion from their own land because they were followers of Jesus (c.f. 8,1-4). The Holy Spirit permits this trial to be changed into an occasion of grace, and that because of it the name of the Lord is preached to other peoples, so that the circle of the Christian community is widened. These are men and women who, as the Luke writes in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, “have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ” (15, 26). First among them is undoubtedly Paul of Tarsus, who was called by the Lord himself to be a true Apostle. The story of Paul, the greatest missionary of all times, brings out in many ways, what is the link between vocation and mission. Accused by his opponents that he was not authorized for the apostolate, he makes a repeated appeal precisely to the call which he received directly from the Lord (c.f. Rm 1, 1; Gal 1, 11-12.15-17).

4. At the beginning, as well as later on, what “impels” the Apostles (c.f. 2 Cor 5, 14) is always “the love of Christ”. As faithful servants of the Church, docile to the action of the Holy Spirit, innumerable missionaries, throughout the centuries, have followed in the footsteps of the first disciples. The Second Vatican Council notes: “Although every disciple of Christ, as far in him lies, has the duty of spreading the faith, Christ the Lord always calls whomever he will from among the number of his disciples, to be with him and to be sent by him to preach to the nations (c.f. Mk 3, 13-15)” (Decree Ad gentes, 23). In fact, the love of Christ, must be communicated to the brothers by example and words, with all one’s life. My venerable Predecessor John Paul II wrote: “The special vocation of missionaries "for life" retains all its validity: it is the model of the Church's missionary commitment, which always stands in need of radical and total self-giving, of new and bold endeavours”. (Encyclical Redemptoris missio, 66)

5. Among the persons who dedicate themselves totally to the service of the Gospel, there are, in a special way, priests, called to preach the Word of God, administer the sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Reconciliation, and who are committed to help the least, the sick, those who are suffering, the poor, and those who experience hardship in areas of the world where there are, at times, many who even today have not had a real encounter with Jesus Christ. The missionaries announce for the first time to these people Christ’s redemptive love. Statistics show that the number of baptized persons increases every year thanks to the pastoral work of these priests, who are wholly consecrated to the salvation of their brothers. In this context, special thanks must be given “to those fidei donum priests who work faithfully and generously at building up the community by proclaiming the word of God and breaking the Bread of Life, devoting all their energy to serving the mission of the Church. Let us thank God for all those priests who have suffered even to the sacrifice of their lives in order to serve Christ ... Theirs is a moving witness that can inspire many young people to follow Christ and to expend their lives for others, and thus to discover true life” (Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum caritatis, 26).

6. There have always been in the Church many men and women who, inspired by the action of the Holy Spirit, choose to live the Gospel in a radical way, professing the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience. This multitude of religious men and women, belonging to innumerable Institutes of contemplative and active life, plays “the main role in the evangelisation of the world” (Decree Ad gentes, 40). With their continual prayer and their prayer in community, the religious of contemplative life intercede incessantly for all humanity; those religious of active life, with their various charitable activities, bring to all their lively witness of the love and mercy of God. As regards these apostles of our times, the Servant of God Paul VI said: “Thanks to their consecration they are eminently willing and free to leave everything and to go and proclaim the Gospel even to the ends of the earth. They are enterprising and their apostolate is often marked by an originality, by a genius that demands admiration. They are generous: often they are found at the outposts of the mission, and they take the greatest of risks for their health and their very lives. Truly the Church owes them much” ( Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii nuntiandi, 69).

7. Besides, in order that the Church may continue to carry out the mission entrusted to her by Christ, and in order that there will never be a lack of those who preach the Gospel and who are badly needed by the world, it is necessary that Christian communities do not fail to give both children and adults a constant education in the faith. It is necessary to maintain alive in the faithful an active sense of missionary responsibility and a shared solidarity with the peoples of the world. The gift of faith calls all Christians to co-operate in the work of evangelization. This awareness must be nourished by preaching and catechesis, by the liturgy, and with a constant formation in prayer. It must be increased with the practice of welcoming others, by charity and spiritual accompaniment, by reflection and discernment, as well as by pastoral planning in which the care of vocations plays an integral part.

8. Only in a spiritual soil that is well cultivated can vocations to the ministerial priesthood and to the consecrated life flourish. In fact, the Christian communities, which live the missionary dimension of the mystery of the Church in a profound way, will never be inward looking. Mission, as a witness of divine love, becomes particularly effective when it is shared in a communitarian way, “so that the world may believe” (c.f. Jn 17, 21). It is for the gift of vocations that the Church prays everyday to the Holy Spirit. As at its beginning, gathered around the Virgin Mary, Queen of the Apostles, the community of the Church learns from her how to implore the Lord for a flowering of new apostles who will know how to live in themselves that faith and that love which are necessary for the mission.

9. While I entrust this reflection to all the Church communities, so that they may make it their own, and, above all, so that they may draw inspiration from it for their prayer, I encourage the commitment of those who work with faith and generosity in the service of vocations, and with all my heart I send to educators, catechists and to all, especially young people on their vocational journey, a special Apostolic Blessing.

From theVatican, 3 December 2007

Benedictus PP XVI

PAPUA NEW GUINEA TODAY

Hospitality Goes Rural!

The Brothers in Papua New Guinea, all of whom are National Brothers, except one Brother from Australia, are mostly involved in rural health. Br. Augustine writes in the Delegation Newsletter – DRUMBEAT, “We should thank God for our Mission in Walamu, because it gives a positive impression to many people up here and they speak highly of us; that is, the Brothers of St. John of God at the Walamu Mission.”

A member of this rural Community, Br. Herman Matromes, has been named as the Nuku Deanery Representative for the Aitape Diocese. This is a great honour for the Brothers and a recognition of the good work that they are doing. In addition Br. Herman is now in charge of the Walamu Clinic.

A satellite clinic of Walamu Clinic at Suau, two hours walk from Wlalmu Community is under the supervision of Br. Kris Kasoni. (In P.N.G. distances are measured in the time it takes to get there on foot!). This village clinic was in very bad repair when the Brothers were asked to take it over. Now, due to the hard work of Br. Kris, the villagers and help from Walamu Clinic, it is now able to provide a much improved service for the Suau people. When he is not involved in repairs to the structure, Kris has developed a very good ‘Mother and Child’ programme, something that is so much needed in this very isolated village. It is a common scene to see Kris, with his medicines, equipment and food in a nap-sack, and like St. John of God with staff on hand, barefooted heading off with some helpers to the village two hours away on foot. A ‘new hospitality’ for a new people.

‘Preparing for battle.’

In many parts of the world the Order is joining other organisations in the fight against HIV/AIDS and the care and treatment of those who have contracted this deadly disease. In Papua New Guinea our Brothers are leading the fight against this terrible epidemic, which is such a treat to so many countries in the developing world.

The first case of HIV/AIDS was diagnosed In Papua New Guinea in 1987. By 1994 the number of confirmed cases was 247. It is estimated that the number of people presently suffering from the disease is more than 7,000. However, as eighty percent of the population live in the rural areas, which happens also to be very mountainous, this estimate would seem to be very conservative, and once the disease spreads to these rural areas it will be very difficult to control, to treat and to care for those who become ill. .

The Brothers have been preparing for some years now for the time when they too will have to deal with the scourge of HIV/AIDS as it gets a foothold in rural areas. Br. Cletus Walle, who has a degree in counselling, has completed a number of courses dealing with HIV/AIDES, is now highly qualified in the treatment, education and prevention programmes, which he organises, geared towards prevention through education and public awareness of this epidemic. He has also involved some of the younger Brothers in caring for people in their own homes, who have been sent home from hospital to die, counselling the families who are scared that they will become affected, and helping them to nurse and care for the their sick member.