Prayer Urgently Needed!

An 80 year old Columban priest was recently kidnapped in the Philipines. Please pray for his safe return home. We've attached an article here that is from the Columban Mission Newsletter in the US.

October 12, 2009 Fr. Michael Sinnott Kidnapped in the Philippines COLUMBAN FATHER MICHAEL SINNOTT KIDNAPPED IN THE PHILIPPINES Columban Father Michael Sinnott was kidnapped October 11, 2009 around 7:30 p.m. (local time) from outside his home in Pagadian City, Province of Zamboanga del Sur, Mindanao, as he was taking an evening stroll in the garden. As Church workers were closing the gate to the compound in the Columban house in Pagadian, Zamboanga del Sur, on October 11 2009, a man pushed his way through saying he wanted to talk to a priest. Then three or four heavily armed men appeared, forcing the gate and dragging 79-year-old Irish Columban Father Michael Sinnott from the garden into a white pickup truck, before speeding off. The vehicle was later found abandoned and torched in the nearby beachside area of Santa Lucia. Fishermen told police that they saw the group boarding a small motor boat heading off in the direction of the town of Tukuran. A statement from the regional director for the Columbans in Manila, Father Pat O’Donoghue, said that police and other law enforcement agencies had been called. Patrol boats were mobilized, but found nothing. Father O’Donoghue said that no motive has been given for the kidnapping and, as of 11:00p.m. on October 11, there had been no contact. He added that he is worried for the safety of the aging priest, as he underwent quadruple bypass surgery in Cebu in 2005 and has been under medication ever since. “One of my greatest concerns for him is that he does not have his medication with him, which he needs,” he disclosed. Father Sinnott was ordained on December 21, 1954, after studies in Ireland and the United States. Father Sinnott has worked in Mindanao since he arrived in The Philippines in 1957, except for a period in Ireland as rector of the Columban seminary, a short stint studying liturgy in Paris, and a few years in Manila as the vice director of the Philippine region. Father O’Donoghue is asking people to pray for his safe return.

Happy Birthday Chile

The 18th of September was Chile's 199th birthday. In our chapel, we decided to celebrate big, with a traditional fonda or carnival type of party. We had all the fixings for a fun family day -traditional dancing, foods and lots of games, including rayuela, a game typically played in the country, sort of like horseshoes. The only thing missing was chicha and red wine. It's almost unheard of to have a fonda with no alcohol, but the community decided that in order to make it truly family friendly, they could do without the drinking and fighting that often overrun independence day parties these days.

Fondas are traditionally decorated with large palms.

Fr. Mike Howe, the Columban priest in charge of the chapel starts us off with a blessing.

The teenagers ran the games. They worked hard the whole six hours without taking a break.

Chile's national dance, the Cueca, performed by local school children.

The kids also showed us a traditional Mapuche dance, from the south of Chile.

Meat, meat, meat! Chileans are not inclined to vegetarianism.

The northern version of the cueca.

Anna's sister is here visiting until March, and dressed up for her first Dieciocho celebration.

The rayuela competition was a big hit... David almost won.

It was great to see so many families participating, including dads.

The guitar is the unofficial national instrument. No party is complete without a song.

Our gringo Chilean family portrait.

Unfortunately, the fun was interrupted by a fire in the neighborhod. Two families lost their homes. Please keep them in your prayers.

Joshua's First Home

Last weekend, we took our teenagers out to do a service project. This was a pretty new experience for them, since they are used to being on the receiving end of other people's service projects. We live in a notoriously poor area and whenever another youth group asks themselves, "What can we do to help the poor?" they often end up doing food drives, clothing drives or setting up a Christmas party for the less fortunate... us! We believe it is very important for all children and teens (even the economically poor ones) to learn how to help others, using the gifts that God has given them.

So, we went to an orphanage and played with babies. The teens originally wanted to collect money and toys to donate, but quickly realized they had no money to give. Then, they said that they wanted to paint faces and do magic, soon discovering that none of them had any artistic or theatrical talent. So, they grabbed a ball and decided to play soccer. THAT was a task that they were well prepared for. We showed up to the orphanage at 11 am and were met with three smiling faces peeking out the front door. ¿Tenemos visitas? they eagerly asked. Do we have visitors? We walked in and discovered about fifteen more munchkins varying between ages 2 and 5. There were also about 5 sleeping babies that we didn't notice until later, the youngest just 6 days old and weighing 5 lbs... FIVE POUNDS!! We had never held a baby so tiny in our lives. It reminded us of little Joshua. He was just 6 lbs when born and came to that exact same orphanage when he was just days old. Perhaps there was another volunteer group that came and held him in their arms, marvelling over his tininess?

The children were disappointed when we walked in with empty arms, because they are used to being showered with gifts by visiting groups. But, the disappointment soon melted away as they began singing songs, playing soccer or just simply being held and loved by another person. When it was time to go just a couple short hours later, the teens were physically worn out, but deeply touched by the experience. They learned so much more from the experience than we could have taught them through lectures. On the walk home, questions bubbled to the surface... Why are those kids there? Where are their parents? Why can't they go outside to play? Can we come back?

Due to the abusive family backgrounds of many of the children, we were unable to take pictures. You'll just have to imagine 15 toddlers 8 teenagers and 1 extremely wound up Joshua running around like nuts.

Why Mission?

We came across an interesting reflection on today's Bible readings. We're sharing it with you because we think it explains very well the reasons that we are over here on mission.

video reflection

(We couldn't figure out how to embed it, so you'll have to follow the link and then click on "September 9th" on the little calendar below.)

In Memorium

Well, it finally happened. After almost five years of living in Chile, we've been robbed. The culprit jumped our fence in broad daylight, creating lots of ruckus (which Anna heard and immediately ignored for no apparent reason) then snatched two of our most treasured clothing items off the line. We may never see Anna's blue track suit jacket or David's red hooded sweatshirt again, but we hope they're keeping some thief as warm as they have kept us...

Why us? Why not him?

The other night, we were chatting with one of the teens from the youth group. He casually mentioned that he usually wakes up for school around 6:30 a.m. and showers in cold water so that he doesn't "annoy the other kids with stinkiness." Just so you understand the coldness of the water here, last week the average temperature at this time in the morning was about 57 degrees Fahrenheit. We sat in guilty silence, because we knew that his family couldn't afford gas to heat water. Most families around here only use gas for cooking, or not at all. Hot showers are a luxury only enjoyed by the upper classes. Our guilt arose from the fact that we can afford gas not only for cooking, but also for hot showers and a gas grill. In fact, there is a common fight that goes on in our house...

We happen to own three gas tanks. We usually only have one tank filled though, causing the annoyance of switching the tank back and forth between the stove and water heater. Every morning, one person must wait while the other one showers before they are able to heat water for coffee or cooking. It would be overly embarrassing to tell you the amount of time we spend yelling at each other because we are forced to wait ten extra minutes for use of the gas. And don't even bring up the idea of taking a cold shower, because THAT would surely be grounds for divorce.

So we sat in guilty silence because we recognized that we were born into privilege unknown to this 16 year old kid. We grew up with hot showers, air condition, a swimming pool and cable television. And we don't deserve it any more than he does.

If the world were a village of 100 people, 5 would control 32% of the entire world's wealth and all 5 would be US citizens.

Art Attack

On Sunday afternoons, I (Anna) spend my time with the kids from the neighborhood making art projects, which I shamelessly steal directly from the t.v. show "Art Attack." (I find them here, if you would also like to have fun.) The workshop came to be partly because I like children, but mainly because I love making all of the cool art myself. Here are some of the kids' "art attacks" from the last few weeks: