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The Missionaries of God's Love |
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Brothers MissionsPapua New Guinea
CONTACT: Fr. Ken Barker, Darwin
The aim of the mission is to bring people into the experience of the Baptism in the Spirit and into community experience, and to help them to be equipped to become evangelists themselves among their own people. This ministry is special to the heart of God since the Australian Church, and the Australian nation as a whole, will only come to full healing and maturity when the Indigenous People are able to share their gifts and contribute fully in a way that enhances their own aboriginal identity. CONTACT: Fr. Steve Fletcher, Manila
The brothers are building a branch of the Disciples of Jesus community in the area, and many people who have been baptised in the Holy Spirit are wanting to the join the community for further formation, discipleship, and to be equipped to become evangelists themselves among their own people. Young people are also inquiring about a vocation to consecrated life, and we expect that many will take up this calling as MGL's. While most of the middle-class population in Manila speak English very well, the brothers find that it is necessary to learn Tagalog in order to communicate well with the poor. They are seeking to build a community in the Holy Spirit with the poor. Their initial focus is on young people, but the intention is to have a community which embraces all ages and states of life. CONTACT: Fr. Steve Tynan, Canberra University
CONTACT: Fr. Anthony Phillips, Narrabundah Centre
CONTACT: Fr. Dave Tremble |
Website Design by Joel Mangilit
The MGL brothers in Papua New Guinea were working for
three years from 1996-99 at Tari in the Southern Highlands of PNG. This
is a very remote area with a primitive infrastructure by Western
standards. The brothers conducted a chaplaincy to a large Catholic High
School, and also cared for a number of outstations in villages nearby.
Through their preaching and conducting Life in the Spirit Seminars,
villages which had previously been involved in tribal fighting have now
given up their war-like ways. Many warriors have been baptised in the
local river and have ceremoniously broken their bows and arrows. The
small churches, which had been practically empty in these villages, are
now overflowing with worshippers. The people have formed cell groups to
be able to share their faith, to praise the Lord together, and to
support one another in their lives . In three years a significant
outpouring of the Holy Spirit has taken place, changing some of the
deeply ingrained sinful structures, and empowering the people to live
the gospel, and allowing them to express their new-found commitment to
Jesus in their own language and culture. Though not present in PNG at
the moment the MGL intend to return to this mission in the future. We
have been blessed with vocations from this country and are waiting for
the appropriate time to return.
The MGL brothers in Darwin were invited by the Bishop
in 1996 to conduct a chaplaincy to the aboriginal people through the St.
Martin de Porres community. This includes a chaplaincy to the Darwin
jail in which most of the inmates are Aboriginal men. They also have a
part-time chaplaincy at St. John's College, which is a boarders school
with a large number of Aboriginal young people. The Sunday Masses at St.
Martin de Porres are very lively and filled with joyful praise and
fellowship. The focus of the mission is on reaching aboriginal men,
since they tend to be shy of the Church, and are caught up in other
concerns. There is also a focus on young people, since they also tend to
be reluctant to come to Mass and can be victims of addictions of one
kind or another.
The
MGL brothers in Manila work in St. Peter's parish in the Batasan Hills
district in North Quezon city. They work predominantly with people who
live in "squatter settlements". which are shanty towns with
limited water supply and electricity, and with crowded conditions. The
brothers conduct Life in the Spirit seminars which empower people in the
Holy Spirit, and help to bring their Catholic faith alive. Many
non-Christian sects are causing havoc amongst the people who have a
simple, devotional faith, and can be easily confused by false doctrine.
The "new evangelisation" which the brothers are bringing
offers the Catholic people an opportunity of a deeper personal
conversion, and a new relationship with Jesus as their Saviour and Lord.
The Missionaries of God’s Love have been entrusted
with the chaplaincy to Canberra University, the largest undergraduate
University in the city. The chaplaincy offers regular Masses and other
gatherings for students to aid their faith development. Young people
from Disciples of Jesus community help the chaplain to reach out to
students who may be alienated from the Church or have never been
Christian at all. It is a fertile field for the "new evangelisation."
The
Missionaries of God’s Love have been entrusted the parish of
Narrabundah in Canberra. This parish is quite close to the formation
house at Red Hill. While caring for the pastoral needs of the
parishioners and facilitating growth in the parish, the brothers aim to
establish a Eucharistic Centre for the region. The Centre will foster
extended Eucharistic adoration, charismatic worship, healing ministry,
outreach to the poor, youth ministry and spiritual renewal. Other
members of the Disciples of Jesus will assist the Missionaries in the
work of the Centre.