Greetings From Rome

My dear Friends of the Fransalians,

This is the last Agape Africa addressed to you from Rome. I wish to greet each one of you a very joyful and peaceful Christmas. Christmas is indeed a time of sharing and caring. May this Christmas be an occasion for all of us to reach out to the poorest of the poor in the remotest regions of the world. Care and concern for the neglected and abandoned should be a joyful responsibility for every Christian. The birth of Jesus as a poor little baby in a stable at Bethlehem challenges us to be on the side of the poor and the needy. I wish to thank each one of you for your love and concern for our Fransalian Missions all over the world especially in Africa.

All our missions in Africa are growing steadily. The Fransalians are now working in 10 African countries namely Chad, Cameroon, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, Zambia, South Africa, Namibia and Swaziland. Over 150 Fransalians – most of them are from India – are actively engaged in a large number of educational and developmental projects in these countries. Over 70 African candidates to Priesthood are in various stages of formation in these Missions.

P. Dr. Tom CHOZHITHARA, MSFS my successor in Rome has already taken up his responsibilities as the Director of Amisales. However he needs more time to take up his permanent residence in Rome due to his commitments unfinished works in Uganda where he has been the Director of a newly established school. He is expected to be fully present in Rome only from April 2018.

As for me it is time to leave Rome. On 28^th December 2017 I will take the flight to Bangalore, in India from where I will proceed to Mysore, a small city of 1 million inhabitants and join my new community there on 1^st January 2018. Mysore is not new for me. I have spent 20 years of my priestly life in the Region around Mysore and Bangalore. From Mysore I hope to continue the work of mobilizing resources for the missions in Africa especially for our Chad-Cameroon Mission. I hope to continue the ongoing projects of “Schuelerpatenschaften” and “Trinkwasserprojekte” in close collaboration with the Freundeskreis/Agape in Kahlgrund/Germany. Thank you one and all for your readiness to help our missions thourgh your generous donations and support.

Before I leave for India, I have planned a visit to our Chad-Cameroon Mission from 5 – 20 December 2017. Mr. Bernhard Melchart from Vienna, a long-time friend and benefactor of our Chad-Cameroon Mission will also be travelling with me. I am looking forward to the joy of being once again in Chad and Cameroon where I had spent 7 years of my missionary life. On my return to Rome I hope to spend Christmas at Vatican. It has been an enriching experience for me to have lived in the Eternal City for the past 10 years. Certainly I will miss Rome very much. But it is part of our missionary vocation to be constantly on the move. It is also a joy for me to return to India after 17 years of missionary service outside. “Bloom where you are planted”. “ Everything by love and nothing by force” said our Patron Saint Francis de Sales.

As I say Adieu to you all from Rome, I hope to be in touch with you all from India through Agape and through emails and Whatsapps etc. I wish you all a joyful and grace-filled Christmas and Blessings of God in abundance in the New Year 2018.

God bless
Auf Wiedersehen
P. Thomas Cherukat, MSFS

Greetings From Chad-Cameroon

My dear readers of Agape Afrika,

Greetings of peace and joy to you from the Chad-Cameroon Mission of the Fransalians. I wish each one of you a very blessed Christmas and a grace-filled New Year 2018. We the Fransalians in Chad and Cameroon thank God for the marvelous ways He has guided us and protected us all throughout the past 18 years. The year 2017 has been an year of blessings for all of us. Through the generous help of friends and benefactors from all over the world we have been able to complete the construction of a minor seminary at Ngaoundere in North Cameroon. The new seminary is scheduled to be inaugurated in January 2018. A new extension of La Feuillette, our Mission Headquarters and the Theology Study House at Ngoya near Yaounde has also been completed. The inauguration is scheduled to be held on 8^th December 2017.

This year we are fortunate to have received a generous contribution from the friends and benefactors through the Amisales of Rome and through the Freundeskreis of Kahlgrund towards the education of 128 children from our missions in Chad and Cameroon. We have also been able to continue the drinking water project by providing two more wells to the needy villages in our missions in Chad and Cameroon. A big thank you to all our friends and benefactors.

An entirely new educational complex is coming up at our Doba Mission in Chad. It is a project of great promise for this poverty-stricken country. The Congregation has acquired sufficient land at GAKI about 3 kms from Doba. The construction of St. Francis de Sales school is already underway. The first phase of the school with 7 class rooms will be ready for inauguration in January 2018.

We are also grateful to our friends and benefactors in the Frieden Christi Parish in Munich and in the Parish of Saint Francois de Sales in Annecy, France for their continued support towards the development of our SFS School at Gada Mabanga in Ngaoundere. We are also immensely grateful to the many donors who help us through the Verein Agape Austria for a number of projects in Chad and Cameroon.

We give thanks to God almighty for the many good vocations we receive from Cameroon and Chad. We have already three young priests from Cameroon. On 8^th December one more Cameroonian will be ordained a deacon at La Feuillette. This year we had six novices from Chad and Cameroon who made their first profession in the Congregation. A new batch of 5 novices have entered the novitiate. Over 20 candidates will enter the new minor seminary at Ngaoundere for their initial formation.

Dear Friends and Benefactors, We thank you for your prayers, support and encouragement. May the Spirit of God bind us together with a strong bond of love and affection while working for a noble cause. We also promise our prayers for you and for your intentions.

May God Almighty reward your generosity.

Yours cordially,
P. Manoj Arackal, MSFS

Greetings from Rome

My dear Friends of the Fransalians,

Greetings and good wishes to each one of you from Rome. It is with much joy and gratitude that I am sending this message to you. I am immensely grateful to God and to so many generous and kind people in Germany, Austria and Switzerland for helping me to work for the poorest of the poor in Chad-Cameroon and in other parts of Africa for the past 17 years. It was in the year 2000 that I left India for Chad-Cameroon to establish a new Mission there. It was indeed a long and tedious missionary journey for me all these years. Then in the year 2008 I had to leave Chad-Cameroon to take up a new assignment at our Generalate in Rome from where I continue to work till today. After having served the General Administration of the Congregation for a period of 12 years I was assigned to our community at Vatican with a new task of organizing a Missionsprokura for the Congregation at the global level. Through your generous support and encouragement I have been able to establish the AMISALES Mission Office in Rome in the year 2013. This office is now fully functional with all the necessary structures put in place. It is now the official Missionsprokura of the Congregation catering to 10 countries in Africa besides India and several other mission countries where the Fransalians are working. Besides facilitating several important projects in Africa and India the Amisales in Rome together with the Agape Afrika in Kahlgrund, Germany this Mission Office has been able to find sponsors for more than 450 poor children mostly from the African countries and from India. This Mission Office has also been able to help several villages in Chad, Cameroon and Mozambique with more than 20 projects of drinking water facilities. Thank you to one and all for your ready support and encouragement. Vergelt’s Gott. 

Change of Guard  at AMISALES in Rome

After 17 years of missionary service outside India, it is now time for me to return to my native mission in India where I belong to. A new Director for the AMISALES in Rome has been appointed. Fr. Tom  Chozhithara, a  young and dynamic priest from Uganda will take over as Director of AMISALES in Rome from 1 November 2017. Fr. Tom who is 45  hails from India. He did his theological studies in Tanzania and worked there as a missionary for several years. He has a Doctorate in Theology from the University of Munich. He has also worked as a Pfarrvikar in the diocese of Regensburg. For the past few years he has been working in Uganda building up a new mission there. I am very happy to extend a warm welcome to  Fr. Tom and wish him every success in his new assignment as Director of AMISALES in Rome. As for me, I am scheduled to leave Rome for India on 28 December 2017 to take up a new assignment at Mysore near Bangalore. I will however continue to be a member of the Chad-Cameroon Mission and mobilize support for the numerous projects. I hope to set up a Missionsprokura in India and network with AMISALES and other similar offices in the Congregation and co-ordinate the various projects and programs for the missions. Thank you very much for your continued support and encouragement.

Agape Afrika and Freundeskreis in Kahlgrund

I am happy to inform you that I shall gladly continue to animate the Freundeskreis in Kahlgrund and keep in touch with all of you through the Newsletter Agape Afrika even when I am away from Europe. I hope to visit Chad-Cameroon Mission once a year. I shall also be visiting Europe once a year in order to keep in touch with friends and benefactors besides the many donor agencies. I wish you a pleasant summer holidays with good rest and relaxation. God bless.  

Yours cordially

P. Dr. Thomas Cherukat, MSFS

Greetings from Chad-Cameroon

My dear Confreres and Friends of the Fransalians,

Fraternal greetings of love and good wishes from the Missionaries of Saint Francis de Sales in Chad and Cameroon.  

SOME GOOD NEWS

I am happy to inform you that some of our long-cherished dreams and projects are now becoming a reality. The construction of a minor seminary at Ngaoundere in North Cameroon and the extension of La Feuillette, our Study House at Ngoya in Central Cameroon are nearing completion. At present there are 13 priests working in this Mission caring for the 9 major centres in the two countries of Chad and Cameroon. Four more young priests from India are expected to arrive in the Mission during this year. Moreover we have 38 seminarians at various levels of formation. The future is indeed very bright. The Mission is at last becoming self-sufficient at least in terms of personnel.

A NEW PROJECT AND AN APPEAL FOR HELP

Fransalian School and Childrens’ Home at Doba in Chad

Three Fransalians from India had arrived in Chad some 18 years ago (1999) with very meagre resources to work in a very hostile climate and learning new languages in the midst of  frequent outbreaks of diseases such as malaria and typhoid. The story of their missionary journey is replete with joys and sorrows, success and failures, fatigue and dynamism. During the past 18 years the Fransalians have developed two large missions at BERO and at DOBA in Chad with two important educational institutions besides the various other developmental programs initiated for the benefit of thousands of poor people in the remote villages under these two missions.

The new project located at a central place in the little town of DOBA is the third school that the Fransalians are developing in Chad. The primary goal of the project is to provide quality education to children especially to the poorest and the marginalized in a wholesome learning environment. The Chadian educational system is one of the least developed in Africa. Quality education based on a healthy and integral human formation is expected to equip the upcoming generations to break the vicious circle of poverty and achieve the much needed self-reliance. It will open up new vistas of progress for a population which remains highly illiterate and neglected for centuries. Agriculture in this region is on a subsistence level. The socio-economic status of women in Doba is below average. This is largely due to a high level of illiteracy among them. This has enormous negative impacts on the state of family life and society. Due to perennial poor harvests, lack of employment opportunities and low family incomes, educating the children has become almost impossible for most households. The present project therefore proposes to provide orphans and other underprivileged Chadian children quality education and essential life-skills. The first phase of the project proposes to construct 9 classrooms, a staff room  and twelve toilets besides a residence facility for the staff. The project is designed to have a total built up area of 1625.36m².  

The cost estimate for the first phase of the project is a huge sum of  € 411,503.00. A number of donor agencies such as the Papal Foundation in USA and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Italy have already come forward to support this project. However we still need to raise a sum of € 200,000 towards the completion of this project. If funds are available we expect to complete the first phase and start the primary section of the school by September 2018. We make an earnest request to our friends and benefactors to donate generously towards this worthy project in one of the poorest countries of the world. With the limited available resources we have already initiated the construction. The work is going on well. We are ever grateful to all our support groups in Europe such as the Freundeskreis in Kahlgrund, Germany for their constant support for all our projects. Vergelt’s Gott.

ONGOING PROJECTS

I request your continued support for the following ongoing projects. I am particularly grateful to the Freundeskreis in Kahlgrund and to the Friedens Christi Parish in Moosach-Muenchen for their constant support for these projects.

1. The Second Phase of the Fransalian School at Ngaoundere. The ongoing project of Saint Francis de Sales School at Ngaoundere in North Cameroon is now entering into the second phase of its growth. The number of children has gone up from 130 to 216 in the current year. We need to construct another 6 class rooms for the next academic year at a cost of € 64.000.00. We look forward to your generous contributions towards this project.
2. Schuelerpatenschaften  is an ongoing program initiated by Agape Afrika and Amisales Rome. More than 100 children from the Chad-Cameroon Mission have profited from this program. A large number of new applicants are on the waiting list. We are ever grateful to our benefactors for helping so many poor children. We do appreciate your generosity and love for the poor.
3. Drinking Water Projects. It is an ongoing project depending very much on the availability of new sponsors and donors. More than 20 wells have been dug in the past three years with the help of so many generous donors. Unfortunately we are now short of funds for the continuation of this project. We request your help.

Dear readers of Agape Afrika, I wish each one of you God’s choicest blessings. May the good Lord reward your love for the missions.

Yours cordially,

Rev. Fr. Manoj Xavier Arackal MSFS
Mission Superior (Chad-Cameroon Mission)

Greetings from Rome

My dear Friends of Fransalians,

It is Christmas again. I wish to greet each one of you a very Happy Christmas. It is my prayer that all of us may experience the joy and peace of Christmas in our own personal lives so that we may be able to work more effectively for peace and harmony in the world. Christmas is not merely a feast. It is essentially God’s  own message of love to the whole of creation. It is a message addressed to the entire human family that we are all children of God and as such we are called to be brothers and sisters. May this Christmas strengthen our hope for a more peaceful world founded on genuine love  and compassion.   

Pope Francis has officially closed the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome marking the end of the extra-ordinary jubilee year of mercy. It is now for each one of us to keep the doors of our hearts and minds open to communicate  the message of God’s mercy and compassion to a world that is increasingly witnessing immense suffering and extreme poverty  caused by unjust structures and armed conflicts.

400 children sponsored under the Schuelerpatenschaft Program.

I am happy to inform you that our Schuelerpatenschaft Program continues to make some progress. We have been able to help more than 400 children drawn from  9 countries in Africa besides India. However the number of children seeking our help is also on the increase. Hence I would like to make an appeal to all of you to encourage your friends and acquaintances to join our program of reaching out to the poor children in some of the poorest countries in the world. It will be a beautiful gesture of mercy and compassion in the true spirit of Christmas. Please remember that your contribution of Euro 10 per month or Euro 120 per year offers  a bright future for a poor child  in a distant land. May God bless your generosity. 

22 Wells completed in Chad-Cameroon

During the past few months, five more wells have been dug in our Chad-Cameroon Mission raising the total number  of wells completed so far  to 20 with a large number of villagers benefiting from them. We would like to extend this project to many more villages in Chad and also if possible in a few more countries in Africa where the need is most. Your contributions are earnestly solicited.

Saint Francis de Sales School at Ngaoundere, North Cameroon

The ongoing project “SFS School” at Ngaoundere has been making steady progress. More than 200 children are already enrolled. The school needs more class rooms and other basic facilities. We count on your generosity to realize our dream of making this project a big success in the coming years.

A New Project in Doba.

It is in Chad in the diocese of Doba that we the Fransalians began our work some 18 years ago. Being one of the poorest countries in the world we would like to bring education and development to the area where we are entrusted with two large missions. The mission has already acquired a piece of land in a prime place at Doba. We are now in the process of establishing a school and hostel at Doba to begin with. We shall keep you informed of the further developments on this project as and when it is being initiated.

I am indeed very happy to acknowledge the enormous goodwill that we experience from our friends and benefactors. It is my wish and prayer that this grace-filled season of Christmas and  New Year bring us much joy and happiness through our acts of mercy and compassion. God loves a cheerful giver. Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you.

Yours cordially

P. Dr. Thomas Cherukat, MSFS

Greetings from Chad-Cameroon

Dear Friends of the Fransalians,

Greetings and good wishes from the Missionaries of Saint Francis de Sales  in Chad-Cameroon.. The year 2016 has been an year of grace for the Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales working in the Chad-Cameroon Mission.

During the past one year we have experienced an unprecedented growth of our mission. The newly established school at Ngaoundere in Cameroon is fully operational with 205 children enrolled  in 5 classes with an average of 40 children per class. As the demand for new admissions are on the increase, we have planned to construct more class rooms in the coming years. We are particularly grateful to our friends and benefactors in Germany, Austria and France for their continued support and encouragement for this worthy project. I would like to place on record my heartfelt gratitude to P. Sen Vellakada in Austria and P. Jose Kananaikal in Germany besides P. Thomas Cherukat in Rome for their constant support and encouragement.  I thank the members of the newly founded Agape Austria for their initiative and enthusiasm.

In recent times we do face a lot of difficulties in our missions in Chad due to the political and economic situation in the country. The sharp fall in the price of petroleum products has put the Chadian economy in serious trouble.  There is a general strike going on in the country. Many of the state-run schools and institutions in the country remain closed. Trusting in God we continue our work for the most needy.

We have been able to complete yet another 5 wells in Chad of which 2 are in Bero and 3 in Doba. This ongoing project is mainly aimed at making available clean and safe  drinking water for the remote villages and thereby  prevent deadly diseases like malaria, typhoid, cholera, jaundice etc. This project has already helped us to save so many lives of new born babes in ours missions of Doba and Bero. We look forward to your continued support for the extension of this project to many more villages in our missions. The Schulerpatenschaft program initiated by the Amisales in Rome and Agape in Germany  has been able to bring much relief to a large number of poor families in Chad and Cameroon. More than 100 children from our missions are directly supported by Amisales and Agape  for their education. We thank all the sponsors for their kindness and  generosity towards the poorest of the poor.  

Our mission has recently acquired a good piece of land at Doba in view of establishing an educational institution for the benefit of the poorest sections of the population. We have planned a school and hostel for which we depend very much on the financial support from our friends and benefactors. We hope to initiate the construction by February 2017.

A minor seminary was a long cherished dream of this mission. This dream has now become a reality. The newly built seminary at Ngaoundere is scheduled to be blessed in February 2017. The Congregation is blessed with a number of candidates to priesthood both from Chad and Cameroon. It is our fond hope that sooner or later our missions in Chad and Cameroon can be fully manned by the indigenous priests themselves. The missionaries from India who have pioneered this mission are ever grateful to our friends and benefactors for their generous support for the formation of native vocations in Africa. 

“La Feuiellette”, our main Mission House at Ngoya near Yaounde has been serving as a multipurpose house namely the Mission Headquarters, a major seminary and a minor seminary. Due to the scarcity of space for all our candidates and students, we have initiated the work on an extension of “La Feuiellette”. We are grateful to several donor agencies such as the Papal Foundation and the Church in Need for their timely help towards this important work.  

HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND A BRIGHT NEW YEAR

We, the Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales in Chad and Cameroon extend to you our warmest Christmas Greetings to you. We pray that the healing touch of Jesus Christ may bring much joy and happiness to each of us.  The message of Christmas  is clear. Christ is born. God is with us. That is the Good News. Christmas is indeed a family feast. Families re-unite, near and dear ones come together, friends and acquaintances  exchange greetings and gifts. I take this opportunity to greet you, one and all and to express our deep sentiments of gratitude to all of you who have been by our side in our effort to help the poorest of the poor in our missions. May the Lord accompany each of us on our journey in 2017. God bless.

Yours lovingly

Rev. Fr. Manoj Xavier Arackal MSFS
Mission Superior (Chad-Cameroon Mission)

Greetings from Rome

Dear Friends of Fransalians,

Students sponsorship program extended to 10 countries

Drinking water projects: 7 more wells completed

Saint Francis de Sales School at Ngaoundéré in North Cameroon

Projects Planned

• A Fransalian School at Doba, Chad
• An Internat at Doba, Chad
• An Internat at Ngaoundéré, North Cameroon
• A Fransalian School at Ekoumdoum near Yaoundé, Central Cameroon
• An education centre for the training and formation of Lay-leaders at Ngoya in Obala, Central Cameroon
• A Fransalian School at Buea, South-West Cameroon

P. Thomas Cherukat, MSFS

Greetings from Chad-Cameroon

My dear Friends of the Fransalians,

A Kindergarten at Bero in Chad

Fransalian Mission at Buea in South-West Cameroon