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

Greetings from Rome

Dear Friends of the Fransalians, 

Cordial greetings to each one of you from AMISALES, the Missionsprokura of the Fransalians in Rome on the occasion of Christmas and New Year. Pope Francis has declared an extra-ordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy beginning from 8th December 2015. The Pope has invited the entire Church to join him in bringing  the message of God’s mercy and compassion to a world afflicted with war and terror. Millions of innocent and helpless people from the war-torn countries are fleeing their homelands. Many more are forced to live in misery being deprived of their basic human dignity due to discrimination, exploitation and persecution and thus finding themselves in extreme poverty and suffering. During this Christmas we like to think of those millions of our brothers and sisters who are in great need and crying for our support. We ask the merciful and compassionate Lord to strengthen us in our commitment to bring peace and joy to a world torn apart  by hatred and violence. Let the shining star over the Manger of Bethlehem be a beacon of peace and hope for a suffering humanity.  

Sponsor a child

Amisales in Rome and the Freundeskreis in Mombris/Kahlgrund have been making a combined effort to appeal for donations in favour of destitute children in the numerous Fransalian Missions in Africa and in India. The response to our appeal has been slow but encouraging. I am happy to inform you that we have been able to find  donors to support over 250 children from Chad, Cameroon, Tanzania, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Namibia, Zambia and India under our program of „Schüler-Patenschaften“. We are grateful to all our donors for their generosity. We have set a target of reaching out to 1000 children in need. Hence we continue this program with the co-operation of all of you. We count on your support to help us accomplish this noble mission of bringing education to so many children who may otherwise will never be able to attend a school. Thank you and Vergelt‘s Gott.  (Photo 2)

10 villages get safe and clean drinking water  

Amisales and the Freundeskreis together have been making appeals for donations towards providing safe and clean drinking water to villages in some of the most backward regions of Africa chiefly in Chad and in North Cameroon. During the past two years, we have been able to complete 10 wells with handpumps installed providing  safe and clean drinking water to at least 10 villages. The villagers themselves have been bearing  a part of the cost by way of their labour. Most of these wells have been dug in the villages in and around Doba and Bero in Chad and around Ngaoundere in North Cameroon. The cost of a well varies from a sum of € 1500.00 to € 2000.00. We are looking for potential donors to extend this program to many more villages in Africa. We have set a target of providing 10 more wells during the year 2016. We invite donors to help us to reach out to the most needy people especially in the sub-saharan Africa. (Photo 3)

A new school at Ngaoundere

Fr. Manoj, the Mission Superior of Chad-Cameroon informs that the project of a new school at Ngaoundere in North Cameroon has at last been launched. The school is already functioning with 130 children enrolled for the year 2015-2016 though the official blessing and inauguration of the school is yet to take place. It is indeed a very promising project designed to help the poorest chidlren of the locality. The Fransalians have been working in this area more than 10 years caring for  three important  missions including the University Parish at Bini-Dang. (Photo 4)

Increase in the Missionary Personnel

The Fransalian Mission in Chad-Cameroon has completed 16 years of its existence.  The Mission has gone through very hard times serving one of the poorest populations in the world. This mission is now striking deep roots on the African soil. The number of missionary personnel is ever on the increase. The Mission is also blessed with a number of local vocations having already three indigenous priests. Over 35 local students are in various stages of formation. The increasing number of young priests from India opting to work in this mission is yet another sign of the vitality of this mission.

By the grace of God  and with the support and encouragement of so many of our friends in different parts of the world, our Chad-Cameroon Mission is indeed making good progress. Thank you one and all.

P. Thomas Cherukat, MSFS

Greetings from Chad-Cameroon

Dear readers of Agape,  

Greetings of peace and joy to all of you from the Chad-Cameroon Mission of the Fransalians, the  Missionaries of Saint Francis de Sales. I take this opportunity to wish each one of you a Very Happy Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous New Year.

We are in the Jubilee Year of Mercy. Jesus the Incarnate Word is the true face of the Father’s Mercy to a fallen humanity. “I desire mercy and not sacrifice” (Mt. 9.13). We the Fransalians are ever grateful to the Lord and to all of you for strengthening and supporting us in our works of mercy and compassion to the suffering humanity especially in Chad and Cameroon where we continue to live in fear and anxiety in the midst of a growing threat of cross-border violence from extremist groups. In spite of the constant threat of war and conflicts in the region the Mission is making steady progress. We have altogether 10 Mission Centres in Chad-Cameroon with 17 priests and over 35 students in formation. The Mission has gone through 16 years of hard work in the midst of great uncertainties. Faced with a hostile climate and  so many widespread diseases like malaria and typhoid, the pioneer missionaries have  been able to lay a firm foundation for this mission. The Mission is now focusing on the education of the poorest and providing safe and clean drinking water to villages where vast number of people are deprived of these basic facilities. Our 2 schools in Chad namely in Doba and in Bero are making a great impact in the overall development of the region. We have just started a new school at Ngaoundere which is yet another milestone in the growth of this mission.  

Sincere Gratitude

I would like to thank each one of you for what you are and for what you do to help us in our work in these missions. I am particularly grateful to the support group, the Freundeskreis in Kahlgrund who under the guidance of Father Thomas Cherukat has been a great help to this mission during the past 10 years. On the occasion of the 10^th anniversary of the Freundeskreis,  I offer my hearty congratulations and sincere thanks to the members as well as their supporters and collaborators  for their commitment and keen interest in helping the poorest of the poor in Africa. I thank all of you for your generous support to our program of Schueler- Patenschaft and the project of Drinking Water. I am happy to acknowledge that over 75 children from Chad and Cameroon have already been sponsored under this program. Besides we have been able to provide clean and safe drinking water to some 6 villages in Chad and in North Cameroon. A big thank you to all of you. Vergelt’s Gott. We count on your continued support for these programs and projects through which we are able to reach out to the most needy people. May the good Lord reward your generosity.

With every good wish

P. Manoj

Greetings from Rome

Dear friends,

10 Jahre Freundeskreis. It is with great joy and sincere gratitude that I greet each one of you. The year 2015 is a small jubilee year for our Verein in Kahlgrund:  „Freundeskreis der Missionare des hl. Franz von Sales/Fransalianer e.V.“ On this joyous occasion I would like to place on record my deep sense of  gratitude to all members and especially to the founding members and the current Vorstand  for the immense work done throughout the past 10 years. I thank God for the gift of such a dedicated group of friends, well-wishers and the numerous donors who make it possible for us to reach out to the poorest of the poor in several countries of Africa and in many other parts of the developing world. A big thank you to one and all. I wish and pray that the Freundeskreis may win over many more members and donors in the years to come to support our work in the missions.

Adoption at Distance

In this jubilee year, the Freundeskreis is focussed on reaching out to the poorest children in some of the remotest villages of Africa chiefly in Chad, Cameroon, Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia. The response to the Program of Adoption at Distance initiated recently both by the Missionprokura in Rome and the Freundeskreis in Kahlgrund has been quite positive. As of now, we have been able to enlist sponsors for more than 50 destitute children in the Sub-saharan Africa and in some least developed regions of India. I thank all the sponsors who have come forward to join this program. We have set a very high target of finding sponsors for 1000 destitute children in the years to come. I request therefore all the members and well-wishers to introduce this program to friends and acquaintances and enlist many more sponsors.

Clean and Safe Drinking Water: Six new wells completed in Chad and Cameroon

A project of providing clean and safe drinking water for villagers in Chad and Cameroon has recently been initiated by the Freundeskreis. The project has been a great success. Six new wells are dug during the past six months. Four villages in Chad and two villages in Cameroon have benefited from this project.

Pater Robin from Doba in Chad writes: „ We have been able to dig a borewell in a village called Bessama near Doba. We found a good source of water at the depth of around 30 meters. We have installed a hand pump. The total cost of the well is FCFA 1,160 0 (€ 1,768 ) of which the villagers had contributed a sum of FCFA 100,000 (€ 152 ) in cash and FCFA 60,000 (€ 91 ) worth of bricks and manual work. Around 1,700 people are profiting from this well. It is the first time that these villagers have access to clean water as they were completely dependent on open wells with contaminated water.

Pater Sandeep from Bero in Chad has reported the successful completion of three open wells in the villages of Ndaba Bebo, Bero Center and Bero Mukasa. The three open wells with hand pumps have been completed at the cost of Euro 1.500 of which a sum of € 220 was contributed by the local community. Around 2000 people in these villages are beneficiaries of this project. Fortunately good source of clean and safe drinking water has been found in the area at the depth of around 20 meters.

Pater Marcel from Ekekam in Central Cameroon and Pater Bipin from Mbe-Karna in North Cameroon have also reported on the successful completion of the projects in their respective missions with similar costs. The people of all these villages are immensely grateful to the Freundeskreis for the necessary financial support. I am confident that the Freundeskreis will continue supporting similar initiatives in the coming years. With a sum of € 1500 an entire village can be helped with a bore well and hand pump. With a similar sum, it is possible to provide two or three open wells with pumps and retention walls and thereby ensure safe and cleaning water to the needy villages.

Education: A New Project at Ngaoundere in North Cameroon

Education is inseparably linked to development. The two mission schools in Bero and Doba in Chad are already making a great impact on the overall development of the entire region. The Mission Administration has therefore decided to open a new school at Gada Mabanga near Ngaoundere in North Carmeroon. Years ago, the mission had received a large piece of land as a gift from a local Muslim ruler for the purpose of initiating educational and developmental projects. The foundation stone for the new school was laid on 28 February 2015. The work is now in full swing. The primary section is expected to be completed by September 2015. We depend very much on the generosity of friends and benefactors for the successful completion of this project.

Welcome to Rome

Amisales, the Missionsbüro in Rome is now a full-fledged co-ordination centre and a contact point for all our support groups who are promoting developmental and educational projects in Africa and India. You are welcome to contact the Amisales office for any assistance that you may need in case you are on a visit to Rome. Hearty Welcome.

Greetings from Chad-Cameroon

Dear Friends of the Fransalians,

Cordial greetings to you from Chad-Cameroon Mission. We the Missionaries of Saint Francis de Sales in Chad and Cameroon are deeply indebted to each one of you for your love and concern for our work in this part of the world.

As for us missionaries, the challenge of evangelization and development go hand in hand. The missionaries and the people in these missions go through the daily experience of a transforming encounter with the Risen Christ. During the last few months we have had a variety of events and experiences of great significance. In the month of February we had the canonical visitation of our Provincial Superior from India. We had our annual Mission Colloquium in the presence of the Provincial. The visitation and the colloquium went on well in spite of the various travel restrictions imposed by the Governments of Chad and Cameroon due to the menacing presence of the Boko Haram across the border in the neighbouring Nigeria. The Mission Colloquium was a beautiful experience of fraternal sharing and exchange which has helped us to decide on a concrete action plan for the coming year.

Some of the major decisions taken at the Colloquium are:

1. To construct a school at Ngaoundere and start the primary section by September 2015.
2. Acquire a piece of land at Doba in Chad and establish a school there for the benefit of all our missions in Chad.
3. Continue the drive to enlist more sponsors for destitute children under the adoption at distance program.
4. Extend the program of drinking water projects to as many villages as possible especially in Chad and in North Cameroon where clean and safe drinking water is very scarce.

I am very happy to inform you that the foundaton stone for the new school at Gada Mabanga in Ngaoundere was laid on 28 February 2015. The work is now in full swing and we hope to open the primary section by September 2015. A big thank you to one and all for your generous support. We the Fransalians in Chad and Cameroon express our sincere gratitude to all our friends and benefactors in Europe especially in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and Italy. We are very much indebted to the Freundeskreis in Germany and Amisales in Rome for their co-ordinated efforts to support our projects. Thanks to your generostiy, we have been able to provide clean and safe drinking water to six villages. We hope to continue this program with your support. The people of these villages are indeed very grateful to you for this timely help.

The Chad-Cameroon Mission is in dire need of more personnel with the increasing workload and ever expanding activities. We are happy that two more young priests and five young seminarians from India have opted to work in this mission. We are eagerly awaiting for their arrival. Once again I thank each one of you for the constant support and encouragement we receive from you. I am also deeply grateful to so many of our confreres who keep contact with our support groups in different countries such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy and USA. I thank all of them for their loving concern and sincere efforts to help us in our work of reaching out to the poor.

With every good wish,