Working for a Different World… reflections for the journey home

“She is not a worker, since kids don’t do that.  But she was told to collect firewood from the discarded branches by her mother and aunts to have a stove to boil some rice.  She is safe, but trapped; faithful and hardworking.  She is simply doing the only thing she knows – hard work.

“We are the ones who know better and that, for both of us, makes a world of difference in our obligation to work – together – for a different world.”

These were some of the reflections of National Director Father Andrew Small, OMI as he completed his mission visit to Bangladesh.

His visit to this Asian nation revealed the heroic work of the Church there for the people who are at the most poor and in need.  Father Andrew discovered that those very people are our Catholic brothers and sisters in Bangladesh.

Behind the poverty are numerous reasons, some political and even religious.  Their jobs – mostly in the tea estates for just about 50 cents a day – don’t pay enough for families to have access to houses, or to provide the basic needs for their families.  The Church itself is poor, doing what it can with limited resources.

But love is present in abundance, Father Andrew observed.  “The bishops, priests, religious, and catechists love the people, and the people love them,” he explained.  “That relationship of love and concern has touched my heart.”

And to his heart, Father Andrew took, most especially, the plight of the children of Bangladesh.  “There are children who have no home, no families,” he told UCA News in an interview just before he left to return to the United States.  “They seemingly have no option; they are sleeping on the floors in extreme cold or extreme heat.”

That’s what he found had not that long ago been the reality at St. Anthony Mission Center in Shimulia, some 45 miles north from the capital city of Dhaka.  Like about half of the country’s population, the people in the area just two years ago had no electricity.  Village roads would be muddy and slippery with even a little rain; flooded when rains turned torrential.  The main road is now cement, although still poorly constructed, and some electricity is in place.

Father Andrew made his way through a forested remote area to the center founded by a local priest, Father Dominic Rozario, back in 2005.  There 45 children, mostly non-Christians, receive an education, as well as food, clothing and shelter.  The village has only seven Catholic families who embraced the faith through Father Rozario’s own work and witness.    Over several decades, his outreach to migrant workers and the most vulnerable peoples in these remote areas led to his opening at least five mission centers within the Dhaka Archdiocese.  His own vocation and his work with the most poor and in need was inspired by a now deceased Italian missionary priest.

Three local religious Sisters, all Catechist Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Queen of Angels, care for the children at the mission center.  Father Andrew discovered that the children, up until this year, had no electricity in the center and had to sleep on the floor; they endured sweltering heat in the summer and harsh cold winters.  “Heartbreaking” summed up Father Andrew’s feelings on hearing that news.  He was grateful that the sacrifices of children through the Holy Childhood Association had helped with making a difference for these children.

Speaking of the extreme poverty he witnessed throughout his journey, Father Andrew observed, “That is intolerable, for we who are called to love our neighbor, in our own community and in our world.”

He vowed to tell the story of the poor of Bangladesh.  “Our love needs to be there with them,” Father Andrew emphasized.  “They need more – they need our prayers; they need our support.”

“The Church’s credibility comes in the fact that it turns no one away,” he added.  “So I think when we do raise our voices because the situation is intolerable, we do so based on our credibility, that we are with the poor yesterday, today and tomorrow.”

As he completed his mission visit to Bangladesh, Father Andrew recalled the great joy and love of the people – and their repeated message to him.  “What the people have said to me most often was, ‘Father, the most important thing is you came to us; we are so often not on the path that people travel,’” he said.

“And I think that’s the Church at its heart, the missionary Church,” Father Andrew continued.  “Like the Lord Himself, not waiting for us to turn to Him in need, but He comes rushing to us.  We need, as Church, to send our love – in prayer and support – to the poor of Bangladesh and all the Missions.

“Yes, we are the ones who know better and that, for all of us, makes a world of difference,” Father Andrew concluded.

Contributing to this report was Rock Ronald Rozario, head of operations, Bangladesh, for UCAN/ucanews.com.

More photographs from Father Andrew’s missionary journey in Bangladesh may be found on our Facebook page. Also on Facebook, scenes from Father Andrew’s stop in Thailand on his journey home – and what 10,000 soda can tops and the Holy Childhood Association there are doing to make a difference!

Father Andrew Small, OMI, National Director, visited St. Anthony Mission Center in Shimulia, some 45 miles north from the capital city of Dhaka. There 45 children receive an education, as well as food, clothing and shelter. "We need, as Church - to send our love - in prayer and support - to the poor of Bangladesh and all the Missions," Father Andrew said.  Yes, we are the ones who know better and that, for all of us, makes a world of difference."