Divine Stories
Fr. Adam MacDonald, SVD (left) and a crew of volunteers help repair a local home in Gassaway, West Virginia.
There are two questions that donors never tire of asking charities such as ours. How did you use my donation? Did it make a difference in anyone’s life? We are posting these stories to answer these questions. We think you will like them. They are short and personal. The settings range from the South Side of Chicago to the “hollers” of West Virginia to the poor neighborhoods of Kingston, Jamaica. In every case, your generous support enabled our missionaries to touch the lives of people with the love of God. Thank you!
The Many Roles We Play
Martin is a Chicago Province SVD seminarian completing his oversees pastoral training. Currently developing his missionary skills in Bolivia, he wants to share with us few words about his experience.
VIVAT International Promotes Dignity and Human Rights
Each religious order has a specific “charism” or focus that defines its distinctive community and purpose. But did you know that there’s a faith-based organization made up of more than 25,0000 religious sisters, brothers and priests from 12 Catholic religious congregations who are all united in a singular mission?
Relief from the Trauma of War
Father Andrew completed his theological formation in the Chicago Province and was ordained at Techny. Currently, he works in Uganda and provides assistance to families in the Bidi Bidi refugee camp.
Planting Seeds and Reaping the Harvest
Fr. Adam is a member of the Tri-Province Vocation Team and writes about challenges of searching and accompanying candidates with missionary vacation.
Almost Heaven, West Virginia
We began our journey to West Virginia at daybreak the Saturday before Spring Break. We desired to feel God's presence and have His blessing for this new experience, so we began by praying the Liturgy of the Hours together.
Sunlights of Serenity
What a wonderful and different gift Father Michael Tomaszewski received shortly after his ordination in SVD Chicago Province, on May 21, 2011. A bicycle! He was most grateful to our benefactors for this unique gift. He knew it would come in handy in his first assignment as parish priest along the Sepik River in his new assignment in Papua New Guinea.
He Did Small Things with Great Love
He had a gift for giving in the small ways that touch your heart, make you laugh or your job easier. His ministry was of small, everyday things—running an errand, fixing a machine, changing a watch battery, making a new staff member feel welcome, brushing snow off cars, helping ESL students with their English, showing them how to count change, writing a sympathy note to a friend or benefactor—so many missionary acts of kindness.
Learning New Lessons
Only few years ago Betanora was part of our Techny, Novitiate community. Now he is in Brazil on his Cross-Cultural Training Program to experience missionary life and return Chicago and continue his Theology studies.
We Ordained Two Missionary Priests
Two men were ordained as Divine Word Missionary priests on May 28th in Chicago.
Pain and Sadness in Ukraine
Parishes located in the quieter regions of Ukraine are actively involved in organizing help for those in need. This is the case in Wierzbowiec, in the Southern part of Ukraine, where the Divine Word Missionaries urgently transformed the retreat center into a home for people escaping the war.
