List Of Divine Stories

This past May for Mother’s Day, a local florist donated flowers worth a few hundred dollars to be given to the women of St. Thomas and Risen Lord parishes in West Virginia. The florist recognized the good works being done by Father Thien Duc Nguyen SVD and his parishioners.

My mission experience here in Brazil reminds me that what makes a church is not a building – it’s a place filled with people of faith.

Fr. Alexander Rödlach is a teacher, a priest, a medical anthropologist – in short, he’s a modern-day missionary.

When Aloysius Aisi Oa told his family about his plans to pursue religious life, they were shocked. “My mother said, ‘Are you joking? You’re a grown man,’” he recalls with a chuckle.

In June 2023, SVD Vocation Director Fr. Tuan Hoang, SVD led an 8-day service trip to Jamaica. He was accompanied by three young adults who volunteered their time to help serve parishes and people in need on the island.

“It is not easy being a missionary, but they [the people] animate our members,” said Father General Kleden, who served in Switzerland and Indonesia before his election to the General Council in Rome in 2012.

From distrust to awe, trucker converts to Catholicism in West Virginia.

Seminarian Brian Junkes, SVD, the Florida native, recently completed his Cross-Cultural Training Program (CTP) in Chad and moved back to Chicago to complete his theology studies and formation towards the priesthood, but first he shared a little more about his time in Chad.

Food pantries managed by Divine Word Missionaries serve as a lifeline for families in West Virginia. In addition to national inflation, many West Virginians suffer from persistent poverty, the type of poverty that lasts for generations. Missionaries like Father Thien Duc Nguyen SVD provide food that keeps them fed when federal government assistance runs out.

Annually, Father Thien buys more than 200 turkeys for Thanksgiving. This year, he and his volunteers anticipate that they will need many…

I have the privilege of working with the Hispanic immigrant community on the beautiful islands of Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean. It has been both a joy and a challenge. While it brings me great joy to see the progress and success of our programs and spiritual care, it also can be difficult to witness the hardships that these diligent people face.