No Room at the Inn, But a Home with the Sisters
As the story of the Birth of Jesus tells of Mary and Joseph who, in Bethlehem 
for the census, could find no “room at the Inn” at the time of our Saviour’s birth – so is this story being re-written today, where children and their families in Mission lands are looking for a room to call home. One can see this in Egypt, as in the past two decades, thousands of Sudanese have left their war-torn homeland, in search of a better life for
National Director, Father Andrew Small, OMI, met Sudanese children in Egypt on Christmas Eve.
their families in Egypt; in fact, some estimates put the number of Sudanese who have fled to Egypt between 750,000 and four million.
The Lord’s love is born in the hearts of homeless men and women as they are welcomed to a home run by the Missionaries of Charity – Blessed Mother Teresa’s Sisters. Here 11 Sisters care for 65 men and women and also provide food and other aid to the poor families in the surrounding neighborhood.
And many have found help – and hope – at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Alexandria – thanks to $7,000 from the Missionary Childhood Association. Here, families receive assistance with providing food and an education for their children.
Each year, your support of the Missionary Childhood Association directly reaches children in 1,111 Mission-dependent dioceses, mostly in Africa and Asia. Just this past year, more than 3.5 million children and their families benefitted from this help. Throughout the Missions, through the MCA, that support keeps the following going day-in-and-day-out:
- 9,000 clinics caring for the sick
- 10,000 orphanages, providing a place of safety and shelter
- 900,000 children in more than 1,200 schools in some of the poorest parts of the globe receiving education and the knowledge of God’s love where our brothers and sisters receive education and health care, and come to know the reason for all our hope- Jesus.
Students from St. Robert’s PREP in Warrington making rosaries given to Missionaries.
Sister Lisa Valentini, MSC, started her lifelong commitment to MCA while in elementary school in PA. She now serves as a Missionary in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Elementary school children in Catholic schools and parish religious education programs inthe Archdiocese of Philadelphia offer prayer and sacrifice for their brothers and sisters growing up in Mission lands through Missionary Childhood Association. You may remember doing do yourself as a child, making sacrifices for “pagan babies,” or “sharing your love” as a member of the Holy Childhood Association, as this Pontifical Mission Society was formerly known in the United States. Throughout its 171 year history, the Missionary Childhood Association has united Catholics around the world in prayerful and material support so that children in the Missions may know Christ and experience His love and care.