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Medical Mission Sisters are among many offering aid and comfort to the victims of the December 26 tsunami in the Indian Ocean. In Indonesia, where 25 of our Sisters are in mission, we have been helping to collect and pack medical supplies and clothing that is being distributed in Aceh Province on Sumatra, one of the most destroyed areas. As one need is met, another is responded to… In South India, where several of our 124 Sisters lost relatives, Medical Mission Sisters have been visiting relief camps, offering health care, clothes, and spiritual support. We also are participating in an assessment of ongoing needs and will be responding to them, as well. For decades a healing presence in India and Indonesia, Medical Mission Sisters will continue to do all we can to help with the incredible relief and rebuilding needs of the sick and poor people of South Asia. If you wish to contribute financially to our tsunami relief and rebuilding efforts, please send your donation to: Medical Mission Sisters Development Center, 8400 Pine Road, Philadelphia, PA 19111. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "We try to 'make room in the inn,'" says Indian Sister Goretti Poovathunkal of our New Jerusalem Laura program, which houses 50 recovering addicts in Philadelphia. Most of the 50 residents were formerly homeless. When the Kensington Welfare Rights Union organized a "tent city" in North Philadelphia for 2 weeks in December, volunteers from New Jerusalem Laura camped out overnight with them. As a result, the cases of 5 homeless families were resolved immediately, and 23 other cases are being resolved. Sister Julia Valiaveetil, also from India, accompanies the homeless at N Street Village in Washington, D.C. Sister Bina Stanis, who is in mission in Jharkhand, India, is pictured at right with a family made homeless in the village of Parej. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . On December 18th, in observance of the 4th United Nations International Migrants Day, our Alliance for Justice Office endorsed a statement by the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. The statement reads, in part, "Migration is a growing, global phenomenon, and there are over 185 million migrants living, working, and building communities in places outside their country of origin. … We call on the global community, including the U.S., to ratify the UN International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, which establishes a comprehensive framework to uphold the rights of migrants." 83 religious and government organizations have endorsed the statement. For the complete text, please visit: www.nnirr.org/dec18/statement2004.htm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Medical Mission Sisters wish you a very healthy and happy New Year. Our 2005 calendars are available upon request. Please e-mail us if you would like to receive one. Also, please send us any special requests for prayers you may have via our "Contact Us" page.
January 1,
2005
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