Below are stories from past issues of Columban Mission magazine. The Columban Fathers publish Columban Mission magazine eight times a year. Subscriptions are available for just $15 per year. Sign up to receive our next issue. Read more about Columban Mission magazine.
Growing up in New York City, summers for me were times for relaxing, recreation and fun. There were family picnics, trips to the beach, baseball games, and books to be read and time to relax with my friends.
“I couldn’t manage without them.” That is a phrase one often hears in a discussion between the parish priests in Fiji, whether indigenous or foreign born. They are speaking of the male catechists who serve in both rural and urban areas.
Earlier this year, two Columban Fathers—an Irish farmer by way of decades of mission in Pakistan and an Iowa farmer by way of decades of mission in Korea—and I visited three Columban benefactors on their farm.
Since I joined the Columban lay mission program in 2000, I have learned three different languages: English, Filipino (Tagalog) and Spanish. Since my assignment to Myanmar (formerly Burma) I am learning yet another language – Burmese!
I wonder if the Blessed Virgin was limping during her old age? Nevertheless, I think she will still be there doing what God the Father asked of her. Perhaps even though she was not physically fit during Jesus’ time, she still did what she had to do.
Noh Hyein, better known as Anna (pronounced En-na), a teacher by profession, came to the Philippines in April 2011 with three other Korean women. After a year of studies in Tagalog and English, she was assigned to St. Peter Parish in the Diocese of Novaliches.
My name is Olajoke Ajikolu, and I am from Nigeria. I have five brothers and a sister, and life seemed to be pretty hard for us. I stopped going to school at the age of 16 as the family could not afford the school fees for me.
Bishop Jin, the late bishop of Shanghai, who died aged 97 years in 2013, was Agnes Dong’s great-grandmother’s cousin. Her grandmother on that side of her family was a devout Catholic, but her other three grandparents were not Catholic.
I’ve been here in Taiwan for many years already, and I find it very interesting that a lot of my “kababayan” (countrymen) wanted to work abroad. Initially I felt that people wanted to work abroad for economic gain.
During the national convention of the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians (LAOH) in St. Louis two years ago, I encountered many participants who had a strong connection not only with my native country, Ireland, but also with various Columban missionaries scattered across the world.
The Columbans are a society of missionaries, including priests and lay people, who minister to people of various cultures as a way of witnessing to the universal love of God.