On the day of the earthquake in Syria, Norma, her three-month- old baby, and ill father were sleeping deeply when the walls of their house started shaking so violently that it collapsed.

In just a few seconds, she found herself in the street with her child and father.

They slept for two nights on a restaurant floor. Then Norma, her baby, and father were welcomed by our friars at the Franciscan Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She and her family, just like many other families who sheltered in the church, were helped immediately with mattresses, blankets, pillows, baby formula, diapers, clothes, and hygiene items.

As Franciscans, we live a life in service to people who have the least, our sisters and brothers who live on the margins. No matter where in the world we are called, we give direct service to the poor.

Many people in the missions have no home. For some, natural disasters like the recent earthquake in Syria and Turkey or ravaging flood waters in India and Pakistan have left them homeless.

For others, as in Africa and Asia, extreme poverty keeps people from obtaining safe, secure shelter. Parents living in these conditions can barely provide food for their children. Four walls and a roof over their heads are often beyond reach.

How do homeless families protect themselves from the elements? How do they survive day-to-day living without a home?

Since February of this year, Father Louay, Father Hanna, and our other Franciscan missionaries in Syria have been sheltering, feeding, and providing medical care to thousands of poor families left homeless by the earthquake. Now they are beginning to help families repair and or rebuild their homes. As you can imagine, this will be a long, expensive process.

Will you please give an especially generous gift to help us provide a safe, secure home to a poor family?

Father Peter Ho Tung Ngoc, OFM, guardian of St. Anthony Friary in Pakse, Laos, needs assistance to remodel a dilapidated building to house 20 ethnic boys from remote, rural areas where they do not have the opportunity to go to school.

Our missionary friars will pay for these poor, unschooled children to attend school and provide them with room and board. The boys will also receive vocational training in electrical and motorcycle repair.

Once complete, the dormitory will be able to accommodate 20 students for the school year! They will now have a chance to receive an education and break the cycle of poverty.

In Burundi, Africa, Father Victor Nkundayezu, OFM and our other missionary friars plan to build 7 new homes for the elderly and for infirm parish families who are struggling to survive. They live in mud homes without doors or windows and cover the shacks with grass. When it rains, water pours through the roof.

Our friars have targeted the 7 most vulnerable families of their parish and plan to build simple brick homes with windows, a door, and a corrugated metal roof that will keep the families dry in the rainy season.

Father Rajasekhar Gopu, OFM from the Province of St. Thomas the Apostle in India and our other missionary friars are also planning to build 5 simple, safe homes to protect 5 of the most vulnerable families they serve from the rainy season and winter.

Those being helped include an elderly couple, a woman who lost her husband recently, and 3 families who are homeless and work as day laborers. Each home will have a solid roof, windows, a door, one bedroom, a kitchen, and a bathroom.

Father Jim Bok, OFM is working with our friars in Negril, Jamaica, to help poor families repair their homes or to build new homes for families that have lost their home to fire. Fr. Jim and our friars have been doing this for years and will continue the work since the need is so great.

These are just a few examples of our missionary friars helping the poor obtain safe housing. But they need your help. You can bring them hope. You can help vulnerable people obtain four walls and a roof over their head, so they are protected from the elements!

Could you offer a special gift to help our Franciscan missionaries ease the suffering of people who struggle to survive each day? We can accomplish so much together.

Please send a merciful gift today to help provide a safe home for a family left homeless by the earthquake in Syria or a family living in extreme poverty. Your generosity offered to one of the least of our sisters and brothers is offered to Jesus!

God bless and reward you for the great charity and kindness of your heart.

Sincerely,

Brother Andrew Brophy, OFM

Executive Director

P.S. Thank you for your great generosity to the poor. Know that you are in the prayers of all our Franciscan missionaries each day!

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