Each one of us is called to share the mercy and compassion of Jesus Christ with others. As Franciscan friars, we serve poor and marginalized people with humility, kindness, and love. Thank you for your gifts because we cannot do this important work without your help.
You have been a blessing to Franciscan missionaries this past year. Through your prayers and generous support, you have responded to the call to help those less fortunate. Your steadfast commitment is evidence of your genuine love and compassion for people in need throughout the world.
On behalf of Franciscan missionaries and the people entrusted to their care, thank you for your gifts from the heart this past year. Thank you for hearing the cries from people who are hungry, lonely, wounded, suffering, and outcast among us. Your response to help us help others is a sure sign of God’s mercy.
Through Your Prayers and Faithful Generosity
- Together, our missionaries around the world feed, educate, and provide medical treatment to thousands of orphans and other children living in the streets near our missions.
- Your support has enabled us to treat people suffering from malaria, tuberculosis, and leprosy at our hospital in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa, and other clinics in developing countries around the world.
- You have helped us care for thousands of children and families in war-torn Ukraine by providing them with food, medical assistance, and other essential items.
- You helped us provide emergency assistance to earthquake victims in Haiti, typhoon victims in the Philippines, and flood victims in India and Pakistan.
- Your generosity enabled us to provide safe, secure homes for the poor in Jamaica, India, and Kenya.
- You also helped us expand the Assisi Boys Home in Meghalaya, India, to house an additional 50 children.
These are just a few examples of the breadth and depth of our work with the poor around the world. In this New Year, these same types of service to the poor will continue through the tireless efforts of our Franciscan missionaries.
Thank You For Your Gifts
Your prayers for us bless the Franciscan Order with vocations, and your gifts have helped us educate and form future Franciscan missionaries who will serve the poor for generations to come. I am sure you can imagine the hope, joy, and renewed life these young men represent to our worldwide Franciscan community.
We will continue to support the education and formation of young men who wish to dedicate their entire lives in service to God and the poor as Franciscan missionaries this next year. Many come from poor, developing areas of our world where their Franciscan presence is needed. Some must be turned away because the Order does not have enough funds for their education and training.
In many locations, young aspirants and novices are sleeping on the floor or sleeping in bunk beds six to a room in a space designed for two people. Some Franciscan provinces cannot accept more young men because there is no space.
Finding the funds to house, educate, and form young men to serve as Franciscan missionaries is a great challenge that our worldwide Franciscan Order faces in the New Year.
I hope you take pride and joy in what you have helped accomplish in partnership with our Franciscan missionaries. If possible, I ask you to consider continuing your support in 2023, and I invite you to share ever more deeply in our Franciscan lives and ministries.
As Franciscan friars, we live each day in faith that God will always provide. And God has blessed our Franciscan missionaries and the poor they serve with faithful and caring friends like you. We thank God for you!
Happy New Year,
Brother Andrew Brophy, OFM
Executive Director
P.S. Your faithful commitment and generosity strengthen us for the challenges of the year ahead. We are so grateful to have you walking with us as this New Year unfolds. I thank you in advance for your support of our work with the poor in the missions.