This upcoming weekend, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux Parish is pleased to welcome Father Andrew Mbinkar Berinyuy, Sch.P. for our annual mission cooperative. Father Andrew will preach at all parish Masses. Thank you in advance for your generous support of the missions, and welcome, Father Andrew!


Dear Brothers and Sisters,

St. Joseph Calasanz visiting Rome in 1648 could not stay indifferent to the negative human and social consequences of ignorance. In the midst of the social crisis, God called him to found a religious order dedicated to social transformation through education. That is how the Order of the Pious Schools (Piarist or Calasanzian Fathers) was founded. 

In the Central African region, the Piarist Fathers, following the example of their founder are responding to severe human and social crisis at all levels. In the English-speaking part of Cameroon in particular, a civil war has been going on for four years. About 3,500 lives have been lost, 550 villages burned down, 3000 imprisoned and the worst of it is that about 1 million children have not been to school for four long years. The negative consequences of this war are enormous: malnutrition and hunger, fear and trauma, violence begetting more violence, separated and displaced families with many orphans and widows. 

The only thing that is keeping the people alive is their faith. Despite all odds, the church remains the only institution that is present to give hope to the people. It is therefore for the humanitarian, pastoral and educational needs of these people that we are making this mission appeal. The funds will be used to assist families who are barely managing to feed themselves. Also, we want to develop homeschooling by providing the educational material to children at home given that going to school in an environment of continuous gunshots is a great risk. 

Furthermore, given the bad economic situation of these families and coupled with the limited medical facilities, the health needs of these people cannot be met. The coronavirus pandemic has come to make a bad situation worse. Your generous donations will definitely help us provide the medication and the medical assistance that they so much need.

Fr. Andrew Mbinkar Berinyuy, Sch.P.