A vehicle for an extensive parish in a remote region  

The parish of Saint Francis Xavier is situated in Lazu, a remote parish in the Diocese of Miao (Northeast India), close to the border with Myanmar. The parish has 10 outstations* and a total of around 2,500 Catholic faithful.

The people of this region are from the underprivileged ethnic minorities and are very poor. Most are forced to work as day labourers for large local landowners and struggle to survive on their pitiful wages. Any small family crisis, such as a family member falling ill, can force them to borrow from their employers and thus fall into wage slavery, since they can never afford to pay back their debts along with the exorbitant interest imposed on them.

The parish is very lively, however. There are two priests and three religious sisters working in the community, and every village also has a male and a female catechist who lead morning and evening prayer each day. The priest visits each of the villages once a week, celebrating Holy Mass there and administering the other sacraments as well.

But some of the villages are as far as 50 kilometres from the parish centre, and the car used by the priests for their pastoral work is already 14 years old and in constant need of repair. It is costing a lot of money to maintain a vehicle that has proven unreliable.

So Father Samuel has turned to us for help. He writes: “If you can help us to purchase a vehicle for pastoral work, then we can further develop and extend the faith formation for the Catholics in the villages of our Lazu parish. The families, young people and adults will steadily grow in their faith and in future be able to pass on the Gospel of Christ to their own children and grandchildren. We need this vehicle urgently since our present car is constantly breaking down. We are counting on your generous help.”

We are proposing to give them $14,352 so that they may purchase a suitable vehicle.

*Outstations are places where there is a chapel or any other place designated by the Christian community to celebrate the sacraments and to gather.