A village chapel for a remote parish

Last year, we presented you with a request from Father Arbok Lyngdoh of Moharpara in northeast India. He was asking for help on behalf of his faithful to build a new chapel in the village of Twichalong, just one of the 31 outlying communities belonging to his parish of the Immaculate Conception. The local faithful were longing for a proper chapel of their own and had made great sacrifices to this end, but being extremely poor, they could not manage to raise the necessary funds through their own efforts alone.

You responded generously to their request and your donations allowed us to provide $19,600. The chapel was formally consecrated on the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord. There was great rejoicing, since the old chapel had become far too small and had fallen into disrepair. At last, the 245 Catholics of the village had a proper chapel of their own!

We would now like to pass along Father Arbok Lyngdoh’s words of thanks: “I want to thank you for your generous contribution to the construction of this chapel. Your help was a great blessing for the people here, who have seen their dream of a proper chapel finally come true. I join with all the Catholic faithful who want to express their happiness and joy at the fact that they now have this new church where they can pray to God and celebrate Holy Mass together. The building of the church has brought the community still closer together, after they worked hand in hand to achieve this goal. The church was completed within five months—a real testimony to their determination. The joy they feel in following Jesus is clearly evident in their lives.

This beautiful chapel has been consecrated to the Divine Mercy, and I give thanks to Almighty God for the abundant graces that He has shown us through the generosity of our benefactors, who have in this way helped our own faithful here to experience the intervention of God in their life of faith. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!”