News and Events 
| Orange, CA (January 10, 2012) – Today, representatives of the Diocese of Orange Missions Office will depart for the Philippines for a drastically different experience than their original plan. When planning began more than a year ago, the goals were to be of presence and service in the Sisters of the Company of Mary mission in Cagayan de Oro, Mindanao. The program was to include conferences on the history, culture and present day social issues of the Philippines, as well as to learn about and work in a preschool, women’s learning center, and a young adult center in the impoverished region. In mid-December, Typhoon Washi swept through riverside and coastal villages in the southern Philippines causing widespread flash floods and landslides and resulted in more than 1,000 dead and countless others displaced. Among the cities hardest hit was Cagayan de Oro, the destination for the Orange County mission group. “The dynamics of our presence and service there have changed drastically,” says Lincoln Nguyen, Missions Coordinator for the Diocese of Orange. According to Nguyen, the preschool / learning center suffered severe flooding leaving only the walls and roof still standing. The doors, windows and everything inside is gone. Surrounding homes and structures in the area were completely destroyed. “Our activities will now be focused on relief and recovery efforts as we will try to do whatever we can to help our brothers and sisters in need. While there we will go wherever needed, though at this point we won’t know our specific activities till we get there,” said Nguyen. Thousands of displaced local residents are housed in shelters. The Mission group expects to volunteer to help distribute food/water/supplies etc. They will also connect with the agencies already on-site such as CRS (Catholic Relief Services) to help in their efforts as well. The host organization, Sisters of the Company of Mary, will coordinate all efforts for the Missions group. “The sisters say that the needs of the people are great and many… one of those needs is just having someone to listen to their stories to hopefully help comfort and console them. So that’s something we’ll be doing for sure in one of the shelters,” concluded Nguyen. For More Information: Diocese of Orange Missions Office - http://www.rcbo.org/missions-office.html Sisters of the Company of Mary - http://odnphilippines.org/ |
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