World Mission Sunday: A lifeline for missionaries

World Mission Sunday is a lifeline for thousands of missionaries who bring Christ’s love to some of the most challenging places in our world. These missionaries are often the first to respond in times of crisis and the last to leave the communities they serve.

Myanmar is just one of many countries where the presence of missionaries is a symbol of hope: that in the face of war, poverty and injustice, God’s goodness endures.

For the past four years, the people of Myanmar have been enduring such violence that many have given up hope of ever going back to a ‘normal’ life. Villages and churches are being bombed, schools and hospitals destroyed, families forced to flee to displacement camps, where missionaries are doing their best to care for them, help them with shelter, food and medicine, and give them hope.

‘They are doing all they can’

Amid all this chaos, missionaries and the wider Church are still responding. Fr Stephen says:

‘Priests and Religious Sisters are living alongside the people in refugee camps, offering food, medicine, education – and hope. Despite having very limited resources themselves, they are doing all they can.’

But the challenges are huge. Fr Stephen explains:

‘The situation in displacement camps across Myanmar is deteriorating rapidly. Continuous aerial bombardments and indiscriminate violence have forced thousands of civilians from their homes, further overcrowding existing camps. Newly displaced families often arrive with virtually nothing, seeking emergency shelter, food, and medical assistance. There are widespread shortages of clean water, sanitation facilities, medicines, and education opportunities for children.

He adds:

‘Church-based aid networks are working with local volunteers and missionary groups to continue to provide essential support such as food parcels, temporary shelters, and psychosocial care. However, their capacity is stretched to its limits due to growing needs and escalating risks.’

Watch our short film and find out how YOU can be a missionary of hope to all peoples:

Crucial support for our sisters and brothers in need

Despite overwhelming risks and resource limitations missionaries remain deeply committed to accompanying and serving displaced and conflict-affected populations with courage, compassion, and faith.

Their mission involves several crucial areas:

Distributing food, clean water, medical supplies, hygiene kits, and other essential items; temporary shelters and safe spaces for women, children, and elderly people.
Ongoing pastoral visits, trauma counselling, prayer services, and accompaniment of families coping with loss and psychological trauma.
Informal learning spaces and other initiatives to ensure that displaced children continue to have access to learning and emotional support.

Mission across the whole world

Myanmar is just one of the many places where missionaries are bringing God’s hope to situations of despair. This World Mission Sunday you can support missionaries as they work tirelessly to serve communities in need – at great personal risk and despite their own struggles. As Sr Rosa in Myanmar shares:

‘The IDP people are my family; they are my people. My family is also in a camp but in another diocese. So the IDPs are really my brothers and sisters. I’m really passionate to be working with them.’