Dear sisters,

To live in the hearts of those we love is never die. so, 18th of January is the Memorable Death Anniversary of Our Mother Euphrasie Barbier. May our foundress intercede for each one of us as we continue to follow her footsteps by doing mission and sharing our mission stories.

We wish you a very Happy New Year 2020! May this New Year bring joy, peace, happiness and prosperity to each one of you dear Sisters across the Congregation.

Dear sister Josephine, team members, the chapter organization group and all the delegates wishing you all the best and may the Spirit of God be with you and anoint all of you, praying for the success of the General Chapter.

With grateful hearts we thank God for the blessings and graces we received, and we are happy that many faithful attended the Eucharistic Celebration on the Christmas Eve, December 24, 2019.

Also we are happy that some migrants had come for Mass on December 31, 2019 and attended the morning New Year Mass on January 1, 2020. It is indeed a tremendous joy of experiencing God's love in many ways

.EVERY STEP I TAKE, GOD LEADS ME WITH HIS GRACE

“Filled with zeal, we witness and proclaim the Gospel message of love, unity, peace and justice. With free, joyful and generous hearts, as disciples of Jesus we go wherever we are sent…” (Const. 34)

After nearly two years of studying Chinese at the Providence University, I was sent to the Parish of Douliu from 1st of June to start practicing my ministry. Every weekend, I came to Douliu Parish for Mass; in this parish I have opportunities to work with the parishioners, eg. Sharing the word of God with them, listening to their sharing and praying with different groups. Every Monday, together with the parish priest and some parishioners, we go to visit and also give Holy Communion to the sick and the elderly.

Sunday after Mass, there are many activities for the children, the youth and adults. I join the children in their catechism classes. This gives me another opportunity to practice my Chinese pronunciation. Therefore, I always keep in my handbag the children’s book. These children are so simple! When I practiced Chinese with them, they said: “Sister, if you want to pronounce the word correctly, you need to roll your tongue or let the air get through your teeth…. otherwise, you might pronounce another word and of course, its meaning is totally changed…” Thank God for sending these lovely teachers to me! I always appreciate the time I have spent with them. Regarding to the sick and the elderly, I thank God for sending me to be with them. I can see in their eyes how much they long for receiving “the Body of Christ”. How much they have to struggle in dealing with all the difficulties in their daily life, but they always have beautiful smiles on their faces and they still promise that they will pray for me, a missionary in . These make me reflect deeply on my mission, asking myself ‘What more can I offer to support them?’ The time I have been working in Douliu parish is so meaningful to me; it draws me into a deeper relationship with God and with our parishioners. My second ministry was at the High School of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. I was replaced sister Minh Trang for three months. As a result, I joined Our Lady of Perpetual Help school from September 9th and working at this school has made me so stressful because of the schedule which has a lot of activities. I was worrying about the language barrier which could limit me to operate some kinds of activities. To be honest, I have spent a lot of time in front of God crying and begging for help! Thank God that He did not give me too heavy cross beyond my capacity. On the other hand, He is pouring upon me abundant blessings. He has provided me a good friend, a lovely sister, Sr. Minh Trang, and a very good supporting team: Mr. Zhang, the principal and his staff.

They know and understand how limited I am, therefore each one of them tries to help me in different ways: for example, every day one teacher comes to help me improving speaking skill for fifteen minutes. This gives me opportunities to prepare for our monthly Masses, and weekly Bible sharing with staff. Together with the teachers and staff at the school, we pray for the wellbeing of the school throughout the year. With regard to the students, I had a chance to accompany students at the camp “Preparation to adulthood for third year senior students”. They learn to become future leaders by practicing how to guide others, how to make others believe in their guidance, how to trust in others and how to let others guide them. They have time to think of the meaning of their name. The highlight of the camp was the ritual of washing of the feet, a symbol of love and serving in the Bible: the teachers first washed the feet of the students; then the students in return, washed their teachers’ feet. At night, the teachers and students spent time together to build up their friendship. This event makes me recall a lovely and special time that I had in Balay Euphrasie Davao, Philippines. It was the time of grace, the time that God engraved His love in my heart and I deeply experienced His love for me. Whenever the challenge or struggles arise, I let my mind go back to the time in Balay Euphrasie, the time of “honey and milk” that energizes me in order to continue carrying out God’s mission in Taiwan.

Anna Kim Hanh Rndm

Encounter with Indonesian Muslim brother-sisters in Douliu, Diocese: From 2019 May, I was invited to join as a member of Inter- religious Dialogue Group. This office includes 2 priests, one sister and 3 Taiwanese lay people from the diocese. My mission is to take care of the Indonesian Muslim brothers- sisters who come to work in Taiwan since they have no one to company them because of different religion and the type of work. They (Ladies) mainly take care of elderly people in private families. Therefore, they rarely have free time to come out. Some men work in the factories. Since I was entrusted this, I started to find them at the weekends in the church, visiting families, at the railway station where many come to relax, or in the public park where they bring the elderly to get fresh air. Some Ladies are afraid of their employer when they stop and talk with me even though they are happy to share their life with me. They expressed their joy whenever I greet them with a few Arabic that I picked some greetings from my home land, Bangladesh. I also try to use a few Indonesians words/phases to dialogue with them which gives them extra joy. Thus, every day I am learning the importance of having the language of the heart, and a listening heart is one of the ways to participate in the Divine mission in a simple manner. Molina Rndm

God’s countless blessings through RNDM Family:

July 10th - 19th, 2019. I had an opportunity to make my annual retreat with North East Province of India, which is very near to Bangladesh. In fact, we can greet each other from both sides. I am grateful to CLT for allowing me to cross the Indian-Bangladesh border to have my annual retreat during my home leave, I also express my heartfelt gratitude to Sr. Mildred K, Provincial of INE who welcomed me to join them and to arranging for me to visit some nearby communities, to see the sisters whom I had met in different places and time as an rndm . The retreat theme was on Echo-Spirituality, directed by Fr. Robert, SJ. His meaningful presentation, and creative liturgy prepared by our sisters helped me to make deeper dialogue with God, I enjoyed and appreciated it so much along with the beautiful weather and marvelous nature. I feel also blessed by God for able to spend time with my mother during her eye treatment in Dhaka, near RNDM convent during my home leave. I express my heartfelt gratitude to Sr. Reba De Costa, Provincial and her team members for giving my mother a place to stay in the convent during the that time, which was a great help to my mother and me. At the same time, I was able to help her and also do the necessary required work for my returning back to Taiwan mission. I am grateful to each of you, dear sisters in provincial, Progaloy, and Marialoy community for your love, generosity and kindness. May God bless you. Love and Gratitude.

Molina Rndm Journeying with migrants:

On 21st July 2019, with a group of migrants, we attended the funeral of a migrant as well as accompany his loved ones at the cremation sight. It is a heart-broken experience for us each time to be with such a tragic situation when the migrant come to Taiwan to work but lost their life due to heat-attack or accidents either inside or outside the workplace. In cases not relating to working accidents, they are not got any compensation and support from their company. Their families even have to spend the money to come to get the remain of their loved one. With the community of the faithful, we often help raising fund to give them some humble support. We also continue the mission to accompany migrants to hospital, to the police station, to their factory when they need our assistance. We offer shelter for those who need more rest and recovery after the medical treatment or surgery. The theme for the migrants and refugees this year from pope Francis was touching us so much, “It is not just about migrants”. We organize for the migrants to study the theme and journey with them on migrants Sunday celebration. It is a grand feast for all of us and a joyful day for the foreign migrants within our diocese.

Annual retreat:

This year we were so blessed to have our annual retreat at Benedictine sisters’ convent in Tanshui, with the guidance of Sr. Elaine, a sister of Verbum Dei Fraternity. We spent an eight-day retreat with God, accompanied by our retreat director, a Singaporean missionary, who has been in Taiwan more than 20 years. The theme of the retreat is the Beatitudes, based on the Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis on the Call to Holiness in Today’s World. The highlight of this retreat for me is to spend more time to pray, to reflect and learn from the Bible. Sr. Elaine skillfully guided us to pray with the Bible passages with a fresh approach, to savor the word of God in a different way, especially to be aware of ‘God is at work’ with me and with each one of us. When seeing the sign “work in progress” on the road, everyone needs to slow down when passing through this road. With the grace of God and sister Elaine’s help, I experience God is so patient with me. In return, I am invited also to be patient with myself and others. Moreover, there are many voices in my mind, in my heart, and in the environment and in the surrounding area in which I live. The question for me is whether I listen to the voice of God and fulfill God’s will in my life? How do I apply the beatitudes in my daily life? I thank God for this opportunity to be in the Benedictine sisters’ convent where I can join them in daily prayerful liturgy and mass. The beautiful nature helps me to be connected with God, with myself and others. We have also learnt much from sr. Elaine’s practical experiences, especially the way to be creative in our missionary life in Taiwan.

Thank you from M. Minh Trang, Rndm:

Deep in my heart, I would like to say thank you to Sr. Jo, CLT, Taiwan New Foundation, Vietnam province, Bishop Thomas Chung and the principal of the Perpetual Help High School for granting me the temporary leave from the mission to be and to help my mother in her sickness during the last three months (September 16 to December 16, 2019). I truly appreciated this special time to accompany my mom in her pain, worry and her faith journey. It is not only me to help her but she has taught me numerous invaluable lessons. During this time being with my family in the local church, I took this opportunity to learn how to journey with/or help the family in their difficulties. Consequently, on behalf of my mother and my family, I once again would like to thank all of you who continuously pray, support and help us in different ways. May God bless you all.

Sr. Josephine visit to Taiwan New Foundation

We were so happy to have sr. Josephine Kane who came to visit us from the 01st to 10th September 2019. In this visitation, sr. Jo brought us so much joy, concerns and a sense of connectedness with the congregation as a whole. She specially With Bishop Bosco, Bishop of Tainan. gave each one of us a small card with different gifts of Surprise, Faith, Creativity, Wonder and Awe, and Courage which are so true to us. Particularly, we read and shared together chapter 4 of the constitutions which continues to give us new insight and support for our religious missionary life. We are grateful to sr. Jo for spending time with us in our ministry at school, with the migrants and with the parishioners. Visiting Chiayi Bishop Thomas May God bless you always with God’s peace and graces.

Minh Trang Rndm Home Rosary

Nothing is impossible with God. What we need to do from our part is to wait patiently as we know that God will lead his people in the right path. This year in October 2019, it is a tremendous joy because every family in our parish are open to host Rosary prayer in their home. As a result, each Wednesday of the week, we go along with 2 parish priests, together with a group of parishioners to pray Rosary in one family. Rosary prayer is a way of supplementing our prayers life and essentially attempting to draw us closer to Jesus through his mother. Health and wealth are pointless without an internal relationship with God. The rich man ’s material treasures were a barrier between him and salvation: Hence, Christ’s invitation to call him to follow the path of life (Matthew 19:21). Our own path will not lead us to Heaven; only the path that Christ made for us will.

Graduation of pre-married couples and Chinese class

We are pioneer to organize a pre-married- catechism class for three Taiwanese couples in Shanhua parish. We firstly design the program and seek different catechists and invite them to collaborate with us in this field. The process is really interesting and learning experience for us. We are truly amazed by the generosity of God through the people who are willing to support us in this venture. “Do not be afraid, only believe” (Mk, 5,36). We deeply experience that when we have a restless heart for the mission and dare to step forward, God will show us how to do and send the people of good will as God’s angels to help us along the way. In October, we had two class graduations. Pre- married catechism class for the local Taiwanese youth and Chinese class for the migrants. We pray that the class can provide these young people enough knowledge and wisdom as basic equipment which they can use effectively in their life journey.

Nurturing our spiritual life

On November 23rd, We Rndms in Taiwan gather together in Douliu community to have monthly recollection with the theme: “The mystery of Incarnation and the Beatitude in Gaudete Exultate” led by fr.Nilo, CS. Twice in a year, we have monthly recollection together in order to share the same spiritual food, our life, and our sisterhood. At time we take turn to prepare the reflection by ourselves, we also can opt to invite a director to help us with a selective theme. Thanks to Kim Hanh this time to for drawing us closely to God’s call in the Gaudete Exultate: Rejoice and Be Glad, a call to holiness. May we continue to peruse this call with a sincere heart in our daily life and mission, as well as to discover the saint “next door”. Let us continue to learn, to support and to encourage each other to respond to this call. Charity Action in Partnership:

This year one of the charity actions was donating the good shoes to send to African countries where many brothers and sisters were suffering from feet deceases, because of barefooted walking on the sands. Sacred Heart school students were very devoted to cleaning and checking to send the best to our needy brother –sisters in Africa. It was an inspiring life-giving experience for them as well as teachers who were companying them. Many Teachers and students offered as a gift which are not used or used but still good. We have 3 days (23-26 November 2019) to collect them and collected 48 sacks of old shoes. This action was done in partnership of the Protestant school of Taipei. This small action gave everyone joy extra Happiness. I was also happy to company to this event. This event makes me believed that the young people only needed a little motivation and encouragement to do something great. Molina

Engagement and wedding party in Shanhua

In Taiwan, it is very common to have a mix- marriage between a catholic and non-Catholic couple. As a result, the wedding in the church is relatively rare. In a mix- married family, the children are usually not raised up as a catholic. Doing pastoral care in Taiwan context, we experience so much difficulty when we help the children in catechism and prepare them for blessed sacraments. The children have very little knowledge of Catholic faith because it is not practiced frequently in their family, even the very simple act such as making the sign of the cross or praying before meal. On November 26th 2019, Shanhua parish was so excited and moved to have a wedding ceremony because the last one in this church was 19 years ago. When our youth got married with a non-Catholic, they usually do not come to church anymore. As a result, the number of the faithful in the parish is diminishing. It is a big challenge for us as missionary as well as for the Church in Taiwan as a whole. We pray for this couple. May God bless them and journey with them to the end of their married journey. THE JOY OF CHIAYI DIOCESE: On November 30th 2019, there was an ordination to the priesthood for Rev Liu Yong Qin. The whole Diocese of Chiayi was so happy and delighted, because the last ordination of a local priest was in April 24th 2010, 9 years ago. “I can do all things through God who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13). This is the motto that Father Liu has chosen for his priesthood journey. Father Liu has been an English teacher and has done a lot of work before joining the seminary. He was baptized about fifteen years ago. Our newly ordained priest is very good at working with the young people. We hope that the diocese could have more vocations from the youth group that Fr Liu is in charge of. We, the sisters of Our Lady of the Mission in Taiwan New Foundation would like to congratulate and share our joy with the Diocese of Chiayi. We also ask you please to continue to pray for the Church in Taiwan to have more good vocation to work in this vast field. Anna Kim Hanh Rndm

Christmas preparation:

We are blessed to have the Filipinos and Vietnamese migrant communities to help for Christmas preparation and all the works of decorations every year. We are really grateful to the migrants who were always ready to supports us. We acknowledge their contribution to the church and being as the witnesses of Catholic faith especially here in Taiwan.

Christmas and New Year Celebration: We five RNDMs come together to celebrate Christmas and New Year on 1st of January in Shanhua community. It was a happy time together though our celebration was simple but meaningful.

We are happy to share our newsletter with you which reflected of each of our involvement in different ministries and activities. These are helping us to enrich our spiritual lives as well as deepen our passion for missions.

The Lunar Chinese New is approaching. Surrounding Decorations reminding us of Chinese new. In Taiwan this festival is one of the biggest festivals. During Christmas day is the working day, but this festival has one week holidays and family union days. We RNDMs from Taiwan New Foundation wish you dear sisters A Happy and prosperous Lunar New year.