I n June the national director of Pontifical Missionary Works Fr. Ivan Štironja, in agreement with Fr. Franjo Ivandić, the parish priest of Prozor and the dean of the Rama Deanery, visited the Parish of Prozor and, as a part of the mission's presentation, celebrated Mass at 8, 9:30 and 11 AM..

The director on that occasion pointed out that the visit to the Parish of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is first and foremost a thanksgiving to God, and then an acknowledgment of thanks to all the friends of the missions in the parish headed by the parish priest Fr. Franjo.

Although his intention was just to announce the start of an action to help build a secondary school in Rwanda, where our missionary Fra Ivica Perić is, and which, with the permission and blessing of our bishops, starts on July 1st, the Prozor parishioners supported the action straight away. On a stand in front of the church so much money was collected that Fra Ivica’s mission in Kivumu will be able to buy a knitting machine (costing 320 EUR) that will be operated by local people with disabilities.

We wrote earlier about this particular project on our webpage. But we think that it’s important to add that the donation was already handed over to Fra Ivica Perić to be spent with the intention for which the money was collected. Beside the Prozor Parish, the Mission Central in Sarajevo also participated in the action, sending additional 320 EUR for a second knitting machine.

Fra Ivica is very happy because these gifts will make it possible for children and adults with disabilities to “earn their own bread”. They are otherwise condemned to a life of begging and dependence on other people’s aid and mercy.  Fra Ivica had previously set up a colourfully painted container nicknamed – “The Tin Man“, in which he intends to fit several more machines (in addition to the initial two).

Fra Ivica will be purchasing the knitting machines in the near future and setting them up for use in a location on the premises of the vocational school. “The Tin Man” container (photo) where the machines will be placed arrived last year at CFJ Padri Vjeko school thanks to good people from distant Canada. The transportation cost a lot, but friends of missions in Canada took care of all the expenses and greatly helped the children of the Kivumu mission by donating enough books for an entire school library as well as many other useful things.

The seminarians who delivered the monetary gift to Fra Ivica have seen how hard the financial situation of the Rwandan people is. Already during the first days of their stay in Rwanda they experienced the friendly hospitality of Fra Ivica and other local people, who, despite the recent war and enduring poverty, live with smiles on their faces. It’s especially worrisome that there are rich Rwandans who are blind to the needs of their fellow countrymen.

Nevertheless, it’s obvious that love, as it was demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ, knows no boundaries, so that poor Rwandans receive hope and assistance from the good people of the Prozor parish, entire Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Germany, and even far-away Canada. God, who secretly sees everything, will surely reward them.

Translated: by Branimir Mlakić
Edited by: Valerie Kae Ken

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