The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make his face shine upon you and give you peace!
Greetings!
The first week of 2021 is already history and what a week it has been! My prayer is that our country and each one of us will experience God’s loving protection as we move on. The uncertainty of what the future has in store could be scary. However, we have the assurance that the Lord is with us at each moment.
On Saturday, January 9, we completed the celebration of the Novena of Nine Holy Masses for your intentions and in thanksgiving for your friendship and support of our ministries at home and wherever Missionary Benedictines are represented.
As I look at the statistics of our fundraising efforts in 2020, I have to admit that in spite of the many challenges the covid-19 pandemic brought upon us, our friends have been loyal and supportive whenever possible. Thank you for standing with us so that we could help others.
As part of our commitment of transparency and of being good stewards of the donations entrusted to us I can report the first results for the projects we submitted to our friends for their consideration of support.
Lenten Appeal 2020 – new addition to the convent in Chipole, Tanzania $115,000
Sacred Heart Appeal 2020 – safe staff housing in Peramiho, Tanzania $103,000
Novena Appeal 2020 – new convent at Litembo Hospital, Tanzania $107,000
Poor Souls Appeal 2020 – renovation and addition to house in Lome, Togo $ 90,000
Christmas Appeal 2020 – support of African & Asian monasteries and
ministries of Christ the King Priory, Schuyler $194,000
Total income from five “house appeals” towards specific projects $609,000
In addition to the support of our appeals, we had income from daily correspondence, requests for celebrating Holy Masses, our birthday greetings and acquisition mailings, a program that targets prospective donors. We added new donors to our database and these too have become loyal supporters and friends. We are grateful to God for all the friends who identify themselves with our ministries and support these whenever possible.
I am happy to state that on average it costs us only $0.15 to raise $1.00 and the mission office has financial resources that cover all our expenses so that every donation given for a specific purpose or general mission is credited 100% as designated.
In 2020, we raised the Grand Total of $1,912,000. People in Africa and Asia benefited from your generosity. As stewards of the funds entrusted to us, we support ministries and projects that will benefit all brothers and sisters whom we Missionary Benedictines serve.
God bless you with good health! We in turn include your intentions in our daily prayers.
Bro. Tobias, O.S.B.
Director of Development