Fr. Herald Brock, CFR and Br. Tansi Ibisi, CFR together with lay Missioners of Christ Justin Gauthier, Carol Restaine and Ashley Basso traveled to Ghana and Cameroon to lead Eucharistic youth retreats in the Dioceses of Ho and Kumbo. In Ghana, our team collaborated with the Franciscan Friars of Africa and youth chaplain Fr. Kizito Pessekuma to provide for the 300+ youth who attended a “break-through” experience of Jesus in the Eucharist that at one point erupted into pure jubilation. That experience was repeated in Cameroon for the 200+ participants in the retreat coordinated by youth chaplain Fr. Paul Verla and lay missionaries Eric and Logan Horne. In addition, we were able to greet the bishops of both dioceses, visit a leper settlement in Ghana and the Shisong Cardiac Centre and an orphanage for small children in Cameroon. It was an amazing experience on the continent of life and joy.

May was a busy month for Fr. Herald in Honduras. The first ten days after his arrival on May 5 he helped fill in for a priest who was ill. Then came the patronal feast of San Isidro, followed by a trip to the mountains of La Paz for youth formation.  On May 21 he participated in the Festival of the Spirit at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish with Missioners of Christ, then visited the Island of Utila for Pentecost. May ended with a week of evangelization culminating with a Pan de Vida retreat at the Ceiba campus of the Catholic University conducted with the help of the CFRs and Missioners from Comayagua.

In the past year, in addition to the direct activities described in Emissary, FMO has been able to:

• Cosponsor a total of 14 patients for heart surgery at the Cardiac Centre, Shisong, Cameroon
• Assist with the rebuilding of a house for religious brothers in Beausejour-Leogane, Haiti.
• Provide for the construction of a home for destitute children and elderly in Paidha, Zumgo, Uganda.
• Help a family fleeing violence in Africa reach safety, reunite and resettle in the US.
• Support a South Sudanese priest studying peace-building and South Sudanese sisters serving in Juba.
• Contribute to new windows in the St. Anthony Shelter for Renewal, Bronx, New York.

• Aug 4 - Sep 15: Honduras

• Sep 24 - 26: Pope Francis in NYC                                    
• Oct 27 - Dec 3: Honduras

           Retreat for personnel of
                Catholic University
           Missionary formation with
                Missioners of Christ

• Dec 5 - 9:  Parish Mission (TBA)