Help Us Help The Handicaped in Liberia, West Africa
Help Us Help The Handicaped in Liberia, West Africa
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"My daughter, if I demand through you that people revere My mercy, you should be the first to distinguish yourself by this confidence in My mercy. I demand from you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to excuse or absolve yourself from it. I am giving you three ways of exercising mercy toward your neighbor: the first-by DEED, the second-by WORD, the third-by PRAYER. In these three degrees is contained the fullness of mercy, and it is an unquestionable proof of love for Me. By this means a soul glorifies and pays reverence to My mercy. Yes, the first Sunday after Easter is the Feast of Mercy, but there must also be acts of mercy, and I demand the worship of My mercy through the solemn celebration of the Feast and through the veneration of the image which is painted. By means of this image I shall grant many graces to souls. It is to be a reminder of the demands of My mercy, because even the strongest (163) faith is of no avail without works." "O my Jesus, You yourself must help me in everything, because You see how very little I am, and so I depend solely on Your goodness, O God (Diary, 742)." Through this web site, we are continuously trying our best to praise and thank Jesus, our Divine Master, for all the blessings he has bestowed on us. In St. Faustina’s diary, Jesus asked us to spread this devotion through PRAYER, WORD and DEED. Many have asked how the mercy of God can be spread through deed. All around our world, there is turmoil and every day we are presented with many opportunities to alleviate suffering. For many years now, we have been working with the children of war in Liberia, West Africa. This small country has recently ended a 14-year civil war where hundreds of thousands were slaughtered. Because of superstition, the rebels felt that if they killed a child or young adult with a disability, that they would become handicapped themselves. Unfortunately, the little, Polish, Franciscan missionary, whom we were working with, who saved thousands of lives during the war, and who was caring for so many disabled had to return to the States two years ago because of age (84 years old) and because she had completely lost her vision. There was no other Order or anyone willing to go over to Our Lady of Fatima Rehab and continue to care for so many residents and to run a school for over 900. Thus the younger children were placed with their families (who really didn't want them) and the older ones remained on the land running the school with over 250 students. In the interim, the Teach Peace Foundation in Davis, CA intervened and offered to assist us in locating many other handicapped children who are hidden throughout the country. If we are able to raise enough funds, we can help so many suffering from polio, cystic fibrosis, deafness, cerebral palsy, blindness and post-traumatic stress disorders. At this point, many are just being left to die because it is a stigma to have any kind of disability. We have sent many 40-foot containers out of Pennsylvania filled with food and daily necessities, just to keep thousands alive during the war. Today, sea containers are not reaching the people and there is only 5% employment within the country. We have begun numerous programs and have set up a livestock program in Liberia. As donations come in, we distribute goats and chickens to villages so that some can at least have a little milk and a few eggs. We have a team on the ground in Liberia who continue to collect goats and chickens as they procreate and then we are able to distribute animals to a few more villages. It is a slow process, but it is working. Six years ago, David Dionisi, founder of Teach Peace, founded an orphanage for able-bodied children (Liberia Mission) and it has been extremely successful. All these are war orphans. Right now, the financial needs for the handicapped in this country is urgent. Unfortunately, without funding we cannot make any progress in getting care of any kind for these children. Here, we can fulfill the third request of Christ of spreading Divine Mercy through DEED. No donation is too small. Donations may be made out to the “Teach Peace Foundation” and mailed to my son at: Executive Director Africa Peacemaker Programs Teach Peace Foundation 47 Harford Avenue Shavertown, PA 18708-1242 U.S.A. For those in the U.S., all donations are tax-deductible. Please feel free to email me at erockensies@epix.net if you have any questions. www.teachpeace.com |