November 2024
Dear Friend of the Holy Childhood Association,
Greetings to you as we journey through Advent to the immense joys of the Christmas season. As I reflect on my first few months as National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies for the English Canada sector, I am particularly heartened by the work of the Holy Childhood Association (HCA).
HCA helps children in the developing world, children in the most remote communities, children who have been abused, abandoned or neglected, and children who have never heard of God’s great love for them.
This year, HCA continued its support of projects in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Eswatini (Swaziland), India, Myanmar and Zimbabwe. These projects provide food, uniforms, tuition fees, personal needs, health care, pastoral care and missionary formation for poor children in schools, parishes and boarding houses.
In Myanmar, for example, HCA funds safe housing for schoolchildren. Political unrest and violent conflicts have disrupted life in Myanmar, and many families are living in temporary camps for internally displaced people. Some have been in the camps for more than two decades. But thanks to HCA, their children have a peaceful environment to learn and grow in their love of the Lord.
Bishop Philip Lasap of Myanmar calls these homes the “seedbeds of receiving religious instruction and initial formation for vocation to the priesthood and the religious life, and the future leaders of the Church and the country.” And, of course, your support of the Holy Childhood Association not only provides aid to some of the world’s most vulnerable children, but it also supports the programs that constitute the founding mission of HCA — children helping children and children evangelizing children.
Through HCA, children right here in Canada learn about the needs of their brothers and sisters in the developing world and are encouraged to make their own small sacrifices on their behalf.
Inspired by the sincere offerings of all the children who support HCA financially, we invite you to help us continue this critical mission with the gift of your prayers and, if possible, a donation to the Holy Childhood Association today.
On behalf of our missionaries in Myanmar and around the world, thank you for your commitment to the mission. We wish you a fruitful Advent, a blessed Christmas season.
With sincere thanks and prayer,
Most Rev. John A. Boissonneau
National Director
