Dear members of the Dehonian Missionary Family! We are happy to share with you the summary report of the activities of the Secretariat for Foreign Missions of the Priests of the Sacred Heart for the year 2024.
Olsztyn, January 5, 2025
Jesus Christ be praised!
It is with great joy that I address this New Year's letter to all the Benefactors gathered in the Dehonian Missionary Family. With complete sincerity and without undue exaltation, I want to say that it is difficult for me to find the right words to thank you for the immense good that could happen in the past year in the missions thanks to our cooperation. What is material also expresses our faith - faith that the words of the Lord Jesus recorded in the Gospel are still relevant and important to us. Through material gifts and the works carried out thanks to them, we contribute in a very real way to the proclamation of the Gospel in various corners of the world. Thank you for this!
As every year, we send a numerical and graphic summary of the activities of the Secretariat for Foreign Missions of the Priests of the Sacred Heart. The largest part of the money donated to missionary projects comes from financial donations from individual Donors. However, under the banner of "Zbieramto" in our community there are also other forms of activity that allow us to support missions "without money". Silver and gold jewelry donated to us, cell phones, "Good coins", large electro-waste or waste paper translate into hundreds of thousands of PLN more in aid to the poor among whom the missionaries live and serve. We also sell unique devotional items and Coriss brand jewelry. Exceptional, among other things, because they are made from precious metals, which we receive in the form of "scrap". In other words, they are recycled products.
The Dehonian Missionary Family already has more than 20,000 members. In 2024, this family has grown by as many as 4,000 people. Thank you for your trust! For our part, we are placing more and more importance on creating spaces for meetings with Missionary Benefactors. I am glad that the "Active Benefactor Weekend", which was held on the so-called "long May weekend" at the Mission House in Olsztyn, gathered so many people. We also continued to visit missionaries and aid recipients in distant missions in 2024. In March, seven Donors of the Kasanag Home for Girls (KDF) flew to the Philippines! We are already making plans for the next missionary pilgrimage for members of our Dehonian Family, and at the end of the year we want to organize a Padrinos trip to Santa Cruz, Bolivia. We will report on the details of these proposals in our next correspondence. Meanwhile, children and grandchildren of missionary Benefactors are traditionally invited to "Vacation with Missions and Languages" in Kosice Małe near Tarnów in the second half of August 2025.
I can safely say that "no more words are needed". I place the 2024 Report in your hands and wish you a pleasant reading! Let me assure you that at the Mission Secretariat we remember to pray every day for every Missionary Benefactor.
Have a good 2025, and God bless you!
With prayer +
Deputy Secretary for Foreign Missions of the Priests of the Sacred Heart in Poland
Fr. Piotr Chmielecki SCJ
