To live a faith that promotes justice also means to operate and make decisions amidst difficult and challenging environments. When confronted with such environments, a variety of images will fill our feelings, imagination, minds, and hearts. Ignatian spirituality pays special attention to the discernment of images, when we are still searching for meaning as a previous condition before looking for solid solutions to concrete problems. Continue reading “Learning To Promote Justice In A Chinese Enviroment”
Learning To Promote Justice In A Chinese Enviroment
A special café opens at Banteay Prieb
Banteay Prieb, the Jesuit vocational training centre in Cambodia, has opened a café managed and staffed by young people with intellectual disabilities. The café provides these young people with practical skills that can help earn a living.
The café serves traditional Cambodian coffee and tea, and Khmer breakfast and lunch menus. It also offers typical Italian coffees, such as espresso, Americano, cappuccino and latte, fruit smoothies and juices. It was built with funding support from the Korean Jesuit NGO Joy of Sharing Foundation and inaugurated on July 2.
“We hope that after they finish the Banteay Prieb café training, our students will become more financially independent. After the training they can start a small business to support themselves and their family,” said Phalla Kim, Special Education Programme Manager at Banteay Prieb.
Banteay Prieb (Home of the Dove) began its Special Education Programme in 2015 to help young people with intellectual disabilities who are often at risk of social exclusion. “These are persons who suffer great neglect back home and in their villages,” said Br Noel Oliver SJ, who was part of the original team that set up Banteay Prieb in 1990 to help landmine victims and those affected by polio.
In the years that have followed, the number of people with physical disabilities has greatly declined and a number of the centre’s students now are accident victims. The fewer number of physically disabled students inspired Banteay Prieb to expand its services to helping people with intellectual disabilities.
The Special Education Programme has 14 students whose intellectual disabilities include mental retardation, autism, epilepsy, Down syndrome, spasticity and cerebral palsy. The curriculum combines practical life skills with vocational skills training to help the students become independent and self-reliant.
In the first year, the students learn how to manage on their own activities of daily living, such as bathing, cleaning, washing clothes and using a cellular phone. In their second year, they learn other practical skills such as cooking, agriculture, taking public transportation, shopping for food and groceries and money skills like calculating correct change. In the process, they develop their social skills and become more socially integrated. After they graduate, the students have the option to do one or two years of practicum at the Banteay Prieb café to further develop their self-confidence and self-esteem, learn management skills and how to start up income-generating activities on their own.
The Banteay Prieb staff believes that having the Special Education students run the café demonstrates that people with special needs can lead productive lives and can contribute something of value to the community.
“It’s a great service to these youth who have been really neglected in the past,” said Br Oliver. “Their parents have already seen what their children can do if they are given the right atmosphere and opportunity to grow.”
Youth Ministry
Whether it is at home, in the community or in the Church, care and concern of youth is a number one priority, and the Society of Jesus is no exception. From the very beginning, the ministry for youth has been a prime apostolate. The Constitution of the Society (No. 538) pledges the Society to undertake “the education of children and adults” as a “sacred task.”
For this reason the earliest members of the Society established throughout the world educational institutions at both high school and college levels, in order to provide and nurture their students intellectually, culturally and spiritually so they could lead meaningful, significant lives.
In this same spirit, the Commission for Youth Ministry of the Jesuits of the China Province seeks to escort the young as they face the challenges of an ever changing world on their journey toward the Presence of God, not just to enrich their own lives, but to reach out to better the lives of others.
The Commission for Youth Ministry
On August 25, 1997 98 Jesuits together with over 10 collaborators and observers came together at the Manresa Center of Spirituality at Jing Shan, Changhwa City for a three day meeting entitled “A Vision to Share.” At this time the Fr. Provincial Beda Liu Jia-zheng appointed Fr. Howard Lui Jing-qi, Fr. Ignatius Hung Wan-liu, Fr. Olivier Lardinois (Ding Li-wei) and Scholastic John Li Hua to form the Youth Ministry Commission. Though they were from far different backgrounds, they blended together for a common purpose and united effort.
Our activities
During these few years the Youth Ministry Commission together with the collaboration of Sisters who share the Ignatius tradition has organized “Encounter with the Lord” prayer camps, “Listen and Respond”dis-cernment camps to introduce and share with young people the methods of prayer and discernment found in St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises. We also arranged for a series of “Sitting together” and “Watching a Movie Together”” activities and accompanied Chinese youth for international activities in different countries in Asia and Europe, such as World Youth Day, Asian Youth Day, Magis Life Encounters, Discover Spain Pilgrimage, etc. These were all intended to nourish their spiritual lives and satisfy their longing for the love of God.
Vision and Mission
In order to combine and integrate all present resources, the Commission for Youth Ministries is called upon to be a group that appeals to and is familiar with youth, to assist them as they mature spiritually and discern their direction in life. It is all so that they will know Jesus more intimately, love Him more ardently, and follow Him more closely.
Our mission objectives
．To specifically support and participate in the Church’s Apostolate for youth.
．To promote the importance and dedicate ourselves to the youth ministry through contact and companionship through personal effort and ongoing attention.
．To organize and sponsor youth activities such as prayer camps, discernment camps, pilgrimages, emersion experiences, etc. to deepen their faith and their understanding of life.
．To produce spiritual publications for youth, such as “Companions: A News letter for friends of the Sciety of Jesus, China Province”, “To Go on a Pilgrimage”, and “Dream, Vision and Practice”.
What we do
Apostolates of the Society of Jesus
Youth Ministry
To escort the young as they face the challenges of an ever-changing world on their journey toward the Presence of God, not just to enrich their own lives, but to reach out to better the lives of others. Continue reading “What we do”