Fr Elvost is originally from Malaysia and was ordained in July 2023. As a new Mill Hill Missionary Priest, he began his first posting in November 2023 and has already journeyed far from home to proclaim the Good News of Christ! From Malaysia to Kenya, from Kenya to Pakistan, we follow this new Mill Hill Missionary as he answers the call to go out and proclaim the Gospel to all Creation.

Fr Elvost’s journey

Fr Elvost was born in Malaysia and after joining the Mill Hill Missionaries (also known as the Society of St Joseph) he did his Philosophical studies at the University of San Agustin in Iloilo, Philippines. This was followed by his studies for the priesthood at the Tangaza University College, Nairobi, Kenya.

Elvost was deliberately sent to Nairobi so he could live alongside students from other countries – Cameroon, Uganda, Kenya, India, and the Philippines. The Mill Hill Missionary formation is not just academic, there’s much more to it – it teaches new missionaries how to live together with others as Christians and as human beings.

Sharing the gifts of heaven with all God’s children

Mill Hill Missionaries go wherever they are most needed: to serve the people and build local faith communities, whilst learning from new experiences and responding to unfamiliar situations.

Fr Elvost has been sent to begin his missionary journey in the Sindh province in Pakistan, where he will live and work alongside Kutchi Kohli Christians – one of Pakistan’s Indigenous ethnic minorities of Hindu background. The government calls them ‘Scheduled Castes’ – which in reality means ‘outcasts’ or ‘untouchables’. 

A meeting of hearts; a shared understanding

Economically, the Kutchi Kohli are very poor. Most are landless farmers who work for feudal landowners. They earn extremely low wages and landowners manipulate them and take advantage of their lack of education. So the Kutchi Kohli people are often caught in a debilitating cycle of debt. 

Fr Elvost first visited the Kutchi Kohli people as a student for the Missionary Experience Programme, and he couldn’t wait to go back. It’s wonderful that a missionary from a historically persecuted Church in Malaysia has been sent to minister in another currently persecuted Church in Pakistan. Fr Elvost can relate to their situation very well, and has so much to offer that local Church from his experience.

All the best, Fr Elvost!

Fr Elvost’s appointment will allow him to share his great gifts with the Kutchi Kholi community in the Diocese of Hyderabad. The people of the Parish have welcomed Fr Elvost as he starts the good work for the glory of God. His dedication and kind-hearted spirit, together with the people, will for sure bear great things.

Let us join Fr Elvost in prayer and best wishes as he undertakes this new ministry.