The poorest and most vulnerable people will struggle to survive this pandemic. Brave missionaries are working against the odds to help them.

‘The situation is dire. The plight of those hundreds of thousands of people locked down in the slums, where there is no running water and cramped, unhygienic conditions, does not bear thinking about.’

We recently received this message from Fr Ignatius, a Missio project coordinator in Nairobi. As the Coronavirus crisis continues to unfurl across the globe, with new and frightening headlines each day, we remember especially those people living in impoverished urban dwellings throughout the world – the very people Missio exists to reach.

Please give what you can to help missionaries working with the most vulnerable people>>

The situation in Nairobi

Fr Ignatius runs a parish in Nairobi. He is personally involved in helping the people who live in the city’s poorest areas. He tells us:

‘Many live from hand to mouth. They have no work, no money, no food’

Fr Ignatius’ mission is vital to this community. Among many community projects, he and his team provide refuge and shelter for at-risk girls and young women, drug rehabilitation, medical care and basic needs, such as food and healthcare.  They often walk or drive around the poorest areas to find people in need and bring them to safety.

This work is so important, but Coronavirus is making it more difficult and dangerous to meet people’s needs.

We need your help. If you’re able, please donate to Missio so we can help missionaries in Nairobi and across the world. Donate>>

We won’t give up

The mystery of the Gospel of Jesus Christ does not speak of despair and hopelessness. On the contrary, it informs us, at the deepest level of our being, that God turns suffering into celebration, pain into joy, and death into life. The mystery of the Cross concludes with the Resurrection.

Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, calls us to respond to this crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic with:

‘the universality of prayer, of compassion, and of tenderness’.

In the Missio office in London, Fr Tony will continue to celebrate Mass every day at 12 noon in our Missio Chapel of Ss Peter and Paul, praying for you and your intentions, for those who are suffering here and throughout the world, for those who are grieving or anxious, and for those who are working tirelessly to care for the sick.

Please send your prayer intentions to prayers@missio.org.uk so we may include you specifically during this time.

We are all God’s family

Every crisis gives us the opportunity to reflect on what is most important to us in life, reassess our priorities, and discover new ways of loving God and our neighbour.

As never before, we are reminded of how closely we are all connected to, and dependant on, each other across God’s world. Pope Francis challenges us to ‘remain united’ in prayer and action. He goes on to say that far from abandoning those who are suffering, the Church is called by God to reach out to them in order to express the love God has especially for them.

Our international Missio network, at one with the whole Church, will play its vital supporting role of care and spiritual support.

We can only do this because you are part of the Missio family. Please pray with us, stand with us, and reach out with us. Together we can help those in need, and the missionaries who give everything to help them.

To donate to Missio, click here>>

To pray with Pope Francis and Missio and to find all our prayers for the Coronavirus pandemic click here>>