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Personally Speaking - Thank You!
I had intended to get a e-newsletter out in January but before I knew it we were moving into February looking back at 2011 with some nostalgia and "thank God that's over."
Surprisingly, given the sour economic times in which we live, your generosity for the Christmas quarter exceeded all previous years. Normally the Christmas quarter distribution runs at around $85,000.This year it was $120,000! That was spectacular. Thank you so very much for your generosity. I would like to give a special thanks to Michael Montagna, Guy and Mary Amisano, Joan Scanlon and Carole Brown whose substantial donations, above and beyond their family allotments, provided the funds needed to implement our 2012 housing repair and micro-credit programs in Alleppey and our HIV/AIDS patient assistance in our Jubo clinic in Orissa State. Truly they have been a God send.
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Thank you Sister Mary Assumpta (RIP)
One sad note tha t brought in the New Year was the death of Sister Mary Assumpta (Paula Ann Rufo), Dominican Sister and Prioress of Corpus Christi Monastery in Menlo Park, CA. You may recall our asking for prayers during her long illness these past four years. She died peacefully on December 16, 2011. What a grand Christmas she must have had.
I knew Sister when she was Paula Rufo, S.F.O. She was then a sponsor in the Franciscan Family Apostolate (FFA) and remained so throughout her years in the cloister. At her solemn profession into the Dominican cloistered life she was gifted with $5000 which she turned over to me to start a medical fund for the poor for the destitute in India. With it we created an endowment fund which has grown to $60,000. From the interest generated funds are provided to the poor on a quarterly basis to cover medicine expenses. Through her charity, her presence will always be felt as "the gift that keeps on giving." One week before she died I received a Christmas card from her saying " Hi Alan, Please pray for me as I am dying. The leukemia came back fast and furious and spread throughout my blood. Please pray for me as I will you and the FFA. Loving in Our Lady, Sister Mary Assumpta, OP." To the end she thought of the poor enclosing her last donation for the Medical Fund for the Poor. I keep the card in my Bible as a precious memento of a now powerful intercessor for the Franciscan Family Apostolate and the poor. Goodbye, dear friend.
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Hello Aubrey Lynn Ouimet The good news which brought in the New Year for the FFA was the arrival on the FFA scene of Aubrey Lynn Ouimet, my grandniece. Aubrey is 20 and in her second year of college. After hearing that she would like to do some mission work, I invited her to travel to India as a personal gift from her Uncle Alan. Inasmuch as she has never left her small town in PA, except for family outings or vacations, and had never flown an airplane, her response was courageous and enthusiastic "yes." She found herself flying 10,000 miles into a strange land visiting families living in a poverty she never imagined. In a way, her traveling to India emphasizes the shift taking place in the FFA. This e-newsletter is being written on my 75th birthday having finished 40 years working the FFA since its founding in 1971. Don't get me wrong, I have no departure plans at this time. However I don't know what Someone else is planning. Two years ago my two sons, Matthew and Mark (both in their 40's) came onto the FFA Board. Both have been to India. Last year our Chairwoman's daughter, Jaye Hopkins traveled to India and is now handling our website which you should visit www.openhearts.org. Jaye has brought us the gift of the vital insights of youth. Aubrey is the "now" generation. "Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it and wiser than the one that comes after it" said George Orwell. I doubt that I am smarter than my sons, Jaye and Aubrey but I realize the wiser path is to let the next generation work their magic with their knowledge of technology and social networking.  | Aubrey and FFA Staff.
Sister Daphne in the brown sari habit of the Order on left. |
While there, Aubrey did her share of visiting families (10 a day) and shared some insights with young college women her age. I sent her over with a "flip" camera - a small video camera used to video family visits. She taught Sister Daphne how to use it. Hopefully, in the near future, we will be able to post video visits of your family on the FFA blog which Jaye is setting up at our website. This, of course, for us is revolutionary. I recall the day when just getting a photo from India was a major project taking weeks. Hopefully, the future holds a video of your family being taken one day and available for you the next. We are working on it. What's next for Aubrey? Who knows. As with the old saying "If you wish to meet yourself, go to India," we will let the Lord and India work its magic.
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Reaching Out to Help Others
Have you checked our website, www.openhearts.org, recently? It has a new look! Our long-time sponsor and volunteer Jaye Hopkins worked with Board member Miki Lovett to update our website and start an official Franciscan Family Apostolate Facebook page. Our goal for 2012 is to use the web to reach out to new sponsors and keep in touch with our current community. You can support us in this goal by introducing your friends and family to our new pages. Here are some ideas on how: Website: Please bookmark our page and check it each month for the news, photographs, and the latest on FFA projects and families in need. You might consider sending a link to your friends and family online. Facebook: If you are on Facebook, you can find our page simply by searching for Franciscan Family Apostolate. Remember to 'like' the page and make it one of your favorites so we can keep you updated on the latest FFA news. Seeds of Love: Consider sending a Seeds of Love gift in any denomination for a birthday, wedding, anniversary, or special event. Recipients receive a beautiful card detailing how the gift will be used. This program generates donations and awareness of the FFA. Word of Mouth: This is probably the most effective and least expensive way of expanding our sponsor base. Please continue to share with family and friends about your connection to the FFA. Each person around you is another potential sponsor and another opportunity to help a needy family escape poverty. The Franciscan Family Apostolate is a very special organization because of the direct personal link between sponsor and family. Each family receiving assistance writes their sponsor, with the help of an interpreter, every quarter with news on how they are doing. If you wish, you can write back so news flows both ways. And, if you have questions about your family, did you know that you can e-mail Sr. Daphne directly about your family? We hope that in 2012 you will help us spread the word about the FFA so that we can continue to serve the needs of the world's poor. Warmest regards in Saint Francis, Alan Ouimet, S.F.O. |
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Franciscan Family Apostolate
93 Country Way, Madison, CT 06443
203-458-8172 --ffaindia@att.net
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Franciscan Family Apostolate
Alan Ouimet
Founder and President
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