Greetings from the Good Shepherd Sisters, collaborators and Good Shepherd friends working in the Czech Republic!

I am writing this letter while on a visit to Malta where I have been meeting family members, Good Shepherd Sisters, friends and benefactors of our Mission.

Eleven years ago, I came on mission to Ostrava in the Czech Republic. At present there are five of us Good Shepherd sisters, two from Sri Lanka, a sister from Portugal and another from Austria, and myself. Two of these sisters have been living in a new community in Prague since the end of last year. These sisters are planning to invite young girls for a live-in to see God’s call in their lives.

I am still running St Euphrasia House, the shelter for women and children in distress. We give the mothers and children all the necessary spiritual and moral support to help them discover God’s love for them and gradually have their dignity restored, and able to stand on their own two feet. By the end of last year we had finished the building of an extension to this home. Now we have three new flats where some of the mothers and children can stay for as long as three years.

One sister from Sri Lanka works full time with the Roma. She teaches them how to sew, or how to do other handcrafts like cards, cushions, soft toys etc. We sell these objects in various parishes in Ostrava and its surrounding towns and villages. We also receive orders from abroad and we pay the mothers for the work they do. They are very grateful for the money they get, as they are very poor. She has started a project for the children of these mothers. They come once a week for private lessons in Czech, Maths and English, to help them catch up in school. She also has another project − to help some of these women get a flat. She received some money from abroad to help pay the deposit, and gradually they will pay it back with the money they earn from the work.

We also visit women in prison. We spend time listening to them, encouraging them, and singing and praying with them. They greatly appreciate our company!

I urge you to participate in all the events the Mission Fund organises. The Mission Fund also collects used stamps and telecards, and gratefully accepts donations online or directly on the following bank accounts: HSBC (Account No. 061 197 448 050); BOV (Account No. 163 007 980 19); APS (Account No. 200 008 207 62); BANIF (Account No. 000 879 631 01). More information on website: www.missionfund.org.mt

In the name of the Good Shepherd Community in Ostrava, and also in the name of those people we serve, I would like to thank you for the financial as well as spiritual support you give. We promise you our prayers and we ask you to pray the Lord of the harvest to send more missionaries to His fields. We pray to be an authentic presence of the compassion of the Good Shepherd, and that Czech youth answer the Shepherd’s call to continue His Mission!

May Jesus the Good Shepherd risen from the dead bless and fill you and your families with His peace.

Sr Doris Saliba RGS

OSTRAVA

CZECH REPUBLIC