Project of the Month - January - Build a village chapel in Indonesia

In the heart of Indonesia, on the island of Flores, the Catholic community of Golo Popa is praying for a place to call their spiritual home.

Over 1,700 Catholics in this rural village gather for Holy Mass in a school each Sunday, without a chapel of their own. Despite this makeshift arrangement, many people still come. But on weekdays, when the school is being used for teaching, there is nowhere for the community to gather for prayer, for Holy Mass or for baptisms, weddings and other communal celebrations. 

In this rural area, the village live mainly off subsistence agriculture. The faithful struggle to provide for their families.

"The people live their Catholic lives with great joy and have a very lively faith," says Father Ferdinandus Tahul, the parish priest. "For years now, they have been gathering building materials and raising money for a chapel of their own. But they are poor and need the generous support of ACN to fulfil their dream."

Not only is this chapel very important for the religious life of this village, but it would also stand as a vital and visible sign of the presence of the Christ in this vast, Muslim-majority nation.

We have no intention of letting down the faithful in Golo Popa, and so we have already promised them $46,000. Will you help to make their prayer a reality? 

We have set our goal for Australia and New Zealand to raise $10,000 to support this building project.

Will you help provide a parish to call home for Catholics in Indonesia?