Community Spotlight Covid19 Response Missionary Families for Christ

The Missionary Families for Christ – India, is a Catholic organization who launched a pan india campaign known as NONE or “No One In Need”. The Goa chapter of this organization mobilized in South Goa around Margao and Salcette to support vulnerable communities from their area. We sat down with Neswin Almedia to find out more about this organization and the work they have been doing to support those in need during this tumultuous time.

What made you want to stand up and volunteer your time during this lockdown?

Firstly, Goa is a small state and fully dependent on a migrant workforce in its fishing, construction and tourism industry. Most of these migrants are from Orissa, Assam, Jharkand, Bihar, UP, Haryana and other parts of India. MFC runs mission programmes across india and took up an initiative pan India known as ‘No One In Need’ (NONE) as we are believed to be called to reach out to our less fortunate brothers and sisters. So we called on our members to volunteer by generously donating and also be available for distribution of ration and other basic needs. To do so we identified areas where there are families who need help including our very own members. We believe that God has impressed upon us to be a blessing to the needy and less privileged through the No One in NEED (NONE) Ministry, and led by our country servant Jimmy Xavier from Bangalore we were encouraged to make ourselves available to help these families.

Can you tell us a little about Missionary Families for Christ – India (formerly known as Couples for Christ) and what it normally does as an organization in Goa?

MFC India is Missionary Families for Christ – India (formerly known as Couples for Christ) and is an affiliate of CFC-FFL (Couples for Christ Foundation for Family and Life).
We are Heralds of God’s Kingdom, Anointed by the Holy Spirit and Sent Forth by Christ , To Make Disciples of All People, By Sharing the Good News of Love, Life and Family.
MFC India is an affiliate of CFC-FFL, a private association approved by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Philippines. In India, it operates under the Conference of the Catholic Bishops of India Family Commission, and in each diocese, under the family commissions at respective dioceses.
We are an evangelistic and missionary community of lay faithful which functions alongside the Catholic Church, and is strongly linked with the clergy and local parishes.
Couples for Christ began as a movement in 1981 in Manila, Philippines, and is now a worldwide movement operating in many countries. It has grown into a holistic family life renewal ministry encompassing, besides the ministry to married couples, ministries to every member of the family. CFCI as a community has grown to include kids, teenagers, young adults, couples, widows and widowers, walking hand in hand in our joys and pain.
We in Couples for Christ believe that for us the call to love one another is a call to be a missionary community.

What has Missionary Families for Christ – India been doing to support marginalized communities during this lockdown period?

While members have contributed towards ration supplies, MFC across India has distributed rations to the marginalized. In Goa alone we have distributed 600 ration kits. Each ration kit consists of Rice – 10 Kgs costing Rs 240, Toor Daal – 2 Kgs worth Rs 240, Palm Oil – 1 Litre, Rs 105, Salt – 500 Gms, Rs 10, Sugar – 1Kg, Rs 40, Atta – 2 Kgs, Rs 80, Pickle and a 500 gms tea packet totally amounting to about Rs 550. We raised money to meet the expenses of buying the material for these ration kits. This activity was conducted across Margao town and the villages of Salcete.

What are some of the difficulties you have faced while trying to do this work?

Identifying homes and slums is difficult and when aid is given we tend to duplicate families because many members of the same family come forward multiple times for ration. To avoid this we individually delivered each packet of ration at the doorstep of each slum dwellers home.

What has been the most rewarding part of this experience?

The genuine gratefulness and the joy of these people would want us to reach out to more and more people.

What do you need support with? / How can people help you continue this work?

More ground volunteers; more people to identify homes that need food supplies and basic funding to purchase the material for these ration kits.

What is one lesson you would take away from all of this?

Generosity, love and kindness is the only way forward for mankind.

What is something you would want to tell people sitting at home about the work you are doing or the communities you are working with? Something they should learn?

Look around you, there are many people who are hungry and struggling in poverty. It’s not always the beggar who walks past you and begs. But there are a lot of people who have lost their jobs and have no livelihood but are not the ones who will hit the street to beg. Go find them and help them with their needs of sanitation, healthcare and nutrition.

How many volunteers are you working with to do this work?

We are about 10 of us. The work involves purchasing the raw materials, making them into kits, identifying homes that need assistance and delivering the ration kits.

How many migrants/day laborers have you fed/supported thus far?

600 migrant families and counting.

Anyone you would like to give a shout out to or thanks in particular for helping your organization?

Let’s silently work and reach out to the people who need assistance while people will silently donate to whom we are ever so grateful.