Those You Meet In Heaven

09-17-2023Letter from the PastorFr. Don Kline, V.F.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I have had the great blessing to get to know Father Robert Seraph Aliunzi as a brother priest for many years. He is truly a man of God who has been called to serve in Our Lord powerful and lifegiving ways. I invited him to speak at our parish on the weekend of September 23/24 and to share with you the incredible work God has called him to do.

Fr. Aliunzi was born and raised in Uganda in conditions that few people could imagine or even survive. Our Lord and His incredible mercy protected Fr. Aliunzi’s vocation to the priesthood which eventually led him to serve in our diocese. Fr. Aliunzi has ministered to the people of God in the Diocese of Phoenix for over 18 years in different capacities. He served as the pastor of St. Andrew the Apostle in Chandler as well as the pastor of St. James for ten years.

He worked closely with Bishop Olmsted for eight years as the Dean of the Northwest Deanery, and eight years in the Presbyteral Council and College of Consultors in the diocese. Bishop Dolan has now invited him to serve another term in the Presbyteral Council, besides being on several boards and Commissions in the Diocese of Phoenix. Fr. Aliunzi is currently serving as pastor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, in Tempe, Arizona. Fr. Aliunzi became an American citizen in 2013 and his amazing journey can be viewed in his own words at www.e3africa.org.

I’m so excited to have the opportunity to introduce you to E3 Africa, a (501c3) non-profit, committed to educating the orphaned, impoverished, and often forgotten of God’s children in Uganda and the neighboring regions of Africa. The founding of E3 Africa was inspired by Fr. Aliunzi’s personal life experiences. Raised in a family of ten children, he lost his father when he was five years old and his mother a year later. Due to this tragedy, his oldest teenage brother was prematurely thrust into the role of head of the family and not having had any experience nor inheritance from their parents, they faced the effects of severe poverty. However, eventually his elder brother found a way to send Robert to school. But the most productive and sensitive years of his youth were marred by hunger, sickness, fear, threats to his life, expulsion from school, and extreme isolation and loneliness. These experiences created a profound sense of loss that haunted him for many years.

Here is where you come in. For the same cost of dinner and movie for two in the United States, you can feed, clothe, and educate a child for a month. It may seem like a cliche these days, but you can indeed change a child’s life. Through your generosity, E3 Africa provides education to the orphans and poor children of Uganda so that they may be able to help themselves and their community.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

1. You will be paired with a child on our urgent care priority list if you select below “Child most in need.”
2. You can also be more specific and choose “Girl” or “Boy.”
3. If you have spoken to an E3 Africa member or attended an event where a child’s name was given, you can type it in the box below, “Child’s Name.”
4. Once you have made your first sponsorship donation, the child’s photo and bio are emailed to you. That email will also contain pertinent information about your sponsorship and how to correspond with your sponsored child. At that point, we ask you to write to your sponsored child and introduce yourself through stories and photographs.

It can take as long as eight weeks for a letter to be delivered to your student and just as long to receive a message back, so please be patient. As you can imagine, the communication infrastructure in Uganda is not as advanced as in the United States and communications are intermittent.

The relationship you establish with your student is potentially just as valuable as the life-changing educational opportunity you are giving the child. Most of the students in the program have lost at least one parent, and many are orphans. Those who are not orphaned come from single-parent or impoverished families. Learning about you and your family life in another country may be the spark that ignites their fire or the platform that catapults them into action and greatness. That is the exciting part - anything is possible!

SPONSORSHIP OPTIONS:

• Full Sponsorship: $840 per year or $70 a month.
• Consider a 6-year commitment to ensure your sponsored child completes their education.
• Your contribution provides room and board, school supplies, uniforms, food and education.
• Your generous donations provide a child with the gift of hope, love and the promise of a brighter future for themselves and their family.
• Co-Sponsorship: $ 45.00/Month (we pair you with another sponsor, or you can co-sponsor with a family member or friend).
• University Sponsorship: $ 90.00/Month (a student that has been in our secondary educational program and now needs support to continue at a university level).

By clicking the Sponsor Now www.e3africa.org/sponsorship button and submitting payment information, you are authorizing E3 Africa to automatically set up a monthly recurring donation on your debit/credit card or bank account. It will remain in effect until a written request for cancellation is received. Please call 480-253-9403 if you need further assistance setting up a sponsor account.
We are blessed to be able to share our gifts and resources with one another. The people of our St. Bernadette family are generous with their time, treasure, and talent. Your love, prayers and amazing support have touched many lives already.

I give thanks to God for you ever day. I ask you to please pray for Fr. Aliunzi and his powerful work of serving those in great need and to prayerfully consider how you can assist his efforts by making a commitment to the children of Uganda.

God Bless,

Fr. Don Kline, V.F.