Twin Parish

St. Luke's and Holy Cross parish is twinning with Regina Caeli parish (which means Queen of Heaven) in the Diocese of Dundee, South Africa. The official twinning document was signed by Fr. Jose Luis and Fr. Paul McNamara in November 2002. Diocese of Dundee is twinning with Diocese of Brentwood and hence the parish under both dioceses are encourage to twin between each other. The Bishop of Dundee, Bishop Michael Roland is nature of Grays, Essex.

With this twinning we are supporting and praying for each other, as well as to build friendship, to understand each other. It is a learning process to increase our awareness of each other's richness.

Covenant - Regina Caeli

We the people of Regina Caeli Parish pledge ourselves:

To deepen our friendship and partnership with the communities of:
St. Luke's & Holy Cross, Harlow, ENGLAND
through prayer, support, raising awareness and action.
To listen to the voices of the powerless in our world and take actions solidarity with them to address courses of injustice and poverty.
To protect life and to live in harmony with all creation so that the limited natural resources of our world are not exploited and consumed, but respected, shared and regenerated.

Sign on behalf of the parish community;

Onselepe

Covenant - St. Luke 's & Holy Cross

We the people of St. Luke's & Holy Cross Parish pledge ourselves:

To deepen our friendship and partnership with the communities of:
Regina Caeli parish, Dundee,
SOUTH AFRICA
through prayer, support, raising awareness and action.
To listen to the voices of the powerless in our world and take actions solidarity with them to address courses of injustice and poverty.
To protect life and to live in harmony with all creation so that the limited natural resources of our world are not exploited and consumed, but respected, shared and regenerated.

Sign on behalf of the parish community;

Dave Somerville

August 2005 Visit

(from David Summerville's letter on St. Mark's newsletter September 2005)

In August 2005 I visited the parish of Regina Coeli in the Diocese of Dundee South Africa. Regina Coeli is twinned with our parish of Holy Cross here in Harlow. With me, I brought donations totalling £2500, raised by Holy Cross and St Mark's, to help the people who live in South Africa.

It was a wonderful experience, often sad and very humbling; I spent my time with Zulu people in a township called Madadeni. They are great people living lives which are very poor compared to ours. Their belief in God is simple but true and they get on with their lives, trusting in God and without moaning.

During my time there I visited an orphanage catering for children from birth to 18 years old; I was overwhelmed by what I saw. The children sang and danced for me and two little ones held my hand the whole time I was there. I also visited a school with classes of 60-80 pupils where the only text books were the teachers' and the Library consisted of one small bookcase.

I went to the funeral of a local woman who was only 30 years old; her death was related to HIV/Aids which is a massive problem in this area and killing millions in Africa. She left behind three young children; hopefully her family will be able to raise them. I also visited a local hospice; again there were many people there dying from HIV/Aids.

Local people invited me into their simple homes and shared their food with me; at every opportunity they sang and danced - from the very young to the very old. We went to Mass in the local churches where the services were real celebration - singing, dancing, drumming - and although they were very long the time passed very quickly.

The money I took with me has already been spent: to pay for education for the young; to help the poor buy food and clothes; to help those affected by HIV/Aids. Many thanks to all whose contributions helped: I will continue to collect money in school every week - a little goes a long way in South Africa and it lets the people of Regina Coeli know that we care.

Latest News from Reginal Caeli & St. Paul

Many thanks for your continued support, with the final total from the reitring collection, coming to £536, which will be sent, together with the money raised by St. Mark's School, to arrive before Christmas. The school fees are due on 1st January 2006, so the money will help with that. In addition, there is great news..... on 26th November, two new priests from Madadeni are to be ordained. Please pray for them. The funeral that Tony and Dave attended, of Gladys, the latest news is that her three children are able to stay together, with help from the SVP, and some of our contributions will go towards helping hte SVP too. Also, the number of deaths due to HIV/AIDS, are in decline, in recent months. Please remember our brothers and sisters in your prayers. Dave.