The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-08-07
MISSIONARIES AT WORK IN FAR
OFF RoRNEo.
TolLINe FOR SALVATION OF
SOULS AMID CONDITIONS THAT
TRY APOSTOLIC ZEAL.
Letters from the Field.

/ Letters from the Field.
People Who Live on Salt Fish and
Rice and Sleep on Deck Chairs.
I The following communications, one
from missionary priest and another
from nun, will be read with interest
by those who follow the progress OF
the faith in Borneo:
Roman Catholic Mission,
| Sandakan, British N. Borneo,
| ST. Patrick's Day, 1915.
| Dear Sister G.: In your last letter,
you asked me about the needs of this
mission, so without any unnecessary
preliminaries l start off with this sub
Eject, as it is one, which touches us
livery closely; one which concerns us
very much, more especially now since
this European war began.
! The needs of our mission are many
and great However, / am not going
to burden you with a long list OF
wants, but will merely mention few
which interest me in a special man
liner, and which may also appeal to
you, or to any of your friends in the
United States, who might be in a po-
sition and willing to help us, if only
they knew what We want / believe
in making known to your friends
sometimes-you needs.
To give you an example, When
Twas in college, frequently sent out
the Mill Hill Advocate to some of
my friends, to show them what our
society is and something of its work
Among those to whom I sent it once
was priest. We had met only once
during the holidays. Shortly after
wards / received letter from him
with a check for seventy-five pounds!
In the letter, he told me that he got
this money from America, and the
wish of the donor was, that the money
Eshould be spent on Foreign Mission.
larry work. This Irish priest did not
exactly know how to dispose of the
money to the best advantage, but
while in this difficulty the Advocate
Ii sent him arrived, and at once he
decided to send the money to Mill
Hill, London, where / was then in
college. The money was duly sent
to the missionary fields; four or five
missions benefited by this bit of good
luck. So if you can interest some OF
our good Irish friends in our work
if you can quietly make known even
some of our needs, one can never tell
when or where help may come. I am
sure there are plenty who would help
If only they knew where to send their
Egifts.
i Well, first of all, may mention a
small debt on the convent building
1t is only little over fifty dollars
and, but for the war, we hoped to
have it cleared before Christmas last
Then there is the completion Of the
Econvent. So far only two-thirds OF
the building is finished. 1t had to be
left so for want of money and since
came here, | have been doing all
can to clear the debt, and then get
the convent finished. The buildings
here are all of wood, even our church,
ESQ to complete the convent would not
take long if we had the necessary
funds. 1t will cost about five or six
Hundred dollars (American) to finish
Fit, and meanwhile, just fancy the in
convenience it is for those poor Sis
tiers! Their sacrifice in coming out
ito a country like this was already
la great one, but to have only about
Ihalf convent for them now makes
Fit still greater Our own house is not
livery much, but then men can rough
it a bit" but as to the Sisters, I
would like to see their convent com
plete.
I wonder is there no Irish-Ameri-
can who would be willing to give a
hundred or two hundred dollars to
help us to finish this wooden build
ing. | am sure they would, lie only
they knew that the building is for
heroic Sisters two Of them Irish;
and that the appeal is from an Irish
priest, not for himself (for he gave
the three hundred dollars he had with
him out from Ireland to help on the
mission when he arrived. The appeal
is for the nuns in Borneo. They have
some thirty-five or forty girls, orphans
and outcasts most of them, in the con
vent. and hence the need for finishing
the building is urgent, if only we can
get the funds required.
| Then We have the boys school. not
nearly large enough for the one hun
dred and thirty boys who attend daily.
An enlarged, repaired, or even new
school is necessary, al there are three
lnon- Catholic schools doing their best