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FIRST YEAR FOR SCJ'S IN PAPUA, INDONESIA

God has His own way of doing things, which at times, is just not the way we had planned. This history of the SCJ presence in Papua is a case in point.

Fr. Vincent Suparman, SCJ, and Brother Matheus Sumarjo, SCJ, travelling with some medical Sisters in Papua.

At the end of September 1999 Dr. Joseph Herman Ojong, the director of Mitra Hospital in Timika, Papua (formerly known as Irian Jaya), Indonesia intensified his recruitment program and was preparing for his first medical service in Southwestern Papua. He felt it necessary to have some priests or brothers in his mission to provide for the spiritual needs of the people.

Fr. Vincent and the people of Epouto on the island of Papua. While visiting Caritas Hospital in Palembang he came to know the SCJs working in South Sumatra. Dr. Ojong met Fr. Paul Sugino, SCJ, Provincial Superior of the Indonesian Province, and asked for five priests and two brothers to care for three parishes serving some 35,000 people.

On the left, Fr. Herbert Henslok, SCJ, and Fr. Lawrence Stif, OSC, with children of Emanuel Parish. In response Fr. Herbert Henslok of Jakarta and Fr. Vincent Suparman of Tanjungkarang were sent to Papua to evaluate the possibilities of doing mission work there. On July 16, 2001, after a year long discussion at the provincial level, Br. Matthew Sumarjo, SCJ, and Fr. Vincent Suparman, SCJ, headed for Epouto, Papua.

Presently two SCJs are working among the indigenous people in the central highlands of Epouto. Meanwhile, Fr. Henslok is working as pastor in the parish at Kokonao located in Southwestern Papua. What happened in the year to change the original purpose of the SCJ mission was a combination of God speaking through the signs of the times and Father Provincial being attuned to them.

Epouto parishioners with Fr. Vincent after Mass. Even though Papua and South Sumatra are parts of the same country they are two very different entities. They have two very different cultures that give Indonesian SCJs a new perspective in doing ministry.

Brother Mattheus 'fruit' from his agricultural project. The Papuan mission project began its presence at St. Francis' Parish in Epouto with a commitment to develop an agricultural project. The scarcity of priests, the needs of the people, the opportunities to realize our missionary vocation in this most isolated part of the country and the zeal of the original SCJ fathers and brothers are an invitation to other members of the Indonesian Province to venture to Papua.

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From the very beginning of the Congregation, the Priests of the Sacred Heart have accepted calls to serve the Church throughout the world. Currently, the Priests of the Sacred Heart are engaged in ministries in the following countries:

Albania, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bylorussia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, Congo, Croatia, Ecuador, England, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Moldavia, Mozambique, The Netherlands, The Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Scotland, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, The Ukraine, The United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela.