Dear St. Anthony Parishioners,

A unique opportunity has crossed our paths to make a dramatic impact on fellow Catholics half way around the world.  We are excited to announce St. Anthony Church is embarking on its first mission project in the village of Kalsegra, Ghana, home to our good friend, Father Linus. 

Kalsegra is a remote village in northwestern Ghana, Africa, situated far from the nearest city.  Life in Kalsegra is not easy: 

• Kitchens are no more than a dirt floor with stones and rudimentary utensils for cooking. 
• Farming is done by hand with archaic tools. 
• Pre-School is attended under decaying trees, where children sit for lessons on the bug infested dirt ground.

Church is a crumbling four wall structure precariously held together with rotten wood beams and walls plugged with mud to keep out the rats. 

Our mission is to adopt this small village as a sister parish project and provide them with three critical elements that will build the foundation for a self-sustaining and thriving community for years to come.   For relatively little money, we will:

• Build a church to serve as a place of worship
• Construct a multi-purpose building that will serve as a kindergarten classroom, nurse’s station, community center and vocational training center.
• Provide a tractor, tools and seeds to support their agricultural needs. 

Amazingly, all this will be accomplished for only $104,000. 

A local building company in Ghana, used by the diocese for their projects, will carry out the construction. Kalsegra’s villagers will provide the labor.  Supervision will be provided by two local priests, Monsignor Christopher Bazanaah and Father Peter Claver Sutinga.

As the Kalsegra parish becomes a “sister parish” to us, the church and school will be named Saint Anthony’s.   This is a project that we can all work on together . . . . and, it will not take long to complete.

Our goal is to quickly raise the $104,000 needed to complete this project.  With your participation and the energy and commitment of Kalsegra’s people, we will build our first sister parish in just a few months. 

Please think about this project and how your contribution will make a direct and impactful difference in their lives.  We know many might ask, “How much should I give”, but we only request that you be as generous as you possibly can so we can soon reach our $104,000 goal. For as little as $120 per St. Anthony Church member, we will make this project a reality.  However, if 100 families give $500 in the next 30 days, the church will be completed by mid-summer.

The villagers are already collecting stones to build the foundation of the church.  All they need now is for you to write a check to St. Anthony Church with a note in the memo line “Ghana Project” and our Ghana St. Anthony Parish will soon be under construction. 

On behalf of Fr. Linus, the people of Kalsegra, and all those who have passionately dedicated their time, labor and energy to this project, we thank you for your participation and generous contribution. If you have any questions, please contact one of the Committee Members. God bless you.

Warm Regards,

Maura Brassil
Project Coordinator

Project Committee Members
(click here)

© 2010 Saint Anthony Catholic Church,
Fort Lauderdale, Florida