Sr. Mary John Dumaug RGS left on July 8 for her mission to Sudan. Invited by the Province of Egypt/Sudan, Sr. Mary John will help in the program for women and girls in Khartoum.
Photo. Sr. Mary John, fourth from left, with other Good Shepherd Sisters in front of the Good Shepherd Chapel.
Sr. Patricia Hogan, an Irish Good Shepherd Sister working in Sudan wrote of the joy and gratitude of the community to the Good Shepherd and to the Philippine Province for Sr. Mary John. She also prayed that God will bless our Filipina missionary for her availability to go to the mission.
The Good Shepherd Sisters have three communities in Sudan -- Khartoum, El Obeid and Darfur. While there are RGS foreign missionaries in the country, the ministries are also run by local sisters. The Sector of Sudan is part of the Province of Egypt/Sudan. The first community, El Obeid, was founded in 1978 while Khartoum was founded in 1983 and Darfur in 2007.
Sr. Karima Tamer, province leader of the Province of Egypt/Sudan, also wrote expressing her gratitude to Sr. Mary John and to Sr. Cecilia Torres for sharing with them a Filipina missionary for our Good Shepherd mission in Sudan. She said, "Sr. John's arrival in Sudan is a blessing to the province."
It has been more than a year that Sr. Mary John waited for the approval of her request for visa to Sudan. When approved, she had difficulty with the dates and was not allowed to fly to Sudan as her visa has expired.
Photo. Sr. Mary John, second from left, with Good Shepherd Sisters in front of the Good Shepherd Provincialate.
Another application for entry visa was sent to the Immigration Office by Sr. Patricia and was eventually approved.
For many years, Sr. Mary John was involved in the work for indigenous peoples in Agusan. She was transferred to the Good Shepherd Community and prior to her mission to Sudan was a member of the Welcome House community.
With Sr. Mary John joining the foreign mission, the Philippines now has a total of 31 missionaries abroad. They are in Taiwan, Hongkong, Macau, South Korea, Thailand, Japan, Senegal, Angola, Kenya, Ethiopia, Canada, USA, Austria, France (Angers- Mother House) and Italy (Rome- Generalate).
The Philippines has 145 apostolic sisters and 22 contemplative sisters of final vows while one apostolic and four contemplative sisters with temporary vows formation. It has a long list of sisters who have also returned to the country after years of service in other Good Shepherd communities.
Sr. Mary John Dumaug RGS left on July 8 for her mission to 
It has been more than a year that Sr. Mary John waited for the approval of her request for visa to