Experiencing God’s unconditional love has kept Queensland parishioners Suzanne and Brenley Milsom continuing their mission work overseas for more than a decade. Source: Catholic Leader.
They have been formally recognised with the Medal of Merit of East Timor for their contributions to the young nation.
The Milsoms, from Burleigh Heads Parish, have sponsored and educated children, worked in church missions, fundraised for schools, donated stained-glass windows for the St Josephine Bakhita Chapel at the Bakhita Centre in Era Ulu, prayed in small village chapels and slowly helped change the course of many lives.
“It was humbling and overwhelming to be recognised this way,” they said, because it reflected the work of so many others, including religious orders, the Teams of Our Lady Movement, parishioners, Rotarians and volunteers.
They were honoured alongside musician David Bridie of Wantok Music and Dr Josh Francis, the Northern Territory’s 2022 Australian of the Year.
For the Milsoms, it began in 2011, when Catholic Mission was running immersion visits to East Timor.
Australia’s wartime history with the country drew their interest, as did their daughter’s earlier posting there with the Royal Australian Air Force as part of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor.
They finally joined an immersion trip that December, staying in Dili with the Dominican Sisters of the Rosary.
“We were shocked at the tiny, undernourished children in many of the villages we visited,” they said.
“Yet we were joyously welcomed into the small houses, made to feel at home and part of their Catholic communities, and sensed their hope that we may be able to help them in some way.
“We decided that if we were granted 10 good years, we would devote them to assisting this impoverished and newly independent nation.”
It has been 13 years.
Mrs Milsom, who could not travel to collect the award for health reasons, said she was “very surprised” to receive it.
Her grandson, Zachary Pyle, accompanied Mr Milsom in her place.
“I really thought that Zachary at 19 would get much more out of it from the point of view of his own development, and that’s what happened,” she said.
He has since promised to return and work on conservation projects in the villages they visited.
FULL STORY
Burleigh parishioners honoured for decades of mission work in East Timor (By Kymberlee Gomes, The Catholic Leader)
