“We need a lot of prayers and help to fulfill God’s will in our lives. With my little strength, I hope I can always glorify God in my life.”

I am Theresa, 30, with a two-year-old daughter, from Fushan Town, Wulai District, New Taipei City, an aboriginal town of Tayan Tribe with 200 years of history and 50 years of Catholicism. I am the Vice Coordinator of the Sanctuary and Parish of Our Lady of Fatima in Wulai.

Here in our parish, we have two big social challenges: drugs and the lifestyle of the Tayan people (culture of just eating, drinking, and singing, without any effort to make one’s life lives better); and a religious challenge: most of the people think that is enough to go to Sunday Mass and pray. On my part, the biggest challenge is that I must take care of my daughter and my sick mother alongside with this service. Some people also questions my service because of my age. They think I am too young.

In answer to these challenges, we are working on a program for children every Saturday and Sunday that would make the children feel at home. We hope that these children would send the Gospel values to their families, encouraging them come back to Church and to their own culture. We started to help 10 kids, now we have 20 and it’s getting bigger.

Theresa Lee (Tayan Tribe – Taiwan)