SEOUL/JUBA: 14 January
2013
-- Tonj
is some 250 km from Bor in South Sudan, far enough away, one
would
hope, from current fighting around the latter city. But back
in Tonj,
today, they cannot but help recall that the Salesian who
helped put
Tonj on the map for many people in the world, Fr John Lee
Taesok,
passed to his eternal reward just four years ago today.
Fr John Lee,
Salesian, priest, doctor and missionary extraordinaire, worked
in Tonj
for eight years before being struck down by terminal
cancer. He died
in his native South Korea in 2010 at 49 years of age, but left
behind a
legacy as a Salesian missionary priest that will not be easily
forgotten.
Tonj is currently the residence for Fr Ferrington Rayen, the
Delegate
for Sudan-South Sudan Delegation which belongs to AFE
Province. It is
increasingly difficult for our people to get permits for
Sudan, so Fr
Ferrington is listed as resident in Tonj.
Today
in Seoul, John Lee is being remembered too - by his own
Salesian
confreres in the first place, and of course by many others who
have
grouped around his legacy officially or unofficially.
One can be certain that John Lee is interceding for those whom
he loved
so much and gave his life for - the young people especially of
whatever
tribe he came across, to see that they had education, good
health, and
salvation within their grasp.
Of course,
anywhere in South Sudan at the moment is like being between a
rock and
a hard place, with battles raging to the east and chaos
reigning in the
next door nation to the west (CAR). The Salesians in Juba have
set up
an Emergency Response Team, as reported in ANS, where you can
follow
all the details.
..........
It
has just come to our notice that Fr Sylvester Yuan Heck Tsing,
of China province, has passed to his eternal re
