ROME: 17 March 2014 -- In Seoul the forsythia (sunny
splashes of bright yellow flowers) are letting us know that
spring is budding. As the door is closed on winter, hopes
turn to the colours and scents that flowers represent. So
too, many youngsters in the springtime of life in Poipet,
Cambodia, preparing for a bright future, may have picked up
a rather special 'scent', sweaty though it may be: a
marathon in Seoul on their behalf. The protagonist of the story was Fr Michael Chang, head
of the Mission Office as well as Provincial Economer. Fr
Michael took part in the Seoul International Marathon run by Dong -A Ilbo, a major
newspaper in Korea. It's called 1 won for 1m, an appeal to the people to
participate in fundraising activities for supporting the
missions by depositing 42,195 Won (about 40 USD) per head.
He had already completed the full marathon course four times
when he was the principal of Salesian
High School in Kwangju. His idea then was to run with his
students to help them overcome the difficulties they meet in
the marathon of life and help them feel that they were being
accompanied by the Salesians. Now he has added a new meaning
to it all - to the help the missions. His former high school
colleagues who ran with him at that time gladly took up the
invitation to join him in this marathon for the missions. "The Marathon started out as an
educational idea, but it seems that the Lord is happy to
work through simple means. Don Bosco Youth Center in Poipet,
where two Salesian Korean missionaries are currently
working (Fr Gabriel and Fr Mark) until now have been
supported by help coming from European countries. Hearing
their difficulty in managing things because the economic
crisis in Europe has seen a great reduction in aid, I
thought of planning this event."
Fr Michael launched a ten day Marathon campaign, from 5 to 15
March, and received a great response, about 500 individuals,
who raised 21,000,000 Won (about 20,000 USD). A double success
from the project: "I kept
running to the end, carrying with me the prayer intentions
of benefactors who took part in the campaign. I can tell you
there were critical moments when I wanted to give up the
race, but I managed to find some big strides, thinking that
with this effort I could contribute to the realisation of
the dream of many boys in the missions."
Fr Michael ran for six hours non-stop, face drenched in sweat,
legs almost conspiring against him. The smile, however, spoke
of the unfailing joy of completing a race which plants a seed
of hope for young people who do not find it easy to dream.
One might add - Korea has roughly 400 marathons organised in
any one year. Fr Michael will be very busy!!!
