By Alexandra Boustany
The call to mission is a call to love, and a commitment to bring the light of Christ where it is needed most.
In January, I travelled with the 2025 Maronites on Mission team to Naga in the Philippines for two weeks. I feel incredibly blessed to have had this opportunity: to serve the poor in so many ways and to witness the profound impact of love in action.
Our mission was multifaceted: we built homes for families, visited and spent time with disabled men, women, and children at an apostolate run by the Missionaries of the Poor, visited schools, orphanages, and prisons, distributed food on a large scale, and provided medical and dental care to those in desperate need.
Each act of service was an encounter with Christ, a moment of grace that deepened our understanding of faith and love.
Upon returning, the 2025 Maronites on Mission Philippines missionaries met with Bishop Antoine-Charbel Tarabay, to reflect on our experiences and share the moments that had left the greatest impact.
One missionary, a mother, spoke about the day we handed out food tickets to families in various villages. “As a mum, it was the most emotional day for me,” she shared.
“Seeing the desperation of these mothers, knowing they would do anything to feed their children, was heartbreaking.”
I also had a particularly poignant experience that day. As we walked through the poorer villages, the ground slick with mud from continuous rain, a crowd gathered around us. children tugged at my arms, each one eager to lead me to their home, each one equally desperate for a ticket.
The overwhelming level of need left me shaken. During our post-mission reflection, Bishop Tarabay shared a thought that resonated deeply: “We all have a perception of what poverty means, but when you go to Naga, what you witness seems to be below poverty.”
Walking through this village, I stepped into the mud, not thinking much of it, and continued walking. But suddenly, the children around me stopped.
Without hesitation, they knelt and began cleaning the mud from my shoes with their bare hands, some even using water from their own bottles to wash my feet.
My first instinct was to stop them. I had come to serve them, yet here they were, serving me with a love and humility that left me speechless.
In that moment, I was reminded of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, the Son of God kneeling before his friends, performing the work of a servant.
What those children did may have seemed small, but in their innocence and selflessness, they revealed to me the heart of Christ. I realised then that mission is not only about what we give, but also about how we receive.
A lot of us also experienced a sense of hopelessness, that no amount of money, or bags of rice could ever eradicate the poverty in Naga. One of the missionaries shared in her reflection that she realised she “wasn’t going there to make Naga rich, I was going there to feed as many people as I could.”
Through this mission, I learned that love is more than a feeling: it is an action. To love is to serve, to step beyond comfort and convenience and offer ourselves fully for the sake of others. Christ himself demonstrated this when he washed the feet of his disciples, showing us that true greatness lies in humble service.
As we returned home, our hearts remained with the people we had met and the lessons we had learned.
None of this would have been possible without the generosity and dedication of Maronites on Mission Australia and the many donors who support their work.
Your kindness and commitment to serving those in need allowed us to bring hope and care to so many. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for being part of this mission and for sharing in this work of love.
The mission field is not only found in distant lands but in our daily lives, within our families, our communities, and in every person we encounter.
May we all strive to love through service, for in doing so, we bring Christ’s light into the world. And may we never forget the words of St Teresa of Calcutta: “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”