Franz Josef is part of the parish, and there are over 200 people there who have lost their jobs because there are no longer any foreign tourists.

Many of these migrant workers cannot go home because there are no flights.

In some cases their rent has been lowered, in others, not.

The parish takes an active part in the South Westland Emergency Foodbank Relief scheme (SERF).

SERF supports over a hundred people and families in towns from Hari Hari to Haast.

Food providers have been generous, so SERF provides food parcels.

Funds are also available from Civil Defence.

SERF can give a person or family a food voucher which they can redeem at the supermarket.

The receipt returns to SERF so that they can keep an eye on how the money is being used.

On Friday afternoons people needing advice can come to the Medical Centre in Franz Josef where Fr Mike is available to point them towards whatever they might need.

For ten years, Fr Mike, who worked for many years in Brazil, has gone to Queenstown on the fourth Sunday of each month to celebrate a mass in Portuguese for the sizeable Brazilian community there.

On the following Monday, he helps to sort out the many problems that working migrants have.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many have lost their jobs and have no way of paying rent or sustaining themselves.

The government and city council have good initiatives in place to help.

And so does the Church; the Marist Fathers have made available $50,000 to assist the Brazilian community.

Currently, ten are being assisted with rent and living expenses, to the tune of $10,000 a month.

Rent for a small house is $500 a week, and for a room, between $100 and $200 a week.

Vagner provides an example of what can be done. He lost his job, but he enrolled in a four-month $3,900 language course, which gives him a 5-month visa.

He studies every morning finishing at 1 pm, so he is free to work in the afternoon and evening.

Through his improved English, he will get a better job, as well as being on the spot to apply for anything available.

He will undoubtedly find work in the next fortnight.

Source

Supplied

It is a distance of about 1.8km each way and a height gain of 250 metres.

Okarito is a small settlement the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island.

It is famous for its scenic beauty.

Some years ago, someone divided the walk into twelve sections.

They marked each section with a large numbered stone inconspicuously set among palm fronds beside the path.

The idea was for the pilgrims to stop at each stone and have different people read a section of the Passion narrative from St. John's gospel.

"Quite a challenge, but not so much that most people of all ages could not take part," said Father Michael Mahoney, the parish priest of South Westland.

The walk was widely advertised in South Westland community newspapers and on bulletin boards in each town.

About 25 people, from various age groups, nationalities and towns took part, including a father behind a pushchair containing his infant daughter.

It took a couple of hours to reach the top and return.

Afterwards there were hot cross buns and soup at the 150 year old Donovan's Hall.

"In spite of being Good Friday it was a most joyous occasion, " said Fr Michael.

"All enjoyed the time between each "station".

"They spent the time getting to know their fellow walkers.

"One of the challenges in modern Catholic life is to find activities that connect youth with the Church," he said.

"On the West Coast of the South Island this is even more of a challenge."

"Most Coast youth go away to study or look for employment either during or after secondary school."

"And there are not many to start with!"

Michael says another challenge is presented by modern farming methods; there are less people working on farms.

"So less who take part in Church activities."

"With this in mind, in the South Westland parish we tried to think of an activity during Holy Week that might appeal to people, including youth, who would not normally be involved with Church activities and who probably don't belong to any Church and may not have any idea of why Christians celebrate Holy Week and Easter."

"All voted it a good way of marking Good Friday morning, and without doubt we will repeat it," he said.

Source

• Supplied

After mass there is a social pot-luck meal.

There are more than two thousand Brazilians working and living in Queenstown, most with temporary visas. The majority work in the hospitality, restaurant or service industries, often for no more than the basic wage, even though living in Queenstown is expensive.

Fr Michael says employers are keen to employ Brazilians as they are happy people and hard workers.

"They bring their faith with them, in most cases the Catholic Faith", he says.

"In the end, what holds many families to the Church is not so much what it teaches, but its social outreach to others, particularly those who have needs that are not being met."

"What attracts modern youth to a church is not its doctrines, but what it does for others," Fr. Michael says.

The mass is prepared by the coordinating team, and usually has lots of singing and a warm atmosphere. It is important that there be a welcoming mass for these people. Otherwise they would join those who already have changed to the the weekly ecumenical service for Brazilians.

"Prayers of the Faithful are often protracted, as there are lots of people to be prayed for, and no-one minds listening to a potted history of some of those being prayed for, and how they are getting on!"

The mass seems to stop completely at the Sign of Peace, since all make a point of shaking hands or embracing everyone present even though this involves leaving one's seat and going to all those on the other side of the church. This is how it is in Brazil, and the custom carries on here.

Afterwards all mingle in the school library and share what everyone has brought, meanwhile catching up with the news and perhaps having a fund-raising Bingo for someone back home who needs medical help.

Fr. Michael, who worked in Brazil for over 3o years says, "It would be good if there could be a weekly mass, since it is a point of contact for people who often have very little english and need the support of the Church and its associated community." However he says he can only find time to do the 750km round trip once a month.

The people are encouraged to participate in the weekly parish masses, but the reality is that many do not, and this initiative is what holds many of them.

Wakatipu Community Presbyterian Church's Reverend Ian Guy has assisted with one of his church members, Brazilian pastor and missionary Joao Petreceli, who was in Queenstown studying English at Southern Lakes English School last year, to secure him a missionary's visa to stay on in New Zealand.

Mr Petreceli now leads an ecumenical Global Church service every Sunday at St Andrew's in Portuguese, with future services also likely to be held in Spanish.

Translators are dotted throughout the rows to ensure any English-speaking people in the congregation don't miss the message and the worship songs are sung in Portuguese, Spanish and a few in English.

The idea came from a 12-week international Alpha course - a programme designed to explore the meaning of the Christian faith - which attracted more than 50 people from 11 nations.

"We realised that when people are away from their own home and environment, they're often more ready to explore alternatives, especially spiritually. People are also looking for a place of connections," Mr Guy said.

"Ideally it's not just a church service. It's offering a community and support for these people. Part of the role is mentoring. It's also about building a worship community and learning to worship together across the nations."

Source

• The Southland Times
• Image: Stuff.co.nz

There is also quite a bit of maintenance on the churches, the damp climate is quite challenging. Not one to be afraid of heights, Michael was using a cherry-picker to paint the roof of the Haast church and at the end of the job, the owner asked him if the parish would like to buy it.

"A new one costs about $20,000 and this one's in good order. We bought it for $3,000 and it's already living in a garage in Whataroa. It'll repay its purchase price many times over", said Michael.

Since returning from Brazil Michael Mahoney has been pastorally active throughout the South Westland region and has been instrumental in establishing the "South Westland Hope Group" which tries to help families who live on the Coast who have difficulty in coping with modern life

The South Westland Hope Group has, for example helped,

• families who have unregistered cars to get them up to standard
• drivers who have no licence, or whose licence has lapsed, to get a licence
• support young people in the schools who cannot go on a school event for monetary reasons
• arrange automatic payments from monthly benefits into the parish account to pay power bills that would otherwise not be paid and result in the power being cut off
• organize budget advice and planning so that there is money to pay rent, power and other basic facets of modern living.

To fund these outreaches the group caters for lunches for tourist groups who make an offering of $15 a head for a really good lunch, including local delicacies such as whitebait fritters and pavlova! People have donated into the fund.

The local Health Clinics and schools have all been circulated regarding this group, Michael Mahoney says, and know that they can call on us if they need to.

According to Michael Mahoney, the underlying motive is the gospel one of concern for the poor and those who find difficulty in coping with modern society and technology.

"The Church used to be a leader in social assistance, but, to my mind, is notably absent from the media radar these days - we only hear of the Salvation Army and Anglican social assistance groups", he said.

"Nothing much was heard of our church during the Christchurch earthquake assistance, even though the diocese did supply a lot of assistance.

"This is a small attempt to help the wider community, not just the Catholic one," said Mahoney.

Source

• Society of Mary