All around our country, seminarians are arriving at their summer formation assignments and, with any luck, enjoying some well-earned time with family and friends. Compare that with men who are studying for the priesthood in Malawi, the 7th poorest country in the world. Still struggling to recover from a devastating cyclone that barreled through their country last year, these seminarians will work to bring hope to their countrymen who saw their families, their ready-to-be-harvested crops, and their farm animals washed away when Cyclone Freddy -- the longest-lasting tropical cycle ever recorded - ravaged the countryside.

Amid the area's devastation, one complex remained standing: Likanani Parish and Primary School, home to seminarian Transitional Deacon Howard. He was deeply affected by the aftermath of the storm. It was here that Deacon Howard learned to read and write, received his sacraments, and first felt the call to the priesthood.

As missionary priests, religious sisters, and lay catechists distributed what aid they could using the parish as headquarters, Deacon Howard knew that his vocation was more necessary to his own people than ever. "My dream, my hope," he says, "is that I will complete my studies and be ordained into the priesthood this July and go back to this parish. There is currently only one priest, and he struggles to meet the needs of the 40 outstations of the parish. He does his best, but even then, most people go three months without seeing a priest."

Deacon Howard will be ordained from Saint Peter Seminary -- the only one in Malawi. It is crucial to keep it open and support the 116 men who currently study there. With the help of donors like you, The Society of St. Peter Apostle, brother society to The Society for the Propagation of the Faith, gave these students, and over 38,000 seminarians like them around the mission world, a $700 scholarship last year. Without this support, their ordinations would be in jeopardy.

Please help mission seminarians with a gift this summer to The Society of St. Peter Apostle. Your thoughtful generosity will help seminarians like Deacon Howard become a priest and tend to a flock that relies on the Catholic Church as a lifeline -- both spiritually and literally.

Your gift, at any level, will help to build the future of our Church! And please remember to pray for vocations, both at home and in the missions. As Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen once said, "The search for vocations begins on our knees!"



- Maureen Crowley Heil is Director of Programs and Development for the Pontifical Mission Societies, Boston.