FR. PRESIDENT: WE ARE AGENTS OF EVANGELIZATION

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Rev. Fr. Don H. Besana, OAR delivered his inaugural speech last July 5, 2018. He reminded everyone that we are all agents of evangelization. The Fr. President opened his speech by acknowledging his parents. He gave his gratitude to God and sought for prayers from the community. He said that all are called to be good shepherds, humble servants and stewards of creation. He invited everyone to work for the integral development of the persons entrusted to us and all to become living witnesses of the Gospel values. He also stressed that UNO-R belongs to God and should be one big family. He shared his experiences in Africa, where he worked as a missionary. He said that it takes a village to raise a child. They loved one another as a loving and caring community. The young child stays home to help their grandparents. The parents look for a day’s earn and the whole family work together. In the community, they visit the sick, they commonly mourn if someone dies, and everyone welcomes a newborn into the community. In fact, it was during his time that the community built a school in the center of three communities: a Muslim, a Christian, and an atheist. Everyone helped in the building of the schoolhouse: the husbands do the manual labor, the wives brought in the stones and rocks, the children brought in the water and the sand. The school was finished in 2 months. The community had one heart and one mind and believed that God is with us. At UNO-R, we have to work together as simple collaborators to God’s plan and Sacred Scripture values. The roots of faith should be on God through our love for our neighbors. The school should be a scaffold to support the structure of love (Caritas), he added. The symbols found on the emblem of the university should be synergized by the Caritas et Scientia, he ended.