Dear members of the IMS,
We’ve just lived the great days of our Christian life with, as the accomplishment of Lent, the Holy Week and the celebration of Easter. I hope those days were a fruitful time for everyone.
We are thinking a lot of all our friends who are in countries where there have been numerous and serious disturbances (some of them are still going through disturbances), mostly in Ivory Coast, Sudan, Tunisia and Libya and other countries that are going through tremendous difficulties, especially Haiti and Japan.
Our Association is going well. We have reached the number of 24,000 members. Beyond the numbers and the results, we can be delighted with the number of new groups coming from churches and poor countries. This truly means that Solidarity is at the heart (if not the heart itself) of our support system, and it works quite well. However, there are still some efforts to be made from some people who consider that the IMS is an insurance company and want to use it as such. It is necessary to repeat it constantly: the IMS is an Association of Solidarity.
The IMS now has members in over 140 countries and has 8 sections. This allows being closer to the members and meeting their expectations. However, it’s not always easy, mainly because each country has its own laws and, as a result, the sections work differently. This was the case for Brazil for example where a foundation was created so that the association could work in a normal way.
A question remains about the large number of congregations, young for the greater part and with few resources, who can’t subscribe to the IMS. We have to find ways of enabling them to participate in the IMS’s Solidarity. Maybe we should look towards donations and legacies? It is not easy, but with the help of everyone, we multiply our chances of success.
Strengthening the solidarity between us and increasing the number of members is the act of charity to which we are invited.
The President: Father Michel Ménard
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I’m 44 and I’ve just finished a 26-year career as an officer within the Ministry of Defence, with 12 different assignments. I am also involved in the associative life.In accordance with the mission I’ve been given and with my sensibility, I will consolidate the current procedures and I will propose to other congregations to join the IMS. I attach importance to the human side and to the provided service, because the missionaries’ satisfaction results from the support from the Sections. I am proud to work for the IMS and to find again good human values and I’m looking forward to meeting the managers and correspondents, in France and abroad.
