HEAL Blog
Welcome! Here we will post news and highlight the faces, needs, and services of HEAL.A New Exam Center
Taking exams, including standardized tests, has never been my strong suit. But, I always realized how important exams were for advancing to the next level. I remember taking the GRE years ago as a part of my preparation to apply to graduate school. After many long...
Baby Destiny is Striving to Overcome
There is a popular saying that goes, “It’s not how you start, but how you finish.” I’ve heard it used in many contexts from sports to life in general. But, when anyone’s life begins with great difficulty, intervention is necessary to help that person reach their...
MOJ’s Rush 13-Year Old Girl to Hospital
You know that feeling you get when there are so many demands being made upon you that you can’t possibly meet them without great stress and wondering from where you will draw the strength and resources? Well, this is daily life for the Messengers of Justice (MOJ)...
MOJ Sisters Speak at 4th Annual HEAL Benefit
“It’s gonna be a great occasion! It’s gonna be a great occasion! God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost, He’s present!” That’s the catchy song Sr. Ann and Sr. Racheal of the Messengers of Justice (MOJ) sang when they landed in Chicago two days before the 4th...
Fr. George Clements to Speak at HEAL Benefit!
Early on in Deacon Leo’s mission, he found himself complaining to God while he was on retreat as a young seminarian. Why were poor and marginalized orphans, widows, and rural villagers suffering so greatly due to neglect, manipulation, and corruption in his native...
MOJ Sisters: Making the Mission!
If someone asked me for one reason why they should support HEAL, I would answer instantly, “the Messengers of Justice”! The Messengers of Justice (MOJ) religious order, founded by Deacon Leo Okonkwo with the spiritual charism of Jesus’ Self-Emptying (cf. Phil...
Hymns of Nigeria Uplift the Soul
St. Augustine famously said that when you sing you pray twice. In my travels to Nigeria, I’ve found that Augustine’s theology of song is vindicated abundantly. In the midst of life’s hardships in the rural villages, God’s people in Nigeria have a way through song...
Campaign to Educate Our Children
Quality education is more of a luxury in Nigeria than an available necessity. I wrote recently about how concern for day-to-day survival can diminish the importance of education in the minds of subsistence farming families. This is one of the main challenges to...
Challenges in Educating Servant Leaders
“Up and at 'em!”, my mom used to shout to me and my brothers every morning. She would have our brown paper bag lunch ready and off we’d walk to Our Lady of Loretto school in Hometown, Illinois. That same spirit that woke us up in the morning to go to school also...
The Joy of the Lord is my Strength!
Remember the Book of Job in the Old Testament? The lesson of Job is that whatever may go horribly wrong in our lives, God is always there with us. I recently wrote about a young man fittingly named Promise, a quadriplegic who developed a severe gluteal ulcer (bed...