Priest works to bring Burmese young people to U.S. for education

Published: 2005-10-12

CAMP HILL, Pa. (CNS) -- Ever since he was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Myitkyina, Burma, in 1979, Father Donald Lasap Khawng Lum has always found a way to provide for the needs of his flock. During his first pastoral assignment, he was put in charge of 57 children who had no shelter or food, so Father Lum built them places to live out of sticks and grass and, for their food and water, he raised animals, fished, grew a garden and dug a well. He built wooden coffins for poor Catholic villagers who could not afford to bury their dead. He bought an elephant for people in a mountainous area who needed transportation. He persuaded a Catholic couple to donate land for a seminary for his diocese. Today, Father Lum ministers to people in the Harrisburg Diocese and he is working with local Burmese Catholics to find a way to bring young people from his country, now known as Myanmar, to the U.S. for education.

Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .