One of the challenges posed by Pope Francis is to go to the “peripheries!” St. Vincent de Paul, our founder, reminded us that the life of a missioner must be that of a Carthusian at home and an apostle in the field or the rural areas. That is, our works and ministries will be more fruitful for the people we serve to the degree that we put on the spirit of Chiat in order to acquire a holiness appropriate to our vocation.
Certainly, this calls for missionary activity. As Vincentian priests and brothers, we are “sent to evangelize the poor!”
In response to this call, the Congregation of the Mission in the Philippines is sending Father Kit C. Torayno, CM and Father Rogelio P. Coloyan, II, CM to become members of a ministry team at San Agustin Mission-Station, Kalagangan, San Fernando, Bukidnon. This is one of the most remote mission-stations in the Diocese of Malaybalay.
One of the responsibilities of this team is the protection of indigenous peoples and their way of life. The lumad 
groups usually come down from the mountains to sell their products … but most of them do live high up on the mountains.
To better respond to their plight, the Church aims to build a kumbento that will stabilize and give permanence to the Mission of the Church while ensuring the safety of the Missionaries as well as the lay leaders.
The project will be managed by the Mission Station Pastoral and Finance Council. The priests-in-charge will monitor the compliance of the building specification and oversee the finances.
Presently, the assigned priests in the Mission-Station are living in the sacristy which has been temporarily converted into two separate small rooms.
Finally, on December 11, 2020, the ground-breaking of this new construction project took place. The leaders of the indigenous people led the services on this momentous occasion. The Diocesan Administrator of the Diocese of Malaybalay, Msgr. Noel Pedregosa blessed the construction site.
We would like to thank all those people and communities who have been part of this project: the San Marcelino community of the Philippine Province, Adamson University headed by its President, Father Manny Manimtim, CM, some of the friends of Fathers Kit and Roger and the parishioners of San Agustin Mission station who, in one way or another, contributed to this project. We hope and pray that God will continue to bless this project.
Fr. Kit Torayno, CM
Province of the Philippines
