Luca Bolelli

A certain anxiety is at home in the human heart “before running at the speed of a smartphone or a scooter.” The clergyman offers his thoughts about Christmas in a mission where “The rice fields follow the slow pace of the seasons, not the frenetic pace of hours.” Experiencing time the right way is “one of the most beautiful gifts for Christmas”.

“Cambodia is at a critical juncture. In the past few years, it has been moving into the modern world from a predominantly rural society that existed for thousands of years.” “Always having the Lord beside us and walking with him gives them [young people] a lot of strength, the light to make the choices they have to make and courage in carrying them forward.”

The Christmas letter from missionary Fr. Luca Bolelli, in Cambodia for 10 years. Jesus chose to come into the world in a village, "his school of humanity". The daily life that "lays bare". Living "skin to skin", including death, "learning from one another, helping us to be more human".

Fr Luca Bolelli, a 9-year veteran in Cambodia, writes his Christmas letter. He talks about the story of Aunt Pet, a mother of two children on the run from an alcoholic husband, and Bora and Rose, who took her in, like another "special" family, that odd couple, Mary and Joseph, whom God chose to come into this world.

Fr Luca Bolelli, a PIME missionary in Cambodia for nine years, talks about his experience with American and Korean groups: their "missionary style" and misunderstandings; common prayers and positive experiences. "There is sympathy between our communities." The meeting of the Pope with the Lutherans is "a milestone in the ecumenical journey".

The story of Fr. Bolelli, PIME missionary in the country: a ferry that connects two sides of a river becomes a place of encounter and exchange with a mixed crowd. Muslims fasting for Ramadan, alcoholics who change life, western tourists and the owner of the ferry are some of the many faces met over time. A bridge may forever erase this privileged place of mission.

40 years after his martyrdom, the French missionary is still remembered as "the good shepherd". From the beginning of his mission to the war, until his death at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. His blood is a "seed" for new Christians. Today, his mission is alive and growing. The story of a PIME priest in Cambodia.

Vuon is a young man living with polio, who in faith found the strength to "keep walking". During his childhood, he lived among street kids in the capital, in search of work as a source of redemption. His encounter with Jesus allowed him to overcome his alcoholism problem and create a family. A PIME missionary in Cambodia tells his story.

This Advent story from the mission in Kdol Leu looks at the service provided to young students who have left for the big city as well as at friendship with Buddhists and the discovery of the gift of faith. Fr Luca Bolelli, a PIME missionary, has been in Cambodia for the past six years. He has not brought a "foreign" faith to the Asian nation but a God who gives man immense value.

During the invasion of the Khmer Rouge, the French missionary had chosen to remain with his parishioners. After his murder, the Catholic woamn Yei Niang handed down to children, grandchildren and friends the priest’s witness "never lose hope in spite of the darkness all around." From a PIME missionary in Cambodia.

Thi wanted to go home for Christmas, but neither she nor her family could afford the cost of the trip. So her friend Srey On decided to gift her the ticket, despite the fact her salary is barely enough to feed her and her family. The Gospel in the midst of daily poverty, a story told by a PIME missionary.