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Volume 25 No. 1 | Autumn 2015
6
Br Vincent, using his IT
skills for God’s glory in the
Philippines
By Brother Iopam Willy Vincent SVD
Philippine Central Province
My name is Iopam Willy Vincent SVD, originally from
Vanuatu, from an island called Tanna in the Southern
part of the Archipelago. I first joined the Divine Word
Missionaries in 1999 and decided to be a religious brother
after the Novitiate in 2001. The decision to be a brother
wasn’t hard, due to my experience and first encounter
with the sacred brothers who were the pioneers of my
parish back home. The influence of these faithful brothers
impacted me to be first a Catholic, and then with the
ambition to become a religious brother.
I first heard of the SVDs through Fr Olivier Noclam SVD,
then a seminarian, in 1998, when he was joined by his
Novitiate classmates on a trip to Vanuatu as part of a
Vocation promotion. After meeting with them and being
inspired by their stories, then meeting Fr Tim Norton SVD
and Fr Michael Knight SVD that same year, I decided to
join the SVD the following year.
After the Novitiate, in 2001, I undertook my brother’s
formation in the then Brothers Formation house in
Boronia, until it was closed in 2004. From the middle
of 2004 to 2006 I joined the Seminary at Dorish Maru
College, Box Hill, and took up an Information Technology
course at Box Hill TAFE, continuing on for a year in
Brisbane and completing it in Sydney in 2009.
To put into first hand practice what I had learnt, I had
the privilege of going to Alice Springs and working at
OLSH College for 3 years under the guidance of two IT
professionals, Mr Jeff and Craig, to whom I am so grateful
for the knowledge I gained from them. While in Alice,
I was also involved in various ministries of the OLSH
Parish. I took up Youth Ministry in the Parish, as well as the
Indigenous Ministry and Prison Ministry with Fr Michael
Loke SVD. These ministries were indeed a good foundation
experience for my mission now in the Philippines.
In 2013, I left Australia for my first mission abroad in the
Philippines Central Province. I set foot in Manila for the
first time on January 12, 2013, just in time for the Provincial
Assembly, where I was introduced to the Province. My first
challenge was the language, which I undertook straight
away after the Assembly on the island of Mindoro for five
months, after which, I was assigned back to the Provincial
house in Manila, where I remain until the present moment.
In August 2013, the Province assigned me to a challenging
project to create a website for the Province. However,
despite my lack of knowledge on Web Development, I
accepted the challenge and finally created a website for
the Province which I now administer as my ministry in the
Province
(www.svdphc.ph). My whole ministry revolves
around communication, in which I travel or communicate
with SVD confreres, in parishes, and districts regularly for
news of our mission to be published on the provincial
website. I am also assigned as the Assistant Archivist
to the provincial Archive Office, where my office is now
located in Manila.
After two years in the mission, I realise that there is still
a lot to learn in the Philippines. The language is still a
challenge, and the culture is also a challenge, but I am
inspired by a quote from Nelson Mandela:
“after climbing
a mountain, I realised that there are many more mountains
to climb”.
Therefore, through the grace of God, I gain my
strength to just give my best every day in his mission; I am
still climbing.