A Maltese-led global awareness campaign featuring the faces and voices of missionaries from over 50 countries was launched internationally, last Friday.

The digital campaign, connecting mission partners from around the world and to be translated in over 30 languages, including Arabic and Mandarin, was launched globally by Missio to mark the beginning of World Mission Month.

Missio Malta, the Maltese agency of the Pontifical Mission Societies, was involved in the development of the campaign, working in close collaboration with partners across the globe for nearly 12 months to voice a stirring message that missionaries are still serving global communities.

Responding to a call from  Pope Francis, inspired by Acts 4:20: “For we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard”, the campaign sheds light on the dedication of missionaries to serving people in places where poverty and disadvantage compound the devastating impact of COVID-19.

“This video is simply one of the tools now available to us in this technological era to build awareness of the significance of mission, particularly during the month of October,” Mgr Valentino Borg, national director of Missio Malta, said.

“October 1 was the feast of St Therese of Lisieux, the patron of missions and the second last Sunday is World Mission Sunday. This is an opportunity to pay special attention to the importance of sharing faith in mission.”

In a major example of international cooperation, Missio Malta and its partners sourced video messages of support from religious and lay missionaries representing every corner of the globe. The campaign video was launched globally last week.

The awareness campaign builds on the global popularity of a similar production last year highlighting the ‘people with a thousand faces’, Pope Francis’s term for missionaries around the world.

The #WeAreStillHere global video was viewed over a million times on social media around the world, translated into dozens of different languages and featured on national television programmes in Malta, Ireland and Australia.

“The international videos showcase the images that tell the story of what we have seen and heard and what we long to share with everyone,” Robert Farrugia, head of communications and fundraising at Missio Malta, said.

To access Missio Malta’s global campaign video, visit https://youtu.be/GtWHug397Xs.