By Emilie Ng
REGGAE priest and founder of Jamaica’s fastest-growing religious order, the Missionaries of the Poor, is coming to Brisbane next month.
Fr Richard Ho Lung, sometimes considered the male equivalent of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, is scheduled to speak at various events in Brisbane and the Gold Coast between July 8 and 14.
The champion for the poor, born to Chinese immigrants, founded his order after an epiphany about his own priestly life while still a Jesuit.
He felt God drawing him to work with poor people living in the slums of Jamaica, his home country, and started the Brothers of the Poor.
The order, now known as the Missionaries of the Poor, has more than 500 brothers working in Jamaica, India, Uganda, Haiti, Kenya, the Philippines, Indonesia and the United States.
MOP Brisbane associate Trevor Lambkin first saw Fr Ho Lung on global television network EWTN less than 10 years ago.
He and wife Tina Lambkin travelled to Jamaica in 2010 with parishioners from Sunnybank before becoming associate members.
Mr Lambkin said Fr Ho Lung’s story was timely, given the secular “rough terrain” in Australia.
Fr Ho Lung’s Brisbane visit will include a special reggae concert by Jamaican singer Wynton Williams performing the MOP priest’s own compositions from his time as a reggae musician. Seats are limited.
For more information on Fr Ho Lung’s visit, contact Trevor and Tina Lambkin on 0408 643 068, email mopbrisbaneassociates@hotmail.com or visit www.missionforthepoor.org/australia for the full schedule.
