#  1.   Who are you?

#  2.   How and when were you established?

#  3.   What does "Apostolic Organization "mean?

#  4.   What exactly is your vocation?

#  5.   How do you actually put your vocation into practice?

#  6.   Is your team then the first step a non-believer can take to know more about God?

#  7.   How do you arrive at this Loving Contemplation of God?

#  8.   Why do you live in teams of 3 / 4 people?

#  9.   Why is your community called Peter and Paul?

#10.  How is your training structured?

In 1941 Jacques Loew  (a former lawyer who converted to Christianity when he was 24 years old and later became a priest in the Dominican Order) had to carry out a research on the port city of Marseilles. In order to better understand the actual reality of the working-class districts, he obtained permission to go and work as a docker. He soon discovered that his fellow co-workers   not only had no interest in Church matters but often did not even believe in God or knew very little about Him. Thus Loew decided to go and live where they lived, in a working-class district. Little by little other people joined him and that is how the Saint Peter and Saint Paul's Worker Mission was born.

In 1965 it was formally recognized by the Congregation of Religious Orders (an
organization of the Roman Catholic Church that oversees religious groups, old and
new) as an Apostolic Organization.

This term was actually first used to define our group and it underlines the fact that we are not just missionaries or religious people but as our patron bishop, the bishop of Freiburg, Losanne and Geneva, recognized, we are also "evangelizators", that is to say people who, in the words of Saint Paul,   "I am less than the least of all God's people; yet God gave me this privilege of taking to the Gentiles the Good News about the infinite riches of Christ, and of making all people see how God's secret plan is to be put into effect. " (Ephesians 3:8-9).

It is to live, as men of God, among people to tell those who do not know him of our Lord Jesus.

Yes indeed! So long as the team members try to lead a life that follows the spirit of the Gospel, in the manner of the Apostles who left everything to follow our Lord Jesus.
They must devote their lives to obedience, poverty and celibacy (as sanctioned in our   group's statute).

We have to, in the apostle John's words "That which we have seen and heard we   declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His son, Jesus Christ" (1 John 1:3)

If this takes place then it is easy for he who does not know God,  just like the fox in the Little Prince, to take a step each day towards He who has loved him since even before the world was created.

We do so through prayer, both together as a group and alone, and the reading of the word of God. These are the moments when we personally meet God. God's word is at the heart of our lives;

the Word that we heard, the word in our prayers, the word that we celebrate, the word that we annonunce. The liturgy and the Eucharist have a special place in our lives.

They are the role-models we would like to follow.

At Peter's feet, to whom Jesus entrusted his Church, we would like to understand even further the mystery of the Church so that we can live it out in our lives with all those who have been baptized. We feel, like Paul, sent to "the many people in the city '"(Acts 18:10) and, as it is written in our statute " to the evangelization of the working-class that has lost its faith or that it has never been Christian".

Still following Saint Paul's example we earn our living working with our hands in order to bring the Good News ,without asking for any money, to all those who have not heard it.
Paul continuosly exhorts us "Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ" (1 Cor.11:1)
and "woe is me if I do not preach the gospel" (1 Cor. 9:16).

In order to live togheter as a team and to carry out our missionary work our training is structured as follows:
one year as a postulant
one year as a novice
two years of biblical, historical and philosophical studies
two years working with a team
four years of theological studies

Faced with the endless changes modern life throws at us but firmly anchored on the Word of God like an unmovable stone, we like to gather togheter all those who have been reached by the Word of God and the action of the Holy Spirit.
Would you like to know more about us?
Here is our address:

Bye!

GIULIANO

I was born in Italy, in a small village , Vermiglio, in the Alps on 23/8/1947.

After having finished my philosophical and theological studies in Milan, I joined PPWM in 1971. I spent 9 years with the Milan group. I came to Japan in 1984.
By trade I am a carpenter, but I also teach Italian part-time (half-day ,once a week)

My missionary work centers mainly on the fostering of some discussion groups (bible classes) open to both non Christians and to Christians who want to know more about the Bible.    For the past few years I have also been lecturing on iconography .
As of April 99 I shall be giving a series of lectures on "ART AND THE BIBLE" at the Japanese-Italian Association (Nichi-I Kyokai) in Aoyama, Tokyo.
If you want to know more about the bible, please do not hesitate to contact me.

My favourite hobby is hiking.

LOUIS

I was born in Geneva, Switzerland on 17/5/1945.

After having studied philosophy and theology I joined the PPWM in 1968.
I lived with the Japanese team from 1976 to 1981.
Then I spent 8 years in Brazil, in Joinville, training young people.
I came back to Japan in September 1988.
I work as a nurse in a dialysis hospital.
Since I just moved back to japan my missionary activities at present are limited: I am a member of the liturgical group of a nearby parish.
To tell the truth my natural inclination is towards helping those who, through illness or for other reasons, find themselves on the fringes of society.

My hobby is cooking! If you would like to come around for a meal, let me know!

RENATO

I was born in Brazil, in Belhorizonte, in Minas Gerais state on 8/4/1970.

I joined PPWM in 1993 after having worked as a bricklayer.
I spent 3 years with the teams in Joinville and Curitiba.
After 2 years at the School of Faith in Freiburg in Switzerland I asked to do my 2 years of mandatory training in Japan, where I arrived in December 1998.
By trade I am a bricklayer. Since the company I worked for did not simply do the bricklayng but also built the whole house I learned to paint and to do the electrical wiring.
I asked to be sent to Japan because I wanted to work in a country where there are few Christians. I am very happy to be here and I have already made lots of friends!
Most of my time is spent studying Japanese. Twice a month, at the week-end, I join other Brazilians who have come to Japan to work, and together we pray, read the Bible and prepare for Baptism.
One of my great desires is to live with the poor and the outcasts.
Once a week some of my friends and I go to see these homeless people.

My hobby is going to the movies and acting in the theatre.

Group activities

* Every Thursday evening we welcome anyone who wants to share with us our supper and the Eucharist.

* Every year, in May and October, we organize the "Rally With The Bible".  We usually rent a house somewhere in the countryside and go there for a couple of days with all sorts of other people. Married couples and single people, with or without kids, adults and children, Christians and non-Christians alike are all part of one big family. We read the Bible with those who wish to do so, we take long walks in the mountains and, in the evening, after prayers and games are over, we freely talk about our worries and problems while sipping some good wine or sake.

*  In February we organize a one-day Retreat on a fundamental theme of our religious life.This usually takes place in a Church so that more people can attend.

*  With the help of some friends we also organize every year a charity concert, a Christmas party for kids and adults alike, and Saint Peter and Saint Paul's feast.

SUMMARY OF THE BIBLICAL MEETING ON MARK'S GOSPEL

On the third Sunday of every month at 3 o'clock at Saint Joseph's Franciscan Convent (to the left of the Chapel Center) a Psalm and a chapter of Mark's Gospel are read and commented upon.This meeting is open to all. Kaoda Kaoru makes a summary of the proceedings which is available to those who request it.

All the publications above can be obtained from PPWM in TODA city ,Japan.