With emotion in the heart

Dear friends, this 2026 will bring many opportunities to thank God and the many women and men of good will who over the years have agreed to leave behind the security of a home, a job, and a family to give it to so many who were experiencing abandonment: in São Paulo, Brazil, Madaba, Jordan, and Pecetto Torinese.
These months will also mark the anniversary of our foundation. We will report on these in future issues of the magazine, but in the meantime, we anticipate the emotion expressed by Ernesto Olivero, "father" of the Sermig Arsenals scattered around the world.

THIRTY YEARS AGO, WE SAID YES TO AN INVITATION FROM DOM LUCIANO MENDES DE ALMEIDA AND CARDINAL PAULO EVARISTO ARNS, and thus accepted the Church of São Paulo's request to bring our experience of welcoming the poor to Brazil. We agreed to take charge of the large complex known as the "House of Pain" for having sheltered the suffering of thousands of men, women, and children who migrated from Europe in search of fortune in Brazil. If they survived illness and hardship, they were sent to the large coffee plantations to replace slaves. Since 1996, it has been known as the Arsenal of Hope, a refuge for many homeless friends, a chance to change their lives. How I miss those walls that welcomed me hundreds of times and those avenues lined with centuries-old trees where I strolled, shaking hands and exchanging smiles with our 1,200 guests!
After thirty years, I want to thank the Lord for this incredible calling that changed our lives.
I thank my friends who said yes—some for a time, some for life—to this call within a call and set out on trust, sharing their lives with a new world.

BUT THIS YEAR ALSO MARKED TWENTY YEARS THAT WE HAVE BEEN IN JORDAN, IN MADABA. We never would have imagined it, but even there we responded yes to the invitation of the Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Bishop of Amman to be a caring presence for children and young people with disabilities, the most vulnerable in that land. How many tears, how many trials, how much suffering in that land blessed by the footsteps of Jesus! Yet, we were always accompanied by the certainty that the joy of the children at our center and their families was a sign of God's presence, encouraging us to stay. In my heart, I have only thanks for those who agreed to leave and stay on behalf of all of us. In particular, Maria Teresa, who was the grain of wheat that fell to the earth and bore fruit (Jn 12:24).

BY A COINCIDENCE THAT IS NOT COINCIDENCE, THIS YEAR ALSO MARKED THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARSENALE DELL'ARMONIA AT THE HERMITAGE OF PECETTO, once the home of Camaldolese monks. It's not far from Turin, but it has the structure of an arsenal, and it's nice to remember that there are friends there who devote themselves to young people and families experiencing great hardship, especially due to serious illnesses or severe disabilities...
 

I AM NOT WRITE ALL THIS TO BOAST, I DON'T WANT TO CELEBRATE THE PAST, but I want to thank God with you because He has used us, the few, the small, the less gifted, to do more than we ever imagined. We can truly say that with our little, He has done much. He has allowed us to participate in His plan of peace, which is the Kingdom among us.
He has allowed us to transform places of death, places of pain, abandoned places into welcoming homes, open to all, to leave people a sign that speaks for itself of the plan for peace that is in His heart, to give us confidence that nothing and no one can stop Him; it is He who carries it forward regardless, whether we are awake or asleep (Mark 4:26-27).

Ernesto Olivero
NP February 2026