mission

Mission Statement

"Francis, go and rebuild my church which has fallen into ruin.” When Francesco Bernardone, later known to the world as Saint Francis of Assisi, heard those words, he did not retire to the silence of the desert or the peace of a monastery. He did not interpret the Lord's words to mean work among the bricks and mortar of ancient cathedrals. The Lord called Francis to work among his poor brothers and sisters; the socially forgotten and the spiritually malnourished.

The “Living Stones” building up the Kingdom of God.

Under the inspiration and example of its founder, Rev. Augustin Milon, OFM, Port Ministries' wholehearted service to the poorest of the poor stems from a consecration to the Lord in the spirit of Saint Francis.

Port Ministries does not engage in social work or welfare reform. It seeks the Face of Jesus in “the distressing disguise of the poor”, especially the children, who are the poorest of the poor.

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Who are “the poor”

The poor are the ones who are in need of the love and care of others… who call out to us from the other side of our fears…who lead us into communion with Christ, and with ourselves.
Be Not Afraid A selection from “Fr. Gus' “PORT-FOLIO”, June, 1985...

"As we reach out to His poor, one item becomes our obstacle... FEAR. We are afraid of His poor and the main reason for the existence of this crippler is that the poor are like a mirror which reflects our own poverty of spirit: our weakness, our fragility and our woundedness. The sight of the poor ones stirs the fear we have because we must touch our own weaknesses, fragility and woundedness.. and that hurts. The answer is Jesus saying to us -“BE NOT AFRAID!”...and His words are power!” ~ Fr. Gus

“I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”
Matthew 25: 40

Our 2-fold Mission

The first goal of Port Ministries is to provide full-hearted service to the poor, homeless, families and children of our society through listening hearts and a loving presence, and to meet basic human needs such as food, clothing, shelter and other vital support. Aside from a dedicated family of workers and volunteers, Port Ministries has a community of Secular Franciscans whose charism is to live a life of simplicity and service while continually deepening and enriching the prayer lives of individual members. We consider our ministry “ a place of prayer and hope” and depend on our Father-God for direction and also the food, supplies, etc. that are needed to serve the poor. Our secondary goal is to give to others a place and environment in which to minister and to be “discipled”.

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