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Sister M. Rita (Marcia) Johnston
When the first Friars were missioned to Papua New Guinea in our parish Church at Waverley, I was 14 and I clearly remember that during that Mission Cross Ceremony, I felt the first stirrings of a call to be a missionary. My father was strongly opposed to the idea and I was advised to wait until I was twenty-one so I went to work in the Accounts Department of an insurance Company. It was Father Bernard Quirke, ofm who gave me a pamphlet about the Friars in Papua New Guinea: this strongly confirmed my belief that I was also called to such a way of life. Some time before my twenty-first birthday I sent a letter to the Missionary Franciscan Sisters at Kedron and a day before my birthday I received a letter that was not only encouraging but had a tone of welcome that I appreciated. I had no contact with the sisters before I entered other than a meeting with Sister Mary Agnella who happened to be visiting Sydney. Though my father was still upset at my decision, I left home for Kedron in May of that same year, 1954.
After my return from China I worked with Vietnamese migrants at Goodna. and at Mount Alvernia College in Kedron. In 1999 I came to Sydney and began teaching English as a Second Language at St Mary’s House at Campsie to migrants with a non-English background and in 2000 began teaching at the Asylum Seekers’ Centre in Surry Hills. Francis of Assisi shared his life with all kinds of people – the affluent and the humble were treated with equal respect and shown equal care. Here over the years I have met real people from every part of the world and asylum seekers have become for me, not photos in the paper and on television, but real people, and friends.
The brothers and sisters are to love the Lord with their whole heart,with their whole soul and mind and with all their strength, and to love their neighbour as themselves Let them glorify the Lord in all they do. (Rule of the Third Order Regular of St Francis, ChIX:29) Return to main Membership page
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I come from a family of four girls and 2 boys and I’m fourth in the family. When I was three my family moved to the Franciscan Parish of Waverley in Sydney so I spent my entire school life with the Poor Clare Sisters from whom I imbibed the Spirit of Francis and Clare.
While I taught in our schools at Kedron and the Gold Coast, my desire was always to be sent to Papua New Guinea. However, I came to understand that it was possible to be a missionary wherever I was and my years in teaching were certainly happy and fulfilling. Nevertheless, the highlight of my life is the years I spent in the Kimberley. I was a pioneer of our mission in Fitzroy Crossing in Western Australia and truly enjoyed what were in fact demanding years ministering pastorally to the Aboriginal people and as a Relief Teacher in the government school there. Of all my teaching experiences perhaps the highlight was helping some of the older women to write their names. The simplicity of the people and their way of life as well as their total trust in us, touched me deeply.
I returned to teaching at Marymount High School in 1980 and also taught in Cairns and Mount Alvernia College, Kedron. I studied for a Graduate certificate in English as a Second Language and felt drawn to ministry among the migrant people. I saw an advertisement in the Catholic Leader asking for teachers in ESL for AITECE to teach English in China. This spoke to me. I volunteered for what was a very significant experience in my life - teaching English to Middle School students. 
I find great joy and fulfilment in this ministry. Many of my students have suffered trauma through being abused or tortured. Being able to share the peace, joy and love of Francis with them is a great privilege and I have received from them certainly as much as I have given. There is real fun shared in our classes, but there are fears to be dealt with as well – above all, the ever present fear of being sent away from her. However, the Asylum Seekers Centre provides a safe place where respect towards the person and the culture of each one is assured and the higher power each one believes in is honoured.