{"id":125683,"date":"2026-05-22T09:55:32","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T07:55:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/?p=125683"},"modified":"2026-05-22T14:32:51","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T12:32:51","slug":"lead-the-heart-of-the-mission-beyond-borders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/lead-the-heart-of-the-mission-beyond-borders\/","title":{"rendered":"LEAD: the heart of the mission beyond borders"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"image_pdf\"PDF<\/span><\/a>\"image_print\"PRINT<\/span><\/a><\/div>

It was in 2011 that <\/span>LEAD (Lasallian East Asia District)<\/span><\/a> officially came into being, bringing together seven countries and sectors in East and South-East Asia under a single broad geographical and spiritual horizon: <\/span>the Philippines, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand<\/b>. What was described at the time as a true \u201cact of faith\u201d is now celebrating its fifteenth anniversary.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recalling the origins of this journey is the District Visitor himself, Br. Jose Mari L. Jimenez, in his Pastoral Letter written on the occasion of the Feast of the Founder, which is celebrated every year on 15 May throughout the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe founding of LEAD was an \u2018act of faith\u2019 born of our shared hopes to live the Lasallian Mission with greater boldness in association, and to ensure the sustainability of our response to the emerging peripheries in this part of the Institute. Our rich heritage and our multicultural and multi-religious context have been at the heart of our identity as a District from the very beginning.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the past 15 years, the District has consolidated its position and now coordinates a dense network of <\/span>over 70 educational institutions <\/b>\u2013 ranging from primary schools to large university campuses \u2013 serving a catchment area of <\/span>over 150,000 students<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

A vocation for educational service<\/b><\/h2><\/div>

This enormous work of education and social redemption is made possible by the presence of some<\/span> 140 Brothers <\/b>and, above all, by the extraordinary commitment of <\/span>more than 13,000 lay partners and collaborators<\/b>. A milestone that the Brother Visitor wished to acknowledge with gratitude, addressing the whole community: \u201cLEAD has grown tremendously over the last fifteen years. We must thank each and every one of you for this. It has been your commitment to our shared vocation of educational service to young people, especially the poor, your creativity […] and your trust in being part of a global community of educators that has led us to where we are today.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the most significant achievements of LEAD is the genuine and deep collaboration between religious and lay people in the management of the works. This synergy has taken shape in cutting-edge <\/span>governance<\/span><\/i> structures, such as the establishment of <\/span>Rue Neuve 1852 <\/span><\/i>in Malaysia and the <\/span>Lasallian Trust <\/span><\/i>in Singapore.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As highlighted by the Visitor, these bodies \u201cprovide spaces where Brothers and lay partners can collaborate at the governance level to sustain the Lasallian mission in these two Sectors\u201d, whilst new forms of community \u2013 such as the transnational collaboration between the Brothers of Hong Kong and Japan \u2013 \u201creveal potential new ways of being community\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

Young people threatened by poverty and violence<\/b><\/h2><\/div>

The heart of LEAD\u2019s mission beats strongly, above all where young people are threatened by poverty, conflict and violence. The Brother Visitor did not hide the complexity of the current historical moment, explicitly citing \u201cchanges in the educational landscape, population displacements caused by unjustified conflicts and violence, the ever-evolving needs of young people \u2013 especially those on the margins \u2013 as well as the effects that the decline in interest in religious life has on the vitality of our mission\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the District is not giving up and sees these difficulties as an impetus to respond: \u201cAlthough these are very real challenges, they also provide an incentive to reflect more boldly on what it means to be Lasallians today. Our charism has always guided us to be attentive and responsive to the signs of the times\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

The practical responses on the ground in recent years have been extraordinary:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Myanmar (De La Salle Academy-Yangon): <\/b>In a dramatic geopolitical context, the academy offers a lifeline to the most vulnerable young people, <\/span>\u201copening up opportunities for young people in Myanmar to complete their GED (high school diploma) and find opportunities for higher education elsewhere<\/span><\/i>\u201d.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
      \n
    • Thailand (La Salle Bamboo School): <\/b>Located on the border, it is a hub for international volunteering and the care of migrant and marginalised children.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
    • Philippines (MILES Project <\/b>\u2013 Project Ministry Innovations in Lasallian Education<\/i>): Originally launched under the technical name Project 2022<\/i>, MILES is the Lasallians\u2019 response to the need to balance financial sustainability, pedagogical innovation and fidelity to the mission of social inclusion in order to serve the most vulnerable groups. The name evokes \u2018miles\u2019, the journey and constant progress, but the key word within the acronym is Innovations<\/b>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>

      As the year of celebrations for the 15<\/span>th<\/span> anniversary of LEAD begins, coinciding with the feast of the Founder, Saint John Baptist de La Salle, the District is preparing for the next decisive steps: the 4<\/span>th<\/span> District Mission Assembly and the 5<\/span>th<\/span> Brothers\u2019 Assembly in November 2026, which will guide the journey towards the 5<\/span>th<\/span> District Chapter in May 2027.<\/span><\/p>\n

      \u201cWe are being asked to renew our dedication to push beyond the boundaries of the Lasallian mission and our willingness to build a fraternal world that bears witness to faith and zeal,\u201d concluded the Brother Visitor. \u201cLet us not only look back on our rich history and traditions, but also look forward to the future with the same hope we had when LEAD was founded in 2011.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":125702,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3367,3444],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-parc-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125683"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125703,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125683\/revisions\/125703"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}