Community Liaison Officer  

Thanks for welcoming me into your College – my name is Deacon Juma Emilio Lofornk.

Born in the year 1969 in Sudan, I arrived in Australia in 2005 with my small family of four. Now we are seven, two girls and three boys and of course my lovely wife Mary Nyarsuk.

After finishing my degree in Theology, I was ordained in 2020 as a Permanent Deacon for The Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne.  Now I am working at St Anthony’s Parish in Noble Park.  My role is to assist the Priest in celebrating a Mass, ministering some of the Church Sacraments and a bit of pastoral work in South Sudanese community.

My previous experience

I was a high school teacher back in Sudan and Egypt, teaching Chemistry and Biology for 11 years.  Here in Australia, I was a factory worker before going to study at Uni.

Now here, I am moving into this new role as Community Liaison Officer.  I think my background as a teacher and a Deacon might help in this new position, for the school environment is not something that is new for me.  For me, that will help engagement with school staff to provide support and advocacy for student’s and facilitate student’s participation in all aspects of school life. 

The most important part of my role is to communicate directly with families about school processes and procedures in order to involve them in school programs.  Another part of my role is to establish partnership with community representatives, government, and non-government agencies, as well as to facilitate and provide support for students and their families.

Deacon Juma Lofornk