carmen pampa
Come to the Table: Community
Editor’s note: Missioner Maggie Van Roekel begins a three-part blog series on how kitchens and cooking have become important to her on mission. In part one, Maggie shares her memories around the Carmen Pampa volunteer house kitchen table. To some extent, I’ve always been pretty comfortable in the kitchen. Growing up, I spent a lot of…
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Faith Calls Us to be Neighbors: “Welcome” Has No Language Barriers
Editor’s note: As part of FMS’ 2017 Advent blog series, missioner Maggie Van Roekel describe a time when she was patiently welcomed by her students in Carmen Pampa despite the challenges of the language barrier. When I think about being welcomed, one of the biggest ideas that comes into my mind is my first few…
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A Day in the Children’s Library and Daycare Center
Editor’s note: Missioner Aubrey Kimble shares her experiences both in the daycare center and the children’s library in Carmen Pampa, Bolivia. [unitegallery daycare] How do you practice a childlike faith in your life?
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Love Can Be Kept Only By Being Given Away
Editor’s note: Missioner Maggie Van Roekel describes a meal that she and her campus ministry group organized in the Carmen Pampa community. “Love can be kept only by being given away.” —Tomas Merton, No Man is an Island This month our campus ministry group, pastoral, organized a lunch for older people in the Carmen Pampa…
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“Praised Be to You, My Lord, For Sister Water”
Editor’s note: Missioner Aubrey Kimble reflects on how a trip to Amboró National Park gave her a chance to relax in a beautiful natural setting and reflect on care for creation. The university here in Carmen Pampa is currently on break. I decided to take advantage of the time given and went on a much-needed…
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Easter Celebrations
Editor’s note: Missioner Maggie Van Roekel reflects on how the missing of Easter mass opened her to renewed solidarity with the Bolivian people and a deeper awareness of privilege. The Easter season is one of my favorite times of the year. I love celebrating the mystery of the Resurrection. Attending mass during Holy Week has…
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Were You There: He Consoles Us
Editor’s note: Contemplating the Eighth Station of the Cross, Missioner Aubrey Kimble reflects on the power of following Jesus’ example in being present to those who are suffering. “Were You There?” This is a question that I frequently find myself reflecting on. One of the things I strive for on mission is to be present…
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Be Not Afraid and Trust God in the Midst of Suffering
Editor’s Note: Missioner Aubrey Kimble shares how her faith was shaken after a traumatic event in the campus community in Carmen Pampa, Bolivia. “Brothers and sisters, do not be afraid to welcome Christ and accept his power. Help the Pope and all those who wish to serve Christ and with Christ’s power to serve the…
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Be Not Afraid of Foolishness
Editor’s Note: Missioner Tom Little shares how breaking through the image many people had of him when he first came to Bolivia allowed him to open up more and form deeper relationships. On mission I have had to move past the fear of making a fool of myself in order to build relationships with people…
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Compassionate Equality
Editor’s Note: Missioner Tom Little reflects on the difficult struggle that often arises between compassion and fairness. Overall, teaching English in my first semester at UAC-Carmen Pampa in Bolivia was a positive experience. That is, except for one incident involving a student, which really tore me up. The university has pretty strict rules in place…
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Colonization
Editor’s Note: Missioner Aubrey Kimble shares her realizations of the long lasting effects of colonization in Bolivia, especially as it relates to Catholicism. At the beginning of the summer, I was able to attend the Maryknoll Mission Center Language Institute. I am incredibly grateful to have had that opportunity. The language school was very well…
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Focusing on Mission
Editor’s Note: Missioner Aubrey Kimble shares how a recent reflection with FMS staff helped her re-focus on her ministries and reaffirm her decision to devote this time in her life to mission. This past week was a real treat because two of our program directors from FMS, Emily and Meghan, came to visit us in…
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Learning from Teaching
Editor’s Note: Missioner Tom Little reflects on how beginning a new teaching position in Bolivia led him to celebrate the personality differences around him instead of being unsettled by them. This semester I started teaching English classes at the UAC. This has been a fulfilling experience because I get to see my students make noticeable…
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Perspective and Pastoral
Editor’s Note: Missioner Aubrey Kimble reflects on adjusting her expectations and what she thinks things “should” look like during her first months on mission at Carmen Pampa University in Bolivia. Every Tuesday night, the university’s Pastoral group has a meeting. Pastoral is a group that comes together to share their faith with one another and…
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The Pope Francis Mission Cross in Carmen Pampa
Editor’s Note: Missioner Tom Little shares his reflections from an event at Carmen Pampa University in Bolivia that brought the community closer and allowed them to grow together in faith. Last month the community of Carmen Pampa participated in the passing of the mission cross. Pope Francis brought the cross to Bolivia during his visit last July…
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Accompaniment
Editor’s Note: During this National Volunteer month, missioner Aubrey Kimble shares some of her meditations on volunteering and service. Volunteering has always been something that has interested me. I began volunteering a bit here and there throughout elementary and middle school to help with various campus events. I became slightly more serious about volunteering in…
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Letting Go of the Future to Embrace the Present
Editor’s Note: Missioner Tom Little shares how for him, Lent has been a time to let go of worries about the future and instead focus on the people and places of the present. There are a lot of things that you have to let go when you go on mission in rural Bolivia: friends, family, hockey, decent…
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Letting Go of Anxiety
Editor’s Note: Missioner Aubrey Kimble shares how the beginning of her time on mission in Bolivia has challenged her to let go of anxieties and the desire to be in control. Through this process, she is discovering great freedom. Lent is one of my favorite times of the year. Even though it is often a…
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Comfort and Joy: A Sense of Belonging
Editor’s Note: As part of our “Comfort and Joy” Advent/Christmas blog series, missioner Tom Little shares how he’s found joy through integrating more into the community where he lives and serves in Carmen Pampa, Bolivia. When I first arrived to Bolivia in January I was lost in a cloud of culture shock. Everywhere I turned I saw something that…
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Culture and Travel in Bolivia Part 3
Editor’s Note: Second-year missioner Nate Mortenson currently serves as a teacher and head of the English department at Unidad Carmen Pampa in Bolivia. This is the third and final installment of a special series in which we will share some of the work from students in his class. My Typical Day at Palos Blancos By Veronica Otoya One…
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Culture and Travel in Bolivia Part 2
Editor’s Note: Second-year missioner Nate Mortenson currently serves as a teacher and head of the English department at Unidad Carmen Pampa in Bolivia. This is the second installment of a special three part series in which we will share some of the work from students in his class. Sharing Experiences – Intercarreras By Graciel Quino Calle My name is Graciel Quino…
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New Series – Culture and Travel in Bolivia Part 1
Editor’s Note: Second-year missioner Nate Mortenson currently serves as a teacher and head of the English department at Unidad Carmen Pampa in Bolivia. In alignment with our “Comfort and Joy” Advent/Christmas blog series, today launches a special three part series in which we share some of the work from students in his class. Every day my English…
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Food on Mission
Nate writes: Here is a photo of our weekly food consumption for one week. FMS supports us with a monthly stipend that compares closely to the minimum wage of an average “official” work sector job of a Bolivian. And it’s worth noting that the majority of Bolivians work some where within the bounds of an unofficial…
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There’s More – Committing to a Fourth Year
It is official: I am extending my contract to stay in Bolivia for a fourth and final year. With this decision, I have a sense of excitement and joy… as well as a bit of relief. In my discernment, I had my pros for staying in Bolivia and my pros for returning to the U.S.…
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A delicious occasion
Editor’s Note: The following post was written by Nate Mortenson. Community work hours are a required contribution students make at the University of Carmen Pampa. It’s part of students’ life here. They study and work on campus when they don’t have class. Many of the students work in areas where they already are skilled. Some…
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A Daunting Task
World Health Day was earlier this month, and this year the World Heath Organization is focused on a subject close to my heart: Food Safety. I feel that food safety is an important issue around the world because its use can prevent serious illness and even death—something that, unfortunately, my fellow missioners have witnessed first…
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Making an impression
Editor’s Note: The following post was written by Nate Mortenson. Pastoral Universitario This is the group Mary and I have been participating in since we moved to the UAC – Carmen Pampa. It’s a wonderful group—usually about 7 to 15 attend the Tuesday evening gatherings where we sing, pray and read from the bible, and…
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New Semester Brings New Opportunities
Editor’s Note: The following post is from Mary Mortenson. The school year at Carmen Pampa University starts this week. Please keep Mary and Nate in your prayers as they begin another semester of guiding young scholars. Recently Nate and I had the opportunity to accompany a group of 8 Pastoral students (a Catholic Young-adult group)…
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All Soul’s Day in Bolivia
Editor’s Note: Nate shares his thoughts and photos. Last weekend was All Souls’ Day. It was a beautiful holiday, and Mary and I got to see quite a bit of local culture. During this weekend people here make bread called TantaWawas. It can be translated to tons of babies. Wawa is a Quechua word for baby. They…
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Moving to the Country and Slowing Down
First-year missioner Mary Mortenson talks about her and her husband’s recent move so that they could serve in different ministries at a rural Catholic university (photo by Nate Mortenson). For those of you who do not know me all that well, I rarely leave a place with all my boxes checked and all my bows…
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Photoshoot: Goodbye to Cochabamba
Missioner Nate Mortenson shares some photos he shot in Bolivia. This weekend marks a special time for Mary and I. We are packing up our beloved room at the Franciscan Social Center in Cochabamba and moving to Carmen Pampa where we’ll begin working at the university in Carmen Pampa – UAC (Universidad Academica Catolica). Here’s…
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Takeaway Wednesday: Recipe for Choclo Salad!
In today’s Takeaway Wednesday post, lay missioner Nate Mortenson presents a recipe for one of his new favorite Bolivian dishes: “Choclo Salad”! “Choclo Salad” prepared and photographed by Nate Mortenson It features a type of Andean corn with kernels much larger than traditional sweet corn in the United States: Read more about choclo here. It…
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Short-Term Mission and Global Awareness Trip Announcement!
Associate Director Mariam Kaldas tells you everything you need to know about the upcoming Short-Term Mission and Global Awareness Trip. Several weeks ago, executive director Kim Smolik and I returned from establishing a trip to Bolivia, and we are very excited to share with the itinerary with you. The trip is May 2-11, 2014 (both…
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Mission Monday: Passing the Baton
As members of Franciscan Mission Service’s Mission Class XVIII is in D.C. train for mission abroad, members of Mission Class XV prepare to return to the United States this holiday season. Joel Vaughn, who serves in Cochabamba, reflects on this transitional time. Passing the baton. Stock image by Grace Yang. As Lynn and I complete…
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