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miriam’s kitchen

Beneath the Surface

Editor’s note: Weekly service is an important part of Formation for overseas mission. Missioner-in-training Allison Dethlefs shares an experience from her volunteer site. “That one’s wrinkled. I want a new one,” the woman snapped as my supervisor, Brittany, offered her a coloring sheet. “I’ll go get you a new one,” I offered. “No. I don’t…

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Learning to Volunteer

Editor’s Note: * indicates names changed to ensure privacy.  When I cam to FMS in November, I had very little previous experience in volunteering. It was a requirement in high school, but my football coach usually signed us off for moving tables, and I worked in a soup kitchen and food pantry once or twice,…

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Franciscan Friday: A Lesson in Perspective

To highlight the service component of the Nonprofit Leadership Program (positions are currently available), the next several Franciscan Fridays will feature reflections from program associates about their experiences with weekly direct service. Today’s post is by development associate Sarah Hoffeditz.  During the recent heavy rains in Washington, I came home from my service at Miriam’s Kitchen…

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The Light of One: Confessions of a Bad Listener

Continuing our daily Advent reflection series, Nonprofit Servant Leadership Associate Sarah Hoffeditz writes about how an individual encounter challenged her to listen to others more deeply. I’m a bad listener. Anyone who knows me knows how much I like to talk. I often spend most of my non-talking time in a conversation thinking about what I’m…

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Mission Monday: I Saw God in the Smile of Strangers

This week as part of our Lenten “Walking in Solidarity” series, we focus on practicing outreach and charity.  This past Wednesday our Domestic Volunteer Sarah began her direct service work at Miriam’s Kitchen and she reflects on her first day for this Mission Monday post. I saw God in the smiles of strangers. It was…

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