south africa
The Light Remains: 2013 in Review
public domain Many thanks to the Advent reflection series contributors. Below are reflections our readers particularly enjoyed, listed again in case you missed them: The Light of One: The Gift of Yourself by Hady Mendez The Light of One: Confessions of a Bad Listener by Sarah Hoffeditz The Light of One: Preparing to Be Overwhelmed…
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The Light of One: The Wire Man
Continuing our daily Advent reflection series, Katherine Menezes writes about a humbling encounter with a man and how whose memory continues to inspire her. I was blessed to take part in an FMS trip to South Africa this past summer where I met someone known as “The Wire Man” in a craftsmen complex, a lure…
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The Light of One: Choosing to See the Gift
On the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Kate Ackert continues our daily Advent reflection series by writing about the power of a simple encounter with optimism. This past summer, I had the privilege of embarking on a two-week journey to South Africa with the Franciscan Mission Service and the Franciscan Center for Service and…
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Trip Partcipants Learn About Catholic Church’s Fight Against Apartheid
Fr. Dominic Hession is an Irish Franciscan Friar who has been in South Africa for more than 40 years. By the time our recent Short-Term Missions and Global Awareness group met him, he had already seen the rise and fall of the brutal Apartheid as a priest blacklisted for speaking out against the government’s practices.…
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Franciscan Friday: Visiting an AIDS Hospice
Today, travelers on our Short-Term Missions and Global Awareness Trip to South Africa visit an HIV/AIDS Hospice center. A few months ago Domestic Volunteer Anna Robinson also went on this trip and visited patients affected by AIDS. For this Franciscan Friday post, she shares with us a reflection on the experience and finding common ground…
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Franciscan Friday: Prayers from South Africa
South Africa is on our hearts and in our minds as we lead seven college students on a Short-Term Mission and Global Awareness Trip this week. By engaging with locals, the students will learn about nation’s history of apartheid as well as current realities faced by some of its residents, including HIV/AIDS and poverty. Each…
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Dig Deeper with the “I Am From” Poem
Today is departure day for students from three different U.S. universities who are participating in our second Short-Term Mission and Global Awareness Trip to South Africa. As part of their orientation and early reflection these next few days, they’ll be writing an “I Am From” poem as an ice-breaker. Associate director Mariam Mitry, who is…
Read MoreGroup Connects with Youth on Test Trip to South Africa
Video created by Domestic Volunteer Anna about her experience in South Africa as part of a Short-Term Mission and Global Awareness Trip. While winter weather raged back home in the states, a group from FMS led a gathering of young adults in the Electric Slide in the North-West region of South Africa. The group, piloted…
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Preparing for South Africa: Watching “The Power of One”
Last “Preparing for South Africa” post, Domestic Volunteer Anna talked about her familiarity with South African culture and a documentary she saw prior to departing. For this post she reviews additional material she covered before going on the Short-Term Mission and Global Awareness Trip. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I had little…
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Preparing for South Africa – Watching “Amandla!”
We’re currently testing a Short-Term Mission and Global Awareness Trip to South Africa, and Domestic Volunteer Anna is participating. However, before she left, she had some studying to do: I am very lucky to be a part of Franciscan Mission Services’ trip to South Africa for a two-week mission and global education experience. Never have…
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Blessings in the New Year
Just as we are blessed to begin a new day, we are thankful to begin a bright new year! 2012 was a good year for us and we have much to look forward to in 2013. – The homecoming of eight missioners from Bolivia, South Africa, and Zambia. Nora Pfeiffer (Bolivia) Catherine Giller (Bolivia) Lynn…
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Encountering God in the Goodness of Others
Cecilia and Tim Marcy spent the last three years serving at a hospice and clinic for people with AIDS. Today, Cecilia shares with us the story of one patient through whom she encountered God this year. There was a patient at the St. Francis Care Center who had AIDS and cancer. She was a wonderful…
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The Experience of Working with People with AIDS
In honor of World AIDS Day, missioner Cecilia Marcy shares a bit about the HIV/AIDS situation in Johannesburg, South Africa where she serves as a nurse at the St. Francis Care Center. Cecilia and her husband Tim have served in South Africa for three years. The St. Francis Care Center in South Africa Back in July,…
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Feast Of The Assumption: May We All Be Tabernacles
Photo from flickr user Mr. Ducke On August 15, the Catholic church celebrates the Feast of the Assumption, a day recognizing the Virgin Mary’s completion of her early life and “was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory” (Munificentissimus Deus, Pope Pius XII, 1950). As we reflect on her transition into heaven, we remember that…
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Franciscan Friday: Friar in South Africa Receives Awards
Fr. Stan Brennan, OFM [EDITOR’ NOTE, JULY 6, 2012: We have learned that Fr. Stan passed away today. Last Sunday he joined Tim, Cecilia and other members of St. Francis Care for prayer, and he received communion in his wheelchair from Tim. “It was wonderful to be together in his company with the group,” Cecilia…
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National Volunteer Month Profile: Tim and Cecilia in South Africa
We conclude our series of profiles for National Volunteer Month with Tim and Cecilia Marcy, our most senior missioners. We hope that our posts from the last month have made you aware of the impact of volunteers as well as inspired you to answer your own call to service. Click on image to enlarge The…
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“Where there is doubt” – Proclaiming the Gospel in South Africa
Tim Marcy gives most of the Sunday homilies at his church in Johannesburg, South Africa. His other ministries include working at the antri-retroviral treatment center and visiting the local hospital. “Many people here lead somewhat restricted social lives primarily, I believe, because most homes are walled-in and gated-off, and people don’t casually visit each other. Deacon…
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Deadline for tax-deductible donations: Dec. 31
Original photo by Charles Thompson Don’t miss your chance to make a tax-deductible gift in 2011 and help us promote peace and social justice through Franciscan lay mission! Donations made out to “Franciscan Mission Service” must be postmarked to P.O. Box 29034, Washington, DC 20017 or submitted online by 11:59 p.m. on December 31 to met the…
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Prayers for Christmas: Why Christmas?
Original photo by Ambuj Saxena “Why Christmas? Our vision, our purpose, our goal: to know, to love, and to serve God. To know God, to know the love between the Trinity, to know the Son, and through Him the Father, and the love that is the Spirit. To know the almighty, the creator, the everlasting,…
Read MorePrayers for Christmas: Jesus
“This Christmas I am thankful for the sky, the flowers, the trees, and the people around me — and that Jesus died for us.” – 90-year-old South African woman to whom FMS missioner Tim Marcy brings communion weekly Photo by Rennet Stowe It might seem strange to talk about Jesus’ death this time of year. Suffering…
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Prayers for Christmas: World AIDS Day
Worldwide, 33.4 million people are currently living with HIV/AIDS, and more than 67 percent (approximately 22.4 million people) of those infected are in sub-Saharan Africa. On this World AIDS Day, and our thoughts and prayers turn to patients of St. Francis Care Clinic in South Africa where our missioners Cecilia and Tim Marcy serve. FMS…
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Add to Our Prayer Wall
Each day of Advent, we’re sharing a prayer from one of our missioners, people they serve, volunteers, staff, board members and friends all around the world. Today’s prayer is from Tim Marcy, one of our lay missioners in South Africa who works at an HIV/AIDS clinic and is a practicing deacon. “This Christmas I am…
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Mission Monday: A trip to the Apartheid Museum
For our first “Mission Monday,” post, we’d like to share with you excerpts from the blog of our missioners in South Africa, Tim and Cecilia Marcy. “We recently visited the internationally acclaimed Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg. Through photos, interactive displays, film clips, two longer films, and hundreds of actual items and displays with aural or…
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