Month: May 2016
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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Introducing Eli
Editor’s Note: Missioner Catherine Sullivan shares how a trip to the marketplace in Cochabamba, Bolivia, turned into an experience of solidarity and deeper integration into the culture. I have been working at Manos con Libertad three to four days a week for three months now. Manos con Libertad is a co-operative of inmates from San…
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No Country For Young Girls
Editor’s Note: Missioner Maeve Gallagher reflects on how she’s seen Guatemala’s beauty standards manifested in her students and felt compelled to use this as a teaching experience. As I reapplied my lipstick under the florescent bathroom lights, Ceci and Katy commented on my appearance, “Who’s the boy?” “Is it the cute guy who was at…
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World Care Benefit and Celebration 2016 Recap
When everyone gathered in St. Francis Hall on May 13 for the 2016 World Care Benefit and Celebration, the spirits of generosity and gratitude were almost tangible. This annual celebration at Franciscan Mission Service is more than a fancy catered event; it’s a call to action. It’s a reminder of how important it is to…
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Little Bits of Solidarity
Editor’s Note: Missioner Allison Dethlefs reflects on the notion of solidarity and what it looks like now that she’s on mission in Bolivia. Solidarity is a big, somewhat ambiguous word that we throw around a lot nowadays. We often talked during formation about how we were going on mission to live and work in solidarity…
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Measure in Love
Editor’s Note: Missioner Erin McHugh adapts the lyrics of a well-known song to reflect her experiences during her first few months on mission in Jamaica. I’m sure many of you have heard the song “Seasons of Love” from the Broadway musical Rent. I have heard this song several times in the last month as we…
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Roots
Editor’s Note: Missioner Janice Smullen shares how she’s found comfort learning more about herself as she adjusts to a new life in Jamaica. Putting down new roots is so difficult. Being new to Jamaica, I feel as if I am continually struggling to find a good foothold, stand secure among swirling cultural forces, and just…
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Ordained and Sent Forth
Editor’s Note: Missioner Patrick Montine shares his experience during a priesthood ordination in Montego Bay, Jamaica. A little while ago, I was afforded the opportunity to attend a priesthood ordination in Montego Bay, Jamaica. It was a very unique and special event to see. This was the first ordination that the bishop of this diocese…
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Same Water, Same World
Editor’s Note: Missioner Annemarie Barrett reflects on her changed perspective on environmental issues, particularly water consumption, since she’s been on mission in Bolivia. I know that I have written about environmental degradation before on this blog. And I know that I have already shared stories about the lack of water that we experience here in…
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Beams of Love: Why I Need To Be on Mission
Editor’s Note: In the fourth and final installment of her “Beams of Love” series, missioner Amanda Ceraldi shares that her time on mission in Guatemala has allowed her to create a space to live out her call to build relationships and accompany those she encounters. “We are put on earth for a little space that…
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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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Beams of Love: A Personification of Grace
Editor’s Note: In the third installment of her four part series, missioner Amanda Ceraldi shares how bearing the beams of love for one person often extends beyond the bounds of what we think is possible and affects countless others in unforeseen ways. “We are put on earth for a little space that we might learn…
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