Month: August 2016
Creating a Space for God
Editor’s Note: Missioner Patrick Montine reflects on the camps in Jamaica that he helped out with this summer and how the camps created a space for children to learn more about God and invite Him into their lives. This summer, I was able to help out at a couple of summer camps. The first one…
Read More
Telling Their Own Story
Editor’s Note: Missioner Annemarie Barrett reflects on the experience of accompanying women in the Santa Rosa community as they tell their stories through a sequence of videos produced entirely by the women themselves. For the past year our garden project has been involved in the process of making videos participativos or participatory videos with the…
Read More
Dancing Through the Doorway
Editor’s Note: Missioner Allison Dethlefs shares how she’s been able to start forming relationships through teaching Zumba classes to girls who are survivors of sexual abuse. Upon arriving in Cochabamba, Bolivia, over seven months ago, I had no idea what kind of ministry I was going to get involved in. By a stroke of luck, during my six…
Read More
Breaking the Chains
Editor’s Note: Inspired by recent holidays celebrating independence in Jamaica, missioner Janice Smullen reflects on the ideas of intolerance versus emancipation and how they manifest universally across all different cultures. Jamaica celebrates two holidays in the first week of August: Emancipation Day remembered since 1834 and celebrated on August 1, and Independence Day on August…
Read More
A Buzz of Excitement in the Prison
Editor’s Note: Missioner Catherine Sullivan shares her experience of the visit of the Virgen María de Urkupiña statue in one of the prisons in Cochabamba, Bolivia. A few weeks ago, my morning began the same way it usually does – I walked through the large green metal doors of the women’s prison, said good morning…
Read More
Solidarity in the Climb
Editor’s Note: Missioner Aubrey Kimble reflects on finding solace during an emotionally and physically strenuous climb up a mountain. On June 21st, Bolivia celebrated the Andean New Year. For the Aymaran people, this marked the year 5524 according to their calendar. This day is important because it is the beginning of a new agricultural cycle.…
Read More
Lord, Teach Me to Pray
Editor’s Note: Missioner Janice Smullen reflects on the challenges of her first few months teaching in a primary school in Kingston, Jamaica, and how she has altered her mindset to fit these challenges. Prayer isn’t so much about making something happen, but asking how I may accomplish my best within what is happening. St. Francis…
Read More
On the Edge of a Maybe
Editor’s Note: Missioner Amanda Ceraldi reflects on the journey that led her to Guatemala and how she knew she had a calling to overseas mission. If you ask my mom, she would say she knew I would go on mission when I was in the 9th grade and just 14 years old. If you ask…
Read More
Relaxation Is Not Always What the Doctor Ordered
Editor’s Note: Missioner Brandon Newland shares how a particularly bad month in June gave him a deeper appreciation for his blessings as well as a greater awareness of the lasting effects of many people’s struggles in Jamaica. Relaxation is not always what the doctor ordered. Before June started, I felt pretty good about the upcoming…
Read More