Mission and Service
A Unique Approach to Mission
Editor’s Note: Missioner-in-training Erin McHugh looks back on the past three months of formation in Washington, DC and looks ahead to how she will apply her experiences to her time on mission. Wow, it is hard to believe our formation in DC is coming to an end, but I will never be completely formed. While…
Read MoreDancing in the Dining Room
Editor’s Note: Missioner-in-training Catherine Sullivan shares her experiences of community life and how living with 12 other people has impacted her. The two most talked-about aspects of our Formation are classes and volunteering. But what has been most formative for me during this process is living in intentional community. As many people know, Saint Francis…
Read MoreCelebrating St. John Paul II
Editor’s Note: Missioner-in-training Aubrey Kimble shares her experience celebrating the October 22 Feast of John Paul II at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, DC I hate to say that I didn’t know very much about JPII before Formation. I heard that he was a great pope, but I never really thought to go…
Read MoreSt. Martin de Porres
Editor’s Note: On the feast day of St. Martin de Porres, missioner Patrick Montine shares more about the saint and how St. Martin’s life still challenges us today to live more intentionally and more deeply. On the 3rd of November we celebrate the feast day of St. Martin de Porres, one of my favorite saints.…
Read MoreGod of Fall Colors and Torrential Downpours
Editor’s Note: Missioner-in-training Allison Dethlefs reflects on the week she and her classmates spent in Ossining, NY, for the annual Collaborative Formation Gathering (CFG), a joint training with Maryknoll Lay Missioners and the Society of African Missions. The scenery in Ossining was absolutely breathtaking. While I loved meeting the missioners from other programs and growing…
Read MoreSome of My Favorite Moments with the Kids in Chilimarca
Editor’s Note: Missioner Valerie Ellis shares some of her favorite moments with the pre-school children she works with from impoverished families in Chilimarca, Bolivia. When counting, it was commonplace for one little girl to say, “1…2…8,” so I asked her if “8” was her favorite number and she responded with a resounding, “Yes!” Since then,…
Read MoreCalled by God
Editor’s Note: Missioner-in-training Erin McHugh shares how she finds comfort in the face of fear and doubt. One of my favorite sessions during our time here at Formation has been Scripture and Mission. During this session, we look at the Bible in a historical context, but especially at the passages and books related to social…
Read MoreTo Bolivia and Beyond
Editor’s Note: Missioner Jeff Sved decided to co-write a blog post with his friend Billy to tell the story of a small plant and its significance. While I was a volunteer with FVM, we regularly had a retreat with the Franciscans at the Mt. Irenaeus community. During those retreats, I would spend much of my…
Read MoreCelebrating Diversity
Editor’s Note: Missioner Tom Little shares his change of heart during a week of activities at the University where he serves in Carmen Pampa, Bolivia. I just finished my first inter-carreras experience and it was not what I expected. Inter-carreras, or inter-major of study, is a week long group of activities to celebrate the founding…
Read MoreHonoring Saint Francis
Editor’s Note: Missioner Amanda Ceraldi shares what the Feast of St. Francis looked like where she serves in Guatemala. For hundreds of years Franciscans from all over the world have been commemorating the last moments of Saint Francis’ life and his passage to eternal life. Best known as the Transitus, on October 3rd, Franciscan communities from…
Read MoreThe Many Pieces of Support
Editor’s Note: Franciscan Mission Service overseas missioners are asked to fundraise in support of their training and service. Missioner-in-training Janice Smullen reflects on a recent support-raising class and shares her experiences inviting others to join in her mission journey through financial contributions. “Some give by going. Some go by giving.” -Fr. Anselm Moons (Franciscan Mission Service founder.) There are…
Read MoreWeekend Recap: Expo ReIncorpora
Editor’s Note: Missioner Jeff Sved shares a recent event from his time of prison ministry in Bolivia. Expo ReIncorpora: 1st Feria Productiva de Recintos Penitenciaria (The first annual fair/expo of products made within the prisons.) To say this weekend was a success would be an understatement. Opportunities to sell goods other than inside the prison or at the…
Read MoreTaking Time to Reflect
Editor’s Note: Missioner Patrick Montine shares his experience of the retreat he took recently in the town of Maggoty, Jamaica. In September, during the first weeks of school, I finally took my retreat. As a Franciscan Missioner, I am able to take a retreat and a vacation each year. I am taking my vacation later,…
Read MoreThe Francis Effect
During Pope Francis’ visit to Washington, DC, I had the incredible opportunity to attend some of his events. This was truly a remarkable experience, so I’d like to share some of my observations and reflections following his departure. The first event I attended was the papal parade. Since security gates opened for the area at…
Read MoreBeneath 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…
Read More“I Don’t Know”
Editor’s Note: Missioner-in-training Catherine Sullivan shares her new-found freedom in humility. As a child, I hated asking for help. As the youngest of five, I refused to believe that my siblings knew anything that I didn’t. My response to any new information was a stubborn “I know.” (I didn’t know). Over time, I have learned…
Read MoreMake Me Worthy to Serve
So far, my time in Washington, DC going through Franciscan Mission Service’s formation program has been incredible. I am across the street and right down the road from different convents and monasteries, all offering a quiet place for reflection, Adoration, mass, and confession. I’m now living in an intentional community with 12 other people, learning…
Read MoreI Caught Papal Fever – All the Way from Bolivia!
The Pope was just here in Bolivia, and although I was excited to have him be here, I had no desire to go see him. “I already saw him in Rome,” I told my friends. “I don’t like crowds,” I told other people. In the end, I don’t know why I wasn’t excited to see…
Read MoreWalking in the Footsteps of St. Francis
At my Discernment Days retreat with Franciscan Mission Service back in March, Fr. Tom Washburn, OFM, told me that I may not know about St. Francis or Franciscan spirituality explicitly, but I definitely knew it implicitly. I didn’t really know what he meant by that until now. As I have learned more about St. Francis…
Read MoreHagrid, Hogwarts, and Me
It’s the beginning of the school year in most of the world, which means one thing: time to go back to Hogwarts. September always makes me think of Harry Potter and his friends starting classes at the school everyone wishes they attended. The Guatemalan school year runs from January to mid-October, so I’m nearing the…
Read MoreCultivating Compassion
Editor’s Note: Lay missioner Brandon Newland shares how he acted as a bridge-builder between two ministries where he serves in Savanna-La-Mar, Jamaica Even though there was no Bible study over the summer, I still wanted to stay involved with the students as well as keep them connected to the church. I invited the children to…
Read MoreRelics of Mother Teresa
Editors Note: Missioner-in-training Beth Brown shares her reflections from her service site in Washington, DC, during her time of formation. Our formation process with Franciscan Mission Service includes a half-day of service at one of Washington, DC’s many help centers. I said yes to serving at “A Gift of Hope,” a residence facility for elderly,…
Read MorePrisoners doing Prison Ministry, Wait…What?
It was an interesting day at prison. I came as I usually do on Thursday morning to facilitate the faith-sharing group I helped to start last August. It’s been one full year since the day I decided to take the leap of faith. I saw the need for this group and there was a lot…
Read MoreMarching with Survivors of Sexual Violence
Editor’s note: Missioner Valerie Ellis describes two events she participated in for the recent Bolivian National Day to Support Victims and Survivors of Sexual Violence. As we began the climb through the mountains, so did the sun. When our trufi got high enough to see the snow, we took chilly pictures over the landscape of…
Read MoreThe Power of Presence
Editor’s Note: Missioner Amanda Ceraldi reflects on an experience of ministry of presence during her time at Valley of the Angels orphanage in Guatemala. St. Francis got a lot of things right. He understood the reason for radical poverty and simplicity and lived it out. He understood that stepping out of your comfort zone is…
Read MoreWitness to Hope
If you ever visit Valley of the Angels, you’ll probably hear someone say that Valley is less of an institution and more of a family. We eat meals together, do chores together, and learn lessons in and out of the classroom together. In my six months at Valley, I have become close to many people,…
Read MoreDC Service Corps Launches – Meet the First Class
Last week we welcomed two new Franciscan-hearted young adults to our community as part of the exciting launch of our newest arm of the Nonprofit Servant Leadership Program: DC Service Corps. This transformative year of direct service in our nation’s capital builds young adults’ foundation for a lifelong commitment to social activism and their Catholic…
Read MoreThrough the Eye of the Needle, Part 4: Realities of Cultural Imperialism
Editor’s Note: Lay missioner Annemarie Barrett continues the special five-part series, “Through the Eye of the Needle: Unpacking White Privilege in the Journey Towards Racial Reconciliation” on how her time in mission in Latin America is shaping her understanding of racism and privilege. I have lost track of the number of times that I have been…
Read More“¡Gano, Gano!”
“I win, I win!” These words most often associated with sports games recently became the anthem of my second grade classroom. When I first started teaching I blogged about the challenges I was facing as a brand new teacher with no teaching background and a simple desire to give my best to my students. There…
Read MoreThrough the Eye of the Needle, Part 3: Acknowledging Affluence and Structural Racism
Editor’s Note: Lay missioner Annemarie Barrett continues the special five-part series, “Through the Eye of the Needle: Unpacking White Privilege in the Journey Towards Racial Reconciliation” on how her time in mission in Latin America is shaping her understanding of racism and privilege. For much of my life, I was not aware that I was being…
Read MoreLearning To Be A Farmer
First-year missioner Patrick Montine shares an update from the field. Right now it is summertime here in Jamaica, which is about the same as any other time of the year:hot and humid. The schools are out for the summer (as well as any other ministries we have with children) so instead I have been working on…
Read MoreThrough the Eye of the Needle, Part 2: I Am Not A Saint
Editor’s Note: Lay missioner Annemarie Barrett continues the special five-part series, “Through the Eye of the Needle: Unpacking White Privilege in the Journey Towards Racial Reconciliation” on how her time in mission in Latin America is shaping her understanding of racism and privilege. One part of my reality as a white person that I took for…
Read MoreNEW SERIES – Through the Eye of the Needle: Unpacking White Privilege in the Journey Towards Racial Reconciliation
Editor’s Note: Today lay missioner Annemarie Barrett kicks off a special five-part series on how her time in mission in Latin America is shaping her understanding of racism and privilege. Learn about the significance of the title. Every day I am learning more about what I do not know, my own ignorance. In choosing to…
Read MoreLearning About Cognitive Development
Second-year missioner Valerie Ellis shares about one of her ministry sites in Bolivia. I love working at Comunidad Educativa Para La Vida (CEV), a school in Chilimarca, Bolivia, dedicated to giving children in poverty a healthy start at life. It has a strong commitment to comprehensive childhood development and the protection of human rights. Recently…
Read MoreGod Has A Plan For Me
Missioner Hady Mendez reflects on a recent decision and upcoming transition. It’s true I decided to go back home to the U.S. this December at the end of my two-year contract with Franciscan Mission Service. It’s hard to describe how I feel: happy, excited, sad, and nervous, all wrapped into one. I’m happy because I finally…
Read MoreThrowback Thursday: “A ‘Gringa’ makes Tortillas—Cross Cultural Cooking”
Editor’s Note: In celebration of our 25th year of preparing and supporting lay missioners, we look back to our archives at a World Care newsletter from 1993 with an article from returned missioner Jodie Abbatagelo from Class Three serving in Guatemala from 1992-1993. To the rat tat tat of tin, I opened my door that first…
Read MoreAn Unsettling Reality
I often forget where the students at Valley of the Angels come from. I forget the lifestyles they face at home. I forget that they are at Valley for a reason. I forget this because, more often than not, the kids are full of love and smiles. I see them laughing, studying, and playing games.…
Read MoreLearning from Children with Special Needs
The last couple of of weeks I have had the amazing opportunity to work in a classroom with some student teachers from Xavier University (Cincinnati, OH). They came to work with children with special needs. They needed assistance for their student teaching, and I have some experience teaching, so I agreed to help. I worked…
Read MoreDave El Pulpo
For many people, my name is difficult to pronounce. It doesn’t matter where I am in the world, someone will manage to mispronounce it. I became used to this at a young age and I don’t mind gently correcting people. Many of the kids in Guatemala find my name especially difficult to say due to…
Read MoreCreating New Lives
When I came to Bolivia, I had the idea that I was coming to fight poverty. I thought that that poverty would take the face of a lack of material possessions. The other great ambition I had was to support the fight against violence. Although I have seen poverty, and I am supporting those who…
Read MoreThere’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.…
Read MoreI Get by with a Little Help from My Friends
Lately my emotions have been all over the place. I get stressed out when I think of all the stuff I have to bring to and from the US. I’m stressed out about the missioners who will be leaving Bolivia (for good) while I’m away and won’t be here when I get back. Last but…
Read MoreOne more year
My third year serving as a Franciscan lay missioner with FMS invited me to become rooted in my community here in Cochabamba, Bolivia. And being rooted in this community has opened my eyes to more of the complexities of the marginalization experienced by our sisters and brothers here. I desire to continue to grow in…
Read MoreLest we forget
I was recently given the unique opportunity to attend the opening mass for the Antilles Episcopal Conference, a meeting for all the bishops from French, English and Dutch territories, except Haiti, of the Caribbean. To show how big of a deal this is, there were 26 bishops there, one cardinal and a papal nuncio (Ambassador…
Read More