Mission and Service
Mission Monday: The Value of Relationships
First-year lay missioner Jeff Sved sends an update from his time in Bolivia: At the recent Asamblea Nacional del Movimiento Franciscano “Justicia y Paz” Bolivia, I was blessed with the opportunity to enjoy la fraternidad (fraternity) within the Franciscan family throughout Bolivia. Jeff (center) dancing at the Asemblea Nacional del Movmiento Francisco Forty representatives came…
Read MoreMission Monday: Share A Lifetime of Experience
Long-term overseas mission isn’t just for young people. After decades of work and life experience, those of you in your 40s, 50s and 60s have something to share with the global community. You have skills. You have compassion. You have love. Our program prepares you for service abroad, supports you while you’re in the field,…
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International Day in Support of Victims of Torture
Second-year lay missioner Kitzi Hendricks writes about her current ministry in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Every 26th of June, organizations and individuals all over the world stand together in solidarity to support victims of torture and bring awareness to this atrocious violation of human rights. As a part of an organization in Cochabamba that provides accompaniment and…
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Mission Monday: Friends from the Streets of Bolivia to the Seats of the United Nations
While abroad, our lay missioners are invited into the community to share in the local peoples’ lives, culture, and ministries. This leads to strong bonds, so missioners who are able stay in touch with the community and go back to visit. Lay missioner Ginny Dachenhausen on mission in Cochabamba, Bolivia from 2007 to 2010. Ginny…
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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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Lifelong Accompaniment: Being inspired by our Returned Missioners
For more photos from our returned missioner retreat, please see our online album. Domestic Volunteer Sarah Hoffeditz writes about her experience last weekend as the Franciscan Mission Service staff joined some of our returned missioners in Colorado for a retreat we host every three years for those who have served with us. Their stories were…
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Recommiting to a Life-Long Mission
Mission does not end with a flight back to the U.S. It does not end with the completion of a term of service or a year of volunteering. Every three years, our returned missioners from across the country gather in Colorado for three days to reflect on this fact. This weekend, our retreat centers around…
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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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Franciscan Friday: Laborers of the Lord
This Friday post comes from Jeff Sved on mission in Bolivia where he is finding work, and God, in the vineyards. Photo by Feliciano Guimarães Fruit of the vine and work of human hands now has a new meaning for me after a few afternoons sorting grapes with the Capuchin Sisters down the street. They…
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Mission Monday: Mother and Community Love
For this Mission Monday post, Missioner Annemarie shares a story of the pain of a mother’s love and the healing power of a supportive community. Missioner Annemarie with her mom before she leaves for Bolivia. In the CEB that I have come to know in the northern zone of the city, there is a woman…
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FMS Podcasts: Liberation Theology
If you haven’t noticed yet, we have a few podcasts available on our SoundCloud profile covering a wide range of topics. From Franciscan spirituality and history to Catholicism and social justice, you can listen and learn right along with our missioner candidates in formation. The last two podcasts came from a talk Fr. Joe Nangle…
Read MoreFranciscan Friday: Experiencing the Ministry of Presence
One of the hallmarks of Franciscan service is something we often refer to as the “ministry of presence” or “accompaniment.” From community gardens in Cochabamba to the slums of Nairobi to the after-school programs and homeless shelters in Washington, D.C., FMS missioners and volunteers spend their time focusing on being with people rather than doing…
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Alternative Spring Break with FMS: Advocating for a New Kind of Service Trip
University of Georgia students in an advocacy workshop with Russell Testa. Five days into their alternative spring break trip to D.C., college students from the University of Georgia ditched the work gloves for a clipboard and a stack of talking points. Franciscan Mission Service’s newly developed Short-Term Mission and Global Awareness Trips includes a spring…
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Mission Monday: Community Gardens in Bolivia
As a Franciscan organization rooted in the commitment of caring for creation, Earth Day is a very special time for us. We are especially joyous today because our newest lay missioners in Cochabamba, Bolivia have been recently participating in some great ecological endeavors while exploring the ministries in which they’ll serve. From community gardens to…
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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Discernment Days – Is Mission for Me?
Perhaps you have just recently graduated from a college that’s cost you your life savings, countless sleepless nights, and many antisocial weekends. Or perhaps you just celebrated your 20th anniversary at a job you’ve kept through thick and thin. Whether you are 22 or 62, discerning a call to mission can be a journey. For…
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Mission Monday: Reflections from a Spring Breaker
This March marked the first group of students to spend their spring break at our headquarters in Washington, D.C. to participate in our Short-Term Mission and Global Awareness program. Nine students from the University of Georgia learned about poverty in the U.S. from educational workshops to hands-on service. One of the students, Jacob Spaulding, reflects…
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Update From Bolivia: Patience and an Open Heart
New lay missioner Annemarie Barrett has been in Bolivia since January 2013. Here is her update on her experience so far. Without the comfort of familiar schedules, places and plans, I can tell you now that the process of growing into a new context is even more challenging than I had expected it to be.…
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Franciscan Friday: Look At Our Reality From the Perspective of the Poor
Recently I found myself in a small upper room in a Franciscan Spirituality Center in Tarata, a town about an hour drive outside of Cochabamba, Bolivia. I was sitting in a plastic chair in a circle of Franciscan volunteers from around the world, some from Germany, others from Brazil, and me from the United States.…
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What is an adequate response to the love that I have received?
“What is an adequate response to the love that I have received?” New Missioner Annemarie tries to answer that question after spending the last month saying goodbyes to friends and family before leaving for her two-year mission in Bolivia. How can I not smile? When I am surrounded by so much love from family, from…
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Encountering God in the Human Family
Our domestic volunteers commit a year of serving full time in our office supporting our organization in areas such as communications, development and programming. But on Wednesday afternoons, the domestic volunteers go out and serve directly in the community. Today’s Advent story of encountering God comes from domestic volunteer and communications coordinator Bridget Higginbotham who…
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Mission Monday: Sharing in Christ’s Fellowship
During their training in D.C., our mission candidates take a morning each week to volunteer in the local community. For this Mission Monday, Annemarie Barrett shares what it’s like to work alongside Christ’s chosen company. Photo: www.fathermckennacenter.org Every Wednesday morning during formation, I visit the Father McKenna Center, a daytime drop-in center for men who…
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National Volunteer Month Profile: Kitzi in Bolivia
Kitzi Hendricks started her Bolivian mission in January after completing three months of training with us in Washington, DC. Originally from Sacramento, California, she graduated last year Creighton University where she studied psychology and was a member of Pi Beta Phi. Today Kitzi shares about her new ministry with Madre de Dios in Cochabamba, a shelter for…
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“To be consoled as to console” – Leonel and his father
The students of the rural Unidad Académica Campesina – Carmen Pampa overcome many obstacles to receive a college education in Bolivia. The indigenous Quechua and Aymara peoples have little access to health care or education and survive by farming small plots. Students often juggle the stresses of school with those of helping their family. Our missioner…
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Four Days in Bolivia – What Kitzi’s Seen So Far
After arriving safely in Bolivia, our newest missioners started their Spanish-immersion classes at the Maryknoll Language Institute yesterday. In her first blog post abroad, Kitzi Hendricks summarized her observations so far. As is common with new arrivals overseas, many of her observations are general and are from an outsider’s view. Her understanding and appreciation of the Bolivian culture…
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Franciscan Friday: Prayer for Missioners
Michael Redell Kitzi Hendricks Susan Slavin Missioners Michael Redell and Kitzi Hendricks arrived in Bolivia today while Susan Slavin makes her final preparations for Kenya. As they begin their two-year mission journey abroad, please join us in praying the Franciscan Prayer for Missioners: Lord, make our sisters and brothers serving in other countries instruments of your peace. .…
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