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Long-Term Overseas Mission

Overseas Lay Missioners Students Walking Down Street with Views of Countryside

Live the Gospel of Peace and Justice in Bolivia, Jamaica, or the U.S.-Mexico Border Region

St. Francis of Assisi built bridges between cultures and peoples, and you can too, as a missioner with Franciscan Mission Service.

We help Catholic lay women and men prepare to serve on mission where they partner with poor and oppressed communities around the world for 2- 6 years.

Through our 13-week mission formation process, you’ll learn how to serve others in ways that are respectful and honoring of cultural, religious, and personal differences.

FMS will prepare you to directly serve the materially poor and marginalized people of society through Franciscan ministry, where you’ll explore themes of personal conversion; communal living; simplicity of lifestyle; and ways of working for peace, justice, and care of creation.

Your years in mission will be one of the most meaningful, powerful experiences of your life. But your journey won’t end there.

When you return, you will join our “Lifelong Missioners to North America”. Our focus on the importance of mission to North America is a unique aspect of the FMS program. As your mission at home continues, you will use your cross-cultural experience to live the gospel message of peace and justice in the North American Church and society too.

Overseas Lay Missioner Stories

Hope Springs in the Desert

Editor’s Note: During this spring season, lay missioner Mary Liston Liepold, OFS recognizes how hope springs in nature and in her ministry sites. March 25, ...
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¡Carnaval!

Editor’s Note: As we journey through the season of Lent, lay missioner Ralph Anderson, OFS, recounts his cross-cultural experiences at two different Bolivian celebrations of ...
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The Kindness of Strangers and the Goodness of God

Editor’s Note: Having arrived in Guadalajara for language school, lay missioner Mary Liston Liepold, OFS recounts some of her first experiences navigating the train station, ...
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However God is calling you to love your neighbors, we have an opportunity for you...