Kitzi Hendricks
2014: Year in Review
As 2014 draws to a close, we reflect with gratitude on the past year and those who make our ministries possible. Here are a few organizational highlights from another fruitful year of encouraging the laity to follow the Franciscan mission tradition of sharing in the lives with those on the margins. Thank you for supporting us as…
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Mission Monday: Community in the Candlelight
Currently serving her third year on mission in Bolivia, Kitzi Hendricks will be sharing her experiences of community in a multi-part series that begins today as she recalls her participation in a formative faith group before she became a lay Franciscan missioner: Creighton University’s Candlelight Choir! “The world is so empty if one thinks only…
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Report: Kim and Mariam Visit Missioners in Bolivia
On December 4, Franciscan Mission Service Director Kim Smolik and Associate Director Mariam Kaldas traveled to Bolivia for twelve days to visit the current missioners and provide a retreat for them. Annemarie Barrett, Kitzi Hendricks, and Jeff Sved are the current missioners serving in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Annemarie works in a parish garden with local women and…
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The Light of One: “My Abuelito”
Continuing our daily Advent reflection series, current missioner Kitzi Hendricks writes about the nourishing kindness of a man she calls “abuelito”. “A smile is the shortest distance between two people” –Victor Borge Abuelito is the type-writer mechanic I used to pass by every day on my way to work at my old service site, Madre…
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Feria en Cochabamba de la Democracia Intercultural
Second year missioner Kitzi Hendricks shares photos from a recent Exposition Fair in which her service site, Instituto de Terapia e Investigación (ITEI), and its clients set up tents with information for the public. ITEI is a human rights organization, and the clients participating in the fair had all been affected directly by torture during the dictatorships…
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Mission Monday: Kitzi Answers God’s Call to Continue Service in Cochabamba
Second-year missioner Kitzi Hendricks has decided to renew her contract for another year! We are thrilled to have her continue her ministries of providing social services for children and supporting survivors of torture in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Kitzi has also been part of a team working closely with the Archdiocese of Cochabamba to open a new…
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Kitzi’s Quinoa Recipe: A Complete One Pot Meal
Quinoa is a Bolivian staple, second only to the potato. Our missioners in Bolivia have become more acquainted with this highly-nutritious grain, and today we share one of their recipes in honor of the ongoing celebration, “International Year of Quinoa.” The United Nations General Assembly declared 2013 as the “International Year of Quinoa,” in recognition…
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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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Encountering God in Your Eyes
Hermana Chelo and missioner Kitzi Hendricks When our lay missioners serve abroad, they work alongside religious in solidarity with the poor. Mission Kitzi Hendricks shares a recent conversation she had with a sister at her service site, Madre de Dios, a shelter for abandoned and abused girls:Hermana Chelo is a little Spanish nun who has…
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Encountering God in Our Hearts
Today, Kitzi Hendricks shares the story of one of the girls she serves in Cochabamba, Bolivia at the Madre de Dios shelter for girls who have been abused or abandonded. Martha is one of the adolescent girls I have been working with at Madre de Dios since she arrived at the shelter in March. When…
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The Christmas Challenge: Getting Creative and Simplifying
Our missioner Kitzi Hendricks shares how she challenged herself in her Christmas preparations and hopes you’ll do the same. As the Christmas season approaches, I find myself contemplating the best way to prepare myself for it during my first year on mission. I have found myself turned a little bit upside down without the sounds, the…
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Bolivia’s Pedestrian Day: Raising Awareness and Having Fun
Kitzi Hendricks, on mission in Cochabamba, shares her experiences from Bolivia’s second annual National Day of the Pedestrian, an event to raise awareness about the environment. Missioner Kitzi Hendricks enjoying a rare traffic-free bike ride on the street of Cochabamba El Día del Peatón is probably one of my favorite days in Bolivia. It is…
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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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Mission Monday: The Power of a Smile
New missioners Kitzi and Michael continue their Spanish studies at the Maryknoll Langauge Institute in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Today Kitzi shares about the friend she made on her walk to class. “A smile is the shortest distance between two people” –Victor Borge “I have a new friend in Bolivia and it all started because of a…
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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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Prayers for Christmas: Reason for the Season
“My prayer for Christmas is that the REAL reason for the season takes ahold of our hearts and grows us more in God’s unabounding love.” – Michael Redell, FMS lay mission class 27 Kitzi and Michael at their commissioning. Photo by Gerald Martineau. It is because of God’s love that Michael and fellow missioner Kitzi…
Read MorePrayers for Christmas: Unity and Understanding
Kitzi Hendricks, who is being commissioned today as part of our 27th class of lay missioners, shares her prayer for Christmas: “I pray for understanding in our world – a world that is so noticeably divided by individualism and personal gain. I pray that there may be conversion of hearts this holiday season in that…
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