About six or seven doors down from our house lives a Roma family with three children. They spend about half of their time here in Deva, mostly for breaks from school, and the other half in France where their father works. The youngest, Parker (age 6), was our first point of contact. He made quite the...
About a week ago, I had the blessing of visiting Con-solatio for my re-entry weekend. I was filled with joy to be there and to witness all the smiling faces brimming with love. It was truly a gift to reconnect with fellow volunteers who returned and those embarking on this life-giving mission. The breathtaking simplicity...
It may be easy to assume that being people that want to serve God and pray, we should have little to no problem in our common living. Well, this would be wrong. Trying to decide the activities for the week, deciding who cleans what, who does the dishes, or little things like when someone does...
One evening shortly before I left El Salvador, we happened to meet Nina Maria as we were returning to our Colonia. She was standing on the side of the street alone and looked as if she was waiting for someone. I asked her who she was waiting for, and she replied that she wasn’t waiting...
Recently, we took 10 girls from the neighborhood for a day outing at the house of a friend, John, who has a pool. The girls loved the pool! Tiana loved to jump into the water....
It had been a long time since we gathered together. Thus, on Pentecost Sunday, we reunited for a BBQ. Most of the ladies who joined us live in our neighborhood. We have gotten to know them over the past years: we pay them regular visits, and they also come to our home from time to time....
Katherine is a 13-year-old girl who came with us to our summer camp. She lives 3 doors down from us and our house is her second home. Since she was a young child, she grew up coming to our home, going to camp, and in just spending time with her it's evident the impact our...
Earlier this month I was in Brooklyn for my two-ish week orientation. Before heading to NY, I was busy visiting family I knew I wouldn’t see in a long while, and working on things for fundraising and my visa. I was making so many tangible strides toward leaving for the mission that I felt ready...
It has been a bit more than 2 years since I first met Elaine. She is one of the faithful friends who come to our gathering every Saturday afternoon at the women's shelter. I often heard different ladies at the shelter saying that living at the shelter is stressful. Sometimes, violence happens. You get along...
Those who have been on a New York City subway at least once know that it can be a place where human brokenness becomes manifested in all its depth: homelessness, addictions, poverty, ideologies - all of these and more are ubiquitous and ever visible. As I entered the subway earlier today, I noticed a woman who...