After working for many years in a professional field in NYC, I spent over a year in the Ukraine doing work for a humanitarian NGO. Having returned from a conflicted country, I was feeling out of place and having difficulty adjusting back to our affluent society....
Every Wednesday we take a short bus ride to the hills outside the city, to a town called Mintia, where we visit many Roma families and play with the kids. Many of the families here live in poverty, and the conditions are hard to see and harder to forget. However it’s the beauty of the...
There is such a simplicity in what we do every day. Every visit, event, or meal that we have is simple and sometimes very small, but still done with great effort and intentionality. I remember being struck by this on my first day here. After finishing Adoration, I figured we would immediately go out and...
On Friday, October 25, Gabriel M. (alum who served in Argentina) and Diana C. celebrated their wedding in San Antonio, TX. This joyous occasion was special for many reasons. It allowed us to witness the couple’s heartfelt “yes” to one another, support them on their journey, pray for and with them, and give thanks to...
Before I started my mission, I did not have to interact with kids very much; and I used to say I didn’t really like them. I would often imagine the rowdy kids that are loud, mess up what had been just cleaned, yell, want everything on demand, cry, fight, and so on. This past month, however,...
Many of the children in our colonies are used to getting attention only for negative behaviors. So naturally, many of them act out around us in order to get our attention. As all kids do, each one is walking the line and testing the limits. Parker and his siblings continued to come back every day...
Late this September, I had a full week of testimonials in the beautiful, green state of Michigan. As I prepared the talks and organized when, how, and where I would go, a friend reminded me that while outreach technically means sharing with the hope of inspiring someone to follow God's call on mission, in the...
Our big event of the summer was a summer camp for some of the kids from the Roma colony of Mintia. These kids are often not allowed to leave their area, and even if they could, they don't have a mode of transportation. Hence, we organized a week of activities for them to enjoy with...
At the close of our Saturday dinner, which was also the evening our newest member, Liliana, arrived with her friend to join us, something special happened. As Liliana’s friend prepared to leave, he stood, paused, and quietly looked around at each of us in our beautiful Brooklyn home. With a heart clearly moved, he said,...
In April, we had the privilege of visiting her. As parents, we wanted to understand the essence of the call to presence that the Lord had entrusted to her. The missionaries were wonderful women from around the globe, dedicated to bringing Christ’s grace and peace to their community through their service. Although there was a...