By Erin DaCosta, Colorado Vincentian Volunteers The Merriam Webster dictionary defines community as “a unified body of individuals, such as people with common interests living in a particular area.” Yes! This is, in the simplest of terms, community. However, what Merriam Webster doesn’t acknowledge in this basic definition is the breadth and depth of an […]
Category: SERVICE STORIES
What I Wish I Knew About Community
Whoever Has Ears, Let Them Hear
By Joe Loney, Maryknoll Lay Missioners, Bolivia COCHABAMBA, Bolivia — When I was in grade school, I recall that the three Rs were reading, (w)riting and (a)rithmetic. When my children were in grade school, they taught me that the three Rs were reduce, reuse and recycle. Today we use all six Rs to bring hearing […]
Feeding the Soul
By Rachel Zanfardino, FrancisCorps I learned how to read in the kitchen. My mom would hand me a recipe, ask me to read the next step, and then to do whatever it said. This came easy to me and I enjoyed helping. I also have two brothers, and the three of us couldn’t be more different […]
Christianity and Service – A Lens to See the World
By Pat Boduch, Mercy Volunteer Corps My year of service with Mercy Volunteer Corps is a particularly stark example of life as a murky and ambiguous plane of decision-making. I’m serving this year with MVC in Cincinnati, working in hospital chaplaincy. I’ve changed cities, jobs, type of work, and living situation to be here. Nearly […]
Married and Called to Mission in Manila
By Katie and Luke Johnstone, Fidesco USA In August 2015, an organization called Fidesco USA sent us, a newly married couple, to serve a two-year volunteer mission in Manila, Philippines. There, we partnered with another organization, the ANAK-TNK Foundation, which provides homes for about 300 former street children as well as preschool/feeding centers for over […]