My Morning at Mayfield

"What can you do with three dollars?"

I posed this question today to an assembly of young woman at Mayfield High School here in Southern California as part of their volunteer fair. I was there to share with them the work of Mission Doctors and encourage them to get involved with the One Million Patients Project.

I rarely get a chance to speak with young people about MDA, so I was happy to have this opportunity.  Community organizations, ranging from food pantries, to Aids Walk LA representatives spoke for a moment about our respective organizations, and we each had a chance to invite the the students to stop by our table to get more information.  It was a wonderful morning, and I am excited that so many signed up for more information and to help us with the One Million Patients Project!   Hopefully some budding filmmakers will produce a video for our student video contest!

I look forward to being with them again next year!

No Coincidence

Sometimes I believe God really wants to make evident to us that, in fact, God is with us, really!

Wednesday, we celebrated a special Mass at Sacred Heart Church in Lincoln Heights in Los Angeles, to honor the 100th Birthday of the founder of Mission Doctors and Lay Mission-Helpers Association, Msgr. Anthony Brouwers.  He died nearly 50 years ago, but the legacy of his work is our work.

The reason for the location was, this was his parish, this was his school.

Msgr. Michael Meyers, who served in Mission Office and was one of his successors as the director of the Propagation of the Faith for 16 years, was our celebrant.  Before the Mass began, as he walked up the steps of the Church with his with Kente cloth vestments in hand, he asked me if I had seen the readings for the day.  Yes I had I said, and smiled as he explained to another veteran Lay Mission-Helper that the daily reading, nothing special for today, but today’s first reading was from  1 Cor 3:1-9   

…Therefore, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything,
but only God, who causes the growth.
He who plants and he who waters are one,
and each will receive wages in proportion to his labor.
For we are God's co-workers;

The ‘For we are God’s co-workers’ in another translation reads ‘For we are God’s Helpers’ and this is what is inscribed on the rings of all long-term Lay Mission-Helpers and Mission Doctors. 

In Msgr. Meyers’ homily he asked to see Addie Coronado’s ring -- Addie served three terms in Kenya having been in one of the early classes, going out first in 1957.  The words are no longer visible her ring because, as Msgr. Meyers said, Addie has been God’s helper for a long time.

I thank God today for the reminder that although we didn’t plant, that was the job of Msgr. Anthony Brouwers who planted the seed that has grown into the Lay Mission-Helpers and Mission Doctors -  we may be the ones who water, and we count on God for the growth because we believe;  We are God’s Helpers!

How was the trip?

Returning from Guatemala and Peru last week many people asked me “How was the trip? My response has been perhaps, surprising initially.

I’ve said two things emphatically 
1. How grateful I am that it didn’t rain in Guatemala
2)  How super grateful I was that I did not fall in the Amazon nor Napo River!  

Neither of these statements are to discount the tremendous opportunity to see Dr. Brent Burket and Dr. Jennifer Thoene and their four children working at Hospitalito – Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, or to meet Dr. Toni Lullio and Dr. Brian Medernach at Santa Clotilde in Peru.

Brent and Jennifer

Four wonderful Catholic Mission Doctors serving the poor and indigenous population in their areas. The  opportunities to meet patients, and to hear the stories of successes, babies born, children cared for, and to meet families in surrounding communities, this is ultimately the joy of the trip.  

My first answer, however, can be found in the fact that my last two trips to Guatemala were met with hurricanes, mudslides, bridge and road closures and even a volcano! So, no rain during the day in Guatemala was a thrill!

Toni and Brian

As this was my first trip to Peru I knew that the voyage to Santa Clotilde would include a one hour boat up the Amazon, followed by a four hour trip up the Napo River on ‘rapid’ boats. (Toni had provided very detailed information about the trip)  Had they not been rapid – I was told the trip would take 3 days.  It was not the accommodations, which were great, or the ground transportation by motorcycle taxi, nor the boats themselves which were very comfortable, live chickens and all.  The two docks that needed to be navigated afforded multiple opportunities for a fall into the water. For the ‘sure-footed’ perhaps these kind of things aren’t as intimidating, however I generally have one fall per trip, and I was sure it would be here, where I would get disastrously wet, be truly embarrassed, and possibly even hurt myself – though the last was the least of my concerns.

I am prayerfully grateful that I did not fall here, or in fact, anywhere on this trip!  So in a posture of thanksgiving, I am grateful for this trip ‘with no trip-and-fall’ and look forward to sharing more about the locations, the doctors and the patients soon. 

Strategic Prayers

This weekend we gather our board members from across the country for a special two day long meeting. This is not our typical board meeting- we will spend most of the time making plans, accessing goals and looking to the future. This weekend provides a unique opportunity for us to step back from the day to day running of the organization and look at the big picture.

I'm sharing this weekend with you because we would love to ask for your prayers, We pray that we will be guided by the Holy Spirit to make the very best decisions we can for the organization and the people we serve.

Hope and Healing

June in the Mission Doctors' office is always focused on our big annual print newsletter.  We are busy gathering stories, quotes, images and articles about the last 12 months.  But this year we are a little extra busy because our newsletter is being completely overhauled.  It has a new title "Hope and Healing", a new format and for the first time, will be in full color!  When you receive it in the mail, please let us know what you think.

We are excited about it and can't wait to show it to you!  It goes to press today, but here is a sneak peak for my blog followers.

If you would like a copy for yourself, please drop me a line and we would be happy to send one over to you.

Thanks, looking forward to hearing from you!

Paths to Mission

Well the 2012 formation class is completed, they are commissioned and either packing their bags for Tanzania or Texas. We are already starting a discernment weekend for those interested in joining the 2013 class.

Enrique and Carolina Wulff will be flying from their son's home in New York to start their three year mission in Tanzania.  Chris and Maya Powers and family are taking slightly different route to Mission.  After leaving their jobs, and stopping in Louisiana to visit Maya’s parents, before starting the formation, they learned that this mission would not be as a family of 5, but rather a family of 6.  Their newest family member will be joining the family in August, so another short detour before they head off to Tanzania with Joshua, Madison, Carolina and baby boy (yet to be named) Powers! Please keep them in your prayers as their path leads first to Texas, where Chris will be working, acknowledging that God’s plans are ever unfolding!  On their blog, Powers Family Mission, you can follow this unfolding path all the way to Tanzania!

Spring

I realize that I've been neglecting my blog, and when I remind our doctors how important it is to keep their content updated, I must practice what I preach!  But, I've been busy running around, so here is what has been keeping me busy this spring.

We wrapped up March with three of our biggest events of the year.  The Religious Education Congress, annual Retreat/Seminar and our Appreciation Mass and Brunch.

We took pictures!  At this years RE Congress in Anaheim people from across the country stopped by to be "One in a Million" and let us add their smiling faces to our website.  You can be added there too, check the web site to learn more and view these pictures.

This year was the 15th annual Retreat/ Seminar for doctors interested in serving short term with MDA at Loyola Marymount. We spent the weekend sharing and praying with veteran mission doctors and   those who came to learn more about the opportunities.  Plans are already in the works for some of their service.

We ended the weekend with the Appreciation Mass and Brunch with the supporters and friends of MDA joining us for a Palm Sunday Mass at LMU's Sacred Heart Chapel followed by a lovely brunch.  We all enjoyed hearing from the Retreat/ Seminar speakers and attendees, and the Auxiliary presented the fruit of a year's labor. (More about this in the upcoming newsletter!)

Of course this is in addition to the doctors preparing for long-term service to Tanzania, many of our doctors serving short-term since the first of the year in Ecuador, Honduras and Cameroon.

So this week we are hoping for time to unpack some boxes, before the next exciting round of events and opportunities!   What is keeping you busy this spring?

2012 Retreat/Seminar