Mission Service
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The choice to do short-term service, whether it is for a few weeks to several months, carries with it mutual obligations between the Affiliate Chapter, the receiving community, the Maryknoll Affiliate Movement and Maryknoll, as a whole, and the Affiliate. All requests are processed through the existing programs of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, Lay Missioners and Sisters. The Executive and Regional Coordinators are able to help facilitate the connections between individual Maryknoll Affiliates and the sending entities. Opportunities are published in our newsletter, Not So Far Afield, and posted on our website. Short-term Service Vision/Rationale: As part of the Maryknoll Movement, mission is central to the Maryknoll Affiliates. While the primary locus for activity is the Local Chapter, Affiliates are called to understand the lives, struggles, joys and hopes of people in other cultures and lands. Short-term mission service/immersion provides an educational experience for the Affiliates. After they return, Affiliates can share what they learned during their service or immersion with their Chapter. The Affiliate may also do mission education in the local community, parish, schools or with other interested groups. Mission service with Maryknoll creates linkages between the Maryknoll Affiliates and the other branches of the Maryknoll family. Ongoing relationship may be established and Maryknoll's story can be brought home with the Affiliate. Mission service/immersion in another culture or country provides a rich opportunity for exchange, with both the Affiliate and the host culture giving and receiving. Only small steps can be made in changing the condition of poverty and injustice where Maryknoll Affiliates choose to give service. However, large steps can be made to bridge the gap between two cultures created by prejudice and misunderstanding when Affiliates go with open minds and hearts. |
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