In this episode of Among the People, we had two very special guests calling in from Brazil, Fr. Dennis Moorman and Sr. Euphrasia Nyaki, also goes by Sr. Efu. They speak about their journey to becoming part of the Maryknoll community and their call to dedicate their life to mission. Sr. Efu talks about her passion to serve with women who have gone through trauma and her calling to work with them to heal their wounds. Fr. Dennis, said his experience with alcohol addiction and other mental illnesses have been the motive for his want to heal people. Fr. Dennis connects his vocation to the priesthood with his call to heal those with mental illness by asking, “What did Jesus do?  He traveled around and he healed people. Made people whole and he integrated them back into the community.”   Sr. Efu and Fr. Dennis have been invited to work with organizations all around the world to educate individuals and groups who have gone through trauma on how to heal themselves and be better connected to their bodies. Learn more about Fr. Dennis and Sr. Efu’s work here: Fr. Dennis and Sr. Efu. 

Among The People

Being Christlike Means To Heal Those Who Are Suffering

On today's episode of Among the People, Fr. Joe and Luna sit down with Fr. Jim Najmowski, M.M. He worked for a number of years in South Korea and North East China and is currently working on the causes for sainthood for our Maryknoll Founders, Fr. Price Fredrick Price and Bishop James A. Walsh. In today’s discussion, Fr. Jim will share some of his insights on the life, spirituality and mission vision of Fr. Price. Visit us at https://maryknollsociety.org

Finding Inspiration through the Life and Spirituality of Fr. Thomas Fredrick Price, M.M.

In this episode of Among The People, we sit down with Maryknoll Missioner, Fr. Doug May. Growing up in a small town near Buffalo, NY, Fr. Doug now serves as a missionary Priest in Cairo, where he has been for more than two decades. He is the only United States-born, English-speaking priest in Egypt. He provides pastoral care for several communities in the Cairo area. He also works as the international coordinator for the Center for Intercultural Dialogue and Translation and the Center for Arab-West Understanding, a nongovernmental organization that fosters dialogue between Christians and Muslims and sociopolitical pluralism in Egypt and in the Middle East. Please visit us at https://maryknollsociety.org

Understand, Respect and Accept the Other, Interview with Fr. Doug May, M.M.

In this episode of Among the People, Fr. Joe and Luna site down with Deacon, Gregory McPhee who will be ordained as a Maryknoll Priest on Saturday, August 22nd.  Deacon Gregory shares his incredible, mystical experience of how he came to find his vocation as a missioner, along with his story of mission around the world.  If you are interested in learning more about Maryknoll, please visit https://maryknollsociety.org Interested in learning more about a life of mission? https://maryknollvocations.org  

Journey to the Priesthood with Maryknoll, A Mystical Experience

There's no question that today's episode of Among the People is going to leave you in awe as we sit down with Maryknoll Brother, Marty Shea. He's a missionary from Chicopee Falls, who's worked with the indigenous poor of Guatemala for over 50 years. His missionary journey since 1985 has taken him through the massacres in the jungles of El Peten to exile in Mexico to return with the people to their homeland in 1998. In today's episode, Brother Marty talk’s about his life with the people in Guatemala and in the Mexican refugee camps, and his unique reflections on the refugee crisis that we face in America, Guatemala, Mexico and realities of those refugees.

Children Saved During Years of Genocide in Guatemala

Interview with award winning author, Lynn Monahan In this episode, Fr. Joe Veneroso and Megan Fleming sit down with Maryknoll Magazine editor-in-chief and award winning author Lynn F. Monahan. You will be inspired by Lynn’s reflections from reporting in Central and South America, along with his time spent with missioners in Asia and Africa. Only someone in his unique role at Maryknoll can share with us such a range of transformational experiences from the lives in service of Maryknoll missioners in the field. We are also excited to share with you details about his recent award-winning fiction novel, Pistaco: A Tale of Love in the Andes, which was inspired by his time living in Peru. His book received the 2018 Catholic Press Association first-place award for novels. We know you are going to enjoy this interview with Lynn F. Monahan.   SHOW NOTES Contact Lynn: lmonahan@maryknoll.org Book: Pistaco: A Tale of Love in the Andes or directly from the publisher at https://actapublications.com/pistaco/   Visit Maryknoll Magazine

Pistaco: A Tale of Love in the Andes

When I got there, this reality was already present. I just happened to be assigned there, because the Bishop learned that given my Central American background, being born in El Salvador, I speak Spanish, come into the United States, becoming an American, I learned English ... Eventually I was sent to the Philippines by Maryknoll before this assignment, and I learned the language of the south of the Philippines, and also Japanese, which I studied as soon as I got there. I studied it for three years, full time. And so with that in mind, he said that he needed to move me to this particular new assignment, so that I will pay attention to the new reality of the Catholics in Japan, because that's what is happening. The Japanese Catholic population is declining, due to the aging population, and the low birth rate, but the Catholic population of migrants is making it to go up. So we have now a different reality than let's say right after the war, where everyone was Japanese Catholic. Now we have 56% of the Catholic population is foreign-born migrants, who came to Japan, and 44% born Japanese. So that's the new reality of the Catholic church. It's not everywhere, but primarily in the metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Saitama, Nagoya, Osaka. And so the people that are responding to the needs of the migrants are basically the missionaries from diverse communities,  because they come not only with the need to be tending to, let's say their spirituality, the celebration of the Eucharist, the sacrament, but also with other necessities such as in occasion legal assistance, because they broke the law, or they lost their job, or they were injured and they are not being compensated, or sometimes they just get into trouble.

Unifying Different Cultures Through Faith in Japan

Today we’re joined by Fr. Daniel Kim, one of our newest Maryknoll Missioners, who was ordained in 2017. You might know Fr. Daniel from our Lenten Reflections on Social Media.  Fr. Daniel is originally from Southern California and recently served in Mission in Hong Kong.  In this episode you’ll learn how our own Fr. Joe Veneroso is Fr. Daniel’s “Spiritual Grandfather,” and we’ll also discuss how a traumatic event at the age of 22, influenced his vocation to the priesthood. ­

Journey to The Priesthood

We're here today with Karen Bortvedt, who is the Recruitment and Relationship Manager for the Maryknoll Lay Missioners.  Karen coordinated various immersion trips while in college – including one to Nicaragua. She served with the Border Servant Corps for one year and has since worked with various non-profit organizations.  She worked at the Deaf Development Program as the Communication Coordinator. On any given day, she was found developing the communications strategy; documenting DDP’s many activities through photos and videos; visiting the provinces to document the field work of DDP; ‘playing Facebook’ as they say in Cambodia to share DDP’s work; writing blogs; creating mini-videos about the Deaf community; welcoming visitors; or coordinating volunteers. You can check out more of Karen’s work by liking the DDP Facebook page, following them on Twitter, or reading the weekly blog updates.

Different signs, same connections in Cambodia

Interview with Maryknoll Missioner, Fr. David Smith, M.M.

The Meeting of Mission and Science in East Africa

For those of you who are fans of Maryknoll, you know Fr. Finch from the weekly Journey of Faith reflection he sends you every Sunday.  Originally from Brooklyn, N.Y., Fr. Finch was inspired by one of Maryknoll’s first priests and fellow Brooklynites, Bishop Francis Xavier Ford, who was martyred in China in 1952.  Fr. Finch was one of the first students to attend the school in Brooklyn named in honor of the martyr, Bishop Ford High School.  Journey with us to the highlands of Peru, where Fr. Finch worked with the indigenous Aymara community for over 20 years.   Fr. Finch reminds us that in mission we have to meet people where they are, not where we want or expect them to be. 

From Brooklyn to Peru, a legacy with Maryknoll, Fr. Raymond Finch, M.M.

Newly ordained Maryknoll Fr. Jonathan Hill's path to mission began when he was very young. Influenced by his jet-setting grandparents who read bedtime stories to him from the Encyclopedia Britannica, Jonathan knew early in his life that he wanted to help people - with childhood dreams of becoming a Veterinarian in the Serengeti, living as a cowboy in Wyoming, or becoming a missionary. Fr. Jonathan, who was raised a Baptist, was inspired by the work of St. Teresa of Calcutta and found a strong calling to Catholicism. As he shares with us the details of his journey following signs from God, we see Fr. Jonathan’s dreams of helping others and living near the Serengeti coming true as he prepares for his life in mission in Tanzania.  To read the transcript of this episode, please go to Maryknoll Podcasts Maryknoll Magazine article: Called To Share God's Grace and Love

Opening Yourself to God's Direction

In this episode we sit down with Fr. Robert Wynne who celebrates his 50th Jubilee as a Maryknoll Missioner this year.  His 50-years of Mission work have included Hawaii as well as Cambodia, an active missionary country of which Fr. Wynne requested to join at the age of 68 in 2007.  Fr. Wynne share's stories of his missionary work and the transformative qualities of the people he’s worked with during his career as a Maryknoll Missioner.  

Fr. Robert Wynne, M.M. Celebrating 50 years as a Maryknoll Missioner

In this episode of Among The People, we are excited to welcome the newly ordained Maryknoll Brother, Br. Ryan Thibert.  Although Br. Ryan recently took his permanent oath to a life of service with the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, he has already had a substantial amount of experience as a missioner. With life changing experiences situations in Jamaica and Bolivia, Br. Ryan learned early in his mission experience that 'being present' for those most in need has helped not only those he serves, but also himself during the most difficult times in mission.    About Br. Ryan Thibert, M.M. Brother Ryan Thibert acknowledges that he felt an attraction to religious life growing up in a strong Catholic family. He sought direction from his parish priest, who knew Maryknoll and thought it might be a good fit for his mission-oriented parishioner. Brother Ryan Thibert is a native of Ontario, Canada. He was born a minute after his twin brother, Aaron, and four years after their sister, Jennifer. He credits his parents, Larry and Rox-Ann Thibert, for his love of service because of their unconditional love. Having met Society members like Brother Robert Butsch has helped Ryan. He says it is by witnessing how passionate they are about their work and seeing how the Holy Spirit seem to work through them inspired him. He became aware that he can use his own educational background and artistic talent to help people be the best they can be. “I realize that it is in living for others through Christ where I feel truly happy and at peace.” ~ Brother Ryan Thibert, M.M. A short-term mission trip to Jamaica with three other prospective Maryknoll candidates sealed his decision. Working at the Blessed Sacrament Orphanage in Montego Bay, and remembering the Franciscan brother who had come to console his family when his grandfather died made him realize that being present, giving life to those who need love is the essence of the brother’s vocation. That is what he felt the Holy Spirit was calling him to do. So in 2011, he decided to join the Maryknoll Brothers’ formation program. He completed his undergraduate degree in art at St. Xavier University in Chicago all the while deepening his spirituality through prayer and theological studies. He underwent his overseas training program in Cochabamba, Bolivia, where young missioners are immersed in language study and life in another culture as well as various pastoral works as they continue to discern their call to cross-cultural mission. He will return to Latin America where he has been assigned to work in mission. 

Brother Ryan Thibert, How is God leading us in this moment?

Fr. John Bath has been a Maryknoll Missioner for 28 years and has extensive mission experience working with refugees in Cambodia and South Sudan.  In this episode, you will hear how Fr. Barth built a successful program in Cambodia to train the blind in massage therapy. This program was so successful that it is still active in both Cambodia and now Peru.  Seventeen years later, Fr. Barth is now working with the South Sudanese refugees in Uganda, delivering food and supplies to villages and schools.  Join us as Fr. Barth shares his journey from an unfulfilling government job in Albany, NY to his Calling to make the world a better place through his ministry. 

Fr. John Barth, M.M. Life long mission work with refugees

Welcome to Among The People, a Maryknoll podcast about the transformational experience of a life of mission overseas, answering God's call to serve the least among us. Each episode we bring you the voices of our missioners, authors and the people we serve, who share their impactful stories of life long mission, serving the poor, sick and marginalized in the most needed parts of the world. We are so happy to have you with us, and know you'll enjoy every unique reflection of mission.

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Among The People

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