Special note: This is our third in a series of six articles on how Vincentian characteristics (Congregation of the Mission) help to guide our mission as Misevi.

Readiness to go to any part of the world, according to the example of the first missionaries of the Congregation.

St. Vincent DePaul said, “How fortunate you are to walk on the ground where so many great and holy individuals have trod.”

Fortunate.

So many great and holy individuals.

My husband Bill and I have been fortunate to walk on the grounds of many countries, where the people there have shown us their greatness and holiness.  From Honduras to Spain, from Guatemala to Israel, from the Dominican Republic to Italy. From France to Kenya. Each place has been a blessing in its own way.  Each one, a gift given to us, a precious gift that continues to call us to truly be more global in our thinking. Our appreciation runs deep.

In many ways, with all the technology that is available to us today, we can “go” to any part of the world to become more aware of the richness of the cultural diversity that is at our fingertips.  Many of us have opportunities beyond measure to truly be a global community.  And this is where the Vincentian characteristic meets a challenge for Misevi members, most especially here in the United States, but perhaps beyond as well.  As lay missionaries, how many ways are we called to go to any part of the world?

In the beginning of MISEVI (see https://famvin.org/wiki/MISEVI), it literally meant that lay missionaries were being sent by a home Vincentian community to serve in international missions where Vincentians were working and living. Today, as we have added countries to our International Misevi community, the mission we have been called to varies in each local community.  While there continue to be Misevi missionaries actually called out of their own homes to many international places, other Misevi communities have involved local lay missionaries responding to local needs with local resources.  Misevi Poland is sending missioinaries to Madagascar, while in Misevi USA, young people are living in small communities and responding to the local needs by collaborating with local non-profit organizations with their missions of care for the earth, of working with those who are living in homelessness, of focusing on children who have experienced abuse, and more.

As lay missionaries, many of whom have families, we respond to our own versions of Vincent’s mission vocation “to go to the poor” by not only joining our local Misevi communities, but also by becoming part of this bigger network of Vincentian Lay Missionaries, thus having a better opportunity to “think globally and act locally.”  In our youthfulness as an organization, we continue to strive to respond to the Gospel call, while we find ways to connect with one another as Misevi.

Readiness to go to any part of the world has never been so accessible and at the same time, so challenging. Our eyes need to be open.  Our ears, ready to listen. Our thinking, to go outside of our small confines. Our hearts need to be transformed and receptive.  May we all be ready.