Maryknoll Fathers & Brothers Western Region
Email Update
Mission Education and Promotion / Western Region

NEW ADDRESS:  16642 Ashland Ave., San Lorenzo, CA  94580
In This Issue
Affiliates Celebrate Women's Contributions
Lenten Reflection Evening
Mission Forum Cambodia
4th Grader on our Resources
 

Thousands sign up for Maryknoll Magazine at the LA Congress

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We had a great time at  the LA Congress giving away thousands of Maryknoll magazines and signing folks up for the Maryknoll magazine.
 
Our drawing for the  Acer Aspire Netbook was a great success.  Congratulations to the winner, Kim Geiger. 

Maryknoll Eastbay Affiliates Celebrate Women's Contributions

Join the Eastbay Affiliates on Tuesday, March 24th at 6pm at the Regional Mission Center for prayer, a potluck dinner and a belated celebration
of International Women's Day, celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future.  Special guests include the Maryknoll Sisters. 
Greetings!
We hope that you are off to a good start of this Lenten season of repentance, reflection and renewal.  To the many opportunities that parishes are offering for Lent, we add our own.  Join us next Tuesday, March 10th at 7:30 pm for our Lenten Reflection:  From the Desert to Mission by Maryknoll Affiliate Dr. Jean Easterly.  Details below.
 
carmen matty-cervantesI'm just back from visiting our mission team in Cambodia.  For many years I've heard about all the wonderful work they do, especially involving folks dealing with HIV/AIDS.  Everything I heard was true and more.   The most heart rendering was being with the children who not only lost their parents to the disease, but are themselves infected.   We have eight group homes of these kids.   With the ARV drugs they are relatively happy and healthy.   The picture is a before and after shot of Seiha, who came to us at age 2 very sick.   She is now 7.
 
At the April 14th Mission Forum, I'll be joining Gladys and Clem Chen to share our stories, pictures and videos of what we experienced on the trip.  Click here for a sneak preview.
 
carmen matty-cervantesLast month I mentioned our new team of mission promoters.  Check out the March issue of the Maryknoll magazine to learn more about how newly ordained deacons and their wives, Clem and Gladys Chen and Herb and Peggy Casey are making mission a part of diaconal ministry.   Click here to read the article. 

Next week, Marie Wren and I will be joining a small delegation from the San Jose Diocese to visit our joint mission project in Montego Bay, Jamaica.   I know it's a tough assignment (although I doubt that we'll be at the beach much), but one of the purposes of this trip, as well as the trip to Cambodia, was to explore opportunities for mission exposure trips and short term mission.  In the coming months, we'll be providing some more information, but it's not too soon to get that Passport renewed. 
 
Many thanks to Maryknoll Affiliates Jean, Mary Ellen, Lisa and the others who made our Reflection Day at our Los Altos Residence on Feb. 22nd a great success.  We're already looking forward to the next one.   If you're curious or thinking about becoming an Affiliate, come by on Mar. 24th for the next gathering.  Click here for more info. 

There are still opportunities to get a Maryknoller to your parish this summer to share mission stories and get people fired up about mission.  Click here for more info. 
 
Wishing you peace on behalf of the Mission Team,
 
Matt
 
Mission Forum:  From the Desert to Mission 
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Tues., Mar. 10th at 7:30pm
Maryknoll Mission Center
16642 Ashland Ave.
San Lorenzo, CA  94580
 
You are cordially invited to participate in a Lenten Journey that transports us into a spiritual desert and away from our everyday lives.  We will use visuals and our five senses to help us in reflecting upon this experience.  Grounded in the heat and dust of the desert, we are ready to embrace the living water offered by Jesus to the Samaritan Woman at the Well.   Just as Jesus called the Woman at the Well into relationship with Him, the Lord calls each of us.  We meet Jesus at the spiritual well, where we are invited into mission.  
 
Jean Easterly, Ed.D., has taught faith formation classes to children, youth and adults at the parish level for the past 35 years and has served as a Director of Children's Faith Formation.  In 2004 she completed the Oakland Diocese's Pastoral Ministry School and has completed additional graduate courses in scripture and lay ministry at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. 
 
Jean has recently retired from California State University East Bay (CSUEB) after 43 years of serving the young and the old in the field of education.  For the first six years of her career, she taught in elementary schools in Illinois and Arizona. During her doctoral studies, she supervised student teachers at Arizona State University.  After receiving her doctorate in education from the University of Arizona, Jean taught at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan and then served as an administrator and professor at CSUEB for the past 24 years.
carmen matty-cervantesMission Forum: Cambodia
 
Tues., April 14th
at 7:30pm
 
Maryknoll Mission Center
16642 Ashland Ave.
San Lorenzo, CA  94580
 
Join us at our April Mission Forum.  Matt Dulka and Clement and Gladys Chen will share their stories and pictures from their recent trip to visit the Maryknoll Mission Team in Cambodia.  From Maryknoll's work with people impacted by HIV/AIDS to teaching English at the University to even getting a massage by the blind therapists trained at the Maryknoll rehabilitation program, the trio experienced the great work being done in this country still recovering from war and genocide.   They will talk also about the opportunities for others to visit Cambodia on exposure trips and short term mission assignments. 
A 4th Grader's Take on our Mission Education Resources
Maryknoll vidoes
Here at the Regional Office, we have  an extensive library of books and videos that bring the world to your fingertips.  One such video series is titled "Children of the Earth." 
 
Stephen Armijo, a fourth grade student at St. John the Baptist School in San Lorenzo checked out five videos from this series. Below is Stephen's review of one of the videos that features the story of a girl from Mexico named Guadalupe:
 
"My name is Stephen and I'm in the fourth grade.  I met a nice lady named Kris East from Maryknoll Missionaries.  She gave me five videos to watch.  The videos are about kids all over the world. The video of Mexico made me feel sad.  The video is about a girl named Guadalupe, she is 13 years old.  On Dec, 22, 1997, soldiers came to a chapel and killed forty-five people.  Guadalupe and family were in this chapel praying and singing.  Guadalupe's family died and also babies and other small children.  Guadalupe survived and was left alone.  The video made me feel sad because a lot of people died and the people that live in the village now don't have the things that we have.  I would like to send the kids of the village of Mexico toys, board games and books.  It would make me feel happy to send it to them." 
 
If you would like to see this video and many others about people around the world, feel free to stop by Mon - Fri 9:00am to 4:00pm or call Kris East at (510) 276-5021.  The videos can be borrowed or bought.  Check them out online.