MISSIONER NEWSLETTER – Spring 2025

Theresa Glaser, Kenya

Theresa tells of her journey of learning to love more fully, inspired by those who bear life’s hardships with grace.

KITALE, KENYA—Recently, in the first reading of morning Mass, I listened to and read in my missal St. Paul’s description of love (13 Corinthians: 4-7).  I don’t know if other people do this, but as I read the words, I kept a mental checklist of the virtues in which I fall short.

The landscape of poverty that I have experienced while living in Kenya as a Maryknoll lay missioner provided a counterpoint that heightened my awareness of my shortcomings. This reflection is about the virtues of the very poor whom I have encountered.

I want to be very clear that I am not saying “it is good to be poor because the poor are happy,” but that maybe my relative comfort and wealth has resulted in a diminished practice of love as is described by St. Paul.

To support himself, Francis sells small household items from the shop constructed over his wheelchair.

“Love is patient…it does not insist on its own way.”

Nemeck is a 5-year-old child with a disfiguring keloid scar on his face, resulting from an accidental burn. His mother came to Nyota ya Asubuhi (which means “Morning Star,” a ministry workplace in Kitale of co-missioner Kathy Flatoff) looking for assistance. It was arranged that Nemeck would undergo surgery for removal of the scar. Mother and child would have to travel by matatu (crowded mini bus) to a neighboring city one-and-a-half hours away.

Six times, the surgery was scheduled. Six times, Nemeck’s mother left her six other children with a neighbor and arrived on time for the scheduled surgery. Six times, after arrival, Nemeck’s mother was informed that another surgery took priority and that they would have to return another day.

“It is not inflated…”

Gentleness and humility are characteristics of the very poor whom I have encountered. Agnes, an employee of the guesthouse which serves as my residence, is known as the “super-cleaner.” I saw her one day leaving my neighbor’s house and when I greeted her, she told me that she was happy because she had flowers to put on her table at home. She held a bouquet of roses that had been destined for the trash, heads bowing and petals nearly dry.

“It bears all things,…endures all things.”

The very poor are focused on mere survival. The streets of the city of Kitale are lined with vendors of fruits, vegetables, household items, used clothing and trinkets—all of whom are hoping to sell enough to pay school fees, provide food and clothing at home, meet cost of medicines and doctors’ visits, pay rent. Manual laborers carry heavy loads and work with a minimum of tools. People walk for hours each way to a daily job, which can pay as little as $1.80 for eight hours of work. Many residents of Kitale’s most notoriously poor “informal settlement” (slum) must beg from shop owners for loaves of bread and other food items for the survival of their families.

I pray that I will learn to love more fully, to grow in patience, humility, endurance, and forbearance, from the example of those with whom I have been blessed to work.

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