The new Fall/Winter 2019 issue of Voices of Compassion has just been published and is currently being mailed, reaching people’s mailboxes just before Thanksgiving.
Our cover story follows Heidi Cerneka’s ministry as an immigration attorney at the U.S.-Mexico border. “Advocating for detained migrants at the border” shows how Heidi helps asylum seekers on the road to a new life. The current political storms have made that ministry difficult, but Heidi is making lives better, one legal case at a time. Her ministry with Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center in El Paso, Texas, began in January 2019, re-establishing a previous Maryknoll Lay Missioners presence at the border during a very challenging time for migrants.
Friends Across Borders participant Mary C. Voight reports on her recent immersion trip to Cambodia. Witnessing the service of Maryknollers there, she writes, has made her demand more from herself and has kindled a desire in her to deepen her faith and solidarity.
The magazine also highlights Maryknoll Lay Missioners’ new Bishop McCarthy Spirit of Mission Award, which honored the continuing inspiring dedication to mission of returned lay missioners Cathy Breen and Wynnie-Fred Victor Hinds
Titled “Volleyball values,” a profile on lay missioner Juan Gomez’s ministry at the San Juan Bosco boarding school in Tacopaya in the Bolivian Andes shows how he helps his indigenous students build their future, on and off the volleyball court.
The issue also includes a prayer by lay missioner Judy Walter and a news section, which highlights lay missioners’ involvement with the recent Synod for the Amazon, the new missioner Class of 2019 and a wide variety of Maryknoll Lay Missioners news from around the world.
This second issue of 2019 marks a return to a semi-annual publication schedule for Voices of Compassion, which was published only once a year in 2017 and 2018. This issue has a more limited print run than the spring issue but is more widely distributed digitally.
If you would like to receive a print copy (while supplies last) or have comments or feedback on the issue, please contact us here.
To read a PDF copy of the magazine, click here.
You can find an archive of previous issues of Voices of Compassion magazine here.
Meinrad Scherer-Emunds is Maryknoll Lay Missioners' director of communications.
