Returned Missioner News
Curt and Rehema Klueg Receive Heart of Mercy Award
January 2023: Curt Klueg (Class of 2003- Kenya) and his daughter Rehema received the Heart of Mercy Award from Mercy High School in Farmington, MI. Curt teaches Religious Studies and Rehema is a Senior at Mercy High. The values noted for them receiving the award are as follows:
“Rehema is rooted in her faith and carries out the actions of God every day. She makes everyone feel welcomed and valued.”
“Mr. Klueg is a disciple of God who lives the Mercy values without condition. He cares about everyone, pushing and encouraging students to become the best they can be.”
Oct. 6-9 Maryknoll-Wide Retreat
March 2023: Returned missioners are especially invited to the Oct. 6-9, 2023 Maryknoll-Wide Retreat. This retreat is being organized by the Committee of 12, a cross-representational group that has been reflecting on how the Spirit is moving us in the present and the future. It is open to all connected to any of the four expressions (members, staff and board members of all expressions, MOGC, returned missioners, and more) and will be a hybrid retreat – in person at Maryknoll, New York, and virtual throughout the world for all to attend via Zoom. The theme is “Living in a New Creation.” There will be three presenters and a panel, along with time for group reflection and conversations. Two of the presenters will be Irish theologian and social psychologist Diarmuid O’Murchu and Robert Ellsberg of Orbis Books.
Marilyn Kott and Celine Woznica create Laudato Si’ resources
February 2023: Marilyn Kott (Class of 2015 – Brazil) and Celine Woznica (Class of 1981 – Nicaragua and Mexico) have developed an outstanding, new practical resource to help individuals, couples and families implement the seven goals of the Laudato Si’ Action Plan. Pope Francis has asked all Catholics and all Catholic organizations to begin their own seven-year Laudato Si’ journey. Courtesy of Maryknoll Affiliates, their worksheets are now available on the Catholic Climate Covenant’s God’s Plan(et) website. If you have questions or suggestions, write to Marilyn and Celine at LSMKAffiliates@outlook.com.
Barbara Fraser on Peru Crisis
January 2023: Lima-based Barbara Fraser (Class of 1989 – Peru) provides an in-depth analysis of the current crisis in Peru for America magazine. She quotes Maryknoll Sister Pat Ryan, who has worked among the Aymara people of Puno since the 1970s. “‘What people are experiencing now epitomizes and accentuates what they have been living for centuries,’ Sister Ryan said. ‘The discrimination, exclusion and racism is so poignant. It’s always been there, but now every time that they’re referred to as terrorists, as violent people, as ignorant — all those terms that are used by those who do not appreciate them as people, as brothers and sisters — that goes deeper and deeper into the wound that is already there.’ … Sister Ryan … said the current grievances come on top of upheaval caused by the coronavirus pandemic … and a drought that has ruined crops in Puno, raising fears of hunger in the months ahead.”
Carol Zuccarino and MKLM border team meet with Richard Rohr
January 2023: Carol Zuccarino (Class of 1980 – Bolivia, Samoa and U.S.) and three of the five Maryknoll lay missioners currently serving at the U.S.-Mexico border had the opportunity on Sunday, Jan. 15 to meet with Father Richard Rohr. The popular Franciscan priest, spirituality author and founder of the Albuquerque-based Center for Action and Contemplation was visiting El Paso, Texas, to see the work with migrants at Sacred Heart Parish, one of the ministries where Maryknoll lay missioners are active. Carol (seated at right) is a long-time volunteer with Annunciation House in El Paso. Although she is officially a member of Maryknoll Lay Missioners’ Class of 1980, she had already joined the Maryknoll Bolivia team as a lay missioner in 1968, seven years before the official founding of the Maryknoll lay mission program.
Catherine Heinhold joins MKLM board
January 2023: With the beginning of 2023, Catherine Heinhold (Class of 2010 – Brazil) joined Maryknoll Lay Missioners’ board of directors. Catherine serves as the pastoral associate for Ignatian spirituality and prayer at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Washington, D.C., where her responsibilities also include young adult and LGBTQIA+ ministry. From 2010 until 2015, she served as a Maryknoll lay missioner in São Paulo, Brazil, working in religious education, women’s groups, prison ministry, restorative justice and young adult retreats. “I’m very grateful to continue my connection to MKLM through serving on the board,” Catherine said. “I look forward to learning about the ministries of our current missioners and supporting their work.” The photo shows Catherine (right) with current missioners Heidi Cerneka and Joanne Blaney in Baltimore.
El Paso trip explores collaborative mission community
January 2023: Bob Short (Class of 1978 – Bolivia, Ecuador and U.S.), executive coordinator of Maryknoll Affiliates, recently traveled to El Paso, Texas, with two other members of the Affiliates’ New Mission Initiative Committee. Bob reports on the Affiliates’ website: “We asked, how might we respond to the significant needs on the border from within a collaborative mission community of Maryknollers? … Our primary focus was to explore the possibility of establishing a Maryknoll intentional community inviting all of the four expressions that would, by design, work, pray, and gather (if possible, live) together as a Maryknoll family. We clearly realize that this is an aspirational leap with many, many challenges to consider — housing, personnel and financial resources, orientation, vetting, varying life styles, etc. However, as the saying goes, ‘If not now, when? If not us, who?’”
Advancement volunteers ‘stuff it’
December 2022: Returned missioners Mike and Sharon Lavery (Class of 1977 – Guatemala and U.S.) and retired Maryknoll Lay Missioners staff members Nancy Kleppel and Kathy Wright, along with missioner Marj Humphrey, answered the call to assist the advancement office by stuffing envelopes for our mailings. We so appreciate their help. Anyone who would like to volunteer can contact Patrick Norberto at pnorberto@mklm.org.
Bertha Haas continues to support Mwanza’s Huruma School
November 2022: Returned missioner Bertha Haas (Class of 2002, Tanzania) continues to accompany and support Huruma School in Mwanza, Tanzania. Together with a group of parents, Bertha founded the school for children living with disabilities in 2004. In her most recent newsletter, she reports that, as Huruma students finish their school year, “they join the world in the Dec. 3 celebration of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2022. Huruma is a good example of this year’s theme: to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. Huruma recently conducted a parent seminar on disabilities and the kind of support parents can provide to their children…. The school garden is going well [and produces] not only vegetables like spinach and pea leaves, but also fruits like bananas and sweet potatoes and cassava. The school is now exploring the possibility of building a green house, which would provide a thriving garden even during the dry season.”
Gigi Gruenke revisits El Salvador
November 2022: In the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns’ November-December 2022 NewsNotes, returned Maryknoll lay missioner Gigi Gruenke (Class of 1999 – El Salvador) writes about the devastating stories she heard about life under the state of exception in El Salvador during her visit there this past August. Since the declaration of the state of exception in March, more than 50,000 citizens have been imprisoned. But no one really knows how many of these prisoners are in fact gang members, as the government claims. Gigi visited the rural Bajo Lempa region where she had worked as a mental health provider in the early 2000s. “What is most characteristic of the individuals captured in the Bajo Lempa region and its surroundings?” she asks. “They are poor and live in marginalized areas.” Read her stories of Vladimir, Alex, Esmeralda and others in NewsNotes.
New AAM Advisory Council meets
October 2022: The new Always A Missioner Advisory Council met for the first time on Oct. 24. The members of the council are Anne Berry (Class of 2016 – Tanzania), John Close (1980 – Tanzania), Cortney Freshwater (2018 – Bolivia), Mike Gable (1988 – Venezuela), and Beth Rademacher (1983 – Brazil). Sonny Nguyen and Liz Mach, who are returned missioner Advancement staff members, and current missioner Debbie Northern are also part of the council. The council was created to assist Maryknoll Lay Missioners in communications and outreach to returned missioners.
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