GOING TO MISSION A LIFE CHANGING EXPERIENCE

MISSION IS A PROCESS We go from what we know We go to some place completely different We see our world differently when we return

WE GO WITH PERSONAL QUESTIONS What are we going to do? Is it safe over there? Do they sleep in beds? Do we have to eat beans everyday? What happens if I get sick? Is the water safe to drink? Can I call home? Will they understand me?

STOP!! NOTICE THE CENTER OF INQUIRY AND CONCERN

MOTIVATION FOR MISSION: SO…WHY DO WE GO? Jesus crossed a border, left his world to journey into ours. By my baptism, I have been configured to Him. Jesus calls me and sends me forth, just as he went forth. My faith motivation is to be a witness to what I have personally heard and seen and experienced. My goal: I go in humility, with an open heart, an open and critical mind. I go as a seeker, to journey with others, to listen, to be with, and to share my faith, compassion, and love. My responsibility: I come back to serve my world, to open others to my life changing experience, to be better a witness.

MISSION REQUIRES REFLECTIVE THINKING BEFORE WE GO Reflective thinking is a process which starts with ME. Before I go to mission I must identify and examine my thoughts: what are my faith values, my biases, my prejudices? Why do I want to go to mission? What do I expect to experience? What do I know about the people and culture where I am going? What important questions should I address during my mission experience regarding my faith, regarding the people I will encounter?

MISSION REQUIRES CRITICAL THINKING WHEN WE ARE THERE People who think critically approach mission from the virtue of humility and attentive listening. They work diligently to understand the host culture and the people. They realize that at times they make mistakes resulting from prejudices, biases, distortions, uncritically accepted social rules and taboos, and self-interest. While on mission, they strive to be in solidarity with the people, enter into their project. They avoid thinking simplistically and focus on the rights and needs of others, especially the poor.

MISSION REQUIRES AN ENGAGED SPIRITUALITY Mission and Spirituality Meet in the Human Heart. The heart is the place of divine-human encounter”. Mission and Spirituality Meet Where the Cries of Humanity are Perceived. Mission must reach men and women within their cultural roots, their language, their problems and along the paths which mark their existence. Mission and Spirituality Meet in the Frontiers and Borderlines. Mission focuses on overcoming the barriers of differences among neighbors in order to promote life. This bridge- building can only be true and faithful when mutual transformation happens.

MISSION CHALLENGES US TO DISCIPLESHIP, DISCERNMENT, AND ACTION WHEN WE RETURN Mission Spirituality is Engaged Discipleship. Following Jesus leads us deeper into the field of relationships and connections, to transform and be transformed. There can be no spirituality without concrete consequences in mission.. Mission Spirituality Discerns in Changing Times. Spiritual discernment requires a listening community. We learn to listen to God, to one another and to the cries and agony of the world. Mission Spirituality is Concrete in Action. Spirituality is never a me and God exercise. It is always communal; it is always dynamic; it is always relationship. Mission Spirituality is contemplation in action. Without commitment to action it is superficial and stale.

ON-GOING MISSION DEMANDS NEW SKILLS AND NEW ATTITUDES FOR AUTHENTIC WITNESS IN A CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY Know the reality where we live and work. Encounter this reality in light of the Gospel and the Social Teachings of the Church. Discern the mission challenges presented today, where I live, where I work, where I study, among my friends. Confront the implications for transformation in my home, my school, my job, in my parish. Engage in action in a variety of areas: make a plan, set goals carry them out with others who have come back from Mission.

TODAY’S MISSION CHALLENGE: ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS; ENCOUNTER WITH OTHERS THE ANSWERS What do you see? Who are present? What do they say? What do they think? What is the dynamic under what you see? What are the causes? What do you feel? What do you think God thinks about this? Who did you encounter? What change do you seek? What is God calling you to do? What will you do when you return?

BRINGING IT BACK! USE IT OR LOSE IT! Recovering experience (see): Have I examined my learning?; what was important?; What relationships affected me?; What were the successes?; the failures? Gospel learnings and values (judge): What does Jesus think?; what does the Church say? What am I being called to look at? Involvement (act): How do I transfer my experience into concrete action? What needs to be done? What am I being called to do? What creative ideas will keep my experience alive? Evaluating my action (evaluate): Is what I planed coherent with my mission experience? Did it involve new relationships, gospel values, listening, solidarity? Does it deepen my humility? Celebration (celebrate): Have I ritualized and celebrated with others my mission experience? Has my recalling been energizing? Have I formally shared it with others? Have I given witness?