Thoughts turn back today to five years ago, and last week, in the Balkans, on what it is to be a pilgrim on World Mission Sunday.
I bookended Croatian Marian enclave Medjugorge in Bosnia & Herzegovina with Dubrovnik in Hrvatska (Croatia).
And I was reminded of the delicate balance that comes with the movement of peoples and their perspectives and accommodating each others’ differences.
And improving the lot of people who live here, often from the rubble of war and the accompanying poverty.
The real Meals
Scottish brothers Magnus and Fergus MacFarlane-Barrow effected the change that was needed in Medjugorje after family visits.
With their Mary’s Meals initiative which ensured that every child got a square meal to sharpen their minds for school.
Which they then extended around the world to the international project we see today.
Mission from God
Of course, the need never goes away and we are constantly learning of war-torn corners of the world that have been overlooked.
Such as the civil war raging in north-west Cameroon which was highlighted at my own place of worship on today’s Sabbath.
Today’s Missions face an increasingly greater challenge in a competitive charity landscape for our attentions.
Than in our forebears’ time when among the more traditional theologic countries such as Ireland missionaries were drawn widely from their number.
With one particular family, my mum’s uncle and aunt giving all six of their children to the Missions.
Oh Brother
With one Nigerian community repaying their faith by crowning our Father Donald a chief.
The Fransiscans, Father Donald’s order, persist valiantly in providing the tools, support and know-how to help the impoverished help themselves.
I hear first-hand of the four octogenarian Brothers living, working and praying in the Fransiscan monastery in Dubrovnik.
And administering medicines for the body as well as the soul with its apothecary, dating back to 1317, the third oldest in the world.
Voluntourism
It is this commitment of time that separates mission work from the growing trend for voluntourism.
All of which instant gratification charidee assuages Western World consciousness.
But which can come at a cost to local employment when Westerners can be exploited to work for free.
G force
There is another way still, sustainable tourism where ethical travel providers bring visitors to local tradespeople.
And put profits into their industries as I saw with G Adventures out in Jordan.
Our own family line to the Fransiscans may have been paused since we lost our Father Donald.
Although there may still be hope for me with my ever-growing beard, a Franciscan monk’s trademark.
That though is the easy bit, there is much more involved to be a pilgrim on World Mission Sunday.
