Sharing the Joy of Missions with Children

Sometimes Karen thinks that I wrote a blog post about something….and sometimes I think that she wrote the blog post about it. Then it turns out months have gone by, and neither of us wrote the blog post about it. So, I humbly present to you a blog post about World Mission Sunday, which was on October 23, 2022. Better late than never, as the saying goes.  

Our mission is that of Jesus Christ, and it is the same mission that Jesus sent his apostles on in Matthew 27:19-20, the Great Commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”  

This is His mission. It is one mission. It started almost 2,000 years ago and continues to this day.

We are part of it, and you, too, are part of it—we are all connected in this one mission. We take a day out of the liturgical year to celebrate this fact and to stop and recognize all of the missionary activity that is happening in the world today.  

Our family is very blessed to be close to a missionary congregation of nuns here in Costa Rica. We were very fortunate to be able to help out and participate in their celebration of World Mission Sunday at the daycare center that they run here in Santa Rosa.  

We were able to employ a local widow who survives by sewing odds and ends for local people.  We asked her to sew the costumes for the children that would be used for the songs and dances they were preparing. The children would put on a show of skits from around the world for each of the countries where the missionary sisters have a physical presence.  

We also were able to employ a local woman who specializes in making arts and crafts to help with the bracelets, hair ties, and headpieces worn during the show. It was a joyous celebration for all, and it helped the parents of the children to understand the scope of the mission when they saw their children dressed up in local attire from various parts of the world. They know these nuns, and they can see that there are nuns just like them doing the same thing in all of these different countries. It helps to foster missionary spirit and zeal.

I hope you enjoy the photos of the celebration that day. Please pray for the mission of Our Lord, Jesus Christ throughout the world and for the missionaries called to this life of mission. Also, mark your calendars for World Mission Sunday 2023, which is October 22, 2023.  I hope that you will celebrate it in some way, shape, or form.