Mission is about relationships!

Maryknoll offers you a unique experience to answer the call of Jesus.  Come join us July 16-27, 2012 in Guatemala and El Salvador to see how Christ’s salvific work continues among the poor and marginated of Central America.  During the first week of the trip, participants will spend time visiting a Q’eqchi' Indian village in the northern jungle region of the Petén in Guatemala. 

They will also accompany Father Bill Senger to visit homes, meet people, and celebrate Mass in the small villages around the provincial capital of Flores, Petén and Lake Itza.  An added attraction to the mission immersion trip will be a guided tour of the ancient Mayan ruins at Tikal.

During the second half of the mission trip, participants will journey by bus to El Salvador.  Accompanied by Fathers John Spain and Jack Northrop, they will visit the sites of the Central American Martyrs; the chapel where Archbishop Oscar Romero was assassinated; the site of the massacre of the four Churchwomen; and the Catholic University of San Salvador where six Jesuit priests and their housekeepers were brutally slain.  Participants will also visit the AIDS clinic directed by Maryknoll Sister Mary Annel and do pastoral visits in the Zacamil parish.

Meet the Missioners who will accompany you!

Father Bill Donnelly is a vetern missionary who has worked many years with Indian communities in Guatemala.  During the genocidal war of the 1980s, Father Bill stayed with his people and helped calm their fears by his missionary presence.  Participants in the immersion mission trip will accompany Father Donnelly to the village of Guadalupe to be welcomed by a special ceremony conducted by village elders.  They will also visit local homes, and experience the Indian people's sense of family unity and community.

Father Bill Senger is a missionary from Harvey, North Dakota.  He previously worked in Venezuela, Bolivia, Honduras, and Mexico.  Father Senger is the rector of the Cathedral in Flores, Petén.  Participants in the mission immersion trip will accompany Father Bill to the local town dump and will visit the sick of the parish. They will also visit the parish of El Remate and the other small communities which Father Ted Custer serves.  Here they will get an eye-opening experience of the popular religiosity which the local people celebrate.  They will also visit homes and experience the ministry of the Delegates of the Word, lay pastors who care for the various chapels of the El Remate parish.

Father John Spain is a veteran missionary from Troy, NY.  He has spent most of his missionary life working in El Salvador and Nicaragua.  Father John knew Archbishop Romero and attended his funeral in 1980.  He also was present during the discovery of the bodies of the four Churchwomen.  Participants in the mission immersion trip will learn first-hand from Father John  how many catechists and Church workers from the Church of El Salvador suffered extreme hardship, torture, and even death during the savage civil war of the 1980’s.

Father Jack Northrop is a missionary from Orange County, CA.  He has spent many years in the Philippines and Mexico as well as the formation of Maryknoll seminarians in the U.S.  Recently he accepted an assignment as a hospital Chaplain in the capitol city of San Salvador.  Father Jack will accompany participants during visits to the sick of the parish of Zacamil.