Jesus spoke his most compelling messages in story form. Although it is hardly a requirement for membership, it seems that Spiritans express themselves and their experiences most palpably in stories. The day-to-day activities of a missionary are never "routine". Daily tasks and regular appointments accomplished without much thought in the United States are much more challenging and even exotic when carried out in remote mission areas. But it is the daily interaction of the missionaries and the people they serve that defines their vocation. Fr. Pat Patten, CSSp, describes his job in Tanzania: I'm a bush pilot. Our small staff of four Flying Medical Service volunteers (I'm the only Spiritan and the only priest) provides regular preventive, curative, and emergency health care and health education in areas far removed from ordinary medical facilities. We fly about 900 hours a year using two specially modified Cessna 206 aircraft. Last year we treated 17,554 patients and flew 84 emergency flights outside normal clinic times. We treat people with everything from the common cold to injuries by hyenas and lions and spear wounds. I've been doing this for the last 20 years. It's hard to pin down a single memorable incident, but certainly one of the most memorable lasted six weeks. Fr. Paul Flamm, CSSp, works in Tanzania with refugees from neighboring Burundi. He writes: Greetings from the Spiritan Refugee Team. We are working in two refugee camps located in the Kigoma region of western Tanzania. The camps are "home" to more than 80,000 people who have fled the ongoing civil war in Burundi. The refugees face many hardships in their life in exile. They fled with only the clothes on their backs. The assistance they receive from aid agencies, while appreciated, is barely enough to get by on. Their movement outside the camps is restricted, hence employment opportunities are very limited. Perhaps the greatest burden the refugees bear is the uncertainty of their lives. They spend months and even years without news of loved ones left behind in a country torn by war. There is pressure on them to return home. But the situation in Burundi remains very dangerous. No one knows if they will be able to recover the land and property they left behind. We represent a spiritual presence. We are a helping hand that offers a link to the outside world for a refugee community that is too often forgotten. We try to be a unifying presence that chips away at all that divides the refugee community and Burundian society as a whole. We are advocates on their behalf. We try to be a voice of hope in an otherwise very difficult setting. We have more than 30,000 Catholics here. Perhaps half of them are active in the church. With this many people, sacramental ministry demands the majority of our time. We have also worked hard to unify the community and strengthen its leadership. I arrived here in October 1999, my first assignment after ordination. My most memorable moment was in June 2000, the year of the Jubilee of Christianity. We celebrated the Jubilee for Migrants and Refugees. The church was decorated with all the items from the refugees' daily life: pots, pans, plastic cups, a blanket covering the altar and mosquito nets hanging from the rafters. We had asked people to bring religious articles which had helped them to remain faithful during these difficult years in exile and place them in baskets in front of the altar. At the Offertory, many brought beans and corn, filling four big sacks and spilling out in front of the altar. They held all these up in the air as we incensed them as a symbolic offering of their lives to God. It was one of the most powerful experiences of liturgy I have ever experienced. Fr. Mietek Ropinski, CSSp, who works with the international Spiritan team in Mexico, describes the patience and support necessary to help people make their own changes. "All change must come from the people themselves. I cannot push myself or my projects forward without being accompanied by the people. It is useless being in a hurry to see results, as that often entails eliminating important steps in the process. "There is often the temptation to take on roles that do not really belong to us. We do not always have sufficient humility to realize that we are not always right. My vision and my way of doing things are not always those of the people and I have to find ways to correct my mistaken ideas." Nonetheless, Fr. Ropinski says that "With my short experience of six years, I see things happening and being considered normal which only a short time ago seemed impossible. Our communities preserve values that the developed world is losing. They have much to offer the world, especially in their relationship with nature, with their respect for elders, and in their understanding of justice and authority as service for the good of all." Overview | First Evangelization | Pastoral Services | Mission Works