The Right Reverend George Wayne Smith, Bishop of Missouri

Growing up in Hawaii (and for a couple of years before that in the western Pacific region of Micronesia) I learned to think of “missionary” as a dirty word.  My childhood experiences taught me to understand mission primarily as the thing that well-meaning but clueless people did when they were sent off to convert the natives, an enterprise that all too often ended up destroying the indigenous culture in the process.

My understanding of mission has evolved in recent years, so that I now think of it more in terms of social justice, but social justice always rooted in the Gospel and especially the message and work of reconciliation.  In the first chapter of Mark, Jesus gains a lot of attention as he travels through Galilee, healing people and performing exorcisms.  But while the people are focused on these miraculous doings, Jesus tells…

Missioners from the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri in Lui, southern Sudan.

Eight missioners from the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri are spending Christmas working in southern Sudan, and sending news of their travels home via blogs and video.

The team arrived in Lui - Missouri’s sister diocese for nearly three years - arrived in Lui on December 15, and will return on January 8.

The purpose of the trip, according to a press release,

• a medical assessment for ongoing health care support in the Diocese of Lui;
• assist in the set-up of a grinding mill operation, which the Missouri Diocese is helping to fund through a United Thank Offering Grant of $19,000;
• explore parish-to-parish relationships between Missouri and Lui congregations; and
• further establish infrastructure (buildings and technology) in Lui.

In three years, the Missouri Diocese has drilled six deep water wells in Lui, with plans to drill three more - at $17,000 a piece - next year.

The missioners:

• The Rev. Emily Bloemker, a senior…