Kirsten Maanum
U.S.-Mexico Border
Kirstin Maanum recently finished a year of service as an SC Associate in Volunteer Ministry. She came and left in a quiet way that says a lot about who she is and how she serves. If you’ve ever listened to “A Prairie Home Companion” you get a sense of Kirstin’s “people”. She is a Lutheran farm girl from Minnesota who has made her home at the U.S.-Mexico border for most of the past ten years. She moved into our SC community at Casa de Caridad in stages- coming to know us when she brought immersion groups to visit La Clinica Guadalupana, sharing the excitement of seeing the house under construction, barely unpacking her things in the new house before heading to South America, and arriving “home” with Saja, her chubby golden retriever, in time for Christmas 2005.

If you asked Kirstin why she chose to be an Associate in Volunteer Ministry with us she would say that she wanted to live and serve in a Catholic community with women religious at the border. She had volunteered with the Lutheran Border Servant Corps after graduating from Concordia College. She worked at the Women’s Intercultural Center in Anthony, NM for several years leading immersion groups and coordinating a major construction project. She wanted to do more in Anapra, Mexico, working with women and alternative building techniques. And she wanted to explore Catholicism and religious life on a day-to-day basis.

Ministry for Kirstin was a collage of “doing what presents itself”. She divided her time between the special children we serve at the Santo Niño center and various construction projects around Anapra. Eventually she coordinated a women’s work crew that did everything from stuffing the walls of pallet houses with adobe to applying colorful finishing plasters to the walls of our clinic addition. She was the “designated driver” of our children, families, building materials, and immersion groups. Neither desert sands nor summer floods nor Mexican roads kept Kirstin from her appointed rounds!

We’ll surely miss her steady presence with us in our ministry but mostly we’ll miss her at home. Kirstin is a wonderful community woman. We had many conversations while walking the dogs or sitting around a fire under the stars, or relaxing in our living room on Sunday mornings with coffee and dark chocolate truffles. We talked about things Catholic, things religious, future directions personally and congregationally. Kirstin enjoyed her visits to the Motherhouse, especially for the Gathering. A thoughtful and prayerful seeker, she wrestled with the possibility of becoming a Catholic but never came to a peaceful place in that discernment. The role of women in our Church is a formidable obstacle, especially for one who has experienced Lutheran women pastors and who admires the leadership, service and spirituality of Catholic Sisters.

So Kirstin is investigating her options for life after volunteer ministry. She took the GRE in December and has applications for graduate schools in process. On February 18 she began a twelve week stint as a work crew coordinator for eight 16-24 year olds with a conservation organization in the southwest. It will pay some bills and allow time in the beautiful outdoors (the Gulf Coast of Mississippi initially and the Canyonlands of Utah in April) to continue discerning where God is leading. “You still have most of my worldly possessions- and my DOG- so don’t worry, I’ll be back!” she said before she left. Please join us in giving thanks to God for Kirstin’s time as an SC Associate in Volunteer Ministry and pray that she finds clarity and peace about the next steps on her journey.

 

Dyah Kartikawening
Cincinnati, Ohio
Dyah served at Working in Neighborhoods, Inc. (WIN) in Cincinnati, Ohio for one year under the direction of Sister Barbara Busch.

“My main duty was to continue the implementation of the South Cumminsville Community Improvement Plan. My target was to get to know the community and to work together with them to achieve their goals – neighborhood beautification and a community crime prevention initiative.”

“The highlights of my experience were getting to know the people in the neighborhood and working with people whom you know trust you and support what you want to achieve. “

“This experience built my character especially to be totally dependent on God.” Dyah’s supervisor, David Scharfenberger, said, “Dyah’s enthusiasm for the mission of WIN and the people in South Cumminsville reflected in her work. Her efforts were instrumental in bringing about a good deal of progress on a number of projects.

 

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