Today was the day of the Mission Assembly. Originally I was scheduled to attend this meeting but at the last minute it was decided that the active MKLM members of the board would not attend so I was free for this day and managed a few tasks I had in addition to visiting Fr. Ed McGovern.

The Mission Assembly is a meeting of the regional coordinators and leadership and the board members were invited to observe. The day began with a liturgy in the Walsh Building chapel. Here Larry Parr, Joe Loney, Cecilia Espinoza, and Debbie Northern sing the opening song.

Bill Vos was the presider for the liturgy. Pictured with him are Joanne Miya, Joe Regotti, Barb Banovich, and Heidi Cerneka. Joe and Barb are staff of MKLM.

This is the Walsh Building on the Society campus. The Maryknoll Lay Missioners moved their offices from the old Bethany Building to the Walsh Building earlier this year.

Before supper, the board members and all the new candidates for MKLM met in the satellite dining room of the Sisters Center for a round of introductions. There are nine candidates this year. Originally there were sixteen but three couples became pregnant and one man needed to withdraw because of family responsibilities.

Two of the nine candidates have been assigned to Cambodia. (L-R): Charlie Dittmeier, board member, Hang Tran and Karen Bortvedt, and Sami Scott, Cambodia regional coordinator.

After supper the candidates were invited to give a further introduction of themselves, telling especially why they wanted to go to mission and why they chose to join Maryknoll Lay Missioners. Here Hang Tran tells the group more about herself.