Rewards of mission

By Maxine Bell
September/October 2013

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A little more than six years ago, filled with a deep sense of sadness, I left my mission home in Guyana where I had been living with the Amerindian people in the village of Kurukabaru in the Pakaraima Mountains. Coming back to Canada, back to life in the fast lane, was a big challenge for me mentally and spiritually. I moved to Niagara Falls soon after coming home and got a job very quickly. I picked up a secondhand car for a song and was all set. Or so I thought.

Lay missioner Maxine Bell with members of an Amerindian community in Guyana.

In truth, the transition didn’t go so smoothly. I fought to get on track, but spiritually I continued to struggle. Then my sister Joanna in Northern Ontario told me about seniors living in the North where the houses were more affordable. I investigated this option and ended up buying a house in Terrace Bay, a scenic town on the north shore of Lake Superior.

That was four years ago and I haven’t looked back. I have a small business doing sewing and alterations for people in our community and I’ve joined a quilters’ guild, a new hobby I picked up after returning to Canada. I’m an active member of our busy seniors club and a member of our church, St. Martin of Tours, singing in the choir, helping with liturgy, and chairing Christian Family Life in our Catholic Women’s League.

Other activities also enrich my life, such as reading spiritual books, listening to the series of Lighthouse Catholic Media CDs and reading the bible in the course of a year, every year, which is something my mother always did.

When I was sent to Guyana as a new missioner, I was told to take time to discover where and what was the best work or service for my talents in serving God among the Guyanese people. I did this on a continual basis. It took me a while to learn to apply this lesson to my life in Canada as well.

I had often heard returning missionaries say that they got so much more out of mission than they gave. I now know what they meant. The Amerindians in Guyana taught me to slow down, to sit and be silent, to meditate on the goodness around me and truly enjoy the moment. I learned to be grateful for things that I took for granted at home, such as electricity, running water, a stove, and even flooring. It is a joy to seek a life of humility and to find blessings in all that we encounter. I attribute this joy to the examples and teachings of the Scarboro priests and lay missioners and to my journey with the Amerindian people of Guyana.

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