by Sr. Sheila Campbell. MMM                           Ireland                               02.05.2026

Most people, when they think of missionaries, think of Bible-thumping evangelicals who go around preaching the word of God. The reality, for most of us is very different!

The Medical Missionaries of Mary are missionaries in action rather than word. We show God’s love for people in practical ways as nurses, doctors and all the related fields that promote health and healing.  What most people don’t realise is that we work along side and with people from many different faiths and traditions.

The other day I came across a report of a Remembrance Service that illustrates this point clearly. It happened in Tanzania, in our Faraja Hospice and Palliative Care Centre. The staff, mostly Muslim and Christian were invited. All the volunteers and to members from each deceased person’s family of various faith traditions were also invited.

And who led the ceremony? There was a Muslim religious leader, a Shehe, whose deceased wife had been a patient, a Pentecostal Minister whose mother had been cared for and a Catholic priest.

All came together to remember the deceased and, perhaps, speak about them and pray for them that healing of the personal loss of their beloved might be promoted.

Our MMM Sisters who work at the Faraja Centre felt that the Service had praised God and built bridges between the various religions and had provided a safe environment where sharing and further healing could take place.