Two Maryknoll lay missioners at different stages of life are commissioned to serve in Bolivia and East Africa.

Compassion compelled Jesus to act, and the same is true for missioners, said Father Juan Zúñiga, secretary general of the Maryknoll Society, who presided over the Covenant and Sending Mass for the latest Maryknoll lay missioners to answer the call to serve abroad.

Joshua Sisolak and Marjorie Humphrey were sent forth to Bolivia and East Africa respectively on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, at the Annunciation Chapel of the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Ossining, New York.

“You are called to share the very movement of Jesus’ heart. A heart that sees, is moved, and responds,” Father Zúñiga said to the two missioners. It is “a mission that meets people where they are, that seeks to heal and restore, and that proclaims the Reign of God.” Noting Maryknoll Lay Missioners’ five decades of service, he added, “Marj and Josh, as you follow in these footsteps, you are part of this legacy.”

Although Sisolak, a recent graduate of the University of Notre Dame, is a new missioner, he knows Maryknoll well. He is the son of a returned Maryknoll lay missioner: Edward Sisolak, who served from 1995 to 1999 in Thailand. “I’ve known about Maryknoll for as long as I can remember,” the young Sisolak says.

Representatives of the Maryknoll Sisters, Lay Missioners, Affiliates and Society bless the mission crosses. (Andrea Moreno-Díaz/U.S.)

“I grew up hearing about my dad’s experiences and the impact that it had on his life and forming the character and faith he has today,” he adds.

Executive Director Elvira Ramirez says, “It’s very special for all of us at Maryknoll Lay Missioners to see a father pass the torch of mission to his son, especially as our organization is approaching our 50th anniversary next year.”

Sisolak comes from Ashland, Montana. Most of his classmates were from the Crow and Northern Cheyenne tribes, and he witnessed different traditions and rituals. “This experience gave me a glimpse into the lives of those who experience hardship and oppression,” he says.

While studying in college, Sisolak worked as a videographer and video editor and participated in volunteer service opportunities. After graduating with a degree in film, television and theater and a minor in theology, he returned to his hometown to work at St. Labre Indian School.

“I began my discernment of becoming a missioner two years ago while I was still an undergraduate,” he says. “Knowing Maryknoll well meant that I didn’t have to search for very long.” He finds in the lay missioners’ organization “a radical way of living out the Catholic faith in today’s world.”

Sisolak’s orientation took him to El Paso, Texas, where the mission services department of Maryknoll Lay Missioners relocated last year, and to Washington, D.C., where he participated in a collaborative lay formation program of Franciscan Mission Service.

“We wholeheartedly welcome Josh at a time when we celebrate the nearly 1,000 lay missioners who have been sent through Maryknoll Lay Missioners,” Ramirez says. “Much has been accomplished, but there is still much to be done!”

Humphrey was already one of those lay missioners, having served in Kenya and southern Sudan from 1987 to 2007. After nearly another two decades back in the States, Humphrey is returning to mission.

“The greatest joy of my life was being on the ground in East Africa. I took a trip there on my own last year just to kind of see. … At my age, am I still able to do this? And I found that I can.

“I’ve learned so much from East Africans,” she adds. “Their joy in the face of adversity and the importance they place on relationships.”

Born and raised in Idaho, the missioner earned a bachelor’s degree in communications and religious studies and a master’s degree in education from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. She later studied to become a physician assistant at St. Vincent Catholic Medical Center in Staten Island, New York.

Humphrey’s vocation as a missioner emerged during her years at a Catholic Worker house of hospitality in New York City. She grew close to the movement’s cofounder Dorothy Day and served as an editor for the Catholic Worker newspaper.

Humphrey was also deeply influenced during this formative period by three Maryknoll sisters living in a tenement in the neighborhood. Sister Mary Mercy Hirschboeck, the congregation’s first doctor, became a role model for her and, in 1987, Humphrey joined Maryknoll Lay Missioners.

Humphrey found her place in East Africa’s rural clinics. She honed her skills as a physician assistant providing care in makeshift facilities such as camps for displaced people.

Sisolak, the son of a returned lay missioner, signs the Maryknoll Lay Missioners covenant pledging to serve in overseas mission while Executive Director Elvira Ramirez looks on. (Andrea Moreno-Díaz/U.S.)

Some of her most impactful work took place at the Kitale AIDS Program in Western Kenya, which she joined in 2000 at the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. She faced skepticism about introducing antiretroviral therapy, which had become standard treatment in the developed world.

Yet Humphrey was undeterred. Inspired by the pioneering Doctor Paul Farmer, who provided her with advice, she and her team ran a successful HIV/AIDS clinic. “We saw hundreds of people who had ‘one foot in the grave’ return to healthy, productive lives,” she recalls. “Children who were HIV-positive gained weight and recovered their energy so rapidly that we were astounded and overjoyed to see them resume a more normal childhood.”

Returning to the United States in 2007 to care for her elderly parents, Humphrey never lost her ties to mission. She joined Maryknoll Lay Missioners’ board of directors and eventually became director of missions.

Now, she yearns to reconnect with the communities that shaped her — and to join the ranks of Maryknoll lay missioners in justice and peace ministries.

“Medicine is one kind of compassion and care. Another is listening to people and being present to them,” Humphrey says. There’s an epidemic of not listening, she explains, adding that people who are truly heard can develop the capacity to listen, thus breaking cycles that lead to violence.

Humphrey will begin her mission assignment with a short-term project in restorative justice in Uganda. From there, she will go on to Kenya.

“Restorative justice has been shown to be an effective method of people coming to understand each other and stop hating each other,” she says, “and then to start healing and moving forward.”

As Sisolak and Humphrey pledged to serve in mission, Father Zúñiga reminded them, “You do not go alone. You go with the wisdom of so many that have come before you, and with the abiding presence of Jesus.”

Ramirez echoed his sentiment: “We walk with Josh and Marj in body and in spirit as they go forth to love and serve in their respective journeys to Bolivia and East Africa.”

Jennifer Tomshack is the communications manager of Maryknoll Lay Missioners.

Featured Image: Maryknoll Lay Missioners Joshua Sisolak and Marjorie Humphrey are called to serve in Bolivia and East Africa during their sending ceremony. (Andrea Moreno-Díaz/U/S.)