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Volunteer celebrates "local global mission" stint with Church World Service
Katie O'Donnell, with Za Ba Be and Ra Ma Tu La from Burma, in Lancaster.
Photo: Ka Ti Zar
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Katherine (Katie) O'Donnell of Royersford, Pennsylvania, was six months into a two-year term teaching English in Brazil when visa difficulties forced her return to the United States to sort things out. She was disheartened – but then a volunteer position opened up with Church World Service Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Services in Lancaster. O’Donnell worked there full time for three months.
"Some of the wonderful experiences I have had include teaching English to a Liberian, taking Burmese families to appointments, grocery shopping with a Somali family, picking up Cubans from the airport, participating in a Karen New Year's celebration, and cooking Eid dinner with Ka Ti Zar and Witt Mhone," she said before heading back to Brazil February 12.
"With the help of the Global Missions Partnership of the Church of the Brethren, hosts Pat and Dick Shreckhise, and my parents, I could fulfill a local global mission blessed by beautiful cultures, expressive languages, and new friends."
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