My name is Coryn Glafcke, and I have served as a lay Catholic missionary with my family since 2018. I was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and lived there until 2018. Since then, I have visited, lived, and served as witness to Christ’s power in my life throughout the world. I have lived and left my heart in many different places, including the United States, Mexico, Haiti, Asia, and Italy.
During the Fall of 2018, my family went through Intake training with the Family Missions Company. This is a lay Catholic apostolate founded by the Summers Family (Mr. Frank and Mrs. Genie) in 1997. FMC is dedicated to preaching the Gospel, serving the poor, and making
disciples of all nations to answer the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. Everywhere FMC missionaries serve, they serve at the courtesy of the bishop of the Catholic diocese in the area. Missions, in both foreign and domestic fields, have changed my outward and inward disposition. I am proud to say that a personal relationship with Jesus has changed my life, and I am a missionary kid.
In the Spring of 2018, my family visited Big Woods, the home base of Family Missions Company, in rural south Louisiana. My mother had been yearning for our family to serve as foreign missionaries for a few years. She was inspired by an article in the local Catholic newspaper of our diocese. This article featured another family from Wisconsin that had joined FMC. My parents were fairly active in our Catholic parish, and even more so after formation in intentional discipleship. However, my father had some understandable reservations concerning our family selling everything, living a life of radical Gospel poverty, and abandoning the typical American dream. My mother was persistent in her desire, and she prayed for a change of heart. Eventually, my dad’s heart was moved by the Holy Spirit to be open to the mission field. Our visit to Big Woods was filled with incredible encounters and truly Divine appointments. My own personal conviction for mission was sparked on a home visit. It is hard to be comfortable visiting the less fortunate, yet there is an undeniable joy in coming to find that those who received us so well in their home were truly more fortunate than we. I walked in with the desire to serve and left feeling more fulfilled and satisfied than I ever had in my entire life. I was ten years old. By the end of our visit to Abbeville, almost every member of my family was excited about the adventure of traveling the world as missionaries. Although my older sister had some reservations about leaving friends and family behind, she also came to share in the joy of proclaiming the Good News.
One of my most treasured mission experiences was in Haiti. We encountered so many generous souls who shared with us the little that they had. My main and personal ministry there was making friends. As simple as that may seem, I was impacted deeply by my Haitian friends. From exchanging language tips to picking mangoes to visiting newborn babies, my only hope was that those I encountered received as much joy as I did in serving them. The time I spent serving in Asia was blessed and anointed. In the summer of 2022, I traveled with my family to Asia to help with a mission trip. We served alongside another FMC missionary family, with whom we became close friends. In our nearly three months there, we learned much about the native culture and beautiful people. We had many unexpected and wonderful adventures, especially when we followed the Holy Spirit and embraced the unknown.
The beauty of the culture can be described by one simple word: namaste. Although it was first introduced to us as a common greeting, our family learned how much more it meant. In Asia, we encountered people who had never even heard the Name of Jesus. However, even those who did not understand our livelihood treated us with genuine and selfless respect. Again, simple friendship was groundwork for discipleship. My family visited a remote mountain village, steeped in Hindu culture and tradition. My father and I spent time talking with a young man about soccer, then English, and eventually the sacraments. He expressed the desire to be the first in his entire village to be baptized. We exchanged contact information with him, and he now attends a Don Bosco college of engineering in the capital city. I hope each of us learned a fraction of the namaste way: reverencing the Divine in everyone we meet, even as we simply greet them. For it is in this that we can truly serve and seek the Divine together.
Abbeville, Louisiana is currently my family’s mission field. Although it is not a foreign country, it is certainly a place of rich and unique culture. The deep-rooted faith community that surrounds us is truly inspiring. We live close to a beautiful Catholic church, with sacramental graces readily available and regular vibrant community events. Each day, I continue to learn more about what it means to be a missionary. I start every day with personal prayer, asking the Lord to guide me to those He wants me to encounter. I have learned perseverance through running cross country, and experienced joy through encouraging my teammates. I serve those around me with a smile, offering homework help, asking questions, and listening well. Through developing friendships and being a witness of joy, I hope to journey with many more souls toward Christ.
In each place I have lived, I have met beautiful children of God who truly changed my life by expanding my heart. I have united my dreams of being an author with serving others in whatever way God calls me. I hope that as long as I continue a life of prayer and service, God will sustain me in His mission and vision of my ultimate goal: our Heavenly homeland.
My paternal grandfather’s motto for life is: “laughter is the key to happiness.” My family has carried this saying with us through the routines and transitions of life. I have traversed many places, met many people, and learned much about the world. In all my experiences, I continue to understand the truth of this saying. Whenever I find joy in situations, laugh, and brighten up my day, I can enter into life with more grace and presence. Laughter invites happiness and joy into one’s life, and joy does not waver in distress. Laughter has carried me through leaving my home state, transitioning through several schools, and moving fifteen times. This motto of laughter unlocking happiness has shaped my worldview and benefitted me as I embrace the joy of the Gospel in all areas of my life.
My life since joining Family Missions Company has been filled with a multitude of joys as well as trials. Traveling around the world and leaving your home behind again and again can be rather complicated and disheartening, but the Lord has filled our family with the immense joy that cannot come from any transient thing. We have experienced Heaven touching earth in so many places, and we have dedicated our lives to helping others find this joy in the hope of the call to discipleship in Jesus Christ.
