Meet a Missioner - Gabe Hurrish - Class of 2017 - Maryknoll Lay Missioners
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Today, we continue our #MeetaMissionerMonday series by introducing one of our newest missioners, Gabe Hurrish. Gabe is a parishioner at St. Bartholomew Church in Stevens Point, WI, in the Diocese of La Crosse. Gabe has a Master’s in Public Health from the University of Boston, a BS from the University of Dayton in Health, Education and School Health Administration. He obtained his certification as a nursing assistant from Mid-State Technical College (WI). He enjoys learning languages, having studied five besides English, including Amharic, the language in Ethiopia and Mandarin Chinese. He also likes to exercise, journal, read, and garden.
Gabe has lived and worked in several different relief, development and mission organizations for more than 25 combined years overseas in 10 countries, many in Africa. While with the Peace Corps in Kenya from 1984-1986, he worked on water projects. He was also the director of 2 refugee camp hospitals in 1988 with American Refugee Committee. From 1989-1993, he was in Ethiopia with Food for the Hungry International – Ethiopia – USAID. He also did some development consulting in Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, South Africa and Peru.
Gabe was the volunteer coordinator as part of a Volunteer Missionary Movement in El Salvador for almost 4 years. After that he, he worked for Association for International Teaching, Educational and Curriculum Exchange (AITECE Ltd) in China as an English Professor in 3 different institutions. In 1998, on a break from the Peace Corps, Gabe was offered a dual position in Rome, Italy, with the international men and women religious office of the Justice, Peace, Integrity of Creation (JPIC) and the Solidarity with South Sudan office as secretariat. Gabe also served in South Africa with the Southern Africa Catholic Bishops Conference for 6 months.
Gabe returned to the USA in 2010 and for the next seven years served as the Coordinator of Religious Education at St. Stephen Parish. He was in South Sudan from June to August 2016 volunteering as a professor at the Yambio Teacher Training College which is the only functioning Teacher Training College in the nation.
Gabe’s inspiration in life has always been an uncle who is a Franciscan T.O.R. priest who had served for 33 years in India and Brazil. Gabe has known about and met MKLM many times over the years and spoke with MKLM’s Director of Missions, Marj Humphrey about joining. At the time, MKLM was not in South Sudan, but Gabe was very interested in working there so MKLM made it possible. He has now returned to South Sudan as a long term Maryknoll Lay Missioner, joining three Maryknoll priests already in the country.
Please join us in praying for Gabe as he begins this meaningful chapter in his life. We hope that you wish him well and support him in his endeavors. Please share Gabe’s story and Maryknoll Lay Missioner with others, especially committed Catholics who may be discerning God’s call to serve.
CLICK HERE or below to view his interview.