The Lay Mission-Helpers Association and Mission Doctors Association are currently accepting applications for the 2009 formation program for lay men, lay women, couples, and families called to share their skills and live their faith for three years in a mission diocese.

The oldest lay mission sending organizations in the United States, founded in 1955 and 1959, LMH and MDA offer opportunities for Catholic lay persons to live and work in Africa, Latin America, and the Pacific. Bishops from Cameroon, Guatemala, Ecuador, Kenya, the Marshall Islands, Sierra Leone, Peru, Tanzania, and Uganda are currently requesting additional help from LMH and MDA.

The organizations provide candidates with a four-month residential formation program in Los Angeles covering theology, Scripture and adult development. Workshops address Mission, Social Analysis, Communication Skills, Mission Spirituality, Skills for Cross-cultural Living, Relationships, Intimacy and Sexuality Overseas, Mission in the Context of Social Change and Violence, and Moral Issues. There are also weekly area studies, daily prayer and community life.

For information and applications, visit http://www.LayMissionHelpers.org or http://www.MissionDoctors.org. Application deadline for the 2009 program is Ju