{"id":7343,"date":"2026-09-01T18:27:54","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T18:27:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\/magazine\/?p=7343"},"modified":"2026-09-04T19:08:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T19:08:18","slug":"finding-love-in-mission-again-and-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\/magazine\/finding-love-in-mission-again-and-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding Love in Mission, Again and Again"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When Stephen Veryser moved to Tanzania to serve with the Peace Corps over two decades ago, he fell in love with Africa. After his contract ended, he remained, working with nonprofit groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steve met Loyce while they were teaching at neighboring schools. They married and started a family. Loyce<\/a>, who is from a devout Catholic family in northwestern Tanzania, continued teaching while Steve worked in projects launching school lunch programs and eradicating Guinea worm disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although it was secular work, Steve saw it as a spiritual vocation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI found real meaning in a life of service across cultures,\u201d says Steve, who is originally from the Detroit area<\/a>. \u201cI didn\u2019t know about lay mission within the Catholic Church.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then he got to know Maryknoll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not far from the Verysers\u2019 home in the city of Mwanza, Maryknoll Father James Eble was starting a retreat center overlooking Lake Victoria. After three decades of pastoral ministry, Father Eble saw the need for a place where Tanzanian religious and lay people could find respite from their busy lives and personal accompaniment on their spiritual journeys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lake House of Prayer<\/a> became a new spiritual home for Steve and Loyce, who relished the space and silence to deepen their Christian faith. The couple got to know other Maryknollers, including two families in mission. Maryknoll Lay Missioner Judy Walter, who served at the retreat house, became Steve\u2019s spiritual director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was pleasantly surprised to find Catholic lay people who shared a passion for social justice and a life in mission,\u201d Steve says. In 2018, Steve and Loyce joined Maryknoll Lay Missioners, along with their three children, and completed the orientation program and commissioning ceremony<\/a> in Ossining, New York. When they returned to Mwanza, Loyce went back to her job at Kitangiri Secondary School, a government school serving low-income students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a big demand for math teachers, and I could have gone to a private Catholic school where families can pay fees,\u201d Loyce says. \u201cBut here they don\u2019t have enough teachers. I\u2019d rather work where I\u2019m more needed and where I can be a positive role model for girls who are interested in math and sciences.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The head teacher at Kitangiri School, Anthonia Nkaka, says the Maryknoll lay missioner plays an outsized role at the school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A recent photo shows the Veryser family, who joined Maryknoll Lay Missioners in 2018: (left to right) Loyce, twins Abigail and Justin, now 17, Claire, now 15, and Stephen. (Paul Jeffrey\/Tanzania)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Not only is Loyce the only woman teaching math, Nkaka says, \u201cbut she\u2019s always ready to find other ways to help.\u201d When parents are unable to afford school uniforms, for example, \u201cLoyce finds a way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nkaka adds, \u201cWhen we needed more desks, Loyce and Steve found a way to get them for us. And when we had water problems<\/a>, they helped us get a big tank to supply water to the school bathrooms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Loyce, who is also treasurer for a savings and loan group formed by the school\u2019s women teachers<\/a>, has served as the school\u2019s \u201cacademic mistress.\u201d This role entails keeping track of individual students\u2019 progress and identifying in a timely manner those who need assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeing in Maryknoll allows me to be here as an expression of my faith, to support these students who go on to become intelligent and compassionate leaders in their communities,\u201d Loyce says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steve and Loyce, along with their children \u2014 twins Justin and Abigail, 17, and Claire, 15 \u2014 see themselves as part of a family in mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur kids have a unique experience that bridges cultures, races and geographies,\u201d he says, adding that they are discerning \u201ctheir own paths of service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Justin, who is good at math and science, \u201cwants to design water systems so all people can have access to clean water,\u201d Steve says. \u201cAbigail is interested in medicine because she has seen how difficult it is here to access reliable medical care.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Instead
Instead of seeking a higher-paying job at a private school, Loyce Veryser chooses to work at a public school where, among other roles, she monitors students\u2019 progress. (Paul Jeffrey\/Tanzania)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Claire, who loves to travel, is interested in hospitality work. \u201cShe sees opportunities to do tourism in a way that bridges cultures and brings people together,\u201d her father says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steve \u2014 whose decades of experience are put to use in leadership for the lay mission organization \u2014 builds bridges through another ministry. After learning Tanzanian Sign Language, he returned to the Bwiru Boys Technical School<\/a>, where he had taught as a Peace Corps volunteer. About a hundred deaf students now take classes there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe deaf students can\u2019t participate fully because the teachers seldom use sign language,\u201d Steve says, adding that this means the students \u201cjust copy off the board.\u201d Hearing students help their classmates here and there, he says. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of piecemeal, but it\u2019s better than not being in school at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To supplement the deaf students\u2019 classroom learning, Steve tutors them in math after school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe sit in a half circle, so people can see each other signing,\u201d he says. \u201cThey do a problem and explain it with signs. They can ask questions, which I answer in sign language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a special experience to be invited into that community, a mission within mission<\/a>,\u201d continues the lay missioner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Using
Using sign language, Maryknoll Lay Missioner Stephen Veryser tutors deaf students in math at Bwiru Boys Technical School, where he first served with the Peace Corps. (Paul Jeffrey\/Tanzania<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe deaf community is yet another world within Tanzanian culture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is another way in which Steve has come full circle in mission. He was asked last year to take on the management of the Lake House of Prayer<\/a> when Father Eble and Judy Walter returned to the States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy experiences at the Lake House changed my life, rekindling my faith and introducing me anew to mission. I wanted to offer others a chance to encounter God in a similar way,\u201d Steve says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re almost like a field hospital<\/a> for people, especially people in the Church who work so hard to support others,\u201d he says. \u201cWe invite them to revel in God\u2019s creation and mercy and love, to rest their weary body and their overworked mind, to turn off their phone and be able to notice in the quiet around them God\u2019s presence in creation, in their lives and in their communities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time spent in silence and prayer allows the missioner to reflect on his calling, as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He shares an essential insight gained from being a lay missioner. \u201cAt one point in my life I thought I would have to choose between having a family and being in mission,\u201d he says. \u201cBut Maryknoll has been a great gift for Loyce and me. We\u2019re both committed to living here, being in mission.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Featured image: Maryknoll Lay Missioner Loyce Veryser teaches math at Kitangiri Secondary School, a government school serving low-income students in Mwanza, Tanzania. (Paul Jeffrey\/Tanzania)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maryknoll Lay Missioners Stephen and Loyce Veryser, with their three children, serve as a family in mission in Tanzania.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":7353,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","_eb_data_table":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28,3419,25],"tags":[3524,3515,3516,3520,3518,3521,3525,1505,3519,3523,3522,3423,564,924,142,3517,3526],"class_list":["post-7343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-departments","category-fall-2026","category-featured-stories","tag-abigail-and-justin-and-claire","tag-anthonia-nkaka","tag-bwiru-boys-technical-school","tag-deaf","tag-family-in-mission","tag-father-james-eble","tag-kitangiri-school","tag-lake-house-of-prayer","tag-lay-vocation","tag-maryknoll-lay-missioner-judy-walter","tag-maryknoll-lay-missioners-stephen-and-loyce-veryser","tag-maryknoll-magazine-fall-2026","tag-mklm","tag-mwanza","tag-tanzania","tag-tanzanian-sign-language","tag-three-children"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFinding Love in Mission, Again and Again - 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