Family Missions Company’s story begins almost 40 years ago, in the small southern town of Abbeville, Louisiana. Frank Summers, a young, successful attorney, and his beautiful wife Genie, an up and coming journalist, had achieved a great degree of financial and social success in their hometown. Together with their only child, Beau, they embraced a completely secular lifestyle. It wasn’t until their marriage seemed headed for certain divorce, that they experienced a profound conversion, returned to their Catholic roots, and began seeking God’s will for their lives in earnest. that they experienced a profound conversion, returned to their Catholic roots, and began seeking God’s will for their lives in earnest.
After spending some time evangelizing in Abbeville, they felt called to sell all that they had and go out as a family into foreign missions, to “proclaim the Gospel to every creature”! At that time, they struggled to find any support or structure to help Catholic families become missionaries. Following the promptings of the Holy Spirit, they embraced lives of poverty and zeal for the Gospel, travelling as missionaries all over the world. As their family grew, they served in Tonga, American Samoa, Mexico, Columbia, New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, and Micronesia. God blessed them with 6 more children, and they experienced the joy of witnessing together as a Catholic family.
Family Missions Company sends out lay Catholic families and singles to proclaim Jesus Christ and His Gospel to the poor! Since our founding in 1997, we have trained and sent out hundreds of families and singles to serve as evangelists and servants to the poor around the world. Many have answered the call to serve as FMC missionaries but billions of people are still waiting to hear the Good News. Is God calling you to GO?
Do The Incredible // Man Enough?
5 Characteristics Every Missionary Should Have
1. A Heart for Service and Sacrifice
2. A Passion for Jesus and Sharing the Gospel
3. Enjoys People
4. Authentic
5. Open to the Holy Spirit
The Church—I repeat once again—is not a relief organization, an enterprise nor an NGO (Non-Government Organization), but a community of people, animated by the Holy Spirit, who have lived and are living the wonder of the encounter with Jesus Christ and want to share their experience of deep joy, the message of salvation that the Lord gave us. It is the Holy Spirit who guides the Church in this path (Pope Francis, Message for World Day of Peace (L’Osservatore Romano, August 28, 2013)
