Making a Difference One Case at a Time

Alia Sisson (left) with PBV Director Tim Deveney and fellow PBV Lota Ofodile


By Alia Sisson
During my time interning at the U.S. Senate in college, I had the distinguished title of “Intern 6.” While it was important work I was honored to do, I couldn’t help feeling a bit like a tiny cog in the enormous machine of American politics – easily replaced and forgotten.

My time as a volunteer at Legal Aid of Western Missouri (LAWMO) has been quite the opposite. At the time of this writing, I am over seven months into my nine months of service through the Missionaries of the Precious Blood as a Precious Blood Volunteer. From the time I began my service at Legal Aid, the most notable aspect of the work environment is the collegiality, friendliness, and inclusivity of all staff, from interns to the Executive Director.

On my first day, I was pleasantly surprised to find I would be given my own office, phone number, and email address. Not only did this make me feel valued for donating my time, but it’s indicative of the greater mission of LAWMO, which to me centers on the inherent dignity of every person. From the clients that we serve to the staff and volunteers, Legal Aid’s work is a labor of love. LAWMO attracts people with big hearts and high ambitions to help the neediest among us.

As far as the work that I do for Legal Aid, it could not be more perfect for what I was seeking from a volunteer year following my law school graduation. While there are plenty of opportunities for soul-crushing corporate, transactional work after I take the bar exam, I wanted to dedicate a year of my life to something beyond billable hours in the 9-to-5 grind. I would be hard-pressed to find something more fulfilling than helping domestic violence survivors pick up the pieces of their lives and start fresh by getting divorced from abusers and gaining custody of their kids.

Through this experience, I have been privileged to get an inside look at the justice system. For example, attending court with our clients as Legal Aid attorneys work with them to obtain full orders of protection. I have observed how the justice system intersects with children’s division, domestic violence shelters, the police, and other agencies. I have also learned a great deal of practical knowledge for when I practice law, such as drafting pleadings, interrogatories, letters, briefs, and research memoranda.

Though not every case always goes in our client’s favor, I know for a fact that the Legal Aid attorneys and paralegals are amongst the hardest working out there and always do their very best in advocating for those who do not possess the luxury of other options. I have had several clients give the most heartfelt thanks to me for the help that Legal Aid provided them. With one client even offering to clean our offices in gratitude (I politely declined), it is safe to say LAWMO makes a tremendous positive difference in the Missouri community.

I am so thankful to be the first Precious Blood Volunteer placed at Legal Aid of Western Missouri, and I hope I am not the last. Both organizations harmonize in bridging the gap between resources and need by offering a helping hand to those in poverty. It is my sincere hope that LAWMO and Precious Blood will share a bright future in collaborating to bless volunteers with the ability to serve and grow.

To learn more about serving as a Precious Blood Volunteer at Legal Aid of Western Missouri go to https://preciousbloodkc.org/legal-aid-of-western-missouri

Easter Reflections: May 5, 2018 Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter

by Rev. Alfons Minja, C.PP.S., Tanzanian Province
“You are not of the world…”
One of the things that confuses many Christians is the attitude of non-Christians toward them. Most of us think that since we go to the world with the greatest and most important message in all of history that the world would applaud and cheer. For the most part, people are not waiting for that message with open arms. In fact, the Bible says that the world does not want us or our message. They hate us. Hate? That is what Jesus said “If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before it hated you.” “If you were of the world, the world would love his own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hate you.”
The more you look like Christ the more the world is going to treat you the same way it treated Him. When you don’t act, talk or think like the world does, you are going to make the crowd uncomfortable. You are not going to be “one of us.” The fact is you are not. God has “chosen you out” by His sovereign grace. This concept of a Christian living in the world, but not being of the world is a key concept to understand what it means to be a Christian.
When our secularized society demands from us and from the Church certain changes, we are simply being asked to move away from God. We, Christians, however, should be faithful to Christ and to his message. This fidelity may, quite often, mean persecution: “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you, too”.
If Jesus had kept His mouth shut and just gone around healing and feeding people, there wouldn’t have been any trouble. But He exposed their sin.
Harry Ironside told the story of the missionary in Africa. In a very backward village, he left a mirror hanging on a tree after shaving. The wife of the tribal chief came along and looked into it. She had never seen a mirror before. She asked “Who is that ugly woman?” When the missionary explained the mirror to her and told her that it was she. She got made, threw the mirror down and crushed it.
The world doesn’t want to be shown what it looks like. It makes them mad. They can’t take out their hatred on Christ, so they take it out on you. When our secularized society demands from us and from the Church certain changes, we are simply being asked to move away from God. We, Christians, however, should be faithful to Christ and to his message.
Let’s be brave and let us proclaim without any fear Christ resurrected, light and joy of all Christians!
May God bless all!