Leaving Ireland in the 1920's most missionaries found that the certainties of home were badly shaken by the reality of life in a different culture. They discovered the dynamism and the rich creativity of other cultures in the new churches of the East and West.The whole Church discovered it at the Second Vatican Council and a new attitude to mission and to the great world religions was born. The experience of life in a multicultural and multireligious world gave the younger churches the impetus to respect and dialogue with other great religions. They learned to regard justice as an integral part of the Gospel in a world of poor people, and to live a spirituality that saw life as a gift to be shared by all. Today's missionaries are laity, priests and religious.

They are usually in a supporting role in the churches they helped found, and they act as links between Church communities across the world. In a world that tends to exploit both the earth and its peoples, missionaries remind us that it is our brothers and sisters who are carrying the burdens and feeling the pain.

Some of today's Columban missionaries Fr Shay Cullen from Glasthule, Co Dublin, was assigned to the Philippines in 1970. He was deeply shocked at the sexual exploitation of children in Olongapo City and elsewhere. He has worked tirelessly for child protection laws, and has rescued thousands of children from drugs, brothels and prisons. He has been three times nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. His biography "Passion and Power" was published last month by Killynon House Books.

Fr Liam O'Callaghan from Hackettstown, Portlaw, Co Waterford was appointed to Pakistan in 1997. He has been deeply involved in a "dialogue of life" with the followers of Islam in the region of Lahore. He is deeply inspired by his colleague the late Fr Rufus Halley who did so much so break down barriers between Christians and Muslims in the Philippines. In the wake of the devastating earthquake which hit northern Pakistan in 2005 he has been very much involved in helping the victims.

Angelica Escarsa from Matain, Subic, Philippines is a secondary school teacher and catechist.

She joined the Columban Lay Missionaries in 1998 and, after training, was assigned to Ireland. We believe that no country's faith is so rich that it does not need to be further enriched, nor is any country's faith so poor that it does not have much to offer to another culture. Angie has served in Holy Spirit Parish, Ballymun, as part of the Scala team in Cork, and in St Mary's Parish, Navan.

Fr Sean McDonagh from Nenagh, Co Tipperary spent 20 years in the Philippines, most of them among the indigenous T'boli people. In response to the destruction of their forests by outsiders, and the subsequent devastation of their environment, Sean began his ecological activism. An anthropologist and theologian, he has cogently argued the case for a new attitude to the earth in ten books. He was recently conferred Ph.D by HECAP on the basis of his published work.

Fr Bobby Gilmore from Glenamaddy, Co Galway, was initially assigned to the Philippines.

Appointed to England in 1983 he became Director of Immigrant Chaplains.

In this capacity he was involved with many Irish and other nationalities and played an important role in seeking justice for the Birmingham Six. In 1992 he set out for Jamaica where he spent seven years before returning to Ireland in 1999. He is presently Chairperson of Dublin's Migrant Rights Centre.

Sr Miriam Cousins from Athlone, trained as a nurse and first went to Korea in 1971. She worked in the Columban Sisters hospital in Mokpo for several years.

Later she set up a midwifery school and taught there before becoming involved with AIDS sufferers. She began by visiting the red light districts and befriending prostitutes. Then she opened a house for people with HIV/AIDS. In 2005 she was honoured by the Korean Government for her outstanding work with sufferers of the disease.