AUGUSTA — Missionaries, national and local speakers and a concert by a Grammynominated band will highlight The Great Commission: One Family in Mission, a daylong event which aims to inspire people from Maine and around New England to become “mission ambassadors” for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, on Saturday, Oct. 5, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Augusta Civic Center on 76 Community Drive.

“We are hoping that people realize that being a missionary means sharing our faith here in Maine at our local parishes, schools, communities, as well as in other countries,” said Ruth Oakley, director of the Diocesan Missions/ CRS Office.

The keynote speaker for The Great Commission is Mario St. Francis, who has traveled the world inspiring audiences in five languages by speaking about the experiences that led to the rediscovery of his faith as an adult, and how effective living can be achieved based on universal morals and values.

Other workshop and exhibit presenters include Mother Olga Yaqob, founder of the Daughters of Mary of Nazareth, who lived through four wars in her native Iraq; Maureen Crowley-Heil, missions director for the Archdiocese of Boston; Sister Lisa Valentini, who spent years working among the people in the Dominican Republic and Haiti; the Rev. Joseph Arackal, a Vincentian missionary priest from India; Michael Smith from Catholic Charities Maine, who will share how people can help locally; and Kim Lamberty from Catholic Relief Services, who will instruct attendees on how they can help people globally without leaving home.

Young people will learn the dance of the Andean peoples, and participants also will have the opportunity to learn how to make mission rosaries under the guidance of Mary Ruth Nichols of Fort Fairfield and Robert Dumond of Lewiston.

At 4 p.m., a celebratory praying of the mission rosary is scheduled as teens and adults from various parishes will wear different colors representing the rosary beads and the continents (red for the Americas, green for Africa, yellow for Asia, blue for Australia, and white for Europe). Volunteers from around the diocese also will participate, carrying flags from various countries that have a missionary presence.

The event will conclude with an evening concert by the Christian rock group Sanctus Real at 6:30 p.m. The band has been nominated for multiple Grammy Awards and has released several Christian Billboard chart-topping hits.

For more information, contact Ruth Oakley, director of the Diocesan Missions/CRS Office, at 321-7817.

To register, visit www.portlanddiocese.org/GreatCommissionMaine.