LA SAGRADA FAMILIA “Mission immersion

trips provide powerful

incarnational experi-

ences for people in

ways that traditional

worship sometimes

doesn’t. Lives of ser-

vice speak a language

of faith that is far more

persuasive than mere

words.”

The Holy Family La Sagrada Familia

MISSION IMMERSION THERAPY During spring break many students from high schools and col-leges spend their week on an immersion trip to various pockets of poverty around the world. While one and a half million students descend upon sunny sandy beaches spending upwards of a billion dollars on drinks and parties, mission immersion students spend their time addressing the basic needs of the poor in communities across the globe. These students will be exposed to life they would never encounter.

If you have worked with young people, you often hear parents ask, “How do I get my son/daughter to go to church?” The an-swer is almost always: “You don’t.” It is really the wrong question to ask. The irony is that while our pews are empty of young adults, immersion trips, school-based service learning experiences, and community service programs are very popular.

These trips provide powerful incarnational experiences for stu-dents in ways that traditional worship sometimes doesn’t. They force students to move from conversation to concrete encounters, sometimes with profound results. That is because lives of service and the pursuit of justice speak a language of faith that is far more persuasive than mere words. [Continued on page 2]

Mission Newsletter April 2015

In This Issue

Mission Therapy Pgs. 1-2 New Home P. 3

Mission Surgeries P. 4 Micro Loan P. 5

Youth Group Plan P. 5 LSF News P.6

Mission Reflections Pages. 7-10

Eye Clinic P. 11 Future Plan P.12

It is the language that Pope Francis often speaks. His recent intimate caressing of a severely disfigured man spoke more powerfully about compassion than an encyclical ever could. Young peo-ple might not encounter the face of Jesus listening to a homily, but often do when they come face-to-face with poverty and suffering. Then students can read Matthew 25 and say, “I’ve seen Christ hun-gry and fed him, and most importantly, been fed by him.”

When these student decide to pass through the doors of our churches in the future, they will re-main only if they recognize that what goes on inside those church walls has some tangible relation-ship to what is happening to the least of our brothers and sisters outside those walls. If you would like to check out the complete article, read:: “Full Immersion Therapy,” by Bill McGarvery, America, March 9, 2015.

Looking back over these ten years, I am grateful to Jim and Sandy Riese who asked Dr. Pete Emer to start the first eye clinic, to Pat Mangi who has shared her Spanish expertise ten times with Anglo slow learners, our parish office for well-organized financial records, and to Fr. Oriol who wel-comed us to La Sagrada Familia for the first time. We have been fortunate to tap into the energy field of the young people who eagerly came with us. Some who were hooked for good, and others who came a few times and then moved on to other interests.

I am also grateful to Bishop Richard Sklba who often commented: “We are born in a time not of our choosing and assigned tasks not always to our liking. And we will find God there, or not at all, for God is nowhere else.” And so after ten mission immersion trips we still have each group about evenly divided between rookies and regulars, many people who just can’t be satisfied sitting in the pew. The sitting is important, but it is only the beginning. ——Wilson

[Page 2]

MISSION 10 - JANUARY — 2015

MISSION 10 — HOME BUILDING

This was the home of the Castillo-Rodrigues Family made up of three people, father, Jose

Augusto Castillo, his wife, Dania Luisa Rodriguez and their daughter Anyeli Lusianny Rodri-

guez who live in the nearby village of El Ganadero. All three are blind and the daughter has

Cerebral palsy. They are in their 30’s and live in a small shack made out of wood and iron

sheets on land next to Jose’s parent’s home. Their home is often flooded.

The new home of Jose, Dania and Anyeli finished in February 2015

[Page 3]

MISSION SURGERIES

Eye surgies, under the direction of Doctor Steve Slana were held in the hospital in the near-by town of Azua. Doctor Steve worked with a Dominican Ophthalmologist and his surgical team of Yasmin, Mark, and Algantis. They arrived on Saturday and began their surgeries on Monday morning. By the time the other members of Mission 10 reached the parish center in Sebana Yegua on Tuesday afternoon, over 40 surgeries had been completed.

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Fr. Juan’s report: “As you know there is some rivalry between the Dominicans and

Haitians. Many of the Haitians work in the fields helping the Dominicans. Beda is one of

the members of the Haitian ministry people in the parish. She is married, has three chil-

dren, and her husband, Telo, works in the fields with the Dominican landlord. For many

years, Telo has been a faithful worker. The Dominican landlord planted plantains and de-

cided to allow Telo to plant green peppers in between the rows of plantains. Telo had to

water and care for the plantains while he watched over the green peppers in the middle of

the plantation field. The Dominican landlord has allowed Telo to plant green peppers on

his land in exchange for Telo keeping an eye on the plantains. In this agreement both the

Dominican landlord and the Haitian farm worker family benefit. It is a sign of solidarity

and mutual understanding. Beda and Telo had a great harvest and were able to pay

back 400 dollars of their loan earned by their great green pepper harvest. This is a suc-

cess story that helps sustain a Haitian family, utilizes the Micro Loan Program and helps

build mutual respect.

The youth group of La Sagrada Familia Parish dis-cussed the different social needs of their community. The consensus was that among the most pressing is-sues was the amount of garbage in the streets, hence putting a plan in motion to create a clean town. They decided to clean the streets and give talks about the benefits of having a clean town. In doing this work, the youth have found that one of the main reasons for gar-bage in the streets is due to lack of garbage contain-ers. They propose to get 50 containers of 55 gallons to place in strategic points in the town. Awareness of the culture of cleaning will be promoted through graphical material, radio ads and the youth talking with people in Sabana Yegua.

[Page 5]

MICRO LOAN PROGRAM

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Fr. Juan wishes to thank our generous contributor for help in bringing dreams into reality.

The micro loan program can always use additional contributions. If you are interested,

please contact Fr. Juan or me to make contributions to the program.

WORLD MISSION NEWSLETTER

Click this link to read the mission Office newsletter and the recent Kenosha News article:

http://www.archmil.org/ArchMil/Resources/SagradaFamilia/LaSFNewsletterDec2014-Final.pdf

http://www.kenoshanews.com/scripts/edoris/edoris.dll?tem=kn_arcprint&docid=481423142

January 2016 is the 35 Anniversary of the collaborative relationship be-tween the people of La Sagrada Familia Parish in the Dominican Republic and the Archdio-cese of Milwaukee. This would be a great time to join us as we travel to LSF next January as part of Mission 11. We plan to leave the Milwaukee area on Monday, January 4, 2016 to begin Mission 11. Plan now to join us.

10 YEAR REUNION DINNER

By now you should have received an invitation to the La Sagrada Familia Reunion Dinner to be held on Thursday, April 30, 2015 beginning at 6:00 pm at the Italian American Club, 2217-52nd Street, Kenosha, Wisconsin. It will be a wonderful time to talk to mission travelers from various mission trips over the last 10 years. All former mission travelers are welcome as are their family and friends and anyone who is interested to participating in a future mission trip. If you would like more information, contact Kathleen May at: irishgirl1933@gmail.com.

]Page 6]

La Sagrada Familia Newsletter--Winter - 2014

The La Sagrada Familia Newsletter returns. Read sto-ries and updates from Office For World Mission Staff, La Sagrada Familia Team Members, Visitors to LaSF and more.

MISSION 10 REFLECTIONS

Good morning, my name is Kathleen May. I have been a member of the St.

Mary’s community my entire life. My parents, Merle and Noreen, were parish-

ioners of St. Mary’s for over 50 years and throughout that time raised 6 chil-

dren, all of which attended St. Mary’s school. As a child, my family and I at-

tended Sunday mass at 12:30PM, and we always sat on the right side of the

church.

My father passed away when I was 13, one week before my 8th grade gradu-

ation. Sunday mass became something that my mother and I shared and par-

ticipated in together. When I had children, 11:00 AM mass became something

that they counted on every Sunday with their grandma. We usually showed up

just as mass started and my mother always had our spots reserved in the pews

on the right side of the church.

My mother passed away unexpectedly in 2009. I stopped attending St.

Mary’s. Every time I stepped in church for mass I would break down crying be-

cause that time was reserved for my mother and me. I couldn’t handle being

here without her. My children and I attended services at other churches, but

my kids begged for us to return to St. Mary’s. I finally listened to them. We

again began attending 11:00AM mass on Sunday, and without fail we took our

place on the right side of the church. The spot I knew my mother was also sit-

ting, participating in mass with us. I continued to break down and cry at every

mass, always after communion when I would kneel to pray. My emotional

breakdown came like clockwork. My kids quickly learned to have the tissues

ready.

I remember sitting in Mass shortly after my mother passed, most likely a

mass just like this where someone was giving a reflection about their experi-

ence on this trip. The speaker talked about a home that they had built for a Do-

minican family, and I remember the before and after pictures displayed on a

poster board in the back of church after mass. I remember thinking, “I would re-

ally like to do that one day”. Fast forward to September 2014. I was sitting on

the couch one evening checking my FB account when I saw Camille Ausse’s

fund raising link that she and her sister Cyndi set up to raise money for their

second journey to the Dominican Republic. Sisters on a Mission. Very catchy I

thought. I immediately emailed her and started asking a million questions. At

the end of the conversation she said to me “You should come. You will love it!”

[Page 7].

I told her I would think about it and let her know. My decision was made by the time

I woke up the next morning. I was going.

Although I was extremely excited about this trip, I had so much anxiety around it.

The fear of the unknown I guess. There were a number of meetings leading up to

our departure. I had an opportunity to meet most of the people going with me on the

trip. I was given detailed instructions on what to expect and even what to pack.

Deacon Wilson’s cool approach to everything, including when I was visibly stressing

about not having a roommate at the motels, really helped calm my anxiety and con-

cerns. He put his hand on my shoulder, looked me in the eyes, and calmly said with

a smile on his face, “its going to be alright.” The “old timers” were so accommodat-

ing to us “newbies,” and I think I can speak for the rest of the newcomers and say

we were so appreciative to be accepted and trusted as part of their elite group.

We arrived Tuesday afternoon, January 6, at La Sagrada Familia and we quickly

loaded the trucks with our belongings so we could go settle in with our host families.

I was lucky to be rooming with Candy Soens. This was her 4th time on the trip and

she previously stayed with our host parents, Eladio and Benigna, along with their

daughter Eliani. Eliani is a 24 year old medical student and has been working at the

clinic since it started 10 years ago. She spoke English which was a huge relief for

me!

We ended that Tuesday evening, after setting up the clinic, with mass. The mass

was spoken in Spanish, but a Catholic mass is a Catholic mass. The music was up-

beat and beautiful. The handshake at the sign of peace was replaced with a hug

and a smile from members of the congregation. At one moment during mass I

found myself looking around the church. It was in that moment that I realized that

although I may be in another country, I may be celebrating mass at a different

church in a different language, I was a stranger by name and face to everyone ex-

cept for those with Mission 10, but I was at St. Mary’s. The community of La Sagra-

da Familia is simply an extension of the community I was already a part of back

home in Kenosha. I was a stranger by name and face but not by faith and/or affilia-

tion.

Then came communion, and we know what happens after communion. I grabbed

my tissue from my pocket and sat silently in prayer. When I concluded my prayer I

raised my head and noticed what looked like a speaker on a shelf behind the altar.

The speaker was sitting on top of an eyelet, white doily. It looked like the same

white doily that my mother had on her dresser in her bedroom where the ceramic

heart jewelry box that I bought her for Mother’s Day one year sat. Not only was I at

mass in the company of my parish community, I felt my mother there with me, just

as she is with me at every mass back home in Kenosha. I took a deep breath and

thought to myself, “I can do this”. I had my guardian angel with me.

[Page 8]

Wednesday through Saturday were working days at the clinic. The members of

Mission 10 had the opportunity to tour the villages of Azua and learned of the many

projects Fr. Juan, the community of La Sagrada Familia, and the Community of St.

Paul, were working on. We visited the site of the two home building projects, one

being a home for a Haitian family with 7 children and the other a home of Jose and

Lucia, a blind couple who have a 3 year old daughter who is blind as well and suf-

fers from Cerebral Palsy. In an impromptu song of friendship, “Un Million De Ami-

gos”, or “A Million Friends”, Lucia grabbed her husband’s hand and had us all in

tears as they sang together, in Spanish of course, “I want to create the peace of the

future. I want to have a sturdy house. I want my child to walk confidently. Singing

loudly, smiling freely. I want to bring this song of friendship.”

I would love to tell you about all the amazing work Fr. Juan and his team are do-

ing, but I will at least tell you about one project that really left an impression with me.

The project involves something that we in the United States take for granted, WA-

TER. Two settlements, with approximately 500 people, located within the territory of

La Sagrada Familia, never had access to potable water for drinking, cooking or

washing. While the men would work in the nearby fields, the women would walk up

to 4 miles round trip to get water from a well. These women had to cross dangerous

highways, which often resulted in accidents and/or injuries, and they carried 5 gallon

cans of water weighing close to 40 pounds back home. Fr. Juan told me this project

was in the works for nearly 35 years, and once the project was approved, it took 18

months to complete. With the hard work of many volunteers under the guidance of

two development agencies from Spain and parish personnel, an aqueduct and a

50,000 gallon water tank was built. The 123 families that labored on this project

now enjoy the use of a sink and a faucet, which are installed in their front yards.

They have also organized a system to assure an efficient and cost effective opera-

tion of the project by only distributing water every 2 days while electricity, another

amenity we take for granted, is accessible. What I loved most about this project is

that it taught the people of these communities the value of hard work. It is neces-

sary for organizations like this Mission group to visit a community such as Sebana

Yegua and provide a service such as an eye clinic, but to provide people the neces-

sary tools and teach them the value of hard work while instilling them with a sense

of pride and accomplishment, in my opinion, is one of the most effective uses of

one’s gifts. These people will forever be changed and will hopefully pass that strong

work ethic on to future generations.

Mission 10 was a huge success in so may ways. The eye clinic saw over 900

patients and the surgical team performed 114 surgeries during the time we were

there. I had the privilege of working with the most amazing, hard working, compas-

sionate, selfless people I have ever met, from ages of 19 to 77 years old. I learned

[Page 9]

about the eye, I learned a little Spanish, but I learned so much more about myself and wit-

nessed first hand the power and grace of God.

Things happen for a reason. People come in and out of our lives for a reason. The 25

people that came together and contributed to making a difference in so many people’s lives,

demonstrated and exemplified the idea of power in numbers. The “million friends” I made in

Sebana Yegua are the most humble, gracious, loving, faithful people. Fr. Juan told us on

one of the tours that if a child became an orphan they would never go hungry as someone

would take them in and care for them as their own. That statement alone sums up the char-

acter of the people I had the privilege of meeting on this trip.

Candy and I each received a beautiful ceramic elephant from our host family before we

left. Eliani told us to display it in our home and every time we looked at it, we should re-

member our “other” home that we have in Sebana Yegua. In the 5 short evenings and the

4 brief mornings that I stayed in the home of Eladio and Benigua, with only small, rather un-

productive conversations, I became part of their family.

“To be remembered, you have to do something memorable.” There is nothing more

rewarding and fulfilling than being part of something bigger than yourself and using the gifts

that God has given you to help those less fortunate. I encourage all of you, if you have the

opportunity to go on this mission or any mission. Do it! If you are unable to physically par-

ticipate, then seek to donate financially or find it in your heart to be supportive through pray-

er. From the letter of Peter: “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another,

as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”

Thank you for letting me share my story. God bless.

——Kathleen May, Mission 10

“Take the opportunity to cultivate compassion, stretch your heart and expand your soul.” I heard those words on a program about the benefits of listening to music. It immediately struck me that they perfectly describe the mission experience.

Cultivating compassion; if by compassion we mean walking in another’s shoes and shar-ing the challenges and joys they face, then leaving our comfort zones and living with a host family in Sabana Yegua is a way of cultivating compassion. However brief and temporary that sharing is, we begin to understand the ups and downs that the people of Sagrada Fa-milia parish face in their daily lives.

Our hearts are definitely stretched during the visit. Each time we let another person into our lives and hearts our hearts grow bigger. Having been part of the mission for ten years, I feel as if I have a whole second family of people to love and care about.

I see the mission as a yearly retreat. It is not a quiet or contemplative experience but nev-er the less a chance to allow my soul to expand and deepen my awareness of God’s pres-ence and His plan for my life. We go to La Sagrada Familia to bring the people the means to improve their vision yet we are the ones who leave seeing more clearly.

——Pat Mangi, Mission 10

[Page 10]

MISSION 10 EYE CLINIC During the four days the eye clinic was held, almost 950 patients were examined by Dr. Pete and Dr. Pat. Of that number over 750 left the clinic with a pair of prescription glasses, sun glasses and in most cases a hat to protect their eyes from the hot sun. Most of the remaining patients picked out frames and had glasses made to match their specific prescriptions. These glasses were delivered to Fr. Juan within a few weeks.

All 21 of us working in the clinic knew that many patients walked a great distance to get to the clinic so each day no one was turned away until they had been examined. Clinic assistants provided Dr. Pete and Dr. Pat with the necessary data from preliminary tests so they could quickly diagnose eye needs. For most of the clinic Pete and Pat probably diagnosed each pa-tient in about 6 minutes.

[Page 11]

SPARKLING EYES

CONTAINER CONTENTS

The mission planning team wants to send a large container to the mission this sum-

mer. We have found a company that has sent large items to Santo Domingo in the past

and is willing to help us get the container ready for shipment. We have found a local lo-

cation that will allow us to pack various skids of items so that when the container arrives

in Kenosha, the skids can be loaded within 2 hours and sent on its way to the DR.

We are interested in gathering items around the following categories:

1) medicines, 2) medical equipment, 3) physical therapy equipment, 4) infant clothes,

5) construction equipment and supplies, 6) computers and computer supplies, 7) reli-

gious items large and small, 8) tools and electrical equipment needed at the mission.

We welcome any group who wants to ship items to the mission to join us in filling the

container. Please contact any member of the planning team for further information:

*Patty Bajabir, *Pete Emer, *Pat Mangi, *Kathy Norris, *Wilson Shierk, *Steve Slana,

*Candy Soens, *Anne Wolfe.

Blessed Holy Week and Easter to you all. ——Wilson

[Page 12]