A Deacon in Guatemala…
by Deacon Bob J. Henkel (First Printed in Servant News: 3Q/2015)
Deacon Bob receiving a wild bird as offering for Fr. Rufino after service in Estanzuela.
Over the years, there have been many SOS mission trips. Some concentrating on health issues; some providing vision help; some sent to set up and staff educational facilities for the youth to make a difference in the future of Guatemala; but our most recent mission trip on July 3-10, 2015, was simply to share our faith; the Gospel, the Good News!
The Bishop of the Diocese of Quiché gave SOS missions his full support and blessing saying, “my people wait for you to come like they wait for the rain for their crops!” Fr. Rufino, the parish priest of Joyabaj, who leads a flock of over one hundred thousand parishioners, serving 92 different communities, came to us with a concern about the breakdown of ‘the family’. He shared with us, that teens are having sex and babies to separate themselves and be on their own. He said some parents are trying to go to more affluent countries, like the United States, to earn money and send it back to their families, but sometimes they are gone so long that they form new relationships and neglect their families in Guatemala. He told us that many are concerned with feeding and clothing their families so much that sometimes they forget their spiritual lives, and many fall into alcohol abuse. In essence, on a bit of a different scale, he shared with us many of the very same problems which we see among families in our own homes, churches, and neighborhoods in this country.
Now we had a goal for our mission, but we needed hearts and souls to make our mission happen. Sixteen individuals from eight different Catholic communities in Texas answered the call, many of them first-time missioners. We began getting together as a group that would quickly become “family”. We prayed together, discussed strategy, meditated on how the Spirit was calling each of us, and we trained and practiced together. Also, most important to any mission, we reached out to our Parishes and to our friends and families. They supported us beautifully with their time, talents, and treasures. They made prayer blankets we could give to the sick; they supported us financially and also powerfully in prayer before, during (with around-the-clock prayer and adoration), and after the mission trip. We can never thank them enough for this support; our hearts are full of gratitude.
Our mission trip consisted of three daily activities. In the morning we would gather in three teams and walk through the hills of Joyabaj in Quiché, (for many miles, up and down the hilly country). Each team would visit three families, handpicked by local leaders because each family was experiencing some sort of a trial and it was our mission to share the Word of God with them, share our experiences, laugh with the families, cry with them, and pray with them.
In the homes that we visited there may not have been chairs or furniture, but there was always an Altar erected and made into a special place. In preparation for our visit, the families put down fresh pine needles from their trees. When we asked them why they did this, they said “we knew you were coming and bringing with you the Holy Spirit, so we had to make it look and smell nice”! Wouldn’t it be something if we could dress up our own hearts and souls every day knowing that the Holy Spirit is coming?
In the afternoon we would go to the local Church and have mini-retreats that would last for about three hours. We separated again into three groups: one for children, one for teens including young adults, and one for adults. During these retreats, we became “family”. We fell in love with the people and they, in turn, accepted us fully into their hearts as family members also. This was especially noteworthy because the theme of our mission was ‘family’. Each group, in a different and directed way, was reminded how much God Loves them (Love with a capital ‘L’), and how very special they are, and what a precious gift God had given them through families and also through their family in the Church. To say that the Holy Spirit was there and on fire in us is to understate the case. Words simply cannot explain the profound nature of this mission. The most amazing part is, even though we as missioners went there to minister to God’s people, (the poorest of the poor); we found out that we were actually being ministered to by them. We laughed, sang, danced, cried, and prayed with these people, and with Jesus, and my sisters and brothers, that was AWESOME!
Each day climaxed when we shared the Eucharist together, uniting us even tighter in receiving Jesus in Word and Sacrament. There could be no better climax.
