South Texas mission trip
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OUR MISSION
Each spring break, St. Mary's takes a group of 19 students led by our student intern on a domestic mission to various places within our own borders. There is such a deep spiritual and physical poverty within our own borders. This year we will be going for the second year to South Texas, down along the border, serving at the Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen and with the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary at the Proyecto Desarallo Humano in Penitas. In Penitas, we will assist the sisters with events and programs for kids and families as well as work their thrift store, paint, and garden as needed. At the respite center, the people we serve have been travelling, most by foot, from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Venezuela. They are in desperate need of medical attention, showers, clothing, and tremendous emotional care. At the center, we will organize the lines for and clean the showers, run the supply and clothing rooms, pass out food, clean, work the front desk, play with the kids, and enter into one on one time with the people. There is tremendous beauty in acting as the welcoming, fully-embracing heart of Jesus for this deeply hopeful, faithful community, as they enter into our country." Stay where you are. Find your own Calcutta.
Find the sick, the suffering, and the lonely right where you are-
in your own homes and families, in your workplaces, and in your schools.
You can find Calcutta all over the world, if you have the eyes to see.
Everywhere, wherever you go, you find people who are unwanted, unloved, uncared for,
just rejected by society- completely forgotten, completely alone."
-St. Teresa of CalcuttaDATE
March 7-14, 2020
COST
The total cost of the experience will be around $300 (final cost TBD). This amount will cover all lodging, meals, traveling/gas expenses, and work fees. You will be responsible for your own meals on travel days (the first and last day of the trip).
REQUIRED PREPARATION MEETINGS
Preparation meetings are scheduled on Sundays from 3-5pm on Nov. 10 & 24, Jan. 26, Feb. 9 & 23, March 1. A workshop for all mission trip teams is scheduled for Mon. Jan. 20 from 10-5pm. All meetings are mandatory and crucial to team building and formation.
APPLICATIONS
Applications will open online on September 15th for all 2020 mission trips. Applications will close on October 6th.
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"The best part about mission trip was seeing Jesus in the people we served. This trip was my first choice because I wanted to help the people at our border and in our state who were in need. It was such a blessing to interact with and serve the people at the respite center. They had such beautiful stories and they will remain very close to my heart."
"This gives you the chance to make lasting friendships, find your place in the church, find your purpose in the world, and help everything make sense. I feel that it is what you do after mission trip and how you carry out God’s word that really determines just how far God is going to take you."
"I would definitely take the opportunity to go on the domestic mission trip! I would encourage you to do it because it was incredibly eye opening for me! You are able to touch so many lives that are right in our backyard, and you learn so much from them. You are able to step away from the comfort of your own lives and give your time, which is such a valuable commodity right now to do God’s will."
"It is humbling to go on a domestic mission trip. There is not the glory of going outside of the country, but it is in this that the beauty lies.
There is so much need right here, and I was changed because of that. The people that you encounter will change your heart
and the people that you serve with will become a family. Truly my best spring break ever!"
"In response to the question, if you could sum up the week in one word or phrase, what would it be? A student replied with, “ordinary—what we did, as extraordinary as it was, should be a part of our ordinary lives, serving our brothers and sisters that are in front of us.”
Read a blog post about this experience, written by the mission trip leader Katie from March 2019.
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