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On June 1 - 3, 2007, the Catholic 20-Somethings Ministry took a group on its first mission trip to Monterrey, Mexico. Nineteen young adults worked with some of the Brothers of St. John in two of the colonias going to Mass, praying the Rosary and eating with the people, as well as clearing some land for a future chapel. It was a great trip and left many of us excited to return. Click below to read about some of our experiences.
Hey y'all, it's Trey!!! The Mission Trip was great!!! Everyone did a great job of putting it together and we had a great time! I was not expecting to be so humbled by the experience, though. The poverty surprised me to the point that when I first saw the houses and people, I thought it was unreal. But i soon learned that, with God, these people can survive. So it was our job to bring God's love to them. I wish more people knew about the colonias because it would help most people appreciate what they have. We're living the GREAT life the United States. I'd definitely go back, and next time I'd like to do more manual labor and work to help out the brothers and the mission. At first, we didn't feel like we got enough accomplished, but according to most, we did more good than we thought. It was a short weekend trip, but that's great because most people would not be able to come if it was longer. I'm already excited about next year!!! Everyone definitely learned a lot and now we can better appreciate the things in our lives. We surely got closer to each other on the trip! I loved traveling back
with the vans, singing for nine hours straight and almost telling the investigation border patrol dude, "How y'all derin?"
~Trey Ange! I would definitely do Mission to Mexico again...there is something about Mexico and nature that helps me identify with God...being around the Brothers and their resonating smiles radiated God's love one-hundred fold. In all honesty, the only reason I've really continued to go on mission trips is because it was a commonality that I and a recently departed friend shared. I had forgotten about blind faith and what our Blessed Mother can do. I was most surprised in that it was amazing to see and feel how in one weekend I got the same feeling I had received in serving in a weeks' time period. In the end it's the same take home message: As much as we want and do give, we always end up receiving so much more. I went in with no expectations.....overall, it was a wonderful experience. Next time, I hope to interact more with the people, the children, but most importantly reconnect with God. ~Raquel Martinez The mission trip to Monterrey was truly a beautiful experience. It was my first time to both ever go on a mission trip as well as travel inside Mexico. The trip started out wonderfully as Mariangela's family bent over backwards to welcome us into their homes that Friday evening as we stayed in Laredo before crossing the border the next morning. What a perfect example of hospitality and graciousness. Their showing of God's love to us -- perfect strangers -- is certainly what inspired me to serve the people of the Monterrey colonias the next couple of days. When we arrived to the first colonia Saturday early afternoon, I was pretty dumbfounded at what I saw. The homes in that community was something you'd see out of a National Geographic magazine -- I couldn't believe people actually live this way! They were literally made of cardboard and sheet metal. When we began to interact with the people of the colonias, I think all of the 20-somethings there were pretty touched. About half of us spoke Spanish pretty well, while the other half (me being part of this group) didn't speak Spanish. My French didn't help me much here! So it was neat to see how those of us who couldn't speak the language communicated with those we were serving -- by smiles and hand signals mostly! Probably the part of the trip that impacted me the most was during an outside Mass we celebrated in the middle of the colonia village. One of the brother priests from the local Brothers of St. John monastery was blessing the children who hadn't yet received their First Holy Communion yet. There must have been a line of about 20 kids, but Fr. Didier took his time to make sure each child felt God's love in his blessing. Unlike many priests who speed through communion, Fr. Didier bent down to eye level with each child and slowly made the sign of the cross on their forehead as he made sure they could hear him blessing them in Spanish. You could see each child beaming with a smile as they walked away from the line -- I'm sure it was the Holy Spirit filling their hearts. The rest of the weekend we spent clearing some land for them to build a chapel and just being with the people. We gave out some holy cards before we left and have since offered up many prayers for them. I'd definitely go on a mission trip again, and I look forward to being able to do that hopefully soon! While it was a good experience for us where we feel we served the people of the colonias, I'd say we were blessed to have them serve us. Fr. Didier told us it's not often that groups visit these communities, so you can imagine their excitement when we showed up to play with the kids and help them do some work. They welcomed several of us into their homes and offered us what little they had to share. When we started to pick up and clear the land, many of the kids grabbed tools and were eager to pitch in. May we all be able to take this brief experience and remember the people of the colonias in our daily lives. May it make us simpler people who strive to see God in everyone we meet. ~Jen Jones View more pictures from the mission trip here . |
