Missioning to me

In July 2003, my wife and I made our first trip to Guatemala as part of the Sending Out Servants (SOS) mission program. This mission group is the origination and guide to the mission work that we are doing now as part of a parish-based mission program at Prince of Peace Catholic Community in Houston. Many of the reasons we love this experience so greatly (perhaps I am even addicted?!?) is because of how much groundwork SOS has trail blazed for us.

As part of the evolution of the mission program, the missionary teams preceding us were wise to heed the interests and desires of the local community and its needs. For example, as missionaries, we do not run down to Guatemala to tell the people there how to live. In fact, we go to be one with the people and to learn as much or more than what we may teach. This principal led the mission effort directly to one of our core programs today - youth faith formation in the Chicabracan Primero school.

By the time that my wife and I came along in 2003, the mission teams had been teaching on a regular basis for a few years in the school after being invited by the leaders of the rural community (Chicabracan Primero) to teach and share there. This school covers K through 6th grade and is funded by the government. Yet, the parents actually run the school. In the picture above, we had just concluded our farewell gathering with the teachers, parents and the mission team from the 2006 trip.

This meeting is always very emotional because of how much honest love between the community and our team exists already. If you ask any team member, it's very hard to leave after being there for only a handful of days.

In particular, one such farewell is something that I will always cherish and, as I understand, it happened to be the first one that the teachers coordinated. This impromptu celebration was coordinated unbeknownst to our team. Toward the end of recess on our last day, the team members were invited into one of the classrooms where there was a beautiful (and tasty!) cake and hot spiced tea-like drink. The room was decorated with all of the work that the team members and the teacher using this classroom had done during the week. (To have the cake, all of the teachers donated some money and the principal had to drive an hour and half round trip to go to the bakery in town.)

As the celebration began, one of our team members was designated as the translator for the non-Spanish-speaking tea members. Tony is such a great guy - some would describe him as big teddy bear because he sure looks ferocious, but when you get to know him, he's just a warm-hearted gentleman. As the festivities began and the cake and tea were being distributed, one-by-one the teachers at the school began to speak to us and Tony worked diligently through his translation responsibilities.

After awhile, one of the teachers stepped forward to tell her story of how much joy she had with the team members coming year after year to assist her in teaching the children the beauty of God's story. She expressed deep gratitude to us for leaving our families and homes and jobs to spend one week with her community... to be one together in Christ. Now, I can't say what was exactly was being expressed at the very moment, but I do know that the words flowing forth must have had an immense grace to them because Tony had to suddenly stop with the translations. He was so moved by the emotion of the moment and her words that for those of us who could not understand, we could feel the magnitude of the moment. We could see through him and through the teacher how important it was and still is to travel on mission to be one with people of other cultures.

Or perhaps, we travelled all the way to Chicabracan, leaving our families and homes and jobs for another reason.

Perhaps it was for them to mission to us.