Selfish fun

For past mission team members, it has been close to three years since we stayed at the Hogar de Ancianos (Home for the Elderly).

[The hogar is run by the Sisters of the Incarnate Word in Houston and its purpose is to provide permanent shelter and safety to lost and neglected elderly in the Santa Cruz area. The ancianos who live at the hogar are provided a clean room, food and spiritual nourishment. The only condition for their stay is that they are not allowed to leave as they will risk being abused or taken advantage of when they go back to living on the streets. Miraculously, the vision of the hogar was conceived by an Italian nun who was killed in an auto accident. Her death served as an inspiration by her friends and loved ones to act on her vision.]

So with all of this background explained, the hogar was always a highlight for the mission team. When we were tired from a long day in the mission field, we felt such energy, love and enthusiasm from the ancianos as they were so pleased to have us there with them. Since they have no family, there are few to no visitors at the hogar. The ancianos are not lonely due to the efforts of the sisters and their assistants, yet a new face is always welcomed by the hogar's residents.

As the last time that I was at the hogar was with the July 2004 team, I truly have missed seeing friendly smiles rather than the pleasant, but sterile environment of a hotel. Thus, when Elaine and I were planning out the sequence for this year's mission team, I decided that I wanted to be selfish in bringing the team back to the hogar. The selfishness was to see my friends from days past even if it meant that there was no purpose or plan for our visit.

With blessings and good fortune, two things occurred to make the visit happen. First, one of our team members, Blake, happened to be very involved with the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and she independently mentioned that the sisters had a place in Santa Cruz that we could visit. (Little did she know of our plans...) Secondly, my wife, being very smart and organized, contacted Sister Maura per Blake and then spoke with Sister Emiriam in Guatemala. Elaine wisely organized a simple, but powerful program for our short visit. Essentially, our visit to the hogar was to be an extension of our mission theme - the ministry of presence.

I could go on and on about what happened Sunday afternoon, but essentially, the ancianos came from all over the hogar to where the room we were asked to wait in. Quickly, there were close to 25 ancianos in varying degrees of health and condition, but all of them still retained their energy and spirit. They sat with us and those, who could, spoke to us. And like she did in the past, one of my favorites, Trevie, found non-verbal ways to communicate as she is both deaf and mute. We shared some chocolate wafers before their dinner and they shared their eternal beauty.

Our biggest challenge was that many in the team wanted to sneak an anciano home with them. :) And, Blake, I will be checking your luggage to see if you did manage to sneak Trevie back to Houston.

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Pictures of our visit to the Hogar de Ancianos