Used Motor Oil

Greetings from Honduras!

We did something yesterday that most of us never could have imagined.  After hauling timber probably 100 yards or more up a steep mountain (over many trips), we painted each and every board with very black used motor oil.  If you have ever been to a place where they change your oil, you’ll know exactly what we smelled, and smelled like, all day!       

Putting on a second coat of motor oil

You can see the old house to the left

So, why, you may ask, did we do that?  Honduras has a terrible termite problem, and coating wood with used motor oil helps protect it from their attack.  I seriously doubt this sort of thing would pass EPA standards in the U.S., but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do here in Honduras.

We used the wood today to build frames for the mud that we are using to build the walls of a house for a terribly tragic family – a widow and her three children, all of whom are mute and mentally disabled (probably due to malnutrition).  They live in a structure that is falling down around them, but soon they will have a new place to call home!

Sarah, Paul and Jasmine getting dirt to make mud

Some local Honduran men helping

We give great thanks to God for all of those who provided us with the financial support to make this trip and to help buy the building materials for this family!  (Don’t worry, Brother Dismis was able to get the used motor oil for free.)  Thank you all so very, very much!   

Tuesday morning

Dear Friends, Family and Benefactors,

Today we left Casa Guadalupe at 8:30. The house building went to work on the house again and the rest went to accompany the Friars on home visits.

Getting ready for home visits with Br Diego, Fr Francis Mary, Scott and Fr Pascal

Part of the work they do is to provide some basic food once a month for the poorest of poor. In order to qualify, the family has to go through an interview process, and that is what we did. We split up into three teams and walks the hills of El Paraiso, each team visiting five families.

One family we visited with Fr Pascal, Meghan and Br Diego

It’s profound to see the homes. Nothing is like it in the United States. All of the homes had dirt floors and are no bigger than most master bathrooms total.

Meghan and Patti playing with the kids

Hondurans have beautiful children

Children praying with us as we left their home

Fr Pascal and Br Diego with a woman who needs help

A shy boy

A family showing us the way back down the hill

While the Friars were interviewing the family, the missionaries played with the children. The laughter and joy is heart-warming. We can’t solve their poverty, but we can show up and play.

A typical scene in the mountains. This wood will be used for the women to cook their dinners with

A Typical kitchen stove in Honduras

Again, we thank you for your support and we are praying for all of you.

The Mary Our Queen Mission Team

Dear Friends, Family and Benefactors,

I was with the construction group and was a driver. We rented a truck with 4 wheel drive, which was needed for half our 35 minute journey to where we building a house. It was a white knuckle drive up a steep mountain, on a very narrow road with a cliff going down one side and up on the other. Fortunately we stopped in the middle of the road just prior to where Br Dismas had almost gone over the edge the day before and we walked the rest of the way with our supplies. 

The house is a frame house that they will fill with mud. The team had to paint used motor oil on the wood so prevent termites from eating the wood.

The steep hill we had to walk up

The old house that is collapsing

The frame of the new house

Taylor, Kim and Matthew

We took light loads compared to the Hondurans because the altitude winded us. One event that touched me was that when we came back to the truck for lunch someone had drawn a heart with the word Jesus in the middle on one of the dusty windows. Very symbolic of what they have and we were trying to achieve.

Paul

The Mission begins

Hello to our benefactors, family and friends,

Our day started with prayer and Mass. Fr. Pascal reminded us, based on the reading from Hosea that we were like those who go out into the desert and experience trials and difficulties. As we begin the mission work, we will be stripped down of all the structures we normally rely on; our fundamental needs will stare us in the face….our weaknesses and our neediness. He said that it is in these moments that we can hear God speaking to our hearts and we can be transformed.

The one group left to show a movie (Witness of Hope) to the mothers in the aldea (mountain village) while we played with their children. This Missionaries of Charity also accompanied us.

El Paraiso, the aldea that we were this morning

Sarah with her new friend

Ben playing

Fr Pascal with the kids

Mary with some chicas

The other group helped with the food hand out for 120 families. Without this help, many of these people would die.

strange things in Honduras

One of the Missionary of
Charity sisters who helped us

The Gift

Dear Family, Friends and Benefactors,

We arrived to Casa Guadalupe, where we are staying in Comayagua, late afternoon yesterday. We were warmly greeted by the Friars.

                                                     Mary as we depart from the airport

We first celebrated Mass to start the mission, had dinner, orientation, and then BED! We were tired!

The Gift

Today, we spent our first day in a silent retreat. At Mass, Fr. Francis Mary talked about Jesus saying, “come to me” and “I will give you rest”. The gift. We came on the mission to give but he asked us to receive first before we can give. He asked us to disconnect from the world, from our busyness, our jobs (no easy feat) …. in order to hear God speaking to us.

                     Mass in the Friary with Fr Francis Mary, Fr Dye and Deacon Alan Sims

Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta said that we need to be alone with God in silence so that we can be renewed and transformed.

                                                     A view from Casa Guadalupe

During the retreat we also had talks by Fr Francis Mary concerning the obstacles in our life that keep us from being in relationship with God: sin, pride, lack of forgiveness, and a lack of acceptance. Br Ignatius Pro gave a talk on prayer and Br Diego lead the group in a specific way of prayer called Lectio Divina.

                                                                   Br Ignatius Pro

It was a great way to start our mission. After the Holy Hour and dinner, we gathered to start preparing for our mission tomorrow. We have people who are going to help with a monthly food handout that the Friars do on the first Monday of the month, some going to a mountain village, along with the Missionaries of Charity to do a program for kids and mothers, and some are going to help build a house.

                                                     Sarah, Jasmine and Meghan

Please keep us in your prayers and know that we are praying for all of you. Thank you for your support; this trip would not be possible without you.

God bless,

The Mary Our Queen Mission Team

We're on our way!

Dear friends, family, and benefactors,

Fifteen of us from Mary Our Queen are headed to Comayagua this morning. We're excited and looking forward to our mission. Please pray for us.

Honduras 2014

Mary Our Queen is going to Comayagua, Honduras for our tenth mission trip, July 5-12, 2014. We are looking for people who want to serve Christ in the poor. You don't need to know Spanish just a willing heart. All teenagers with a parent and all adults of the parish (and our friends) are invited. The deadline for applications is March 15, 2014. For more information, you can contact the parish office or Patti Di Rito at pgdirito@gmail.com.

“To love God and neighbor is not something abstract, but profoundly concrete: it means seeing in every person and face of the Lord to be served, to serve him concretely. And you are, dear brothers and sisters, in the face of Jesus.” (Pope Francis, Address during Visit at the Homeless Shelter “Dona Di Maria,” 5/21/13)