WOW!!! What a weekend. If there was ever any doubt that this trip would bring any good to anyone and had a purpose rest assured. As one of the adult chaperones (this was my second trip) I was in awe and amazed at the kids as I watch them unfold into young leaders and grasping the gift of giving as they worked hard to accomplish their tasks. Though there were several obstacles the teens stepped up and answered their calling. As I told the kids one night during reflection and prayer, I had such a strong sense of pride watching them that I thought I was going to have to leave some luggage behind to have room in the car for me and the pride I was filled with. Upon our arrival to the chapel in the Colonia, the area kids had already arrived and were very excited beyond words. The teens worked hard to get things set up and prepared for the posada and the local kids quickly ran to get in line for what ever it was that was going to be offered. Their eyes were beaming they could hardly stand it. Unfortunately, set up was a process and the kids were getting anxious, as I stood by and tried to figure out how to defuse a bit without taking away the excitement, Chris P. took one of the soccer balls that was to be given away and hollered at Adam to get a soccer game going and low and behold the younger boys were right behind them. Chris P. and some of the girls then took the kids that still remained in line and got them involved in a game of tag – it was just awesome to see all the interaction between both groups, either with games, face painting or banging on the piñata, words will never be able to describe the fullness in my heart. Love and laughter was in the air.

On our first work day we lost a lawn mower, which did not hold up to the yard work that needed to be done due to it being severely over grown – it was so tall and thick we had to scout the yard for debris as a team did this the mower followed then those with rakes. Once we knew that the mower was no longer an option, Adam and Matt began a hoe and rake method, one would hoe down to the base of the grass while the other raked it through, the method caught on and others joined in to try to finish Mrs. Maria’s yard who was an elderly widow. As some of the teens were working in the yard they noticed that the neighbor next door had a neat yard with lawn tools in plain view with no fence separating the two yards and they could not understand why the neighbors’ had not helped out the elderly widow. [LIGHT BULB], they get it … yea! On to the paint job --- yet again another challenging task as most of crew had not ever painted the exterior of a house before and our tools are limited to brushes, rollers and paint. There was no sanding down or scraping of the old paint as we did not have the tools to do so, the next best option was to wash it down and so it was done. Now we have to cover a forest green paint with a melon color … we are talking several coats of paint to knock out the green bleed. Thank God for our crew foreman Brad McMahon (another one of our adult chaperones – also his second year) who gave great direction on how to complete the task at hand successfully. This was a two day job with the second day very cold and heavy north winds – the teens were once again outstanding.

When we left the house it was almost like new complete with Christmas lights on the roof edges. Last year and again this year, I think to myself am I crazy, I have so much to do at home to prepare for Christmas as I tend to cut it pretty close, I do not have time to take this trip. But both last year and again this year I learned that it all takes care of itself and though my Christmas packages may not come with ribbons and bows and my home may not be as clean as it should be and maybe some things just do not get done, I come home with a deeper appreciation of what Christmas is all about and I have my family around me to share all my blessings. And with teens like the ones on this trip I know the future will be bright as they will grow up and somewhere make a difference.
-Trish Lopez Broz
Adult Leader

Maria's Yard

It was a good experience, because something so SIMPLE as mowing a yard made someone very happy. Even little things are a big deal.
-Adam Lopez

Photos

Here are some pictures from our trip to Eagle Pass. More to come soon!

Jennifer & Juanito

What impacted me the most were the kids Jennifer & Juanito. Even though they hit each other a lot, they seemed really really happy all the time and made painting their house really entertaining. They didn't need expensive toys to play with but instead used sticks and a pinata top. Plus they learned my name and yelled it every time I arrived.

-Laura Barron

Saturday, December 20th

Saturday morning, early early, everyone was a little grumpy, but ready to get the job done. As we loaded into our 4 vehicles, no one really knew what to expect, we all just hoped the day would warm up. The houses we were going to fix up weren't far from the church where the Posada was held on Friday night. So we all kinda had an idea of the area we would be in. The first house we arrived to had a black gate surrounding the house. The yard was filled with cute little things and a family of dogs, which we all loved. But some, like Brad (our male chaperone) was all business. When we saw the small shed type we were supposed to paint, the boys started talking about how much paint they needed, who was going to do what and things like that. To our surprise we were off to another house after a few minutes there.

The next house we arrived to was a disaster. The lawn looked like it hadn't been cut since the early 90s! There were thorn bushes and random things in the yard. The house didn't look much better, but we were only there for the yard. But, the most surprising thing to me was the fact that her next door neighbor's house had a freshly cut lawn. Their house was nice looking. "Why couldn't those people take time to help this widow?" I thought.

This woman seemed so happy when we got there, looking at all of us just happy to have people around. We unloaded the lawn mower and other tools they would need and some of us came back to give them more stuff. Trish, Adam, Chris P., Matt, Ben, Clara and Daniella were the first to stay and later Mari, Adrianne, and Chris D. came to help.

The rest of us went to the third house and that was a big job! The house was in need of a good paint job. It was a dark green color and was very old looking. We all knew this one was going to take awhile. Brad, Kelsey, Yvette and I along with those in Leti's car went to McCoy's. That was an adventure-we got all the paint supplies and a weed eater. The paint was a challenge because the machine couldn't make the right color. So we had to make it a tad bit darker, which seemed to take forever!

After that we were back to work. The window guards and lights were taken off the house and we were off to work. It was some time after lunch when we were on our 2nd coat that the group that was cutting the widow's yard came over to the house to help out. They gave us some bad news though, the lawn mower they were using broke and they hadn't finished the yard at Maria's house.

At the end of the day all that was left was to paint the roof, touch ups and paint the trim. We still had a lot ahead of us at the end of Saturday.



- Berna Labrado
Student Leader

Getting there

Sitting for hours is not fun at all. Unless you make it exciting. 3-4 hours of driving was all worth the experience to and from Eagle Pass. It is touching to see people so excited to see you. Face painting, footballs and books are some of the few things the children of Eagle Pass considered as a privilege. After the long drive we arrived at the house we were staying. We changed quickly, if at all, put our stuff down and headed out the door to the Posada. Seconds after we got to the colonia where the Posada was being held, children of all ages rushed to help us set up and thanked us and God that we were there to help them.

Setting up was hectic but seeing the look and joy in their faces was well worth all the hard work. I am almost positive everybody will try to come back next year to Eagle Pass. We do mission work not because we have to but because God called our names.

-Daniella Garcia

Youth to Eagle Pass (YEP)

This past weekend, we had 17 youth and 4 adults travel to the Benedictine Mission House-Casa de Caridad. After a blessing given to our group by Fr. Pat, we packed up four vehicles with our Y.E.P. team and traveled for 3 hours down to Eagle Pass, Texas to spend the weekend in service to the children and families in this city. Much of our work took place in the colonia of Chula Vista. Some of the service work included hosting a fiesta for a Posada, mowing the yard of a widow, and painting the exterior of an entire house.

The Y.E.P team members were: Laura Barron, Rachel Dunk, Chris Duran, Daniella Garcia, Marisela Hibbs, Caitlin Klotz, Berna Labrado, Adam Lopez, Ben Martinez, Allegra Hastings-Martinez, Clara Martinez, Matt McMahon, Chris Paredes, Jonathan Regalado, Yvette Trevino, and Adrianne Waddell. Adult Leaders were Trish Broz, Leti Bueno, Elizabeth Dunk and Brad McMahon.

Enjoy some of the postings from our team members. We are very grateful for the prayers, support, and financial contributions you have given towards Mission Trip.