Encountering the universal Church
Carroll College pilgrims reflect on trip of a lifetime to Guatemala mission

Staying connected to the mission

In May, I had the privilege of traveling with 19 other members of the Carroll College community to our diocesan mission in Guatemala. Before we left for the trip I was overwhelmed by the generosity of those in the Carroll community, Helena community and other areas of our diocese who contributed to our fundraising efforts. Those who went on the trip, 15 students and five faculty and staff members, worked to raise over $20,000 for this trip to pay for airfare, food and lodging.
Our preparation for this trip began in September of last year and involved, in addition to fundraising, learning about the mission by those who have previously been there, praying for the success of our trip, learning about the Mayan culture in Guatemala and discussing Catholic Social Teaching. I believe any of the students would say, however, that what they prepared for was nothing compared to what they experienced with the people in Guatemala.
Each time I talk about this experience I do so with a renewed sense of pride in and commitment to the Diocese of Helena. In the 12 days we spent there we visited schools, health clinics, met with the parish youth group, played basketball with the kids at Father Hazelton’s school, participated in a soccer tournament, traveled to a mountain village for Mass and visited coffee co-ops.
The warm welcome we received at each place reflects a deep sense of connection and gratefulness that is felt by the people of Santo Tomas for what they have received from our diocese. They were eager to greet us, feed us and show us what they have been empowered to do for themselves. Whether it was in the schools, at Mass, in the health clinics or on the soccer field we were welcomed and exposed to the face of Christ in the faces of others.
Perhaps the most powerful experience during the course of this trip, however, was getting to spend time with the four people who run the mission for our diocese: Father Hazelton, Sheila McShane, Sister Ana and Sister Mary. These four people have truly given their heart to the people in Guatemala. For each one of these people their ministry in Guatemala is much more than a job; it is their calling in life.
While meeting with the parish youth group, Sister Ana expressed a deep gratefulness to our group for making this trip. For her, this was a sign of hope that the life of the mission would continue and the connection to the Diocese of Helena would remain strong. Her words have stayed with me as I continue to process this experience and have inspired me to continue to look for ways to stay connected to the work of the mission and build a stronger connection with Carroll College.
In the months to come, student reflections will be featured in The Montana Catholic. Each of these reflections will speak to different experiences of this trip. My hope is that these reflections will also help give a fuller picture of the work that is done at the mission to those who so generously support it through prayer and resources in this diocese.

God Bless,
Colleen Dunne
Campus Minister, Carroll College

I had the opportunity to travel to the Guatemalan mission with the 2007 Carroll College Headlights team, a group through Carroll college campus ministry that focuses on social justice issues in the United States and the world and Catholic social teaching. We made our trip in May.
I can be perfectly honest in saying I had no idea what to expect. What I did not expect was the amazing amount of comfort and ease in what was a place that I was so foreign to.
We arrived in Guatemala City sometime in the mid afternoon. I had never set eyes on such a large and bustling urban environment. As our bus took us from the air-port and away and out of the city, the city itself seemed to stretch, like a constant expansion designed to keep us in. The city was very busy, crowded and the amount of poverty that we witnessed from our bus window was a very real initiation into our trip.
We finally reached Santo Tomas La Union after a breathtaking drive that took us across one of the most beautiful and strange landscapes, arriving at the mission to a sign that read: “Welcome Carroll Saints.”
It felt good to finally reach a place to rest a bit, and in between meeting the people who were there to greet us as well as the children who arrived and who were almost immediately interested in our Frisbee, I began to feel a very real sense of home; this was not the same feeling I have when I visit my parents or come back to Helena after a long trip, and not at all what I expected to feel, and yet it was such a real feeling, almost as if I had been there before.
Our amazing visit took us up mountain roads, to dinner tables of tamales and soups, through the winding streets of mountain communities, to the soccer field of Santo Tomas, to the people of the mountain tops, the people who live and work at the mission school, La Asuncion Institute, to the people who live within easy walking distance from the Clinica Maxeña located at the mission.
We met people with various dialects, statures, coming from equally varied walks of life. One thing that never varied however, was the sense of bond between us, the people, the mission, the clinic, the school and even the land. As the trip progressed it was increasingly apparent what “universal” means in reference to “universal Church,” that despite political boundaries, differing ancestry and history, and vastly different lifestyles and cultures between myself and the people we met, we are still siblings. We are still family. That conclusion was final, that realization is concrete and that experience is breathtaking.
There is so much I could say about my experience. I could go into detail after detail, and my writing would fill up pages. I feel my writing though, however detailed, heartfelt or lengthy, could not accurately describe the feeling of being there. The only way to truly experience it is to go, and if you cannot go, get involved in whatever way you can. Perhaps that is the point. I don’t believe the programs at the mission carry much weight at all if it is not based in a bond of fellowship and caring, a relationship based on the good news of God’s love for all of us.
Get to know Guatemala. Get to know the mission. Pay a visit, support the school – its faculty and staff, resources and students – that is perhaps among the best learning establishments in the country. Support the clinic, buy fair-trade coffee, and make the effort to engage with the people and the mission’s work. The call truly is to community. God has blessed us with an incredible family; take the time to meet them.

Kevin Jam, Senior
Headlights Student Leader
History and Political Science Major
Red Lodge, Mont.

Published in The Montana Catholic, Vol. 23, No. 7, July 20, 2007.