Mexico Mission - Our History

Back in 1992 in St. Joseph Parish, Upland, CA, then staffed by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, the Youth and Young Adult Minister was asked by the Community Baptist Church of Alta Loma to accompany them on a mission trip to Maneadero, Mexico. The CBC had no one to accompany them who spoke Spanish and they needed a translator. Little did they know what they were setting into motion under the inspiration of God.

Mrs. Ana Gmeiner, the Catholic Youth Minister, took along three of her Catholic teens. They immediately fell in love with the place and the people. They met Howard and June Schrock who had founded a small mission which they named, Helping Hands of Mexico, which basically served the Oaxacan Indians and other poor who are for the most part field workers in local farms. Howard and June are retired teachers from the Pomona area of California who built a retirement home on Punta Banda near Maneadero. As June tells the story, one day she saw a small girl sitting under a tree barefooted who asked if June had any shoes to give her. Moved by the experience June gave her what little help she could. Eventually she went to see where and how the little girl lived. What she discovered were some of the poorest of the poor right near her own neighborhood. From that point on with the help of many friends, the little mission was started. Today they have a free clinic and free school for the poor.

Mrs. Gmeiner returned with a new found commitment for the Youth and Young Adult Ministry at St. Joseph’s. In her prayer she made a promise to God that she would take one the work of helping these people. She didn't have any idea of how this would be accomplished, but prayed that if God wanted her to do this work that He would inspire the means and opportunity. Her teens and young adults were asked to take on a commitment to help the poor in another country, to be missionary in the tradition of our Faith. The first sign was the pastor's immediate approval and support. It was the common practice of Youth Ministry to use the time between Christmas and New Years for a fun outing at Six Flags Magic Mountain. The teens were told that they could not afford to do both the fun trip and the mission trip and were asked to choose. They unanimously chose the mission trip. That’s the innate goodness and generosity of teens. This was another indication from God. With the full support of the Pastor the mission project began. The teens solicited many goods, raised money with car washes, and involved many parishioners.

The immediate and basic needs of the people were quite readily visible. Very many of the field workers lived in camps on the farmer’s land. Sanitation was practically non existent. Their homes were made of sticks or any boards they could find, sometimes covered with cardboard or plastic tarps if they could be found. Electricity was taken, if possible, with bare wires from lines nearby. Some homes could be easily destroyed in a gentle rain.

Into this picture the help given in the form of clothes, blankets, shoes, tarps, food, and the like, seems very much like a “band aid” solution to a real economic and social problem. And it most definitely is. But to continue the medical comparison, everyone knows you start with “aid” and move to “cure”. Sometimes that process is very slow.

At the same time, there is another objective to the mission project. And that is, to give young people the opportunity for “hands on” helping and serving their neighbors, to participate in the missionary aspect of the Church, to “be sent” to serve. That part is a joy to tell. Many of the teens have been deeply touched by their experience of helping. They have grown in their appreciation of their own circumstances. Very many have returned over and over again from their teen years into young adulthood. Some, whose parents strongly insisted that they go initially, have returned many times over sometimes pleading with their parents to allow them to go. They have caught the missionary spirit and it shows.

The mission spirit has also grown and spread to other parishes. In 1994 the teen ministry from the neighboring parish of St. George in Ontario CA, joined for some of the trips. In 1996 the parish of St. Joan of Arc in Victorville was invited to join and has been a part of the mission ever since. In 2002 the parish of Holy Family in Hesperia, CA, also joined in and continues to participate. These last two were because of the former MSC pastor of St. Joseph’s who was serving in these parishes. St. Anthony Parish in Upland joined in 2004. Other adults have also participated and continue to do so. We have had two doctors and a nurse who have come to give of their time and talent. The Rotary Club of the Upland area have also sent people and given their support.

In 1997 Howard Schrock had a heart attack and he and his wife June had to move back to their home in the Lake Tahoe area. When they left, control of the Helping Hands of Mexico mission was handed over to the local church of which June and Howard were members. It was then that the Claretian Sisters of the Convent of the Holy Family in Maneadero accepted our mission band and provided us with a place from which to serve. We performed our first Baptisms with the approval of the local Catholic Parish. These wonderful Nuns were known in the parish of St. Joseph for many years. They periodically came for a weekend to make and sell tamales to help support and build their convent. An organ and a bell from St. Joseph’s has found its way to Maneadero and continues to serve them. The Sisters have been very loving and patient with the noisy and messy missionaries who invade their space from time to time (We do clean up after ourselves though). The Sisters also make and sell beautiful vestments a few of which this reporter is proud to wear.

In the year 2000 the bishop asked us to grow in our missionary endeavor to find ways to make systemic changes in the area we were serving. This was a real challenge, but one which we knew was a necessary progression if we are to move from “aid” to “cure”. Some time before his request we had already begun to sponsor and fund the building of homes for the poor. Catholic Charities of the Diocese had provided a couple of grants for our building program. We have built eight so far. Three of those were built by the teens themselves. We have only a limited time, so they were done in three and a half days for one and three days for the other two. We’re getting better.

Building homes is not a systemic change. At the same time we have begun to sponsor poor children to go to school. Many of the poor could not get an education. We started in 2001 with five sponsored. In 2002 there were 20. This year we have 80. The people of the parishes of St. Joseph, St. Joan of Arc, and Holy Family have been very generous in supporting this aspect of our missionary work.

Lastly, we have had many adventures in getting the goods that were donated across the border. We have always been successful but there have been many obstacles. One principle that we adhere to is that one cannot do the work of God by deception. Jesus said that we are to “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s”. We have always and will always cooperate with the Mexican authorities when we visit their country. The process of bringing donated goods is covered by many laws and is sometimes very frustrating. One systemic change that we are beginning to pursue with the help of the Bishop of Tijuana, Mexico is to begin a dialogue with those responsible for making the laws governing the movement of goods across the border in the hope of making that movement easier and to make it possible for more of the poor to be helped. For example, the Claretian Sisters who help us are not considered by the government as an authorized recipient of donated goods. Strange as that may sound, it is true. Pray that we may be successful.

In the 22 years that the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart have been in St. Joseph Parish we have tried and have been successful in promoting a missionary spirit. St. Joseph’s is a leading contributor to missions in the Diocese. The Youth and Young Adult Ministry’s mission outreach is a direct result of that spirit and the generosity and goodness of its people.

Submitted by Fr. John Fahnestock MSC

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