Meet Our Missionaries

The following missionaries have been serving at the mission here in Comayagua during Summer and Fall 2008. Please keep all of them in your prayers!

Maynor Ballesteros - My name is Maynor Ballesteros, and I am 26 years old. My parents have been married for 32 years, and I have 3 sisters and 2 brothers. I have lived in community with the Missioners of Christ here in Comayagua for the past 3 years. I am here to grow in virtue so that I can better serve those in need and to grow in holiness through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Diana Blanco - My name is Diana Blanco, and I am 19 years old. I was born here in Honduras, and I have been living with the Missioners for a year now. In December I will leave the Missioners to attend university. I work with the Rosas de Maria, a group of young girls aged 11 to 14, and help with the coordination of Advance Missions. I also work with leadership retreats for youth and pro-life ministries. The reason I am here with the Missioners is to grow in my faith and as a person, with the help of God and my brothers and sisters in the community, and to learn how to be a better servant of God.

Roger Blanco - Hi! My name is Roger Blanco, and I am 21 years old. I am Honduran and from the department of La Paz. I come from a small family, 3 brothers and 2 sisters. I am currently living with the Missioners of Christ, along with my sister Diana, and completing the first year of my secondary education. I have been with the Missioners for 17 months. I am a strong Catholic, thanks be to God. I like to work in the garden and with children and young people, and I am open to doing the will of God. Please pray for me. God bless you!

MJ Brennan - Hello! My name is MJ Brennan, but here in Honduras I also go by Maria. I am 22 years old, and I just graduated from Boston College, though I am originally from Grand Rapids, MI. I heard God calling me to live with the Missioners for, God-willing, two years to dedicate my daily life to serving God completely in community life and to learn how to better love the poor. I have begun working with a number of programs including the Scholarship Program, the Single Mothers' program, Rosas de Maria catechism class (11-14 year old girls), and short-term missions. I am very grateful that God has placed me here for this season in my life.

Emily Byers - Peace of Christ be with you! My name is Emily Byers, I'm 21 years old, and in May I graduated from Louisiana State University. On my first mission trip in 2004, I knew that God was asking me to serve Him as a missionary, but I wasn't sure where (or when) He wanted to send me. Throughout college, I participated in several mission trips to Mexico and continued to discern God's call. By the time I was ready to graduate, our Lord had made it abundantly clear that He was sending me to Honduras! I arrived in August of this year and plan to stay for two years. Right now, I'm working with the Niñas del Rey Montesorri class (for girls aged 7-9), Academic programs, including the library in Casa Guadalupe, Local Evangelization, Communications and Worship (Music Ministry). What a great gift it is to serve God's littlest ones in this way – to see the face of Christ in His poor!

Mark Fein - My name is Mark Fein, and I'm from North Dorr, Michigan. I am 30 years old and have served with the Missioners of Christ in Honduras since January 2008. I hope to continue serving for another year. The ministries I participate in include evangelization missions in mountain villages, teaching Montesorri catechism classes and helping prepare boys at a local orphanage for their First Holy Communion. Sharing the light of Christ and my Catholic faith is very rewarding for me.

Therese Floyd - Hi! My name is Therese Floyd, and I am from Warren, New Jersey. I am 22 years old and recently graduated in Nursing from Seton Hall University. I was involved in a lot of volunteer work throughout high school and college and felt called to unite my love of nursing with my call to be a missionary! I was drawn to the Missioners of Christ because this is a place where I am supported in my faith and given the opportunity to serve the poor spiritually and physically. Some of the programs I am involved in are Hijas del Rey for girls aged 15 to 22 years old, a program for women in crisis situations and a prenatal program with women from the mountains. I also work as a nurse at San Benito Hospital and work with the medical brigades. The Lord has been so faithful to me, and I am striving to respond to His call.

Marylee Grabowski - Hola! My name is Marylee Grabowski and I am from Richmond, VA. The Lord has filled my life with many blessings; especially a loving Catholic family and friends who daily encourage and challenge me toward holiness. After graduating from the University of Virginia with degrees in Spanish and Environmental Sciences, I taught third grade at a mission school in New Mexico for a year. Upon returning to Virginia I began working with the amazing young people of the Church as a youth minister. I have been a part of the Missioners of Christ community for the past seven years and feel truly blessed to have spent this past year in Comayagua loving, serving and learning from the poor. I am so grateful to the Lord for the opportunity to be here and for the support of all my friends and family back home. Praised be Jesus Christ now and forever!

Kathy Hernandez - Hi! I'm Kathy, and I'm 17 years old. I'm from Honduras, from the city of Siguatepeque. I come from a family of 8, and I've gone to Catholic school my entire life. Why am I here with the Missioners? After my conversion, I asked the Lord how He wanted me to serve Him. I wanted to serve Him as a missionary, but wasn't sure how to do so. A friend invited me to visit the Missioners, and before coming to visit them for the first time, I told God: “If you want me to serve at this mission, open the door.” And He opened the door! I have a passion for serving the Lord, and for leaving everything and giving myself to Him totally during this time in my life so that I can truly grow as a person.

Tracy McGee - I am Tracy McGee, and I am 36 years old. I come from Scotland, although I am actually of Irish descent. I have been in the MOC Honduras community for over a year, and what an interesting year it has been. I praise God for the gift of being here and getting to know myself, strengths and weaknesses, and for the privilege of serving Jesus alongside all these wonderful young missionaries, who are trying so hard to grow, to love and to serve. Serving Christ in His poor is challenging, wonderful, heartbreaking, and delightful all at the same time. I thank God every day for calling me here. We are embarking this year on a new form of catechism based on Maria Montesorri's wisdom, and I am really excited at the prospect of “educating our children to peace.” I also currently serve as Communications Coordinator and get involved with all our other projects in whatever way I can. Please pray for all of us here in Comayagua. God bless you.

James Minogue (Santiago) - Hello, everyone! My name is James Minogue, but here in Honduras I'm known as Santiago. I am 19 years old and from the great state of New Jersey. I am an XT Missioner who came in June of 2007 and will be here until next June. I had the desire to serve when I was in high school, and the opportunity came after the completion of my studies. My youth group leader who spent a year here recommended this specific missionary organization. After much prayer I applied to come down as a summer volunteer. God opened the door, and just a week after coming here I felt the desire to stay longer. I prayed about it and realized that it was the will of God. My ministries and responsibilities are Worship Coordinator, Assistant Coordinator for the mid- and extended-term Missioners, and a Montesorri catechism class. I also help with the community finances, but my main "mission" here is to grow closer to Jesus and to learn how to serve as He served. Praise be to God!

Candyce Maximiliana Ochoa (Mili) - My name is Candyce Ochoa, but here in Honduras I go by Maximiliana or Mili. To recall the advice of a dear priest friend of mine: "Look where God has brought you; remember where you were." I have lived in many different places and have done many things, most of which the average 20-year-old has not, and I now live in Honduras as a lay missionary of the Holy Roman Catholic Church. Wow! I've been in Central America for a few months now, 6 weeks of which were spent in Guatemala for language school. Now at home in Comayagua, I notice how God has prepared me for this my whole life. My gifts and experience all come together here. A few months ago, I applied to serve with the Missioners since I was too young to enter the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal. My greatest and most loved responsibility here is the Sacred Liturgy - cleaning vessels, linens, vestments and chapels – it's beautiful!

Carol Restaine - Peace be with you! My name is Carol Restaine, and I have been truly blessed to be a part of this wonderful mission here in Comayagua. My hope is to continue to serve Christ through the people of Honduras while striving to live out the universal call to holiness. May Christ fill you with His love and joy as we follow in His footsteps!


Cristina Rivera - May the Lord's peace dwell in your heart. Hola! My name is Cristina Rivera. I am 22 years old, and I live in New York City. I graduated from Metropolian College in May 2008 with a degree in Human Services. My degree is exactly what I want to do for the rest of my life: to serve people. I worked with the CFRs, serving the poor and the youth in the South Bronx, for 2 years, and then God called me to serve Him here in the beautiful country of Honduras with the Missioners of Christ. What a beautiful experience serving the poor in the mountains, in the neighborhood and in our programs. Some of the ministries I work in are teaching of Theology of the Body to youth, spreading the truth about God and His plan, and working with young girls from the neighborhood in Montesorri catechism - but my main ministry is to grow closer to Jesus and to trust that He loves me and has me in the palm of His hand.

Juan Carlos Rodriguez - I am Juan Carlos Rodriguez, and I am 23 years old. I am from El Salvador and am the oldest son in a family of 4 children; I have 3 sisters. I heard the call of God at age 14 and have been serving Him ever since. Why am I here? The call of God in my life was very strong and powerful, and I serve Him gratefully.

Richard Vaughan - My name is Richard Vaughan, and I am 23 years old and from Austin, Texas. I have been here in Honduras for more than a year now and have been working a lot with missions and evangelization. I am here to serve, evangelize, and love for His greater glory and the body of Christ. Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.

"Come, my brothers, let us begin!"

My first month as a missionary in Honduras has been full of "firsts." I think I've seen or done something new every single day that I've been here! Last Friday was no different. For the first time, I got the chance to experience a truly unique Franciscan tradition: the Transitus of St. Francis, a solemn celebration of his life and his transitus (passage) from this life to the next.

The evening began, of course, with dinner at the friary. Practically the whole neighborhood had turned out for this special event, and much to my surprise, I recognized so many faces that it took me a while to greet everyone that I knew. What a beautiful part of Catholic culture - that our celebrations almost always include a communal meal! As a Eucharistic people, we recognize that sharing a meal is a powerful expression of our love for one another, that when we gather to "break bread," we remember how Christ has made us one Body in Him.

After dinner we walked along a candle-lit path through the cloisters of the friary, following Fr. Juan Antonio, who was carrying a crucifix, and we sang:

Bendiga alma mía al Señor, y bendice su santo nombre.
Bendiga alma mía al Señor; Él me rescata de la muerte.

(Bless the Lord, O my soul, and bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, for He rescues me from death.)

The procession ended in the chapel, and once everyone took their seats, quite a few people were left standing near the doors. At the front of the chapel, surrounded by dozens of candles, lay a crude wooden coffin, and inside it, the "body of St. Francis" (a stuffed habit, laid out as if for a funeral, with lit candles at its feet). After singing a song of praise, we listened as one by one, the friars recounted in dramatic fashion stories about the life and death of their father, Francis. What a gift it was to see how the children present laughed and listened attentively to so many of the stories, wide-eyed in amazement. Who knew that St. Francis was once a child like them, one who threw wild parties for his friends and had dreams of growing up to be a famous soldier?

The narratives, of course, took on a more somber tone when the time came to speak of Francis' stigmata, of the way he wore himself out in service of the poor, and finally of his passage into eternal life. Dr. Carlos, a friend of our community who works at San Benito (the friars' hospital), commemorated the saint's death by singing the hymn that Francis himself sang as he was dying. While by this time some of the children in the chapel were struggling to stay awake, most of the crowd seemed completely taken in by the drama of the moment - we were listening to the last prayer of a dying man as though we were truly present at his bedside, and in those few minutes, we were able to glimpse not Francis the saint but Francis the man: a man of profound humility, who went before his Creator in prayer knowing that even up until the moment of his death, he was only a weak soul in need of a Savior.

The narrative having been thus concluded, the friars knelt around Francis' coffin and chanted a beautiful hymn to our Lady, "Ultima in Mortis Hora," asking her to pray for us in our last hour and to obtain for us a holy death. When they were finished, we left the chapel in prayerful silence, remembering St. Francis' final exhortation to his followers:

"Come, my brothers, let us begin, for up until now we have done little or nothing."

St. Francis, pray for us - pray that we might learn to be poor and humble servants, to love our brothers and sisters in community as you loved your own, and to live with the Cross of our Lord always before our eyes. Amen.

Everything I am...

Throughout college, praising God through music was a powerful form of prayer for me. Here in Honduras, I am able to “sing a new song to the Lord,” in a new language! Before leaving, I thought it would be difficult to give up my favorite praise and worship songs in English, but as usual, I was focusing more on what I would lose than on what I would gain. The words to one of these new songs have been especially significant for me, as a new missionary in our community: “Todo lo que soy, todo lo que tengo, todo lo que quiero, todo lo que sueño, a ti Señor Jesús, te entrego.” (Everything I am, everything I have, everything I want, everything I dream, to you Lord Jesus, I surrender).

Some days during the past 3 weeks I have prayed these words joyfully, thanking God for the opportunity to really wake up each day and spend myself completely for Him. Some days I pray them with exasperation, feeling poor and useless. But the words of this song keep causing me to realize that our God longs to be our Provider; in fact, His heart burns for it! But He allows us the freedom to allow Him in, and we can only do that when we don’t leave our options open: Christ is our only option! And He is everything.

This was made clear to me during last week’s mission to the mountain town of Guajiquiro and its surrounding villages. The night before we left, we were blessed with an extended night of prayer and praise before the Blessed Sacrament, asking God to pour forth His Holy Spirit upon us again as He did at Pentecost. And send us forth He did, to the unknown, like the branches from His vine. All we had to bring to the villagers was Christ, literally—in His sacraments (Fr. Juan Diego, cfr was with my team).

Each night in the village we had a holy hour with the villagers. On the last night I was sitting in the back row of the chapel, sharing my candle and song sheet with Luis Alfredo, a 7-year-old who had been joining us all week. As we sat and shared Christ’s light, my fellow missioner Juan Carlos began the song… “Todo lo que soy, todo lo que tengo…” I looked up at Christ, humbly gazing at us from the altar, thanking Him for what He had done that week with our willingness to serve Him through our simplicity, poverty, and faith that He was at work. Lord, let us be living monstrances, displaying your love to everyone we encounter. When all we have is You, we have more than enough.

Stuck in Folsom Prison...

Each of us has a heart for a different need in the world, its beautiful how God has created each of us with different gifts and desires. Our ministries and projects here are varied because we are varied. And what is beautiful, although sometimes challenging, is that we have the freedom to discern what God is calling us to, what is prudent, and what it is that we personally have to offer. Frederick Buechner described it beautifully when he said, "The place that God calls us is that place where the world's deep hunger and our deep desire meet."

In this update we wanted to share with you a new ministry we've begun due to the open heart of one of our missioners. Always at the heart of all we do is love, especially for those most in need: the poor, the broken, the abused, the sick and...the imprisoned. Tracy had been feeling a very strong call to serve vulnerable men, almost to the point of looking for another mission or ministry, she had been thinking about homeless ministry, but God had another plan for her. Erika, a friend of the Missioners (and sister of Etelvina) expressed interest in visiting the prison here in Comayagua, but she hadn't yet found the path by which to do so. When Tracy heard about the opportunity she knew it was God speaking to her desire. She (along with a group) has been going faithfully once a week to visit and pray with the men there. This is her reflection on her experiences so far:

“Don’t judge another squaw until you’ve walked a mile in her moccasins”...... they’re not quite squaws and it’s more flip flops than moccasins but anyway….the guys inside the depressing edifice that is Comayagua’s local prison are doing time for an interesting variety of crimes: murder, rape, armed robbery, kidnapping….to name but a few. I try not to dwell too much on the reasons for their incarceration, or to judge, remembering the often pitiful circumstances and poor example in these lives, not to mention the powerful enemy we are all battling. I try to focus more on the truth that each of them is a soul created by a loving Father, for love, and for an eternity spent in a peaceful place very far removed from where they are right now.

Their souls, like ours, are thirsting for God, and in an environment where drugs and prostitutes are readily available, the prison guards busy themselves lounging around chatting (when not openly watching pornographic films) and rosary beads joyfully handed out by naïve missionaries become currency for indulging vices……the thirst is that much more intense. I thank God for the many good men I have encountered in the prison who are striving in the midst of such darkness to lead others to conversion and holiness through daily scripture study, prayer and good example.

I am blessed to be a witness to our wonderful Lord, who paid the price for all our sins, in such a crazy place, and implore your intercession for this new ministry we are undertaking. Please pray that God might use us as His instruments to help set the captives free from the sin, fear, doubt, despair and false masculinity that poisons the hearts of His poor children and keeps them from His tender care.

St Dismis, Patron Saint of Prisoners, pray for us.

-Tracy McGee, Scotland

Mountains and Teeth

The Friars host 6 Medical Brigaides a year in their hospital San Benito. A medical team of doctors, dentists, nurses, surgeons etc is brought in for a week to provide surgeries and medical care to the poorest of the poor. Each brigade brings new faces, new cases, and new challenges. We as Missioners support the Brigades by preparing food for the patients and their families, helping prepare patients for surgery, translating, and visiting with the patients after their surgeries. Two brigades ago we were finally able to realize a hope we've had for quite a while to bring dental care to the mountains. There are several priests with whom we work that had been asking for dentists for quite some time. God definately provided because an American dentist with years of experience working in the mountains of Central America had been consistently arriving with the brigaides to work out of San Benito's clinic but had at the same time been expressing interest in returning to work in the mountains. With the help of a portable dental unit he is able to go anywhere there is electricity, light, and water to work, he can work then even, as he says, "on somebody's front porch." So he and three of us Missioners (to help assist and do intake, translate) set off for a trial day. We drove the three hours into the mountains of San Luis, set up all the equipment and attended to 10-12 children, basically just doing extraction dentristy. It was my first experience assisting and I learned very quickly it takes patience, a sense of humor, and a strong stomach...sucking blood and spit and being handed extracted teeth is not for the faint of heart. It went very well and Father Balthazar was really excited to finally be able to offer the service to his people.
So...this last brigaide we set out again for three days working in two different villages of Father's this time. We worked again in San Luis but then traveled for the day to the even more remote village of San Rafael. Its really incredible the need in the mountains. A combination of poor education, lack of supplies and lack of dentists makes for some pretty unhealthy mouths. It was difficult to see at times the results years of lack of care can produce. We worked on a young girl who was only 12 years old, already her four front teeth were false and we removed three more permanent teeth, if we had had time we could have removed more. Many many people even at a young age wear dentures. We took 7 teeth out of one woman, finishing off her upper teeth. The majority of the people we saw had seen a dentist maybe once or twice before, some never. It is really convicting as always to experience the lives of the poor first hand, to see what becomes normalcy when living without. In many ways their lives are more simple and more beautiful but we cannot lapse into idealizing the situation. There lives are also very hard and burdened; there is a great amount of suffering and struggle that exists that we have no concept of. We must be honest and real about our responsibility to love them and serve them. Our hope is to continue to return to these aldeas and to not only treat the emergencies but work on prevention and education, to improve their quality of life and quality of care. Hopefully they will experience the love of Christ in us in this humble opportunity to care for them, as always we returned more changed and affected by our encounter with the poor than they ever will be by us. We hope to return in June to the mountains, this time making two different trips and hopefully bringing along a Hygienist for more cleaning and prevention work...as always keep us and the poor in your prayers.

Dinner for Two

Candles. Flowers. A little Frank Sinatra...

the ingredients for a romantic dinner for two. For couples in the US its something we take for granted, a nice meal in a nice restaurant once in a while, to celebrate, to take time to for each other, a much needed night spent together away from the kids and the noise.

But what about here? I didnt realize until the other night just what a rarity it is for the poor to be able to spend a quiet evening together with their spouse.

On Sunday the friars held a day long couples retreat with the purpose of helping couples from our neighborhood refocus on each other, center their relationship on God and recieve grace as they struggle for their families. At the end of the day they closed with Mass and Holy Hour and then....Dinner.

We missioners were responsible for one romantic, classy dinner. We transformed the dining room of Casa Guadalupe into an elegant banquet hall...with candles and fresh flowers and white tableclothes. We hung pictures and sheets and Christmas lights and at the end it was a completely different room. Alba and Natalio, with lots of helping hands, prepared an amazing meal. We served as waiters and waitresses, all dressed in our finest black tie garb.

When the Mass finished we all waited at attention for them to arrive. And...

It was beautiful. To see their faces as they entered, especially the women. Women who have never, ever had the opportunity to be treated to a romantic dinner out, never eaten in a nice restuarant, who work and fight hard for the survival of their families at the cost of their own needs and desires. It was beautiful to see their faces light up at the sight of the flowers and the cards that were just for them and to be waited on as if they were the most important people in the world. For the couples it seemed such a gift just to have one night away from home, with out the kids, just to talk to each other.

As dinner finished several couples shared their testimonies. One man shared that the retreat had touched him very deeply and though he and the mother of his children had been together for over 15 yrs they were not married (very common here) but that he hoped that very soon they could recieve that sacrament. Others shared how beautiful it had been to share the day with other couples and learn from each other.

Finally one women confessed that the dinner, the evening had been "the best gift she'd ever recieved." Looking back on it now it seems such a perfect image of Christ's declaration that the last shall be first, and the first shall be last, and of what heaven will some day look like, when the poor and the wretched take a seat of honor at the head of the banquet table. I hope one day I am there to witness it.

First Impressions

Chloe one of our newest members to the community has been with us a little less than 2 months now, but she has jumped right into ministry, serving with her whole heart and all of her talents....which have turned out to be many. This her reflection, in her own words on how its been going so far, what she's experienced and some of the projects she's taken on.

Honduras is such a beautiful place. It's so entirely different from what I'm use to so there's been a lot to learn in these first weeks of my time here. Everything is new and exciting and bewildering and wonderful.

Coming from cold Wales (UK), the tropical climate here is like living in a dream-I have to remind myself that it is March and that on the other side of the world it continues to rain and feel like winter.

Traveling through Tegucigalpa on my first day with Friar Damiano and two of the missioners who had collected me from the airport I saw how "immediate" the peoples lives are. The streets were packed with men, women, and children talking, shouting, and practically all trying to sell something: many of them sitting on the pavement with their goods spread out in front of them and the traffic roaring past. The chaos of cars and bikes and people weaving in and out was incredible, along with so many things that are forbidden in England and Wales like entire families riding open air in the back of a pick up truck along fast roads, and men carrying machetes in their belts.

Joining the community of the Missioners of Christ is like becoming a part of new family. Each person is so different and has so much to offer as well as to learn from the others. Its such an amazing grace to have Mass every day, morning and evening prayer, and a whole hour in Adoration each day in the very house where we live. Since the chapel walls are only railings, with the fresh air (and dust) constantly blowing through, Jesus' presence is all through the house. Its an incredible haven of serenitiy in the midst of a poor, chaotic neighborhood.

After my two weeks in Guatemala at language school, I began to help Tracy in the program "Ninas del Rey" each week. The girls are beautiful, full of life and appreciation and interest for the lessons. Things that I have always taken for granted -like pencils- mean the world to them. Their immense love and yearning for education is an amazing example and witness after being surrounded by a culture of young people who constanatly complain about school. Two weeks ago when I mentioned to Carol that I took ballet classes, she suggested I start a class with the girls. So I spoke to Erica who used to figure skate and we held the first class on a Saturday morning two weeks ago. It was lots of fun and a great success! Having worried beforehand about where to start and about what steps to teach, I soon realized that it didn't matter to them at all; they have no experience of learning to dance, let alone ballet, and their big smiles as they copied the movements were enough to tell me that they enjoyed it. Erica and I are hoping to organize a show for their parents to come and watch what they've learned which I am looking forward to very much!

Time is going by so fast however, every day flies by and I know this 6 months is going to be gone too soon. So I am trying hard to appreciate every moment.

- Chloe Fawcett

Tela Trip- Community Retreat Photos

Tela Trip- Community Retreat Reflection

Its amazing what a weekend away can do for a community and everyone in it. I mean really, just to get away leave the mission and just pass time by with the rest of the missionaries. Its easy to spend time with the missionaries--you are with these people pretty much 24-7--but finding a time when you are just relaxing with them, enjoying each other´s company as opposed to working and planning all the time, is really hard to come by. And that´s why this weekend was so good. Bob and Erica did an excellent job of planning the whole weekend, making sure that we spent time just having fun and yet have serious time devoted to looking at ways we can grow as a community.

We arrived about four in the afternoon in Tela, some by bus, the rest by car. Tela is on the Northern coast, about 60 miles from San Pedro Sula, and about 125 miles from Comayagua, of course, sits right on the beach. It was relaxing from the beginning. Our hotel was several stories tall that looked out over the beach, which was only 3 minutes away by foot. We spent most of Friday just passing time together, with some brief reflections and introductions to the retreat by Bob and Erica, and enjoyed dinner together closing with celebrating Diana´s birthday (even though it was a Friday during Lent, we felt her birthday was worth celebrating with cake and ice cream). By the way, the Honduran Happy Birthday song is so much better than the one Americans sing, you create your own verses and all that, its great. Saturday morning began early and after some personal prayer time, we headed down to the beach and had some praise and worship on the beach, a unique opportunity to look out on the horizon and really see that yes, the Lord´s faithfulness does stretch to the skies and that He has been faithful to us as a community even through our difficulties. Next we competed in teams to build the greatest sand castle. The competitive spirits came out in full force, as it turned out the team with the biggest castle was the team who won (the judge being a local Honduran who happened to be walking by). After some free time on the beach and in the water, Erica gave us some concrete ways to help fortify our community to be even more Christ-like with supporting one another, genuinely working on relationships, and learning to correct one another in charity. We took some more time that afternoon and brainstormed what were the strengths and weaknesses of our community and what we can do better to improve our weaknesses. After enjoying some pizza, we had the long awaited talent show where everyone was asked to do or perform something in front of the group so as to show off our talents as individuals. This had been talked about since October, and for various conflicts had been put off until now, but the wait was worth it as it was quite memorable. There was just about a mix of everything: a magic trick, a comedic act, an impression of Sméagol from Lord of the Rings, songs performed on guitar, both written and improvised, testimonies shared, dancing and gymnastic routines, and even a time of prayer and intercession as one individual led us in prayer to ask the Lord for gifts we wanted from the One who gives every good gift. It was the perfect way to end the night as we ended our display of our own gifts by in turn, thanking the Lord for his gifts to us, and continue to ask Him to allow us to discover new gifts, so that we may glorify Him all the more. Sunday wrapped up the retreat with Mass in the local parish, a grand breakfast at the restaurant, and prayer.

So to conclude, I would say it was definitely blessed as the Lord really showed us how each one of us is a gift to the community as a whole, and each member God has called here for a particular purpose to accomplish his will. That and it reinforced why we do what we do, for what purpose, simply because the call of God is on our hearts and we all have been given the grace to respond accordingly. Its really quite amazing to think how each of us has come here all for the same purpose. How radical the call of the Lord is and how much he has done in our lives!

Personally speaking, I am very blessed to be a part of this great missionary community. I would not be the same person had I not joined, and I can see how the Lord has changed me a great deal in the time of just six months. The community as a whole is a testament that when we focus on Christ and truly aim to make Him the center of our lives, however difficult and stressful certain times may be, because we take time as a community and as individuals to focus more and more on Him, God in his faithfulness and love, truly uses each and every situation to teach us something about ourselves, whether it be our weaknesses or our strengths, not just so we can suffer more through difficulties, but so that we can learn from them to grow and be strengthened in the future. I pray that truly, may the Lord draw us closer to Himself for his greater glory in time and eternity. Amen.

-written by Richard Vaughan

Who's Who in Our Community

Bienvenidos! Welcome back, it has been a while as we have been in a period of transition in our community. But we are finally whole and ready to begin the second half of our year with renewed energy and zeal. We have had several members leave our community to return home over the last few months and weeks. Andy Kadlec returned home to North Dakota several weeks ago, he is in a period of discernment as to where the Lord is calling Him next, with the likelihood of returning to school soon. His "chill" is greatly missed.Erika Espinal a local Honduran woman who joined our community for a few months during her vacation has returned to school and returned to live with her family. Lorena Ventura who has been living with the Missioners for the past year has entered the university with the hopes of studying medicine and has returned to her family as well. However we are blessed to have them both still serving the Missioners by continuing to lead Rosas de Maria our formation class for 11-15 yr old girls.

Finally, Brad Fassbender who arrived in Honduras this past summer departed for the states by way of Mexico and the Virgen Guadalupe on Tuesday. During his visit home over Christmas he visited the Carmelite Monks of Wyoming. He returned to Honduras after having a very good experience with them. The Carmelites invited to him to join as early as the end of March. After several weeks of intense discernment he accepted there offer and will join them very soon. Though we are sad to see him go sooner than expected we know he will continue to be an intense prayer warrior for us and we are very excited for him.

We are also welcoming several new members into our community. These new Missioners, pictured throughout the blog are Rudy Sorto Benitez, Chloe Fawcett, Mark Fein, Daniel Galvez Montes, Juan Carlos Rodriguez. Rudy is 19 yrs old from Cabanas, Honduras, he is great with people and hopes to be here at least a year. Chloe is 18 yrs old and is from Wales in the United Kingdom and she is beautifully sweet, plays piano and will be with us until the summer. Mark is 29 from Ann Arbor, Michigan, has committed indefinately to Honduras and is currently studying Spanish in Guatemala and will join us in Comayagua soon. Daniel is from Siguatepeque, Honduras, is 18 and is nearly bi-lingual which is an awesome added benefit to our community. And Juan Carlos hails from El Salvador, he has been serving in Florida, Honduras with Father Max a young priest we work with often and has come now to serve with us here, he is passionate and has already brought new life and new visions to our community.