Reflections from the 2010 Spring Break mission...
We left Bloomington for our March spring break…not at the beach or on vacation. Rather, fourteen IU students dedicated this week to working in the economically depressed city of East St. Louis, IL. Each of the students had to apply for this mission trip and write about the reasons for seeking to come on this venture. To a person, they each wanted to do something meaningful during this spring break and have a spiritual component to the service trip. For several of the students this was the first mission trip they had ever taken. We left on Saturday, March 13, around one o’clock arrived at Hubbard House, a residence for missioner visitors to the diocese of Belleville, IL, around supper time. Students quickly stepped up to cook supper, wash dishes, and clean the kitchen. That ‘go to’ attitude characterized these students throughout the week. Each day was planned to begin with prayer at Hubbard House and to end the day with prayer and reflection. Every student signed up to lead one of the prayer times. Included in the evening was a sharing of a significant person or event of the day followed by decorating the bed sheet with words and images of the day’s experience. This sheet will hang in the Gathering Space at St. Paul for a couple of weeks.
Sunday was our “fun day.” It began with Mass at St. Alphonsus Rock Church in St. Louis. We did sight-seeing in the culturally-rich St. Louis Forest Park. The La Belle family (Michael La Belle) generously fed us lunch and then again with an awesome lasagna dinner. Our week of mission activities included working at the St. Vincent de Paul clothing store and lunch room, clearing trash through the neighborhood around the Paulynn Center, painting rooms at the Veteran’s Center (Eagle’s Nest), and daily working (and playing) with the elementary school kids in the after-school programs at the Roosevelt housing. In each task I saw the students step up to the need with energy and with joy. It was awesome to see such spirit!
One thing that surprised us was the local newspaper’s coverage of our mission trip. The Belleville newspaper interviewed students during one of our neighborhood clean up days and published an article in the Friday News-Democrat, complete with a photograph. But another surprise was the peaceful and joyful way that this group looked out for one another and shared with one another. There was clearly an absence of any clique or favoritism. How unusual…and refreshing!
In our closing reflection on Friday we noted how much we have come to know East St. Louis as a place with generous people who welcomed us warmly. Clearly there are incredible poverty and social problems (e.g., alcoholism, gangs, violence, abuse), but there are also glimmers of hope, especially in the people with whom we were working. The Catholic Church is a significant agent of hope in this area. We left East St. Louis with a new sense of calling as disciples who can do something, not matter how small that work might be. Quoting a famous statement that is attributed to Archbishop Oscar Romero, “Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.” This does not stifle our enthusiasm; it makes us free to do what we can here and now. We come home changed, humble and hopeful, realizing how large are many of the challenges that face the poor, but how powerful are the gifts of God when they are put to service.
The fourteen students include: Robert Barnell (senior, Louisville, KY), Stephanie Polei (senior, Logansport, IN), Mary Cloud (junior, Atlanta, GA), Elizabeth Bercovitz (junior, Indianapolis), Margaret Helms (senior, Evansville, IN), Alicia Munchel (sophomore, Brookville, IN), Ashley Homrich (junior, Wabash, IN), Kate Bukowski (sophomore, Chicago, IL), Liz Whitmore (junior, Kokomo, IN), Michael Vogel (Ivy Tech, Kalamazoo, MI), Patrick Rincon (junior, Houston, TX), Emily Krauter (freshman, Indianapolis, IN), Heather Hamilton (junior, Huntington, IN), Isabel Manahan (junior, Fort Wayne, IN). Fr. Bob Keller, O.P. also spent the week with the mission trip.
