8 IMPACT MAGAZINE • WINTER 2015/16 Mission Trip My mission trip to the Franciscans of the Poor Tau House in Cincinnati, Ohio, was my fourth as a Guerin Catholic student. All the others had some aspect of serving the poor, but it was on this mission trip that I truly got to work directly with the poor and homeless for the first time. We always began and ended the day in prayer. The work sites we populated allowed us to interact with the people while helping them. At Inter Parish Ministry we assisted people at a mobile food pantry. At New Life Furniture we delivered furniture to people in need. Sometimes the most important thing we delivered was not the furniture, but God through our actions and a Bible. At Brighton Center and Matthew 25 Ministries, clothes were sorted and folded. At Matthew 25 Ministries though, we not only sorted clothes, we also saw pencils being made from scratch and pill bottles turned into dust. We also learned what people go through after natural disasters. We even had the opportunity to play with paint and get a little messy. We searched for good paint and then proceeded to make new paint that would later be used to paint homes in Africa. At Housing Opportunities of Northern Kentucky (HONK), we helped repair homes and did some more painting. The last site we assisted was Rose Garden Home Mission; it was a place truly blessed by God where we could just feel God’s presence. The Rose Garden was run by five Franciscan sisters, who absolutely loved what they were doing. On the tour, we learned of the miraculous way the mission had been formed and grown. At first the Sisters were in a much smaller place down the street, then someone offered their current place to them. The Sisters wanted to open a free medical clinic for a while, but couldn’t find someone to help them. A new volunteer at the mission said she was a nurse and would love to help start the medical clinic. A few days later a nearby hospital had to relocate and the Sisters were able to choose needed equipment. This was not the only miracle they had to tell. On the tour the Sister told of a day they were handing out pizza. She said the Sisters calculated how many people they could feed with the pizzas they had. When the day ended, and the people helped had been counted, there should not have been any pizzas left, but there were two more freezers still filled with pizza! Little did we know we would experience something similar. After the tour we were assigned different tasks: some to hospitality, some to babies and others to helping with the food distribution. I was assigned to food distribution. We were handing out pizzas for a while when Mr. Rafferty, our warehouse runner, said that we had run out of pizza. We started handing out egg rolls instead. A little later we ran out of creamer so Mr. Rafferty ran back to get some creamer, but when he returned he did not only have creamer but pizzas. The empty pizza freezers held more pizza giving us our own little miracle for the day. We like to call it “the multiplication of the pizzas.” It was not only this miracle that made me feel the presence of God in the mission; it was the devoted, hardworking Sisters, volunteers and those who had come in for some assistance. From the beginning, the Sisters made it clear that they were different from other charities. They said just like Jesus they do not turn anyone away no matter who they are or what they have. They welcome them with open arms. I think that is something everyone needs. I am so happy I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Rose Garden Mission and had the chance to feel those arms embrace me and draw me in. By Maddie Stanton Guerin Catholic Class of 2016
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