Thank you Letter to Our Home Parish....

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The Romero Prayer

It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view.

The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts; it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.

Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said. 

No prayer fully expresses our faith. 

No confession brings perfection. 

No pastoral visit brings wholeness. 

No program accomplishes the church’s mission. 

No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.

We plant the seeds that one day will grow.  We water the seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.  We lay foundations that will need further development. 

We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.  This enables us to do something and to do it well.  It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest. 

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future not our own.

This prayer was composed by the late Bishop Ken Untener of Saginaw, drafted for a homily by Cardinal John Dearden in November 1979 for a celebration of departed priests. As a reflection on the anniversary of the martyrdom of Bishop Romero, Bishop Untener included it in a reflection book a passage titled "The mystery of the Romero Prayer."

These are my children...

These are my children.  What are you doing for them?

Nothing can prepare you for what you will encounter in the garbage village in Puerto Barrios, Guatemala.  

Plumes of methane gas rise everywhere from the decomposing garbage.  Makeshift tents are scattered around the area, housing families both big and small.  Children and toddlers amble through the debris as if it were any other playground.  Older children, parents, and grandparents sift through the endless piles of garbage collecting recyclable materials which they will then sell for pennies on the dollar.

There is no running water. 

There is no stable supply of food. 

There is no immediate access to education. 

To make matters worse, the village sits along a smuggling road for both drugs and human trafficking.

"These are my children.  What are you doing for them?"  

These were the words that God placed in my head and on my heart.  It was a real-life call to what Jesus referred to in Matthew 25:40 – “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of my brethren, you did it to me.’”

I am sure this site is, unfortunately, not unique across the globe, but God placed me in Puerto Barrios.  It was new and unique to me.  As I was wrestling with the sights, sounds, and smells of poverty at its extreme, I was blessed to be accompanied through the village by two saints – Father Anton and Katya.

These two servants of Christ showed me what it means to serve ‘the least of my brethren.’  For the past few years, Father Anton and Katya have visited the garbage village weekly to serve the people, build relationships and listen to their needs. They walk Saint Mother Theresa's quote – “poverty doesn’t only consist of being hungry for bread, but rather it is a tremendous hunger for human dignity.’  Padre and Katya have allowed these people to feel the dignity for which they hunger.

Father Anton and Katya have great plans for helping the people who live in the garbage village.  A building foundation has already been built on the site, but it remains unfinished.  What would it look like to build a permanent shelter that allows the kids to go inside and breathe non-toxic air?  What impact would it have to provide showers to bathe? 

St. Paul said in Romans 12:4-5 – “For as in one body, we have many members, and all members do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individual members one of another.”  Functionally, Father Anton and Katya have used their gifts to build relationships and a plan to help.  They need other members of the body of Christ to provide their resources to make this step forward a reality.  

To be a part of gathering those resources for Father Anton and Katya.  

This was why God put me in the garbage village in Puerto Barrios.

These are my children.  What are you doing for them?

 Jeff Stinson

Answering God's Call & Making Connections

I wanted to share a story about how I answered God’s call and made a connection to an amazing man.

Our group, Hearts 4 Guatemala, spent a week with Father Anton at Posada Stella Maris. Our main goal was to visit several of the villages. in order to deliver Days for Girls menstrual kits and education and also install smokeless stoves that our home parish raised funds to provide!

While in Izabal, Kathya from Stella Maris accompanied us on each visit.

On our third day, we took pickup trucks to Rio Salado, a remote Q'Eqchi Mayan village. Father Anton warned us that rain might make the road too muddy and we may have to walk up a long path to reach the village.

The pickup trucks carried us to the foot path.

We were met by two men from the village, dressed in jeans and tshirts, who climbed in back of pickup with us. They had walked down to meet us and guide us back up to their village.

I’m trying to learn Spanish, but it is quite a challenge for me. I have a few phrases that I can “parrot”.

One of them is “Ola, me llamo Juan ?Como te llamas?” (Hello, my name is John. What is your name?)

I quickly introduced myself, asked their names.

The men smiled and shared their name with me

Will and Juan.

With Kathya’s translation help, I told Juan that since we have the same name, maybe we are brothers. Juan laughed and agreed. When we got out of the truck, I asked Juan to take a selfie with me, we put our arms around each other and smiled for the camera.

That morning, I had been ill before leaving the Posada. Our group, still getting accustomed to the heat and humidity, underestimated our water needs. This combination was too much for my body to handle. On the way up, I became dehydrated, resulting in accepting a generous offer to ride a horse so I could rest and take in some additional fluids.

Our group reached the top, slowly but steadily.

We were hot, thirsty, and tired.

Father Anton and our group were greeted in the most amazing manner.

A canopy of palm shade had been erected for us to sit under. The children of the village, dressed in ceremonial clothes, danced and sang a greeting and presented each of us with a coconut.

I am not sure when I have ever felt more like an honored guest.

Our group split up, the women to do the Days for Girls education, the men to attend Mass being celebrated by Father Anton.

Well, all the men but me.

I still was not feeling well, so I stayed near the presentation and got to witness my wife talking to the young women of the village, giving them education and reusable menstruation kits that will be life changing.

I saw love and compassion and the face of Christ in my wife because she said yes to God’s call.

I was finally starting to feel better at the end of the presentation. We made our way over to the church where mass was wrapping up. The simple church was crowded, so we stood just outside a side doorway to hear a villager, wearing a crisp white shirt and dark pants, dressed nicely for mass.

I think he was talking about providing the children education on our Catholic faith. Fr Anton continued to speak, introducing some of our group to those at mass.

After speaking, the villager stepped outside the door and we made eye contact. With a now  familiar smile, he greeted me once again with “Juan! Me hermano!”. With more translation help from Kathya, I was able to introduce Juan to my wife and he introduced me to his wife and 2 of his 4 children.

I was able to share with him that we also had 4 children, but they were not with us on this trip. He thanked us for visiting. We continued our joking conversation and I said the next time, he will come to my town. Laughing, he said he will do it. I asked him when, and Kathya told me he was in university. We agreed his visit to my town would have to wait.

We then enjoyed a delicious fish taco lunch. After eating, I asked Juan if we could get another picture together, this time with our wives. Of course, he obliged with a smile.

We parted company and I told him I would see him again.

As we were preparing to leave, I asked Kathya to quickly coach me on how to say “Goodbye my brother in Christ.” I saw Juan one last time that day, saying in my poor Spanish “Adios, me hermano in Cristo”, sharing one final smile with each other.

On the way down, Kathya told me more about Juan. There are issues with property rights in his village, so he is going to school to become a lawyer. He is part of the Cocode, a village council. He is involved with the Eucharistic education, and is a loving husband and father to his family.

I just had a lighthearted, fun conversation, filled with laughs and smiles, with this incredible and devoted man. I felt honored, humbled, but mostly inspired to be more and do more, like my brother Juan.

That alone is enough of a story on how I made a connection.

But this story is really about how God makes

connections that are much deeper and complex.

The next day, Fr Anton shared terrible news with us. Juan and his son Hector were working in the field that morning and took a quick break. When his son reached for his water bottle, he was bitten on his thumb by a Barba Amarilla pit viper, one of the most poisonous snakes in Guatemala. The venom causes extreme pain and attacks the blood and tissue; it can quickly lead to necrosis and even death.

Six months prior, through the grace of God, Father Anton had arranged for some people, including Juan, to get training on basic field care and triage. Juan had learned he needed to open the bite to try to remove venom and to tourniquet his arm to slow the spread. The trip to the hospital was not an easy one. It took hours, but Juan was able to get his son to the hospital for emergency care.

Hector had to stay in the hospital for at least a few days. Fr Anton arranged for Juan to stay at the posada that evening.

At this point, I need to pause my Guatemala story to share some background information. I believe it reveals the reason God brought us together.

In July 2020, one of my sons was in a skateboard accident and sustained a traumatic brain injury. We came close to losing him that night, but we didn’t. All thanks to God’s grace - as well as an amazing ICU nurse, a talented neurosurgeon, and the prayers of over 100 people from our families, friends, and church community. My son had successful brain surgery and he was restored back to health in a matter of weeks, not months or years.

Truly, a miracle!

Juan arrived at the Posada as we were headed to dinner. With the help of our group’s tour guide, Monica from Highland Tours, my wife and I were able to talk with Juan and try to comfort him.

This was a heavy conversation, so we didn’t share as many smiles. Although we did share a small smile when I apologized for saying “I’ll see you soon” the prior day, as it was not my intention for it to have been this soon!

Juan was understandably upset and needed to talk. We listened with compassion, understanding how he felt and that he needed to tell his story. We were able to share our story with him, deepening our connection. We told him that we sent a prayer request and that Hector now had those same hundreds of people praying for him that had powerfully prayed for our son. We also shared with him that our personal prayer was for God to give Juan’s son the same miracle he gave our son.

The second day after Hector’s accident, Juan saw us at the Posada and joyously shared the good news that Hector was recovering well and would be going home soon!

Fr Anton, Kathya, and others do so many good works through Stella Maris. One small thing was to lighten the financial burden of Hector’s injury and also arrange for comfortable transportation home (rather than Hector having to ride in a pickup and walk hours up to his village).

It is now clear that God challenged me to step well out of my comfort zone and called me to this beautiful country. I am fortunate to have a strong faith which allowed me to say yes to God's call.

Because of this, I was given the opportunity to meet a remarkable man and provide him some comfort. I think I made a difference during Juan’s time of need. I know the experience made a difference in me, inspiring and giving me the courage to continue saying yes to God's call.

Please consider helping Hearts for Guatemala to continue their support to Fr Anton and Stella Maris, financially - and - through acts of service.

Open yourself to hear God's call.

Have the courage to answer yes.
Make connections.

I promise it will inspire you to become the best version of yourself.

~ John Montville

Finally -- Back to Guatemala

Here we go!!

I can’t believe it has been 4 years since we took our first group to Guatemala! The goal at that time was to lead a group at least every other year to build relationships, learn, and serve. It all seemed to be going well! Partnerships with local Guatemalan non-profits were successful. We had built a beautiful relationship with Hope Worldwide mobile medical clinic and Habitat for Humanity. Plans were being made to return in 2021.

And then March 2020, the world shut down over the pandemic…

And everything changed.

The needs have not changed, the relationships have not changed, and the desire to build relationships have not changed. But everything around those did dramatically change. Travel was shut down, businesses changed, people lost their jobs or moved on to different opportunities. And we patiently kept waiting for the right time to bring another group who was ready to continue building relationships!

And now in June 2023, it is all coming back to life!

Our local community, our home parish of Church of the Holy Angels, and our family and friends have all encouraged and supported this next step of resuming trips! We have a group of 13 pilgrims who are coming with us to back to the original service area of Chiquimula and also to a new area of Puerto Barrios in Izabal, Guatemala.

In 2019, God led us to a Maltese priest living and serving in Izabal for over 25 years! He graciously led our pilgrimage to Esquipulas at that time and he has become a wonderful partner to us. He is inspiring as he has spent 25+ years building relationships in his parish and living and serving in Izabal growing his ministry and outreach. He is welcoming our group to come and spend time with him!

Everyone is asking - what will be DOING while we are there?

As we have learned from previous experiences, this is less about “doing” and more about “serving and 'learning”. We have learned over time that the needs WE think the community has is not the needs that THEY actually have. We will be praying with the people, walking alongside them in their projects, having fun and fellowship with them, and developing a long term relationship between our parish and theirs.

Father has identified some ways we can help his communities:

1. Funding to construct a medical clinic to provide quality medical care and serve as a location for future medical missions.

2. Sustainable menstrual kits and teaching for the women and children in the communities to alleviate “period poverty” where girls often miss up at a week of school a month due to not having items needed for their monthly cycle. Coupling this with solid biological teaching about their bodies and cycles which may have not been previously taught.

3. Securing Items to stock the medical clinic such as dental items, vitamins, and medical equipment.

4. Starting a fund to help one community who would like to construct their own church.

5. We will visit villages with Father, bring food to the poor as needed, and address any other needs that the community and Father identifies.

   Please pray for our safety in traveling, to have open hearts to receive all that God has in store for us, and to listen to His people and learn about lives which on many levels are very similar to ours and on many levels, very different than ours.

“People and Processes, Not Projects and Products

The goal is to see people restored to being what God created them to be: people who understand that they are created in the image of God
with the gifts, abilities, and capacity to make decisions and to effect change in the world around them;

and people who steward their lives, communities, resources, and relationships in order to bring glory to God.

These things tend to happen in highly relational, process-focused ministries more than in impersonal, product-focused ministries. ”

— “When helping Hurts” by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert