Missioners of Christ

Residents of Casa Guadalupe help poor in Honduras on evangelization mission trip

‘GIVING BACK’  Children served by the Missioners of Christ pose for a picture. 

CLIFTON  The simplicity of life in Honduras taught Bianca Checho, 25 and Juliana Staab, 24, that life shouldn’t be filled with material things and shouldn’t be lived at a fast-paced rate. It should be lived understanding that life is a gift filled with grace and joy.

During the week of March 5, the two young adults, who are residents at Casa Guadalupe, the diocesan house of discernment for women, traveled to the Central American country for a one-week mission spreading Jesus’ love to those living in remote villages. They traveled with the Missioners of Christ, a Catholic community centered in prayer that evangelizes disciples. While the mission may seem simple in nature, it was extremely vital because for these villagers living in mountain areas, learning about the faith isn’t as easy as joining a local parish.

“There are not a lot of priests near these regions we traveled. There’s one priest for 70 villages,” said Staab. “Because of this, in some areas, the people can only go to Mass once a year and in the chapels, the Blessed Sacrament is not present. When they are able to go to Mass, it is a three-hour walk.”

For the two New Jersey missionaries, the reality about the Catholic Church’s presence in Honduras gave them a perspective to understand how important their mission was. The week Checho and Staab traveled to Honduras there were with a total of 24 young adults. The two women traveled separately to two different villages in the Diocese of Comayagua during the experience and visited homes to share testimonies about their faith, assist in starting rosary and prayer groups and teach basic prayers to the people.

“There was one woman, around her early 60’s, who knew the Missioners of Christ would be coming and she waited for us excited for our visit. She told us we were like Jesus to her,” Checho said.

Despite terrible living conditions, the hospitality of the Honduran people was ever present. “They would give us everything and feed us as much as they could,” said Checho. Staab added, “If they made chicken, that means they likely made the only chicken they had but they wanted to serve you.”

Because of the lack of priests, many Honduran people have turned to Protes­tantism due to the significant presence of Protestant missionaries in the area, which has caused some division among the Catholics and Protestants. In the village called Lavatorio where Checho served, she saw firsthand the division.

“In three weeks, villages would be converted and become Protestant,” said Checho. “There also appears to be a socio-economic divide among the two faiths. Because of their poverty, the people will become Protestant as they are bribed and offered food. Those who were Protestant also seemed a more affluent than the Catholics. All the Catholics were very poor.”

Checho understood their dilemma of wanting to get out of poverty. She asked some of the people: “What makes you stay Catholic? “One person said, ‘My mom raised me Catholic. I won’t ever change my faith.’ Others would say, ‘It’s part of my family tradition. It’s my identity,’” said Checho.

Staab stayed in Solara, one of the poorest villages, which was four hours from the nearest city. It is so remote, there is no electricity in homes. There, she and the fellow missionaries visited children at the local school. “I felt a true human connection with these kids because they didn’t have things like cell phones or other forms of technology to distract them away from building a connection with you,” Staab said.

In both villages, most of the people live off the land, take care of their simple homes and, if the children are educated, it is at the elementary school level.

For both Checho and Staab, being away from technology for the week helped them reflect on their vocations to religious life. “I definitely feel called to serve an apostolate with the poor.” Staab said. “Being called to religious life, you learn your life isn’t your own. Just like a new mother learns her life now belongs to her child, in religious life, you become mother to everyone you encounter.”

“I felt at home being with the people here,” Checho said. “I realized this is how we are supposed to live — not attached to material things.”

The two missionaries, who hope to return to Honduras again, were deeply affected by the kindness of the people. Checho describes them as “very humble. Even in their poverty while they don’t have much, they are willing to give you anything. It was an honor being there. In each person I met I saw Jesus. I felt really close to my faith. It was a beautiful experience.”

“There’s a holiness in them and you can see that they are thirsting for Jesus and that they feel called to go deeper. I just really say, ‘Thank you Lord for allowing me to see the humanity in the poor and create authentic relationships,” Staab said.

[Information: www.casaguadalupe.net.