St. Alphonsus Parishioners Live Their Faith by Committing to Building New Church in Guatemala

What began 12 years ago as a youth ministry project at St. Alphonsus Parish, Greendale , has now grown to a parish-wide initiative to build a new church for residents of Xecoil, Guatemala.

In 1995, a youth ministry group from St. Alphonsus began making pilgrimages to Los Hogares Orphanage in Santa Apolonia, Guatemala. Over a 12-year period, parishioners made valuable contributions to the orphanage, including building and remodeling structures, updating electrical services and roofing, as well as sharing monetary donations. More than 200 parishioners have journeyed to Guatemala since the relationship with the orphanage was established. In April 2007, the parish representatives looked to extend their outreach to the people of the countryside area of Xecoil.

This past April, St. Alphonsus Deacon Jack Alexander, a member of the travel party, was asked to bless the people of Xecoil, along with the seeds to be planted and the crops that had been harvested. As they prayed and talked, the St. Alphonsus parishioners began to learn more about the people of Xecoil and the challenges they faced. Since the Guatemalans had no true worship space or means of transportation, the people had to walk close to two hours to Santa Apolonia to attend Sunday Mass. They also did not have a community space for faith formation activities; teaching happened in houses and even then, all could not be served. The people of Xecoil had received permission from their archbishop and their local parish priest to build their own church, but they did not have the finances to make this possible. The St. Alphonsus contingent left Guatemala knowing that they wanted to establish a long-term relationship with the people of Xecoil. In August, Alexander learned that money had been raised by the people of Xecoil to buy the land for their new church.

Other than the Friendship Without Borders organization that was active in Guatemala and Peru, the St. Alphonsus community did not have a formal relationship with a foreign parish. Alexander envisioned the possibility that the entire St. Alphonsus parish community could generate the $35,000 necessary to build the new church. As Alexander shared information with various leadership groups throughout the parish, it became clear that there was support from many people for the initiative.

Formal approval was given at a November parish council meeting at which the Xecoil project was discussed, along with the archdiocesan Living Our Faith initiative. Parish staff and leaders believed support of the Xecoil project would be a tangible way the parish could Live Christ, one of the core components of Living Our Faith.

There has been an abundance of ideas to generate financial support for the Xecoil project. Proceeds from the monthly senior citizen luncheon have been designated for the project; a December music ministry concert will share its profits; a special fundraiser was held following the school's annual Casino Night; the athletics association and Boy Scout troops are considering ways to become involved and more groups are looking at ways to contribute to the project.

"This really has been a unifying effort for our parish," said Alexander. "We've been able to involve people who typically have not been a part of the Friendship Without Borders group. This is a great opportunity to see all groups in our parish come together to really live our faith."
While no firm timeline to embark on the building of the new church is in place, there is great energy throughout the St. Alphonsus community about its growing relationship with the people of Xecoil.

"The people of Xecoil have a great deal to teach us about what it means to be parish and to be family," shared Alexander. "They live in conditions we would barely tolerate, but their faith in Jesus Christ allows them to live in joy. There is satisfaction in helping these people live a bit easier and our faith is enriched by seeing the face of Jesus in each and every one of them."

For more information about the Xecoil project, contact Deacon Jack Alexander at (414) 421-2442 or jack@st-alphonsus.org

Thursday, November 29, 2007