Another first time mission: Joplin. Unlike
the other first time missions, this was much better organized because of all
the experience the chaperons brought to this one. Between the chaperons
on this trip, we have been on more than 25 mission trips. Before I
continue on this report on the Joplin Mission Trip, I want to commend the
adults who make these trips possible. Over the past five years, Helias
has been on seventeen mission trips (Memphis-4, Springfield-4, St. Louis-3,
Hermosillo-3, Ellington-2, and Joplin 1). Just thinking back to the list
of chaperons, if it weren’t for these wonderful folks volunteering their time
to lead the missions, there wouldn’t be missions at Helias. I made a list
of all who have served as Helias chaperons. The list is thirty-four
people long. Can’t thank these folks enough.
The Joplin mission started as a replacement for the Mexico mission. Because of the violence in Mexico, the students at the Mexican schools aren’t going on missions or are turning their mission into smaller local ones. The demand for missions at Helias keeps increasing. We want to give our students the opportunity to go on these missions because for many of our students they are life-changing.
After the Joplin tornado, the city has been in great need of volunteers to help rebuild. I contacted St. Mary’s parish in Joplin asking how we could help. That’s the parish that was completely destroyed by the tornado. They in turn put me in touch with the people at St. Peter who were coordinating the volunteer effort. The people at St. Peter put me in touch with Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri. So, between Catholic Charities and Helias, we were able to organize our mission.
The first step was to find housing. Marianne Mitts from St. Peter sent me a list of churches and agencies who would possibly house such a large group. Catholic Charities told me that once we found housing to call them back to set up the work. I started down their list of names. Grace Pointe Assembly of God in Carthage was one of the churches on their list. They said “yes” right away so we were set. I traveled to Carthage and Joplin on October 27th and 28th to meet with both Grace Pointe Assembly and Catholic Charities to get an idea of the living arrangements and work we would be doing.
We could not have found better hosts than Grace Pointe. My first contact with them was Sandy Copeland. This wonderful lady put me in touch with their pastor, Larry Graham. Pastor Larry said yes to Helias without batting an eye. Next, I met Melissa Smith. Ms. Melissa and her family treated us like royalty. They cooked and served us breakfast and dinner every day! We had a great place to sleep and friendly faces to greet us in the morning and as we came in from work every day. Wow, couldn’t ask for more than that.
When I first met, Pastor Larry and Ms. Melissa on Thursday, October 27th, it was 11:00 pm and we met at Grace Pointe. This was the evening of the great Cardinals comeback against the Rangers and the Helias football victory over Bolivar. I think we all remember that evening. They gave me a tour of the church and facilities as we arranged for our arrival the following week. They stayed there with me until well after midnight to make sure everything was in order. I spent the night at the church and traveled to Joplin the next morning to meet with Amy Rogers and Catholic Charities.
Amy Rogers of Catholic Charities gave me a tour of Joplin and took me to the locations where we would be working. CC and Grace Pointe really rolled out the red carpet for Helias. We worked with some awesome people in Carthage and Joplin. After touring Joplin, I realized that we were going to need more professional help. As always, God provides. Glen Bruemmer, Mark Gallatin, and Ron Vossen came to our rescue and volunteered to come help our students with the work we had before us.
Now, it is time to back track on this story and go back to the sign-up for Joplin. We were hoping to have a maximum of forty students on this mission. We ended up with fifty! What do we do with fifty? This is only one less than our biggest trip and that was to Springfield two years ago. How do we manage fifty students when we planned on forty? God took care of this issue because Grace Pointe and CC said bring them all. In the end, two students couldn’t make the trip so we took 48 students.
Next, we had to find the chaperons. I can pretty much count on Theresa Buhr if she is in the country. Well, she was in the country. I’ve lost track of how many missions Ms. Buhr has chaperoned. Jacki Crider signed up for another mission. She has been with us on a St. Louis and Memphis mission and you’ll never find a better person than Jacki Crider. Fr. Mark Smith said yes. This was Fr. Mark’s sixth mission I believe. Chris Yarnell signed up as well. Mr. Yarnell has chaperoned one of our Mexico missions so I knew how valuable he would be to this mission. The last piece to our chaperon puzzle was Debbie Kolb. Ms. Kolb’s son was on his second mission and she wanted to be a part of the Helias mission trips. She has experience not in missions but in taking the youth from I.C. on NCYC and March for Life. She was a fantastic addition to our trip and we hope to see her on future trips. Art Davis, our bus driver, is fantastic! Bob Vanderfeltz found Mr. Davis for us and what a find he is. Thanks Mr. Art Davis for getting us to where we need to be and being a part of our missions.
So, we are set. We got the bus, students, chaperons, housing, food, work assignments, supplies, and paperwork. It is time for our mission to begin. I almost forgot a couple of others; Mr. Veile let us use the music department Excursion and Bob Vanderfeltz located a trailer for us. This made traveling so much easier and saved us a lot of money.
Another thank you goes out to all the parents who donated materials for us to use when rebuilding the houses. Also, thanks to Scruggs Lumber for the donations. Thanks to Chris Yarnell for taking his truck and all the equipment and tools. Thanks Fr. Mark for the tools as well. Everything was very much needed.
On Wednesday, November 2nd, we are ready to load up the troops to head out to Joplin to start our mission and I was already exhausted. I had already worn myself out organizing and setting up the trip and the trip hadn’t even started. Oh God, please give me strength. Not only was this a new trip, but we only had eleven returning mission trippers and of the eleven, five had only been on one mission trip. On top of all that, we had a record number of freshmen going: fifteen! What was I thinking?
Before I go any further, I want you to know that this was a fantastic mission trip and the students were excellent. I could not have handpicked a better group of young people to have gone on this trip. The chaperons were tops! The students could not have been in better hands. The leadership from this group looked as if they came right out of a Stephen Covey, John Maxwell, or Jim Collins book. Tremendous!
We arrived at 8:30 pm Wednesday, November 2nd at Grace Pointe. Ms. Melissa was there to greet us and the place was all set up for our group. We had already eaten dinner just outside of Springfield so we were ready to get started on our evening prayer service and then it was bedtime. The prayer service went well and the students spent the rest of the evening in small groups getting to know each other and making new friends.
Wake up call for Thursday was 6:45 am with 7:30 Mass followed by 8:00 breakfast. We left Carthage at 8:40 to meet Amy Rogers at the Catholic Charities warehouse at 9:00. The work was assigned. Chaperons decided on who would lead which project and teams were formed. Everyone went to their location and started working. The biggest crew went to work at the Monroe house. Fr. Mark and Mrs. Crider led that painting project. Mr. Yarnell and Mrs. Buhr were in charge of removing and replacing windows on Pennsylvania.
Mrs. Kolb and I were in
charge of the special project house and was it ever a special project. It
was a special project because the owner kept going to the workers and changing
their work orders. We would work on one
project a certain way when he would have us do it another way using other
material. Catholic Charities would hire
the workers and the owner would call in some friends to do it instead which led
to many problems. We were told that once
a group goes to work on the special project house, they never go back to work
there again. They were right. We worked there one day and we did
not return to work at that house again. Mr. Gallatin and Mr. Bruemmer
joined us at the special house. They did more work than anyone there and
they made no plans of returning to that house.
After working on the
special house, that team went to work at the mobile home securing the
foundation. It was knocked off its foundation by the tornado and we laid
a new foundation for the home to set on. That project took parts of two
days to accomplish. The kids led by Mrs. Kolb did a fantastic job.
We worked until after 6:00 pm before starting the drive back to Carthage. We arrived back at Grace Pointe pretty tired. Ms. Melissa had dinner waiting for us: dinner at 7:00 pm, followed by showers and clean up time, and then prayer service.
The prayer services are pretty neat. The students work with Fr. Mark on setting up meaningful services. The students decide on a theme and then work with Father to make sure that the bible verses, stories, and activities follow that theme. Fr. Mark does a great job of working with the students on these services.
Friday’s routine was much like Thursday’s except we went straight to the job sites and started working. We didn’t have to meet with Catholic Charities because we took care of all the assignments the night before. Fr. Mark, Mr. Bruemmer, Mr. Gallatin, and their team worked on the Monroe house. They added flooring to their painting assignment. Mr. Yarnell and his team continued to work on windows on Pennsylvania. Mrs. Kolb was in charge of the team doing cement work in another house on Pennsylvania. Mrs. Buhr, Mrs. Crider, and their team painted the outside of a house on South Connor. That’s the same street where Extreme Home Make Over built 7 houses in 7 days. My team as usual had the worst job and that was removing insulation from a third house on Pennsylvania. As you have probably guessed, Pennsylvania was a street pretty hard hit by the tornado. I worked with a fantastic group mainly because they all volunteered for that nasty job and worked hard with no complaining (except for a little whining from Jenna Duncan). As the work progressed, different groups moved around some between the houses on Pennsylvania. Later that afternoon, my group delivered about fifteen cases of library books to Joplin High School. Mrs. Shelley Swoyer, the Helias librarian, organized a book collection for Joplin HS. We were honored to have delivered those books.
Work day two in Joplin came to an end. We worked until after 6:00 pm just as we had the day before. Since we are all on one bus, at about 5:30 pm, Mr. Davis starts making the rounds picking everybody up at the different job sites. We arrived back at Grace Pointe just in time for dinner. Once again, Ms. Melissa and her family were there waiting for us. After another wonderful dinner and homemade desserts, it is back to showers, clean-up, and prayer service.
We had a special treat for the students after the prayer service. Both Pastor Graham and Ms. Melissa were missionaries at one time in their lives. When we first met, I learned of their missionary work. I asked if they would give a presentation to our students on “Why Missions.” They were happy to do so. Both are very passionate about mission work and gave very emotional presentations on why missions are so important. Pastor Larry’s example of the seven billion people has been very much on my mind. When Ms. Melissa talked about the poverty she encountered, it reminded me of the mission work we did in the villages of the Sonora Desert. I hope their presentations stick with the students and chaperons as well.
Saturday was the hardest work day. The morning started the same way. It is nice to start each morning with Mass. I’m glad Fr. Mark was with us to celebrate Mass. The only other mission where we attend Mass every morning is the Springfield mission. We arrived a little later on the job site that morning but that was by design. Because much of what we were doing was painting and/or outdoor work, we felt it best to let it warm up a little before starting. Where we were working, there was no electricity and water. So, we had no heat or bathrooms and we had to bring our own water. Work started at 9:30 this morning. The Monroe house no longer had Mr. Bruemmer and Mr. Gallatin. They had to return to Jefferson City. Instead, we had Mr. Ron Vossen lead the painting crew. What a treat! Mrs. Buhr was also at the Monroe house. Mr. Yarnell continued with the window crew. Mrs. Kolb and the cement crew finished the work at the mobile home. Mrs. Crider and the painting crew finished the house on S. Connor. My crew put a roof on a shed behind the house where we removed insulation. All the crews had to finish before we could leave. So, all the crews worked until pretty late. When we left that day, all the concrete was poured, the shed was roofed, house on S. Connor painted, windows were installed, and the Monroe house was as complete as we could get it. The special house is still there and is still special. I hope to never see it again.
We arrived back at Grace Pointe well after 7:00. As usual, Ms. Melissa was there to greet us with a smile and dinner was served. Same routine as before followed by prayer service. At the end of prayer service, we watched two short videos. The first video was on the beatitudes. The beatitudes were what we used for the second half of the prayer service which was reflection time for the students. The second video was my son’s video about his year-long mission in Brazil. This was followed by my presentation on “Why Mission.” After my presentation, we moved to the reflection part of the evening. We extended the lights out time to midnight so the kids could spend time together in a non-work setting.
Sunday morning started much the same way except that we had to pack everything up, clean up, and get ready to leave Grace Pointe. We attended Mass at St. Ann Catholic Church with Fr. Bill Hodgson. After Mass, we planned to return to Jefferson City and eat breakfast on the way home. The parishioners invited us to participate in their pancake breakfast. This was followed by a tour of the Stations of the Cross. If you are ever in Carthage, take the time to drive through their Stations. It is beautiful.
The ride home was pretty uneventful. The bus was very quiet and sleep came easily to most of us. I had looked at Joplin as a one-time mission but it will take many, many years for Joplin to recover. I hope to take a group there again. I wouldn’t mind trying to line up a mission to return to Joplin this spring. I know the demand is there from the Helias students.
This was my fifteenth Helias mission. I don’t go on the Ellington mission because that’s an all-girls mission sponsored by the School Sisters of Notre Dame. Each mission we go on gets bigger every year. I’m not sure what will happen with missions in the future because they are getting almost too big for one person to handle. Thank God for the chaperons. I just keep putting my trust in God and I know everything will work out. There’s another very important factor which makes these missions such a success and that is that the students who go on these missions are absolutely wonderful. They are a true blessing to serve with. They are the face of Christ to those they serve.
We worked until after 6:00 pm before starting the drive back to Carthage. We arrived back at Grace Pointe pretty tired. Ms. Melissa had dinner waiting for us: dinner at 7:00 pm, followed by showers and clean up time, and then prayer service.
The prayer services are pretty neat. The students work with Fr. Mark on setting up meaningful services. The students decide on a theme and then work with Father to make sure that the bible verses, stories, and activities follow that theme. Fr. Mark does a great job of working with the students on these services.
Friday’s routine was much like Thursday’s except we went straight to the job sites and started working. We didn’t have to meet with Catholic Charities because we took care of all the assignments the night before. Fr. Mark, Mr. Bruemmer, Mr. Gallatin, and their team worked on the Monroe house. They added flooring to their painting assignment. Mr. Yarnell and his team continued to work on windows on Pennsylvania. Mrs. Kolb was in charge of the team doing cement work in another house on Pennsylvania. Mrs. Buhr, Mrs. Crider, and their team painted the outside of a house on South Connor. That’s the same street where Extreme Home Make Over built 7 houses in 7 days. My team as usual had the worst job and that was removing insulation from a third house on Pennsylvania. As you have probably guessed, Pennsylvania was a street pretty hard hit by the tornado. I worked with a fantastic group mainly because they all volunteered for that nasty job and worked hard with no complaining (except for a little whining from Jenna Duncan). As the work progressed, different groups moved around some between the houses on Pennsylvania. Later that afternoon, my group delivered about fifteen cases of library books to Joplin High School. Mrs. Shelley Swoyer, the Helias librarian, organized a book collection for Joplin HS. We were honored to have delivered those books.
Work day two in Joplin came to an end. We worked until after 6:00 pm just as we had the day before. Since we are all on one bus, at about 5:30 pm, Mr. Davis starts making the rounds picking everybody up at the different job sites. We arrived back at Grace Pointe just in time for dinner. Once again, Ms. Melissa and her family were there waiting for us. After another wonderful dinner and homemade desserts, it is back to showers, clean-up, and prayer service.
We had a special treat for the students after the prayer service. Both Pastor Graham and Ms. Melissa were missionaries at one time in their lives. When we first met, I learned of their missionary work. I asked if they would give a presentation to our students on “Why Missions.” They were happy to do so. Both are very passionate about mission work and gave very emotional presentations on why missions are so important. Pastor Larry’s example of the seven billion people has been very much on my mind. When Ms. Melissa talked about the poverty she encountered, it reminded me of the mission work we did in the villages of the Sonora Desert. I hope their presentations stick with the students and chaperons as well.
Saturday was the hardest work day. The morning started the same way. It is nice to start each morning with Mass. I’m glad Fr. Mark was with us to celebrate Mass. The only other mission where we attend Mass every morning is the Springfield mission. We arrived a little later on the job site that morning but that was by design. Because much of what we were doing was painting and/or outdoor work, we felt it best to let it warm up a little before starting. Where we were working, there was no electricity and water. So, we had no heat or bathrooms and we had to bring our own water. Work started at 9:30 this morning. The Monroe house no longer had Mr. Bruemmer and Mr. Gallatin. They had to return to Jefferson City. Instead, we had Mr. Ron Vossen lead the painting crew. What a treat! Mrs. Buhr was also at the Monroe house. Mr. Yarnell continued with the window crew. Mrs. Kolb and the cement crew finished the work at the mobile home. Mrs. Crider and the painting crew finished the house on S. Connor. My crew put a roof on a shed behind the house where we removed insulation. All the crews had to finish before we could leave. So, all the crews worked until pretty late. When we left that day, all the concrete was poured, the shed was roofed, house on S. Connor painted, windows were installed, and the Monroe house was as complete as we could get it. The special house is still there and is still special. I hope to never see it again.
We arrived back at Grace Pointe well after 7:00. As usual, Ms. Melissa was there to greet us with a smile and dinner was served. Same routine as before followed by prayer service. At the end of prayer service, we watched two short videos. The first video was on the beatitudes. The beatitudes were what we used for the second half of the prayer service which was reflection time for the students. The second video was my son’s video about his year-long mission in Brazil. This was followed by my presentation on “Why Mission.” After my presentation, we moved to the reflection part of the evening. We extended the lights out time to midnight so the kids could spend time together in a non-work setting.
Sunday morning started much the same way except that we had to pack everything up, clean up, and get ready to leave Grace Pointe. We attended Mass at St. Ann Catholic Church with Fr. Bill Hodgson. After Mass, we planned to return to Jefferson City and eat breakfast on the way home. The parishioners invited us to participate in their pancake breakfast. This was followed by a tour of the Stations of the Cross. If you are ever in Carthage, take the time to drive through their Stations. It is beautiful.
The ride home was pretty uneventful. The bus was very quiet and sleep came easily to most of us. I had looked at Joplin as a one-time mission but it will take many, many years for Joplin to recover. I hope to take a group there again. I wouldn’t mind trying to line up a mission to return to Joplin this spring. I know the demand is there from the Helias students.
This was my fifteenth Helias mission. I don’t go on the Ellington mission because that’s an all-girls mission sponsored by the School Sisters of Notre Dame. Each mission we go on gets bigger every year. I’m not sure what will happen with missions in the future because they are getting almost too big for one person to handle. Thank God for the chaperons. I just keep putting my trust in God and I know everything will work out. There’s another very important factor which makes these missions such a success and that is that the students who go on these missions are absolutely wonderful. They are a true blessing to serve with. They are the face of Christ to those they serve.
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