|
Formation | Student Life | Spring Break Service Trip 2006
The first night we drove to Resurrection of Our Lord Parish in St. Louis. Father Peter Vo De Ta, SVD, and his assistant Fr. Thomas Tran, SVD, greeted us warmly and made our stay very pleasant. The next morning we prayed for the parish and Fr. Peter prayed for our safe trip. On Saturday we drove over 700 miles to Bay St. Louis. We arrived at St Augustine's Parish around 8 p.m. and were greeted by Rector Fr. Tom Potts, SVD. We were all glad to have finally arrived. After a restful night we attended morning Mass at St. Rose de Lima Parish. Fr. Sebastian Myladiyil, SVD, a priest from India celebrated Mass with over 250 people in attendance. We were all uplifted by the St. Rose Gospel Choir. The Mass was truly a celebration for everyone. Frt. Vinh Vu, SVD, a seminarian from Germany, met us after Mass and showed us around the parish. Frt. Vinh spent a year studying English at Divine Word College and is now doing his one year of parish ministry. We got a chance to see the destruction of Hurricane Katrina on Sunday afternoon in Bay St. Louis, Pass Christian, Long Beach, Gulfport and Biloxi, Mississippi. It is unbelievable to see the mighty force of Katrina up and down over 25 miles of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. During the week we worked on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Five students worked with Fr. Tom to clear out everything in the rooms on the first floor of the SVD Residence in Christmann Hall. Other volunteers will come later to do the needed repairs on the walls, and floors. Three to five feet of water came into each room during the hurricane. Another five students worked at a site where Fr. Sebastian organizes volunteers from all over the country to help “gut houses,” repair roofs, etc. It was a great experience for the DWC students because they worked with other students from colleges in New York, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Texas and Ohio. The last group of five students worked with me to clean up all of the debris from the grounds of St Augustine's. We took a break in the middle of the week to visit New Orleans. Our first stop was Mary Queen of Vietnam Church. Fr. Vien Nguyen explained what life was like before Hurricane Katrina, during the storm and shared his plans to bring people back into the area. Former DWC Dean of Students, Fr. Gus Wall, SVD, met us at the church and accompanied us to St Paul's Church in New Orleans East where we meet Fr. Bernard Assenyoh, SVD. Fr. Gus was supposed to arrive at St Paul's to begin his new assignment on the day the hurricane hit. But, due to the circumstances, Fr. Bernard stayed at the parish where he experienced 8-10 feet of water over the parish grounds. The church, rectory and school were greatly damaged. Next, we drove to St Augustine's Parish in New Orleans. Fr. Jerome Ledoux, SVD is the pastor there. He showed us the church and told us of the long history dating back to 1842 when slaves attended the church. The doors have been open ever since. We also had the opportunity to walk around Canal Street and the French Quarter and see St. Louis, Cathedral. Friday was our last full day in Bay St. Louis. Everyone worked hard, attend mass, prayed and enjoyed the hospitality of the SVD community and the employees at St Augustine. Early Saturday we packed the vehicles and headed back to Epworth. We all have many memories from our time in the South that have changed our lives for the better. Student participants: Giang Nguyen
|
On Friday March 3, 15 students and I left for a Spring Break service trip to the SVD Southern Province Headquarters in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Everyone was excited about the next ten days and what they would mean for us.