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Mission Statement To be of support to people in need ... better yet, to know the people we help rather than blindly giving to a missionary charity. To expose our parish family to the world as it is ... this is the most important aspect. We, as Americans, live in a world of plenty ... and though that is not true for everyone, we don't usually have a tactile way to experience other parts of the world. The ministry of working and sharing with the people of El Recreo allows us that opportunity.
Goals We the people of St. Boniface Catholic Church have a sister village in El Salvador. The name of the canton that we sponsor is called El Recreo. We have helped them with ● a water collection system, ● seed and fertilizer, ● sending their children to school at least through high school ● and paying for them to build their own Church which they named The Sacred Heart of Jesus. We go to El Salvador approximately every six months to visit our sister canton. We have found our mission is not so much about going there to build buildings for them but it is to build relationships. We have found this experience to be very rewarding. The parishioners of St. Boniface have been going there five years now and will be going again June 2009. If anyone is ever interested in donating to this worthy cause please send donations to our church with a memo attached for El Salvador. We appreciate any and all support.
Twelve people from St. Boniface traveled to El Salvador September 8—15, 2008. The following are reflections from two participants:
The things that made the biggest impression on me were 1) how a modest amount of financial aid given to people to help themselves encourages many good things to happen and hope to returns to their lives. 2) families living in homes with dirt floors and cobbled together walls are the norm — especially poignant when I did the math and realized that an amount of money less than a lot of us have paid for one home will buy the material to provide a cinder block house with "real" floors to the whole canton. 3) talking with our translators — Raul about the history of the revolution and his part in it; Pedro and Mario about being taken to the U.S. as small children as illegal immigrants and their returns to a country and culture they knew little about; listening to Don Pablo talk with such passion about his life and experiences during the revolution. It put a face on the illegal immigrant issue in the U.S. today. Thanks for giving our parish the opportunity and a vehicle to see a bigger picture of the world than Waukee, Iowa, and for a way to directly contribute to helping others to create a better life for themselves and their families. The trip is a great experience!! Nancy Emerson
What a gift to have the opportunity to travel to El Salvador twice in a year! El Salvador is a beautiful country but is a land of contrasts. The volcanic ground on which it exists creates a challenge for farmers planting row crop seeds by hand with a stick on the steep slopes of the hills; yet the lush countryside has groves of orange trees, coffee-trees, plantain trees, and coconut trees. When we visited in September, there was a brand new school in El Recreo that had not existed in February. The people were proud of their second school, and we were fortunate to see a production by the school children about their Independence Day (September 15). It was a special blessing to get to see some familiar faces on the second time around. A number of the children spontaneously wrote thank you notes to our delegation for the blessings that St. Boniface has been to them. Thanks to the generosity of Hy-Vee and the effort of some St. Boniface Compadres, we had the privilege of providing first aid kits to each family in the canton. Some were delivered by hand, walking to the various homes. The rain hampered our efforts the second day, but they were delivered after Mass. These individuals are a living testimony to the Beatitudes in Jesus Sermon on the Mount! Lynn Boes
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