Helping

Parishes in the Diocese of Evansville help the poor in poverty-stricken countries like Haiti by collecting money and other resources for them on a regular basis, and by visiting parishes there. Parishes throughout the diocese help with pastoral needs, student sponsorships, school books, tuition, uniforms and lunches, medical and dental needs, business development, micro-financing of start-up businesses, clean water 

efforts (constructing and maintaining water pumps, which are the primary source for obtaining clean water), church renovations and construction, and much more. 

 

Parishes support those efforts by visiting Haiti, and many parishioners here have developed relationships with pastors and parishioners there; often they return home from Haiti with ideas and plans on how to help even more. Mission teams have worked for years on projects that involve days of planning, obstacles, commitments and implementation. The common goal echoed by those who work on mission 

eams is simple: to help. 

 

Parishes in the diocese have been paramount in their continuous support of Haiti. Much work has been done over the years, but there is still much to do. ”Haitians communities need ‘intellectual capital’, people who have been educated to help problem-solve and provide leadership to the villages,” explained Butch Feulner, a member of St. Joseph Parish in Vanderburgh County. “If the university graduates can do that, it will help turn things around for the villages. We can all help by assisting with health care, clean water efforts, and the basics of life we take for granted, but if we don’t get the kids involved in a better way of life, the vicious cycle will continue.” 

 

For those who have traveled to Haiti – and several go frequently – similar feelings have been expressed. They say that Haitians are a welcoming people, and even in the midst of extreme poverty there is deep faith and a deep sense of pride. Diane Moll, a member of Evansville’s Corpus Christi Parish, spoke about her recent visit to Haiti. ”At Mass in Haiti, ’thank you’ is repeated over and over. They are truly grateful people for what they have, thankful for their lives, and they have strong bonds between children and 

parents.”

 

Father Gene Schroeder, pastor of St. Joseph Parish, believes what Pope Francis says, “I want to have a Church that can stand with the poor.” Father Schroeder said, “That’s what the missions are all about. 

 

Evangelism is learning about the needs, saying all the right prayers, changing hearts, putting yourself where your heart might be challenged. Hearts are definitely challenged in Haiti.”

 

Greg Head, chairman of the mission team at St. Joseph attended Cursillo in 2004 and it helped change his life. When he went to Haiti in 2005, his heart was changed.  “I wondered how it is possible for the people of Haiti to be so happy when they have so little?” he said, “And, how can we be so unhappy when we have so much here at home?”

 

Rita Torrence, a member of Holy Rosary Parish in Evansville, spoke about her Haiti mission experience. ”If there wasn’t a presence of the Church in Haiti to help the poorest of the poor, these people would have no future and no hope.”