Women's Shelter

Until recently, the city of Mobile, Alabama did not have a shelter for single women. That has changed, thanks to the Sisters of St. Agnes, along with other religious communities in Mobile, who offered to help support the project through various Community funding projects.   When this need was made known and the Mobile Homeless Coalition began to actively formulate plans for a shelter, miracles happened.

Sisters of St. Agnes in the area adopted the proposed shelter as their Community Goal for 2007 and were an active part in the planning and creation.  Many of you will remember Sister Judith Smits’ presentation on the development of the Women’s Shelter at CSA Days 2007.   

The new shelter, McKemie Place, opened on March 13, 2007 in the United Methodist Inner City Mission and provides overnight stays.  The women meet at 15 Place, a day shelter, and are transported to the night shelter at 6:00 p.m.  Since July, the CSA community of sisters and associates has been preparing the meal on the second Friday of each month.  The Associates and even some of their family and friends are involved, with  Associate Teresa Gill in charge of organizing the meal and seeing who is able to bring the necessary items.  According to S. Jean Salchert, “She was so encouraged the first time she helped that I knew she would be great at organizing each meal.  Some of the Associates who can not physically participate donate some money to help buy the necessary food.”

Sister Jean continued, “We stay and eat with the women plus help clean up after the meal.  This gives us a chance to talk with some of the ladies.  Each time we try to make the meal special; we do it with all our love.  Before each meal the women form a circle and pray together.”

 The number of women at McKemie Place on a given night varies from 11 to 30.  Over the months the faces change, for some of the women have been able to keep a job and get their own place. 

At Christmas time the Center (where Sister Jean works) was able to supply the shelter with wrapping paper.  The ladies who sleep at the shelter wrapped lap robes to be given to the residents of three nursing homes in the area.  The ladies went to each home to hand the present to the residents.  Some of the women also help the Center during the days of toy distribution.  So the women themselves are not just receiving but also are giving.  It is a privilege for us to be a part of this endeavor. 

This Resting Place

Katherine Krage hails from the LaCrosse area and learned of the CSA Associate Relationship from CSA sisters and associates at the Weaving Retreats, facilitated by Ss. Rhea Emmer and Doris Klein, at Cedar Valley Retreat Center, West Bend, Wisconsin.

On Saturday, December 29, 2007, Katherine made her first commitment to the CSA Associate Relationship in front of her family from Wisconsin and Minnesota and many of the sisters who live at the motherhouse. 

Katherine and her mentor, Sister Caryl Hartjes, Fond du Lac, WI, broke new ground during her discernment process, using their creativity and flexibility to communicate and to get together.  The 170 miles between them, coupled with work, volunteer, ministry and family responsibilities, could have been off-putting for fainter hearts…but not them!  Over the course of many months, Katherine and Caryl met on a regular basis, sharing their faith and their commitment to the mission of Jesus.

Katherine’s reflection, shared during the commitment service follows:

“There is Divine creativity always at work, and I want to be a part of it. I enjoy being a part of it. I sometimes wrestle to be a part of it.

When some of my fellow Weavers, partners at Weaving retreats over the years, suggested last spring that I look into the associate relationship with CSA, I felt interested and moved toward checking out the idea. I had by that time felt interested enough in becoming an associate that I had visited with my spiritual director of 6 years, Blanche Klein, FSPA. We talked of the possibility of becoming an associate of the FSPAs. (Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration)  Since then I was accepted for the Spiritual Direction Preparation Program with the LaCrosse (WI) FSPA. For what ever purpose, these two offers were not to be my path.

In the meantime, Ellen Swan and her choice for my direction with CSA, Sister Caryl Hartjes, were a new part of my life.  This was about six months after I had determined I would no longer strive, no longer struggle to follow certain paths I had thought were correct but were blocked in some ways. I sat quietly and did my SCHM (St. Clare Health Mission) thing once a week. I attended talks and retreats. I prayed and (kayak) paddled and went to the woods. I fought with my partner, resolved to keep talking, and found a way to be in his life and to make more time for God in mine.

In the time of discernment, I had a lot of time in nature, in quiet, in rest and preparation. My curiosity is always great, and I kept reading about and attending theological presentations, including Father Ron Rolheiser’s and Sister Barbara Fiand’s days of reflection here at FSC (Franciscan Spirituality Center) in LaCrosse.    As fall rolled around, a lovely couple of days with our 25^th anniversary of RISEN (Re-investing in Systems Ethics Network) provided more deep wisdom in speakers and breakout sessions.

In the background, I had friends and family supporting, asking about changes in my thinking and being, sometimes skeptical, but always loving me as I proceeded to research the idea of associate relationships, about what they meant for men and women internationally, in today’s church.

Sometimes I hear myself and others complain about the church, and I find myself saying, but, we are the church. What exactly am I wanting to do about it - about concerns, about inclusivity, about issues which push people away from this church of ours?  In the end (beginning?) it seemed that having support was a word that often came to my mind and tongue.

Support how? Prayer, like-minded folks in the work of the gospels, inclusive language in a world and church that isn’t always kind to diversity, and support in my intellectual pursuit of what is God up to in my life.  I got lots of support through spiritual direction over the years with Blanche.  Working for the FSPA in healthcare is supportive. My boss is supportive, and my dear friends and family are too. So what is it that being with this community, where I come today to make my first commitment, adds to the mix?

These CSA folk are wise people, given to consideration and prayer, acting boldly and in the spirit of the gospel. They follow Jesus and lead in our crazy, unpeaceful world. They serve and never stop believing in new horizons, in possibilities.  Trafficking in human beings is not OK, the CSAs are on it. The legislature is common ground for these Agnesians.  They fear nothing so much as not acting in the spirit of the gospel. I love it.

I believe as they do.  I accept the offer to partner up and see what can be done together that we might not accomplish alone.

More than anything, possibility - not probability - and the can-do spirit of this order, plus their willingness to embrace a mid-life person who tends to go in too many directions, or be impatient, and my life-long search for joy in service, call me to this commitment. Thanks for the invitation, and this resting place.”

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A CSA Associate in Vietnam

Photos

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I had the joy and privilege of joining my students on a trip to visit the highlands of Vietnam for Christmas. I haven’t come to love Nha Trang, but I can see that I mustn’t judge all of Vietnam or the people by what I see here. The people who live in the countryside of Vietnam are delightful. The peace and beauty are astounding!

We began our journey packed into a van along with sacks of clothing for the poor. After 5 hours we arrived in GiaLai (pronounced ya-lai), an ethnic region of Vietnam that has it’s own language, dress and customs. The retreat center where we stayed, blessed with natural beauty, grace and peace, is inhabited by a few nuns and priests. Father Anthony, in his 80’s enjoys the company of his pet monkey TiTi. 

My students are all pre-seminary postulants.  Several of them are from the GiaLai area, and the purpose of the trip was two-fold: first the students lived and worked with the poorest families in the area, and then we all visited the families of our students. Those students who worked with the poor came back with the glow of love. They all had similar comments: “they’re poor but they’re happy”.

On Christmas Eve we went to the local church where the young people put on a Christmas play. The weather was warm and the drama was enacted outdoors in the church courtyard.  Not many foreigners come to GiaLai, so I was quite an attention getter, especially among the young people. Probably more people were looking at me than at the play.  They were all anxious to talk to me and practice the English that they’re learning in high school. They gave me gifts: candy, a Santa hat, an orange, they hugged me and followed me around.

The mass on Christmas morning was magical. The haunting music of steel drums, the rhythmic singing and dancing of the native people, the joy was evident. On Christmas night we held a party for the young people of the community, around a huge bonfire. We sang and danced traditional dances and played traditional games. The boys stayed up all night, a tradition, maybe a little like prom night in the US. They were tired, but so happy.

When Christmas festivities ended we began our visits to the students’ families. They are all farm families, living in simple, basic housing surrounded by the Lord’s beauty.  The most basic home we visited was bare wood and dirt floors, set in harmony with its surroundings of pepper vines and coffee trees, the coffee drying in the front yard grown on their farm. My students’ families were all kind, generous, gracious, and humble.  I’ve never eaten so much in four days.  Each family prepared a feast for us, a group of 28.

I learned about coffee and peppercorns; I saw how they grow, how they’re dried and prepared for processing.  I learned that walking on drying coffee is a bit like roller skating, and that children like to play in it, like our children play in McDonalds’ ball pit. I learned that peppercorns are not from the same plant as green pepper or chili, quite to my surprise, but they grow on a vine. The soil of the highlands of Vietnam is rich and the scene is beautiful, but the work is hard.

One day, my student Linh said “I’m going to go get the car and we’ll go for a ride”. Wow, I thought, a car, they must be doing okay. He came back with a farm vehicle hitched to a trailer, and we all piled in for the trip to Hieu’s home.  Along the way we saw two huge farm machines lumbering down the highway on four legs; elephants used in farming, walking along the road with eighteen-wheelers, motorbikes and farm trucks!

Every time I begin to get the idea of leaving Vietnam, God does something like this to pull me back. I think he wants me to be here, so here I am. For Christmas this year I was blessed with the gift of love, good company, natural beauty, good food and the absence of materialism.

June Bayard

Nha Trang, Vietnam

December 2007

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The Nicaragua Visit - September 2007

by Ellen Swan

Judy Mugerauer, an associate from Oshkosh, WI, and I spent a week in Nicaragua visiting CSA mission and ministry sites. The convent in Managua, called "Kil Ocho," was our home while in the country. "Kil Ocho" refers to the location at kilometer eight (ocho, in Spanish.)  Retired Sisters Guadalupe, Imelda, Immaculada, and Maria del Carmen live there, as do Sisters Felicitas and Margarita.  Their hospitality was especially warm and we felt right at home.

Sister Katie Schilling had arranged a full and exciting week's worth of activities for us.  In addition to dealing with the horrific results of Hurricane Felix on the Atlantic coast, all of the sisters joined in the activities planned for us.

Monday, September 17 - While travel is only about six hours in the air, Monday was a long day beginning with an 8 a.m. flight from Milwaukee; a four hour layover in Houston; finally arriving in Managua at 6 p.m.

Tuesday, September 18 - The next day, Sister Katie gives us an overview of Managua, pointing out government buildings, the cathedral, the damage from the earthquake years ago that still remains, the beauty of Lake Nicaragua, and the outdoor markets. We drove passed Zona Franca, where thousands of Nicaraguans work in the sweatshops owned by international companies.  In the afternoon, Sister Guadalupe, Sister Fatima and her school colleague, Carmen, Judy, and I went to Granada.  Sister Guadalupe hails from here, and everyone seems to know and love her! 

Wednesday, September 19 - Sister Mary Hartman has been in Nicaragua since before the war in the late 70's - early 80's.  What began as a year-long ministry for her has extended into a life's work. She showed us some of the many faces of Cantera, a non-profit organization dedicated to education, development and strengthening of Latin American communities. Cantera's dedication to these goals is evident on their own Lake Nicaragua, where 365 islands, many of them only large enough for a house, are privately owned.

On one of the island's farms, where experimental crops are grown, organic fertilizer is produced, and cows, goats and chickens are raised.

Schools for pre-K to elementary grades; popular education that includes theater arts, dancing and community action; youth programs; and the only library available within a wide area, are some of the services provided by this amazing Cantera.  Cantera's programs are proven to lower gang activity, delinquency and the crime rate in the barrios where Cantera is most active.  Cantera also sponsors clinics that offer natural and traditional medicines, along with complementary health services such as acupuncture and massage therapy. 

Our tour included a drive through the Managua city dump, where hundreds of people live.  They harvest food to eat, clothes to wear, building materials to patch up their shacks, and recyclables to turn in for a few cordobas.  As we drove along a muddy road forged by the garbage trucks, we saw children of all ages at work sorting and collecting, and at play, amid the garbage heaps. Sister Mary told us that during her years as a school teacher, she would come to the dump on her lunch hour, to talk, play with, and teach the children.

On Thursday, September 20, we flew to the Atlantic coast; Judy to Puerto Cabezas and myself to Bluefields.  It takes about an hour and a half to fly across the country. By land, the trip would take fifteen hours, due to poor road conditions.

Bluefields has a Creole culture, with most of the people speaking English.  Their speech pattern is beautiful, lilting, and joyful.  Sister Lael Niblick, who has ministered in Bluefields for several years, works in the parish, participates in mission trips to the communities along the river and on Corn Island, and coordinates a year-old group of associates.  She arranged a gathering of associates in the evening; for faith-sharing, prayer; and community.

On Friday, September 21, I helped Lael with a bit of paperwork, then went with her to the church, where she is  overseeing cleaning and maintenance work of a house on church property which will be rented. We had lunch at an outdoor seafood restaurant, a treat for someone from Wisconsin! Fishing is the main source of income for Bluefields workers and seafood is common. 

On Saturday, September 22,  I accompanied three of the associates who visit the homebound; they pray with and bring Communion to those who cannot go to Mass. They had several visits planned this day, so I was able to join them before I headed back to the airport to fly back to Managua.

Sunday, September 23 - A two hour drive to Belen, where Sister Francisca Maria lives and works was scheduled for Sunday. The retired sisters from Kil Ocho joined us, and several sisters from Managua met us there.  We celebrated the Mass with the people of Belen (for two hours).   Judy and I enjoyed the joyful song and movement of a Latin American liturgy. We then journeyed on to Casa Santa Rosa (St. Rose House), where Sister Francisca Maria had arranged a luncheon for us, after spending a week on the Atlantic coast. Her family is among hundreds of people who have lost everything in Hurricane Felix. Associates arrived for the first commitment service, coming early to visit with the sisters from Managua.  It is heart-warming to see the love and devotion people demonstrate for them, especially Sisters Immaculada and Maria del Carmen, who had ministered in Belen for many years. Three new associates, two women and a man, made their first commitment. On the way home, we were driven through a small pueblo, San Juan del Oriente, so we could see yet another aspect of Nicaraguan culture.

September 24 - On Monday, one week after our arrival, we were again at the airport. The Managua airport at 5 a.m. is quiet. Sister Katie hugs us good-bye and we're on our way back to the U.S., inspired and awed by CSA's presence and reflecting upon the mission in Latin America. 

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For more information contact:

Ellen Swan
Director of Associates
Congregation of St. Agnes
320 County Road K
Fond du Lac, WI 54935
Phone: 920-907-2318
Email: eswan@csasisters.org