What started as a bucket list item, has been a life changing event.
There's been a small group of parishioners from Holy Family traveling to the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and now Peru. What started as something to get off the bucket list, has been a life changing experience. This bucket list checkoff has become an annual event for my wife Heidi and I, along with several other volunteers from this area. It's an amazing way to get humbled when you live in an area that running water and electricity isn't everywhere. The locals have daily struggles just to provide the basic necessity's of life so many of us take for granted. One common sight with all of the poorest areas of the world I've ever seen, is that most everyone seems so happy. Imagine no having all the good stuff we feel is so important in our lives, yet just enjoying life itself. For the most part, the people we've been so fortunate to meet through the years have a very simplistic life. A life filled with faith, watching out for and helping each other.
This reminds me of growing up on the farm where you just woke up every morning and appreciated the day in front of you. When your work was done, then you'd go help your neighbor. The glaring need these people have in some of the most remote places of the world, is organized and structured faith. Most places haven't had a priest visit them in decades, some never.
A local family from the Brillion area, Taylor and Katie Schmidt and their seven children have become a pillar of hope for many of these small communities in Peru. Over the last two trips to Peru, our Mission group has helped construct several Churches, added on to the Pastoral Center, and aided in a couple water projects. Taylor and Katie along with their family have changed many lives for the better in the areas they live and reach out to.
The dedication of the Schmidt family is simply something not everyone would be able to do. They have given up their comfortable life in America to make other lives better. A very unselfish act of faith, kindness and love for others that would be hard to match.
None of what the Schmidt's do daily, or none of what we've done on our Mission Trips could be possible without the support of family and friends from our area. We're blessed to lie in a hard working, faith filled community.A community that cares about helping others is what makes what all Missionaries around the world do possible. Please keep up the support to help continue these great deeds.
This reminds me of growing up on the farm where you just woke up every morning and appreciated the day in front of you. When your work was done, then you'd go help your neighbor. The glaring need these people have in some of the most remote places of the world, is organized and structured faith. Most places haven't had a priest visit them in decades, some never.
A local family from the Brillion area, Taylor and Katie Schmidt and their seven children have become a pillar of hope for many of these small communities in Peru. Over the last two trips to Peru, our Mission group has helped construct several Churches, added on to the Pastoral Center, and aided in a couple water projects. Taylor and Katie along with their family have changed many lives for the better in the areas they live and reach out to.
The dedication of the Schmidt family is simply something not everyone would be able to do. They have given up their comfortable life in America to make other lives better. A very unselfish act of faith, kindness and love for others that would be hard to match.
None of what the Schmidt's do daily, or none of what we've done on our Mission Trips could be possible without the support of family and friends from our area. We're blessed to lie in a hard working, faith filled community.A community that cares about helping others is what makes what all Missionaries around the world do possible. Please keep up the support to help continue these great deeds.
- John School
