WAHOO (SNR/BNHS) – Fifty-eight students and chaperones participated in a six-day mission trip to Gallup, N.M. in June, organized by the campus ministry department of Bishop Neumann High School in Wahoo.
Father Matthew Vandewalle and Father Cole Kennett served as chaplains for the trip and two Marian Sisters joined the group as well, Sister Megan Therese and Sister Pia Marie.
The students worked in Santa Fe and Gallup, serving alongside the Franciscan Missionary Sisters, the Missionaries of Charity, and the Little Sisters of the Poor.
The majority of the work was done in the Diocese of Gallup, the poorest diocese in the United States. The students served at Casa Familia Emergency Shelter for single women and families, Sonrisa Supportive Family Low Income Apartments, and Saint Elizabeth Shelter in Santa Fe. In Gallup, students served at Villa Guadalupe Nursing Home with the Little Sisters of the Poor, the Missionaries of Charity soup kitchen and homeless shelter, a community food pantry, Sacred Heart Catholic School, and Sacred Heart Retreat Center.
At Sacred Heart, students organized and provided a one-day camp for children of the area. The day began with Mass with the campers followed by lunch, games and activities.
At the retreat center, students cleaned, planted, weeded, moved stones, built stairs, renovated roads and moved more than 100 tons of rock. Their work helped beautify a place of retreat for the Native Americans of the region.
Each day of the mission pilgrimage included Mass, adoration, confession, group discussions, fellowship, singing, and service work, all centered on serving Christ by serving others.
The participants also visited Catholic shrines and churches in New Mexico including El Santaurio de Chimayo, a small shrine located in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains where 300,000 pilgrims travel each year to ask for prayers of healing and to offer prayers of petition, and thanksgiving for prayers answered. The shrine, called “Lourdes of America” is known for its healing soil.
Students also visited The Holy Steps at Loretto Chapel, Santa Marie de la Paz Catholic Church, the Cathedral of St. Francis Assisi, and the San Miguel Chapel, the oldest church in the United States.
Students said the trip helped them to see that others need them and that they can serve and be joyful.
“The thing I liked the most was helping others and making a visible and obvious difference,” said Jack Kuhfahl, a sophomore at Neumann.
Adelynn Zwick, also a sophomore, said she liked “being able to spend time helping other people in need, with my friends.”
Bishop Neumann has hosted mission trips since 2016 to New Mexico, Chicago, and a local mission day at Villa Marie School in Waverly. Annually, more than 50% of the student body at Neumann participate in mission trips, mission days, and pilgrimages to World Youth Day, the March for Life, and Steubenville. Students also attend TEC retreats, complete service hours, and attend class retreats.
Bishop Neumann’s theme for the upcoming year, is “Made for More.” The new school year will revolve around the words of Pope Benedict XVI, “The world offers you comfort. But you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness.”
Bishop Neumann is a central Catholic junior/senior high school in Wahoo, and is supported by 10 parishes in Saunders County, including St. Joseph in Colon, St. Mary in Davey, St. James in Mead, Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Plasi, St. John in Prague, St. Vitus in Touhy, Ss. Mary and Joseph in Valparaiso, St. Wenceslaus in Wahoo and St. John Nepomucene in Weston.
