Our brother’s keeper
CHARLOTTE — Boys living with HIV. Toddlers with disabilities abandoned by their families. Men who are mentally or physically disabled. These are the people a group of St. Ann parishioners recently traveled halfway around the world to care for in Warangal, India.
St. Ann Parish is a longtime supporter of the Missionaries of the Poor, a community of religious men who serve the poorest of the poor, people who have been cast off from society, in missions all over the world – in India, Jamaica, the Philippines, Africa, and even here in the Diocese of Charlotte in Monroe.
For the past three years parishioners have donated $100,000 to pay school fees for orphans and provide support to the Missionaries of the Poor in southern India, which runs two missions: Divine Mercy Orphanage, which cares for boys who contracted HIV at birth, and the House of Joy, a home for disabled boys and men. Parishioners visited the homes last month on an unforgettable mission trip that took them 17,000 miles from Charlotte to Warangal.
Lucie Tonon, whose husband Deacon Peter Tonon serves St. Ann Parish, was among the missioners.
“On this mission trip we worked in the apostolate and took a few side trips,” Tonon says, to see how St. Ann’s donations have been put to good use.
The Tonons have been longtime supporters of the Missionaries of the Poor, traveling to their centers in Jamaica, Haiti and Uganda over the past 14 years. She also helps the brothers with their mission in Monroe. Father Richard Ho Lung, founder of the Missionaries of the Poor, even asked her to manage the Holy Innocents Project in Jamaica, designed to house pregnant women and children.
Tonon admits she did not really want to go India. “In fact, I said ‘no, thank you’ three times prior to going this time. This year no one asked me to go, but I felt God calling me to go and to trust Him.”
Lucie Tonon colors with a resident at the House of Joy. St. Ann missioners, pictured at Christ the King Monastery, worked with the Missionaries of the Poor in India. (Photos provided by Father Timothy Reid)But the impact this mission trip and others have had on her faith is huge, she says. “The Lord teaches you something each and every time you go. Sometimes I feel it is one word, like a heightened sense of gratitude. When the poor are so appreciative of every little thing you give them, like a piece of paper and a crayon, why can’t we be appreciative of the things people give us in America?”
“The residents of these missions are your teachers, who give you lessons if you just watch them. Many residents have been left at the hospital or in the street by their family when the brothers pick them up. Their new family becomes their fellow residents and the brothers,” she explains.
What also touches her is how the residents who can walk fetch wheelchairs for those who can’t walk, and then happily bring those residents to the table to eat. “They care for each other like healthy families care for one another,” she says.
These mission trips “take you out of your comfort zone” but are very gratifying, says St. Ann’s pastor, Father Timothy Reid.
“We do whatever the brothers need us to do,” Father Reid says.”It’s nice to take the material blessings that we have and share them over there. I feel good about St. Ann supporting this mission, because we are not just supplying blankets, we’re sharing our faith.
“It enkindles more deeply the virtue of charity. Doing this type of trip brings out the very best in people. They become more generous. It increases their gratitude.”
Parishioners Chris and Steve Brunhuber also accompanied Tonon and Father Reid on the mission. For Chris, this was her second mission trip to India. She has also served on mission in Jamaica with the Missionaries of the Poor.
Brunhuber says of the difficult circumstances that have led to the boys and men being abandoned by their families, “It is heartbreaking, but through the brothers’ calling they truly live up to what the Lord calls us to do and that is to be ‘our brother’s keeper.’ The Missionaries of the Poor truly exemplify this phrase.”
She and Steve like to go on mission trips “because we enjoy serving others who are less fortunate and we enjoy supporting the Missionaries of the Poor. These experiences helped us grow spiritually and help us learn to see Christ in the eyes of all the people we serve.”
St. Ann parishoner Steve Brunhuber helps a resident while on mission in January at the House of Joy in Warangal, India.Brunhuber admits that she “never truly understood that expression until I became involved in these mission trips and worked directly with the people who needed love and kindness so much.”
“Although we have participated in other charitable outreach situations locally, these experiences have helped heighten our awareness of what is going on in the world, and whether we are giving locally or internationally we are trying to live by the fact that we are our brother’s keeper,” she says.
Tonon reflects on their mission experience, adding, “The brothers teach you how to pray and how to give God the glory in all they do. The brothers are dedicated servants, taking absolutely nothing for their time and hard work. They do what they do for the love of the Lord. They give all of themselves.
“So I come back each time and ask the Lord to teach me how to be more dedicated to Him, just one little step. Can I be obedient like the brothers? Can I love a little more or be a little more selfless? Can I remember the importance of praying before I do every little thing?”
— SueAnn Howell, Senior Reporter