Two Armed Guards Outside A Foreign Burger King: Welcome to Guatemala City

I’m sitting in the lush green courtyard at the mission in Santo Tomas.  We still haven’t really recovered from traveling, because we left Helena yesterday at 5 pm, traveling nonstop through the night until we reached Santo Tomas today around lunch time.

It was really shocking to fly out of Los Angeles (a very American city with a lot of American poverty) and land in Guatemala City (a very developing world city with a lot of developing world poverty).  From the air, they seemed very similar, but as we got closer and closer, Guatemala showed me the real difference.  We got no closer to the city than our bus window, and it was very interesting to see how many tin roofs and piles of garbage off the side of the road there could be in one area.

The drive to the mission was bumpy and interesting.  Our bus driver, Hector, was full of fun tidbits and very excited to share with us.  Santo Tomas is a lot bigger than I expected, with a population of about thirteen thousand.  Our large glob of gringos explored the town, and we drew a lot of stares and gawks.

I’ll let other people give their two cents, more from me later, Buenos Tardes!

-Ned Scheidecker

Prayers for the Rome Group

Christ never allowed us to walk alone. He always sent us out two by two, but he also gave us people to pray for us. On This trip we have the distinct privilege to share our experiences in prayer with our family going to Rome. We decided to split up our groups and pray for each other. The group that is going on a pilgrimage to Rome and our group have already been able to share mass together and come in fellowship just to spend time together. The idea behind the prayer partners is that it allows us to walk with our brothers and sisters through the entire trip. We will have the opportunity to lift someone up in prayer and in return be lifted up. I think the most powerful part of this is the fact that it was we, the students, who wanted to have prayer partners. We really are part of a family and I am so excited for that family to grow with our new friends that we will meet in Guatemala and in Rome. Even though we are thousands of miles apart we can be connected through Christ and the Eucharist.

George Lund

On the Way

Hello everyone! Greeting from Salt Lake City, Utah! I’m excited to be the first student to blog for our site! We have about an hour left in Salt Lake City until our next flight to Los Angeles…then we’ll be on our way to GUATEMALA! So far, we have definitely stood out in the airport with our matching green Guatemala shirts…everyone in the airport keeps asking where we are going and what we will be doing. Overall, the group is very eager to get to Guatemala and begin this amazing journey! Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers! Keep checking back for updates from everyone else in the group!

Special shout outs to my mom and dad, Jeff and everyone back at Carroll!!

Guatemala here we come!!!

Tara Higgins

A sneak preview…

To give you all a feel for where we are going, here is a link to a photo album from Bishop George Leo Thomas’ trip to Guatemala in January.

http://www.diocesehelena.org/resources/multimedia/photos/guat10/index.html

Keep us in your prayers as we head out today!

Blessings,

-Carroll Campus Ministry

(Photos copyright – Diocese of Helena)

A Note to Our Sponsors

This trip would not be possible without the many generous people who helped with our fundraising efforts over the course of this past year. A special thank you to John McCarvel of the Crocs Corporation for generously donating shoes for us to sell and to Tom McCarvel for helping to move so many boxes around as well as to Butch and Facilities Management at Carroll College and the Athletic Department for providing us space to store 3000 pairs of shoes. Also to Kim Loberg for generously knitting hats for us to sell. Finally, to those who bought the shoes, hats, and the Firetower coffee!

Also thank you to the Carroll Community for your generous support of this trip and to all of our friends, parents, families, and people in the Helena community for donating to and attending our Enchilada dinner and silent auction. Also thank you to Archbishop Hunthausen, Bishop Thomas, Rick Hyland, Jeremy Beck and Therese Tucker for spending time with us to tell us about the Mission by sharing your stories and to Fr. Jeff for his amazing skills in graphic design and his ability to make nice looking coffee labels without even liking coffee!

I am excited for the students to get there after working hard all year to raise money and learn about the Mission in Guatemala. For them this trip will be a chance to learn about the way in which the Catholic Church reaches out to a community by serving but also by being in relationship and working side by side with those who they serve.

Thank you for following along on our trip!

Peace,

Colleen

Going Back To Guatemala

As I prepare for my second trip to Guatemala my mind flips through the
faces, scenes and memories from my first trip. I am most excited about
going to Mass with my Guatemalan brothers and sisters.  It seems that at
Mass we all speak a common language and we are most like a family.  The
first time I went on this trip it was for a personal experience and for
personal reasons.  This time I am excited to facilitate the experience
for the 18 students going on this mission trip. I believe life will once
again prove that the experience is always better when you are working
for others instead of yourself.
-Patrick Harris

Who We Are

Students traveling to Guatemala are:

Nathan Scheidecker  – Butte, MT

George Lund – South Bend, IN

Jacey Stahlberg  – Kalispell, MT

Erica Mannix – Helmville, MT

Jill Morse – Spokane, WA

Mat Carlin – Tacoma, WA

Jacob Harrison – Missoula, MT

James Winegart – Florence, MT

Kellie Kalbfleisch – Whitefish, MT

Rebecca Loberg – Butte, MT

Brittney McMahon – Helena, MT

Tara Higgins – Vancouver, WA

Amy Dever – Spokane, WA

Laura Gillette – Miles City, MT

Sam Hunthausen – Helena, MT

Stephanie Lincoln – Kalispell, MT

Kelsey Rohm – Seattle, WA

Heidi Linhart – Hobson, MT

Patrick Harris – Student Activities, Carroll College

Chad Gray – Community Living, Carroll College

Colleen Dunne – Campus Ministry, Carroll College

Hello and welcome!

Welcome to the Carroll College Campus Ministry blog and thank you for taking the time to follow us!  We will be departing for our 2010 immersion trip to the Diocese of Helena mission in Santo Tomas La Union in Guatemala on Monday.  Be sure to check back often for photos and reflections of our trip.  God Bless!

– Carroll Campus Ministry