An Amazing Experience in Denver
Time and time again, probably like many others, I find myself praying for things that I want and desire. I pray for things that I think that I need. Very rarely do these prayers get directly answered in a way that I have asked. Today was a prime example of this lesson that I have come to learn. When I first signed up for this Headlights trip I originally asked to be sent to Rochester, New York. The reason for this was because I had been to New York in the past and experienced the homeless on the streets. I felt a strong desire to someday return and hopefully help the poor. When I found out I was going to be going to Denver I was a bit disappointed. I knew wherever I was going, I was going to be doing work for the Lord, but I had thought that New York was my calling. After talking with one of the leaders I found out that the trip to Denver was going to be working with the homeless directly on the streets. I immediately knew that there was a reason God wanted me in Denver for a mission’s trip. I prayed for weeks, and maybe even months before the trip. I prayed that I would experience a profound moment with God. One of those moments where God’s love and faith would just directly flow from me, a moment that probably happens very few times for most people. As the days grew closer and closer to when we would be doing our street ministry, my prayers got longer and my hopes were high.
As we were approaching the afternoon where we would be headed to Capitol Hill to work with the homeless on the streets, my nerves were high. The City Of Christ missionaries asked us all if we were nervous for what we were about to do, and most of us said yes. Now that I think about it, I believe we were all nervous for different reasons. My reasoning for being so nervous wasn’t because I was afraid of talking to the homeless or because I was afraid of those awkward moments. I was truly afraid that I was going to fail. I was afraid that I was going to not experience that profound moment that I had been praying for so long about. I didn’t want to fail as a missionary.
My experience at Capitol Hill was very different than I could have ever imagined. Of course I was able to talk with the homeless, and I was able to bond with some of them. One homeless man in particular completely caught me off guard. I was caught in an uncomfortable position with him where a few inappropriate words were said, and I honestly did not know how to react. I still to this moment have a very hard time explaining my feelings from then on. I couldn’t stop thinking about what just happened. I didn’t understand why this happened. I kept asking myself questions about whether or not I did something wrong, or what more could I have done in this situation. I also was very confused with God; I wanted to know why had He put this situation before me. My experience wasn’t what I had been praying for for weeks and all I could do was question God and his intentions.
Walking back to our housing after our street ministry, everyone was talking about their amazing experiences with their interactions with the homeless people. I was very happy and thankful that many of my friends had profound moments during the street ministry. When I was asked how my experience was, I honestly didn’t know what to say. I would never say that it was bad, but I couldn’t quite get myself to tell others that it was great. I was very emotional about the subject and hardly had words. I still hardy have words for why I felt so let down and why I felt so hopeless. I would kind of like to share a prayer that was said later that night though that really opened my eyes . . . it comes from Ephesians 3: 17-21, saying, “May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith, and may charity be the root and foundation of your life, thus you will be able to grasp fully, with all the holy ones, the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ’s love, and experience this love which surpasses all knowledge so that you may attain to the fullness of God himself. To him whose power, now at work in us can do immeasurably more than we ask to imagine-to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations, world without end.”
It’s crazy that I had been praying for so long for that experience of a lifetime that I had all planned out in my head. I prayed to God about what I wanted, thinking that that was what I truly needed. I realized today that God doesn’t always give you what you want. He gives you what you need. I really needed that experience today on Capitol Hill and I still can’t really explain to you why, but I can say that one day God can reveal this to me. This gives me time to pray and time to grow in my faith so that I can continue to serve the Lord. I have more to share with God than I did yesterday and I have more faith that I ever had before. I am truly thankful for this because now God has room in me to do work that is immeasurably more than I could ever imagine.
Thank you for reading,
Nicole K. Munoz
A Great Week in Rochester
New Blessings From Rochester
Hello supporters of Carroll Headlighters! Yesterday was our day to work and play as a group. First, we went to a place called Bethany House, which is a house for women and women with children who need a place to stay, a warm meal, or help finding community resources. Being that there were 14 of us we were able to make quick work of some housekeeping and organizing. We were assisted by other volunteers that periodically stopped by, most with their own story of how Bethany house had been a resource for them in the past. One in particular was still searching for a job but took time every week to stop by and do what she could. The love and compassion that she had for her fellow women of Rochester was inspiring. After Bethany house we went to the National Museum of Play and later we found ourselves at a Barbeque joint called Sweet Lips. Everyone ate way too much and had a great time.
Thursday came so fast, and I can’t believe everything that we have seen, done and talked about over the past five days. Dan, Kelly and I all worked at Nazareth Elementary School run by The Sister’s of Saint Joseph. Being an elementary education major I have seen my fair share of schools, but this one by far has a special quality that I have yet to see anywhere else. The school is truly rooted in Catholicism and the idea that every child deserves an exceptional education. I think we also noticed right away the diversity within the school and the way it’s treated as a blessing, which is celebrated within each classroom. Seeing that will definitely be some of my favorite memories from this week. Kelly, Dan and I were all assigned separate grades to work with throughout the week. Dan was sent to 5th and 6th. Kelly was sent to 3rd and I was sent to Kindergarten! It has been an awesome experience for all three of us. These children have touched our hearts and have made us laugh so much.
Meeting the sisters has also been an amazing experience and I am awestruck at all the ways that these women serve the people of Rochester. Tonight we all ate dinner at the motherhouse of the Sisters and were given the opportunity to learn more about the Sister’s of Saint Joseph. All in all I think this week has been a huge blessing and I’m so glad I was able to be a part of it.
With love from Rochester,
Katherine M.
I Am Spiderman
Elyse in Elementaryland
So I think I must have died and gone to heaven because the past couple days I have literally been in pure joy and utter happiness. There are a lot of factors playing a part in this happiness… first of all, the road trip getting here. It is a very long drive to Kansas City but we have an amazing group of kids (or uh, young adults) which made for a very entertaining trip. We even had walkie-talkies to communicate between cars so that helped with the team bonding process. Secondly, actually getting here of course. I got to come on the Kansas City trip last year too so I was really looking forward to returning and continuing the friendships I had started. The minute we pulled up to the Xavier House (the sister’s house where we would be staying), I immediately thanked God for giving me the opportunity to return this year. Upon entering the house I just felt this overwhelming sense of comfort—a feeling one would get after returning home at the end of the day. It was good to be back☺
My happiness only continued when Monday came. Last year I got to help out at Cristo Rey High School, which was an amazing experience, but this year I was placed at the Diocesan Catholic School, Resurrection. Resurrection is a private PreK-8th grade inner city school in a Hispanic community. As I said, I had a great time at Cristo Rey, but being an elementary education major, I was slightly more than extremely excited to be placed at Resurrection. Not to mention, I was placed here with Emma and David, two of the most energetic, flamboyant individuals you will ever meet. Emma is always up for an adventure and David is an education major as well so it was cool to have other people share in my excitement.
It is now Tuesday so I wanted to share a little of what my experience has been like so far. I spend the first bit of the morning in a 1st grade classroom. The whole school starts the day off in the pledge of allegiance, the reading of that day’s gospel, and morning prayer. The 1st graders then proceed to have some silent reading time before they begin with calendar and weather. Today I got to have a small group read to me and we discussed the book together. In this small group, I had to ask one of the students to share her book with another little girl who didn’t have hers. After we were done reading and discussing, the little girl who didn’t have her book came up to me and apologized for not having it. She explained to me that the reason why she didn’t have it was because her house had been broken into over the weekend and everything was misplaced. This really took me aback and I had to think for a minute before I said anything. I do not tell you this to say that this community is bad or dangerous necessarily but to just illustrate that this is the reality here. It’s thought provoking to hear what is going on in other areas and eye opening to see how those occurrences affect people’s day to day lives.
At 9 o’clock, I head over to the Kindergarten class. Let me just say…holy bologna are these kids adorable… To illustrate this for you- I was helping one little boy with his worksheet and after we finished the problem, I asked him to tell me his name again. “Ezekiel. But, that’s not really my name.” I asked him what it really was then. His face immediately went from a big baby-tooth smile to a straight serious face. “I am Spiderman. I was bit by a red and blue spider.” I am a believer in Spiderman so I wasn’t about to question him. So instead I responded, “Spiderman, it is an honor to finally meet you; I’m a huge fan. Especially of your ability to shoot webs.” And then we both did the “Kt-ss, Kt-ss” sound and did the hand motion that Spiderman does to shoot webs. Now every time we see each other in the hallway we do this instead of waving.
Then there is Julio who is that kid who seems to always be off task… I feel bad because I seem to be exacerbating that problem… He gets up to give me a new picture probably every 10 minutes… I had a talk with him today and we agreed that he could only draw me pictures after all his work was done. Even still though, I’m pretty sure I will be able to cover my whole entire wall with pictures when I get back to my dorm room.
I wish I could tell you about every single kid in that class…they are all so great…they make me feel like a celebrity! When I come in the room they get all excited and yell, “Yay Elyse is here!” and then when I leave I get the world’s biggest group hug. It makes me smile that I am someone they can look up to- yes, literally, but also in the sense that I can be a positive role model in their lives.
I have so many more stories but this is already quite the lengthy blog so high-five for reading it!! I will write more later if I am allowed to 😉
Until next time,
God bless,
Elyse =]
Hope Hall
Greetings from Rochester!!!!
“Jesus said to them “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work.” John 4:34
For the past few days Chelsea, Alex, and Candie Cain have all been working at Hope Hall in Rochester, New York. Hope Hall was started in 1994 by Sister Diana Dolce. During the years leading up to the opening of Hope Hall, Sister Diana was working with students that are “at-risk” or “educationally stranded,” in different schools around the area of Rochester. Sister Diana wanted to open her own school, but the dioceses of Rochester would not give her the money nor allow her to do this. In the end, Sister Diana opened this school with her own money. And with her own time, created this school to help these students that are struggling in school.
The name for the school came from her talking with some of her students. The students that she was helping out wanted to go to Nazareth Hall, another school here in Rochester; however, there was no way they would be able to get in with the test scores they had. During the programs, the students told Sister Diana that what she was doing was giving them hope for the future. So the name came to be Hope Hall. The students that are admitted to this private school need to have a diagnosed auditory learning disability and are in grades 3 – 12.
From the minute we walked through the doors of Hope Hall, we could feel the love and compassion that everyone has for everyone else. When we first met Sister Diana, we were amazed and could see the compassion that she has for all of her students. She always has a smile and she always in ready to help anyone that is in need of help.
According to Candie, all of the children that are at Hope Hall are a gift from God no matter who they are. They are no longer forgotten children in the school system, for Hope Hall is an intentional school to make sure that these children are never forgotten. Our job while we are there is to instill the hope in all of the children in Hope Hall.
Alex has had an experience of a life time. He is going to be a teacher and being able to sit and experience this was amazing. On Tuesday, he had an experience that confirmed his teaching vocation. While helping in English class, he looked and saw the student teacher helping students with their rough drafts, the master teacher helping a student that is definitely below the rest of their class, a student at the computer typing with 2 fingers, one letter at a time, and the rest of the class working silently. He looked out over this all and felt a complete joy and he knew that if it hadn’t been for Hope Hall these students would not be there, and he knew that he was meant to be a teacher and be the hope to these students just like their teachers are to them.
Chelsea said that is it really hard to put into words the work that she has done. From the kids in her class that are autistic but is ready to help and want to help do everything. Chelsea had an experience at lunch one day, where there was a girl that asked her what college was like. Chelsea answered and said it was fun and awesome. The little girl went on to ask if she could go to college. Chelsea told her that she could definitely go to college no matter what. The little girl was so excited because now she has a dream that she can hold onto, Chelsea had given her the hope that she hadn’t had to have dream.
Our challenge is to be Christ like, and Christ called us to be teachers. What a gift it has been to serve with those who understands and believes God’s message of teaching, hoping, loving, and serving. The work of Sister Diana and her staff has made us all realize how much of a blessing it is for Rochester to have a place like Hope Hall. Wouldn’t it be amazing to have a place like Hope Hall in every school district of the world?
In humility and in love,
Chelsea, Alex, and Candie
The Call
Day 2 of Rochester
Today we began the day off with going to mass at St. Monica’s parish in Rochester. The pastor there was Fr. Ray Flemming. He is from Butte, MT. The mass was wonderful. I was so shocked to see the way that the community was so open with everyone whether they knew them or not. At the sign of peace, the entire congregation left the pews they were in and traveled around the entire church to give peace to everyone they could meet. The love and compassion that we saw at this church really spoke to me and showed me that we need to be like this no matter where we are.
When we returned to the Sister’s home, we reflected on what we heard or saw at mass that stood out. For me, the first reading was what stuck out to me the most. The story was the call of Moses in the burning bush. I saw this as a call for us. We are all being called this week to go to the people that are oppressed and lonely and show them the love of God.
In the afternoon, we traveled through the city and learned about all of the different places that we will be serving this week. We prayed and blessed the people that will be serving in these places through this week. While traveling through the city, we were all able to get a sense of the world that we will be entering into for this week.
At the end of the day, we all had a reflective prayer with the sisters. During this reflecting we all shared about the wonders that we are going to be expecting this week. We compared our experience with a pool. We are all in the shallow end of the pool and are just wading in. This week, we are all holding hands are ready to jump into the deep end of the pool and see where the waves will take us.
Alex Chopyak
The Power of Good
Greetings everyone!
Today began at a very early hour- we had to be moved out of St. Joseph retreat center by 6:40 to be at mass by 7:00. Continuing our tour of Denver’s Catholic community, we had mass in the Denver Cathedral. As with the other churches, we were welcomed generously. We then went to the Christ in the City house for breakfast and instruction in street ministry.
Following training and lunch, the missionaries took us out for a street walk to show us the lay of the land and open our minds to the lives of the homeless. Walking through the city we were told to imagine as if we were homeless. When doing this it reminded me of the way I think while hiking or backpacking; constantly analyzing different places to stay and looking for sources of food. The urban environment felt much more like a jungle with that train of thought. The lack of security was very palpable.
Our path next took us to the 16th street mall. While riding in the free bus that runs the length of the mall, Katie had a very good conversation with a stranger about life and prayer. The person commented on how he often felt lonely and unloved, two very common experiences of life. Katie shared the power of prayer with the man and it was a very powerful experience; even before we officially start the street ministry, the power of God is working for us.
While on the bus, we also witnessed the negative side of humanity. It manifested itself in the form of several young people making fun of a mentally challenged individual who, after getting off the bus, was mocked behind his back. While good was being done between Katie and the conversation she was having with the stranger, evil was being done by the youths. The battle for good is constant, but we will prevail.
It is now 6:30 on a Tuesday, with temperatures falling and darkness overtaking Denver. Those who slipped through the cracks of society are now filling the places that we walked through earlier today. With no place other than a small bit of ground to call home, it is vitally important that they know they are loved and people do care. We journey tomorrow to show them how loved they are by Christ.
May God’s love be with you,
Steven Cornish
A Different View of the City
Today was a very eventful day for our crew in Denver. We moved out of the retreat center that we have stayed at the last few nights and into the Christ in the City missionary house. Not only that, but we got to meet the missionaries that we will be working with for the rest of the week! They were stuck outside of Denver in a snowstorm until this morning. When we met up with the missionaries, we got the chance to do a “street walk”, led by those that serve the homeless on the streets.
There were a number of things that stuck out to me on the walk. First, we saw Denver through a completely new perspective, thanks to our tour guides. On our first morning in town, Nicole and I got up early before mass and ran into the heart of downtown by the capitol building. Today, we visited it with one of the missionaries that spends his days in that park outside, ministering to the homeless and trying to combat the constant struggle against drugs on the streets. Next, we went to the 16th street mall, where just two days ago we got a chance to go shopping and embrace our tourist within. However, the commercial atmosphere and excessive consumer products seemed so much less impressive when we learned that this area of Denver is the center for most of the homeless youth to hang out.
The final thing that struck me today was our experience walking along the river after the mall. The river is where most of the homeless stay at night, due to the recent laws passed against setting up camp on the streets. We saw signs of homeless living tucked behind grates under bridges, we saw the attempts of the city to drive the homeless out by cementing down rocks where they would typically look to sleep, and we saw the dark recesses of the city where they go to “get away” and to use drugs. This included a journey into a drain tunnel from under the city, where we witnessed needles, empty balloons of heroin, and abandoned clothes. This struck me in so many ways. If this damp and dark tunnel is a haven for the homeless to live without shame of their addictions and struggles, then how bad must the world outside of it be in their eyes to drive them in there? I got claustrophobic almost immediately and it took everything in me to avoid crying at the sight of the darkness up ahead that we trudged into. It really inspired me and excited me to begin our work tomorrow of meeting the homeless community and showing them the compassion and charity that their human dignity deserves. It was so apparent today that this void is often filled with substance abuse and unhealthy relationships in their own community. I cannot wait to see tomorrow what the amazing missionaries are doing to help fill this void with Christ’s love!
-Natalie Stewart
Images from Denver
We haven’t heard much from our group in Denver because they have been busy and without internet service. Once they are able to they have a few blogs to email. In the meantime, pictures will have to do. They have been exploring the city and begin today their Immersion with Christ in the City.
Kansas City, Part 2
Hello Readers!
Kirsten here for Kansas City, part 2. Up until now, I’ve become more and more excited…first, to participate in an epic trip with some really awesome people, then to see how things have changed since the last time I was here, two years ago. So far, the trip has definitely been a blast.
This being my fourth Headlights spring break trip, on the way to Guardian Angels school this morning, I caught myself thinking…yeah…I’ve seen it all (or at least a lot)…I’m a seasoned vet. But of course, we walked in the door, and about five minutes later I was proven wrong. A very special treat, I get to serve in the classroom of my dear friend Matea—or Miss daRosa. When it was time to go to class, we walked upstairs from the gym and found our sixteen students silently lined up waiting outside the open door. NEVER in my life have I seen a class do that. And I was especially not expecting it out of an inner city group of students. Basically that “shut me up” for the rest of the day.
This week, the students are doing some standardized testing, so my tasks have been laid out pretty simply: a bit of grading, a bulletin board or two, watching kids try to pass notes, sharpening pencils, and simply watching as class “happens”. Matea is a great teacher, and her students definitely know her expectations. However, that doesn’t necessarily keep them from testing the boundaries.
A very interesting part of my day was what they call “recess”. To me, it’s more of a loose interpretation of the word. Guardian Angels is a consolidation school, fed into from several churches in the area. It doesn’t however, have a playground for its students. So what happens is before lunch, the students line up silently and “peacefully” to go play in the large parking lot with only a few cars parked around the edges. They close the gates to the lot in order to better deter cars from entering. Today I watched them run a few laps, play soccer, play tag, chit-chat with friends, then walk a couple cool-down laps before heading inside for lunch. I’ve vowed that tomorrow, I’m going to try to get a rousing game of cat-and-mouse going!!!
I feel like I shouldn’t leave this post without mentioning our evening activities! Not only was there an incredible taco dinner with the Xavier community and a visitying prayer group, but there was also kitchen dancing/laughing during dessert and dinner. 
After evening prayer which included reflections on our day and what we planned to “bring” tomorrow, we got to go to the gym of Resurrection school next door! After a quick shoot-around, we began a VERY competitive game of basketball, followed by several games of Bump aka Lightning aka Knockout (whichever you prefer…)—the first of which I won, by the way!
Overall, we really are having a blast. As I type this before going to bed, we have almost half our group over in the chapel of the cathedral that is across the street, some are hanging out before going to bed, and others are getting in much-needed showers after our activity time. I can’t wait for work tomorrow! Thank you for keeping up with the Headlights groups via this blog; it means a lot to me (and to many others) that you care about us enough to read our silly inside jokes and reflections on our experiences.
Have a great rest of your week; love you all!
Kirsten
Hashtag Excited
The last three days have been full of adventure, friendship, and singing to “This Girl is on Fire” by Alicia Keys. After madly studying for midterms, a two-day car ride forming new friendships full of laughter seemed to be the best medicine. We have a GREAT group of people full of love and joy and I cannot wait to serving alongside them!
The first day of travel, I was shunned to the “Dude Car”. I did not think that I would enjoy the eight-hour trip as they turned on the music styling of Blink 182. However, once they got bored of the boy band music and giving everyone walkie talkie nicknames, our conversations started to get interesting. The made up history lessons of different mountain ranges and creeks made me realize how much I enjoyed my banishment.
The second day started with breakfast at Wall Drug and a drive through the Badlands National Park. It was great to see the attractions of the Midwest! Saturday was a great day of building quality friendships with people that I would not have become friends with otherwise. After 12 hours of traveling, we were ready to get to our destination. Seven states and 6 lbs of gummy bears later, we arrived in Kansas City at the Xavier House (the house of living simply in community)
Today (Sunday) started with mass at the Cathedral. All the locals kept apologizing about the amount of snow on the ground; little did they know that we were familiar to the snowdrifts. After being welcomed into the community, we headed to the Kansas City Aquarium (apparently you need a child to get into Legoland and David and Mark don’t count). Still at my “wise adult age” of 21, the sharks and turtles were pretty awesome!
But in all seriousness, the last three days have been a blessing. Sharing quality time with truly joyous people makes me realize how great life can be. With all the stress that life has handed me, I have forgotten to enjoy the little things. These people have opened my eyes again. I can’t wait to start my immersion into the Kansas City culture in the morning! Hashtag excited!
Emma Priddy
Carroll College Campus Ministry 