Interview with Guillermo Camilo, one of our brothers in the household in Moterrey, Mexico.
This interview covers the Mission Trips that some of our brothers helped with some months ago, and are part of a bigger tradition in many parts of Mexico during the 40 Days of Lent.
There is a constant and very long tradition of going and serving other smaller communities whenever
Guillermo: These Holy Week missions have been tradition in Mexico for a long time, not just for us, in general the Catholic population is used to doing this. They would go in Advent and then also at Easter. Or sometimes they do it over the summer. There is a constant and very long tradition of going and serving other smaller communities whenever.
N: OK. So, it’s not just something you do in Monterrey or Kairos (the youth and college outreaches of our communities in the region), there’s an understanding for it in the wider Catholic population.
Have the Servants of the Word done it for a long time as well?
G: Yes, has being going on for many years.
Usually, they would go to places called “ejidos”. These are places that are off into the mountains or very deep into the wilderness.
N: What’s the basic format for these Missions?
G: This team of young people go to a town that is kind off the grid away from the rest of the world. Usually, they would go to places called “ejidos”. These are places that are owned by the people who live in them and that are off into the mountains or very deep into the wilderness. They are usually quite poor.
Since there are not enough priests to go around and bring communion these teams of young people would go and try to evangelize the town’s people over that time. And because some are Eucharistic ministers, they would also bring the Eucharist and celebrate the Liturgy of the Word.
N: And so, it’s normally a team of what, 10 people or something like that?
G: More around 20. Between 15 and 20 brothers and sisters, young people go, and usually they are accompanied by some adults as well, over the course of the week. They help them with practical stuff like with managing risks and other matters.
N: And do they stay there with people from the ejido?
G: They do. We’ve had different setups. Sometimes we stay at the local school. Sometimes we stay at the parish, sometimes we stay at people’s houses. And we stay for the whole week. It depends on how poor the community is. I guess sometimes they don’t have spaces for us in their house and that’s why we stay in the parish. Sometimes they make space for us even if they have very little, and they even provide most of the food.
It’s a nice schedule, but it’s very tiring for the team.
…I think we were about 180
N: There’s only so much preaching you can do. I’m assuming there’s a prayer service every day. But what do they do the rest of the time?
G: We have activities for children and for teenagers and for adults. So, the typical day might be in the morning some activities for the children since they’re on vacation, so they come out and play. In the evenings we can have activities for teenagers, young people or university-aged young people, and also activities for adults; and in between those times we would also visit the houses of the people, talk with them, and pray with them. It’s a nice schedule, but it’s very tiring for the team.
N: I would have thought so. Because I assume you also do a little bit with the team itself, maybe some prayer, some orientation.
G: Yes, in the morning we have personal prayer all together. And before we go to bed, we also have a kind of fellowship time together and finish with night prayers.
N: And does it run from holy Thursday to Easter Sunday?
G: No, it starts Saturday before Palm Sunday. So we leave on Saturday, we are there for the whole week and return on Easter Sunday
N: That sounds intense.
And so how many teams did you guys send out this year?
G: This year we had seven teams sent out. Including the adults that go with the young people, I think we were about 180.
N: And you are the one who organizes all that?
G: Mostl but the students also take a lot of resposibility.
N: Wow! And any highlights you want to share of the time?
G: I always enjoy it when there are young people to connect with us. There were these two cases of girls from the community we visited. In one case, we reached out to her while we were walking on the street and visiting houses. We kind of bumped into her and invited it over to our activities. And she started coming. And in one of them she opened and asked for prayer. And so, the sisters went to the Chapel and prayed over her; that night she went to dinner with us. She spent the next full day with us. That was a great response that we got to see.
And then on the kids front, there was this youth who also ended up really liking us, so she sent us a video she prepared to post on her social media, which was all about us. She was very happy.
N: Other than organizing it, are there any particular challenges with these projects at all?
G: The main challenge with these projects, I’d say, is leadership. We try to have young people lead these teams. So we were only supervising or helping things happen. I put together the whole plan of making sure that they have their food, their lodging, and their transport to get there. And I get in touch with the parish. But afterwards I hand it over to them. And it was also a good highlight seeing a brother leading the team; he was so out of his comfort zone, which was kind of funny at the start. But was going for it; pushing through it and receiving my input as I’m there with them the first few days and. It was good and he was very happy.
N: How old would he have been?
G: He is 21.
So, leadership is a challenge and. And sometimes the challenge is finding places that can receive us. That was a challenge, for sure, this year, especially for the teenager’s program.
N: Thanks for sharing this and may God bless your service.
