While in San Mateo, Guatemala, Brother David reconnected with many people who previously lived in Ohio County, including Pedro, above.

When Brother David Henley left for Mexico and Guatemala last August he carried with him messages, pictures and packages for family members of the Spanish-speakers living in Ohio County. For many living in the county, Brother David’s visit offered a rare opportunity for them to reconnect with family members “back home.”

Brother David, 35, spent the fall semester of 2005 taking ministry and theology classes at Immaculate Conception Seminary in San Juan de los Lagos, Mexico, and living at and helping out at Holy Spirit Church. After finishing classes in December, he spent two weeks in San Mateo, Guatemala, an area that is home to over 400 persons living in and around Hartford, Ky. Hartford, the Ohio County seat, is home to the Glenmary House of Studies and to Brother David for the past five years. Brother David will make final profession in August.

“The time in Mexico was very helpful,” the Columbus, Ohio, native says. “People say I’m more proficient in Spanish since I’ve returned and, for me personally, just being part of the culture and participating in the everyday life of the parish and greater community was invaluable.”

While his studies kept him busy, he found time for parish work, work that led him out to the “ranchos,” or small villages, that are a part of Holy Spirit Parish but are over 30 minutes from the church. The 12 villages, which he likened to missions in the United States, all have a chapel where they hold their activities and programs, including religious education programs which Brother David helped with. “Even in the city, there are small communities that are led by lay leaders,” Brother David explains, “because the parish center isn’t large enough to hold all 15,000 parishioners!”

Brother David is no stranger to reaching out to those in need. Prior to entering Glenmary, he spent several years working for outreach agencies, including the Volunteer Missionary Movement in Chicago, where he worked at a transitional shelter for homeless men. He also worked in a similar program in Santa Fe, N.M. He has continued that type of outreach as a member of Glenmary, working primarily with Spanish-speakers as an advocate, translator and interpreter.

“Ten years ago I didn’t think I had the capacity to learn a foreign language,” he says. “While in Chicago, I began studying Spanish, but I didn’t have a clue I would be using it so much in the future.” There are days, he says, that he speaks more Spanish than English. And his classes in Mexico were in Spanish, which offered another challenge as he learned to study in Spanish. “It was a good challenge, though,” he says.

It was the interaction with those he met on his journey, however, that meant the most to Brother David. “The welcoming and hospitality of the people was so complete and genuine,” he says. “I was able to deliver the letters, photos and packages I had been entrusted with and to take photos which I would later deliver to families in Kentucky.”

In Mexico, he photographed the headstone of a man who died in Ohio County several years ago. His body was returned home but his siblings had never seen the headstone. In Guatemala, he photographed small children who have been left in the care of their grandparents while their parents moved to the United States to work, hoping to save enough money to return in a few years and build a small house. In some cases, it had been years since the parents had seen their children.

He spent Christmas Eve in Guatemala, visiting with a family in their simple house eating tamales and preaching at Christmas Eve Mass. “It may have been one of the best Christmas Eves I’ve ever had,” he says. Upon his return in January, he was told repeatedly “thank you for visiting my land and my family.”

Brother David is currently working to finish his degree in pastoral ministry at Brescia University. This summer he will do his clinic pastoral education (CPE) at Cabell Huntington Hospital in West Virginia and will make his Final Oath to Glenmary in August.

“I’m looking forward to whatever mission assignment I’m given after I take my Final Oath,” Brother David says when asked about his hopes for the future. “In Glenmary, I’ve found a good fit, a place where I am best able to be who I am.”

Whatever the assignment, outreach to those in need will most certainly be part of it. “The more I’ve gotten involved with outreach and service opportunities throughout my life, the more joy I’ve found as well as a greater desire to do more.

“It’s an honor to participate and be involved in people’s lives,” he says. “I’ve found those I’ve met have helped me find out who I am and what gifts I have to share. I know I’ve received much more than what I’ve given.”

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