Volunteers from Minnesota helped make the July summer Bible school at Glenmary's mission in Houston, Miss., a success.

During the week of July 10, dozens of people at Glenmary’s mission in Houston, Miss., were adorned in green T-shirts proclaiming, “Powered by the Son!” The shirts were the garb of choice for participants in the summer Bible school hosted by the mission and staffed by volunteers from St. John the Baptist Church in Savage, Minn., a sister parish to the Houston mission for the last two years.

“They came and organized the Bible school with a lot of energy,” says Sister Pat Sullivan, the pastoral associate at Immaculate Heart of Mary. “It was a missionary trip for them so they came with a real missionary spirit!”

Thirty-five people, including several families, made the trip from Savage, according to Andi Little, the director of religious education for St. John the Baptist who planned and coordinated the Bible school. “Sister Pat asked us to provide the kids with an introduction to Scripture and to teach them Bible verses,” Andi said.

Each morning, Bible school participants took part in arts and crafts as well as Scripture study. In the afternoon, the Minnesota volunteers engaged the children in a reading program and then played organized games of kick-ball and soccer.

Sister Pat estimates that about 75 kids, most of them Hispanic, attended the Bible school. Although some were members of Immaculate Heart of Mary, others were new to Sister Pat. “Some of the kids just haven’t come to church before or were friends of kids in our parish,” she says.

The folks from the Minnesota parish were the key to the success of the Bible school. “They made sure the Bible school was well put-together. If we had done it, it would have been just one of a lot of things we do. But they were able to devote full time to it.”
Both Sister Pat and Andi see the Bible school as an effort in evangelization. “There’s a lot of potential in the Hispanic community,” Sister Pat says, and many families have been introduced to the mission parish through their children’s participation in Bible school.

Right now the Minnesota volunteers are providing the supplies as well as the teachers and volunteers for the Bible school. But they hope to empower others—older children who have gone through the Bible school as well as the parents of past participants—to take more responsibility in the future.

“There should be a time when they don’t need us,” Andi says. “They might need us for financial support, but we want to teach the community to assume more responsibility.”

Andi emphasized the warmth and hospitality of the Houston community. “They’re the most welcoming people in the world,” she says. “They’re attitude is mi casa, su casa, and we don’t feel like strangers at all. We couldn’t do it without that welcome.”

Learn more about Glenmary's Adopt-a-Mission Program