The parishioners at Blessed Sacrament Church in Midland, Mich., are addicted to outreach. With 7 percent of the parish’s budget earmarked for outreach, many organizations and programs benefit from their generosity—including Glenmary missions.

Beginning in 1989 this parish adopted Glenmary’s missions in Andrews and Robbinsville, N.C. That relationship lasted until 2002 when those two missions were returned to the care of the Charlotte diocese.

But that didn’t stop the members of Blessed Sacrament’s Christian Service Commission. They wanted to stay connected to Glenmary, so they called the Glenmary mission office to ask, “Who needs us,” says Blessed Sacrament’s administrative assistant Sue Bufka. Today, they are the proud adopters of St. Mark, Glenmary’s mission in Ackerman, Miss.

“This relationship lets our parishioners learn about a very different experience of being Catholic in an area where there aren’t many Catholics,” Sue says. “Adopting a mission helps us connect to the broader world, to the broader Church.”

When Blessed Sacrament began its relationship with St. Mark, the staff wanted to connect with the mission on a deeper level than just providing $300 a month in financial support. Over the past year, they have been exchanging photos, letters and e-mails with Glenmary pastoral coordinator Sister Alies Thérèse—and involving everyone in the program, from the Blessed Sacrament grade-school children to their senior citizens.

One outgrowth has been the pen-pal relationship between Kayla Miller of Ackerman and Alex Aiken of Blessed Sacrament. Kayla, 11, is one of the few children in the mission congregation. She was received into the Church on Aug. 17, making her first reconciliation and first Communion. A Blessed Sacrament class surprised Kayla by sending her congratulation cards.

Sister Alies says she received another surprise at the end of the school year. The Michigan student body raised an additional $425 and donated it to St. Mark. The extra funds are being used by the mission to build “the cabin,” Sister Alies says. Once completed, it will house a small office, a meeting room and provide storage space allowing their community room and worship space to increase in size. “We’re growing!” Sister Alies reports.

On any given weekend, the attendance at St. Mark is 10 to 20 Hispanic, Anglo and African-American parishioners. The mission, located in an impoverished area of northeast Mississippi, has the only integrated congregation in Choctaw County. So life in Ackerman “is very different from the life of the children—and adults—in Midland,” Sue says.

She describes Midland, the home of Dow Chemical Corporation, as “fairly well off.” The parish of over 1,800 families has a goal of becoming a “total stewardship” parish. This means the congregation asks itself how their gifts of time, talent and treasure can best be used to serve the Lord, and then they take action steps towards their goals.

“Adopting a mission is part of that commitment to stewardship,” Sue says. “We’ve been doing this for so many years, it’s a part of who and what we are.”