When the call came for volunteers to assist the staff at Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas care for the refugees crossing the border, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania answered. Betsy Wiest, Social Justice Coordinator and SSJ Agregee, contacted Annunciation House to find out what was needed. She and Deb Seng, SSJ Agregee, made arrangements to travel to El Paso for two weeks to serve. Betsy then collaborated with Patrice Swick, Social Justice Director for the Diocese of Erie, to join them on the mission. As a result, the Erie Diocese and Sisters of St. Joseph provided a serving presence for refugees in need of assistance. We worked along side of the Annunciation House staff to first of all develop a trusting relationship with those we served. We provided clothing, fed them meals, helped them settle into the shelter until travel arrangements could be made for them to unite with their sponsors and provided travel bags for each family with food to help make the next portion of their journey a little easier. Although we don’t speak Spanish and those we served did not speak English, caring and love of neighbor didn’t need words. We served with compassion, tenderness, caring and most of all with love. We didn’t preach the gospel, we lived it.
You can follow our experiences through Betsy’s blog posts at www.ssjerie.org.
Click on mission & spirituality and then go to truth and justice matters: a blog.
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| Left to right: Deb Seng, Patrice Swick, & Betsy Wiest in the "office" |
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