‘I was homeless, and you gave me shelter’
By DAVE MYERS
Southwest Kansas Catholic
“I was homeless, and you gave me shelter.” – Matthew 25:35
For 19 years, Marci Smith closed doors. It was part of her job. And it broke her heart.
“One of the worst things was locking people up,” she said of her nearly two-decade job in juvenile probation.
Today, she works for Catholic Charities of Southwest Kansas where her job is to open doors — to find homes for the homeless, a sense of security for those escaping violence, a new start for those recently released from prison.
“Here, we work with a lot of the same people, and we don’t have to lock them up,” said Smith, Director of Family Services.
In 2017, her first full year with Catholic Charities, she helped find homes for 40 adults and 41 children.
So far in 2018, among those she has helped include a woman who had been living in a car for weeks with several of her eight children. Another had five children and were living in a home already over-crowded with numerous extended family members.
As the wind chill reached record lows, a young man was sleeping in a display shed in front of a hardware store. It took a while to find the young man a home, even after he was kicked out of his shed/shelter.
“He told me not to worry, that he’d been on the streets for a long time, and that he’d be fine,” Smith said.
It is these individuals and families — and the many others served by Smith and Catholic Charities — who have been helped by the Vibrant Ministries Appeal.
Much of Smith’s funding comes from grants such as the federal HUD grant and the Kansas Emergency Solutions Grant. But it’s the unexpected expenses – a family or individual who needs a night or two in a hotel or other emergency assistance, or, say, who needs appliances or even various kitchenware — that are made possible because of the appeal.
When a person is in dire straits and dependent on the kindness of strangers for the basic necessities, meeting those unexpected needs can mean the difference between comfort and misery.
Like all of Catholic Charities of Southwest Kansas, Smith’s office takes the teachings of the Lord directly to the people — not in words but in action.
“We use the ‘Housing First’ model,” Smith stressed. “A home comes first, then we talk about income.”
The only requirement?
“They have to be homeless to come here,” she explained. “That includes living on the street, in a shelter, or if they are fleeing domestic violence.”
Once they enter the doors of Catholic Charities, they are given a questionnaire that will assess their needs and prioritize them. As one can imagine, there’s a waiting list.
“It’s not first come, first served,” Smith said. “Housing is based on risk level.” The Garden City office currently has 36 people on its waiting list, while the Dodge City office has six.
Catholic Charities tries to get the clients independent within a year, but they can help support them for up to two years.
“Our goal for them is to be self-sustainable.”
They are mostly single men who come to the Catholic Charities office, Smith said, but there are couples and children as well. Sadly, there are far more in need than there are resources to meet those needs.
Catholic Charities does not have the staff or financial resources for an unlimited number of clients, so it must try to limit its clients to a total of 16 homes. There are currently seven homes being served in Dodge City, and 11 in Garden City, which adds up to 18.
“Brooke [Hamlin-Lopez, Family Support Specialist], is the case worker for Garden City,” Smith said. “This is a difficult population to case manage, so we all work together to help the case management process run more smoothly.
“We pay the first three months’ rent and the safety deposit,” Smith explained. Every three months, Smith’s staff will visit with the clients to reassess their situation.
“We help find them housing and work with landlords,” Smith said. “Our clients are never charged more than 30 percent of their income.”
And if they don’t have some sort of income? Catholic Charities helps them to apply for various programs that will assist them as they get back on their feet. She is “SOAR” certified, which means Smith can help individuals apply for disability if they are homeless or at the risk of homelessness.
“My greatest reward is seeing people make changes in their lives, become self-sufficient,” Smith said.
“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” -- Matthew 25:40
Relics from the Holy Mother, the Crown of Thorns, dozens of saints, draw prayers for miracles
By Dave Myers
Southwest Kansas Catholic
They came with handfuls of items to be venerated by hundred- and thousand-year-old saints, including more than 150 tiny pieces of earthly or bodily remains kept in small reliquaries.
There were relics of saints such as Francis of Assisi, Maria Goretti, Joachim and Anne, the parents of Christ, just to name a few; as well as a fragment of the clothing worn by the Blessed Virgin. There was a piece of Christ’s crib and a part of the iron that pierced Christ’s side as he hung on the cross.
Some held their items, including photos of loved ones who were ill, against the glass of the reliquary as a means of intercession, a prayer for a healing miracle.
It’s understandable if some of those entering the cathedral March 18 for an exposition of the holy relics had at least a few doubts as to their origins. These are tangible items, after all — bone fragments from the saints, wood from the true cross, separated only by a piece of glass.
That’s where Father Carlos Martins comes in. Father Martins is an Ontario-born priest belonging to the order “Companions of the Holy Cross.” He is the founder of “Treasures of the Church,” for which he travels around the world giving presentations and displaying some 150 or so relics of his collection of 4,000 relics.
Prior to the showing of the relics, Father Martins gave a one-hour presentation in the worship area in which he described, for example, how it is that the relic of the true cross in his display was not just one of a forest of supposed true cross relics that exist today, and is instead the real thing.
“In 315 AD, Constantine was the first Christian Emperor of Rome,” Father Martins said. “His desire was to convert all the people to the Christian faith.”
After some three centuries of Christians being fed to the lions, Constantine knew this would take some work. He decided that obtaining some actual Christian artifacts to display to his people would help. So, he sent his mother, (Saint) Helena in search of pieces of the True Cross.
“She was given a revelation that she would find the True Cross on the West side of Jerusalem,” Father Martins explained. Helena discovered the remains of three crosses. How would she know which was the True Cross of Jesus?
“Helena was very clever,” Father Martins said. Helena found a woman who was affected with a grievous disease. Helena led the woman to each cross, which she touched with no effect until she came to a cross that immediately healed her affliction.
The story, the history, the effect that this God-made-man had on each person and on the entire world — told even way back when Christ walked the earth, led those at the time that these items were deeply holy and needed to be kept and treasured.
Once in the gathering space after Father Martin’s presentation, people processed solemnly around the room filled with tables on which sat the reliquaries and a plaque describing each saint. Many people knelt before the holy relics, one woman making her way around the large room, kneeling before each of the 166 reliquaries.
Another woman knelt and prayed reverently before the relic of St. Faustina, the young nun who was told by Jesus to paint him as he appeared to her, leading to the Feast of Divine Mercy, celebrated the first Sunday after Easter.
Among the many relics were those of Bernadette of Lourdes, the Apostle James the Greater (whom Jesus jokingly called “Son of Thunder” due to his voluminous preaching), John Paul II, Mother Teresa, John the Apostle, John the Baptist, the Apostle Paul, Rose of Lima, Therese of Lisieux (the Little Flower), and many others.
For more information on Father Martins and his Treasures of the Church presentation, visit http://treasuresofthechurch.com/. Click on the “more” tab to go to a gallery of photos.
‘Love Gives Life Conference’, April 7
Teen and adults are invited to the “Love Gives Life” Conference on Saturday, April 7, from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Dodge City. The conference will be hosted by Kansans for Life and the Knights of Columbus Council #2955 and will feature Terry Beatley, who will share the personal testimony of Dr. Bernard Nathanson about the deception used to convince Americans to accept legalized abortion. Several educational workshops also will be offered, in both English and Spanish. Come for just an hour, or come for the entire program. The cost is $5 for adults, and teen tickets are free. Lunch is included, but you must RSVP by April 4 if you will be eating lunch. Register by April 4 at kansansforlife.salsalabs.org/04718dodgecity or call 1-800-928-5433. See www.kfl.org for a complete schedule.
Adolescentes y adultos están invitados a una conferencia pro-vida, “El Amor Da La Vida” el sábado, abril 7, de 11 a.m. a 4:30 p.m. en la Catedral de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe en Dodge City.¡El costo es solo $5 por cada adulto, y los boletos para adolescentes son gratis. Se incluye almuerzo, pero se requiere que se registre antes del 4 de abril. Regístrese antes del 4 de abril en la pagina web kansansforlife.salsalabs.org/04718dodgecity o llame al 1-800-928-5433.
Celebration of Jesus’ Mercy takes place April 8
GREAT BEND - The parishes in and around Great Bend will celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday with a solemn hour of prayer and benediction at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 8 at Saint Patrick Church, 4100 Broadway.
The service will include adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the Divine Mercy Chaplet in song, as well as prayers, music and meditation. Confessions will be heard during the service. It is open to people of all faiths.
Devotion for Divine Mercy began in the 1930s when Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun, received special communications with Jesus in which he asked her to have this image painted to spread the message of his mercy.
Under the instructions of a spiritual director, Saint Faustina wrote down her revelations from Jesus, now contained in her 600-page diary. In these writings, Saint Faustina said people are to call upon Jesus with trust, receive his mercy, and let it flow through people to others.
This mercy fulfills the message in Matthew’s gospel that states, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”
Saint Faustina said in her diary that people “radiate” God’s mercy to others by actions, words and prayers.
The Divine Mercy image is a painting of Jesus with two rays emerging from his heart representing the blood and water which flowed from the side of Jesus as his heart was lanced after he died upon the cross.
One ray is pale representing the water which makes souls righteous, the other is red for the blood, which is the life of souls.
“These two rays issued forth from the very depths of my tender mercy when my agonized heart, was opened by a lance on the cross. These rays shield souls from the wrath of my father. Happy is the one who dwells in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him.” (Diary number 299)
Saint Faustina died in 1938 at the age of 33. She was canonized a saint April 30, 2000, in Rome by the Pope at that time, Saint John Paul II, who said that the Sunday after Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday, would now be an official feast day of the Church.
Cardinal Rigali on the
Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church
By J. Basil Dannebohm
Special to the Catholic
On March 3, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis made the decision that the Church should celebrate the Blessed Mother in her role as “Mother of the Church” every year on the Monday after Pentecost, as a way to foster Marian piety and the maternal sense of the Church.
The official decree was published in a letter from Cardinal Robert Sarah, head of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
The Marian title of “Mother of the Church,” was given to the Blessed Mother by Blessed Pope Paul VI, who earlier this month, the Vatican announced will be canonized a saint later this year.
In an interview with writer J. Basil Dannebohm, His Eminence, Cardinal Justin Rigali, explained the significance of the distinction between a votive Mass and a Memorial.
“A votive Mass is a Mass that is not inscribed in the liturgical calendar of the Church, but which the Church permits to be celebrated on certain days in honor of a particular mystery of God or the Blessed Virgin or the Angels or Saints,” said Cardinal Rigali. “In the Roman Missal there is a Votive Mass of Our Lady, Mother of the Church, which can be used on various occasions.”
The memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, has been added to the General Roman Calendar, the Roman Missal, and the Liturgy of the Hours.
“What Pope Francis has now given to the Church is a new celebration of Mary, Mother of the Church, to be observed throughout the Church on the Monday after Pentecost,” says His Eminence. “It has the liturgical rank of a Memorial. As such, it is inscribed in the calendar of the Church. It is not a Feast but it is given to the whole Church, and its celebration brings new honor to our Blessed Mother.”
His Eminence noted that observing the memorial on the Monday after Pentecost bears significance.
“This new Memorial is beautifully placed right after the Solemnity of Pentecost and in this way also provokes a reflection on the relationship of the Blessed Virgin to the Holy Spirit,” said Cardinal Rigali.
In his encyclical, “Divinum Illud Munus,” Pope Leo XIII mentioned the spousal relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Blessed Virgin: “You know well the intimate and wonderful relationship existing between her (The Virgin Mary) and the Holy Spirit, so that she is justly called His Spouse.”
The memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, will officially be celebrated for the first time on May 21, 2018.
Knights purchase new scanner for ABC Pregnancy Center
Fathers Mark Brantley and Warren Stecklein presided at the dedication and blessing of a new $47,000 ultrasound scanner at the ABC Pregnancy Care Center in Garden City, which was purchased thanks to a donation by the Knights of Columbus.
“We are extremely excited to have this machine,” said Erica Boone, Executive Director of the ABC Pregnancy Care Center. “Right after the dedication, we were able to do five sonograms for abortion-minded and abortion vulnerable women. All of the women chose life for their unborn baby.
“We are so grateful to have the technology of this machine. The machine we had before worked well for its age, but we’re so happy to have the technology that this machine offers,” including a wide screen and 3-D imagery of the unborn baby.
“Mothers have a better, clear picture of their baby,” Boone said. “It’s just extremely exciting to have that.”
The Knights of Columbus Ultrasound Initiative actively raises money toward the purchase of ultrasound machines for pregnancy centers across the country. This was the first time that a machine was purchased for a center in southwest Kansas.
The Supreme Council (the national Knights office) has provided half the cost, while Kansas Knights have provided the other half.
“Our center is doing a lot over here,” said Tom Loker, a former grand knight and a member of the St. Mary’s Knights of Columbus, Council 2795 in Garden City, who is on the board of directors for the ABC Pregnancy Care Center in Garden City.
“We even provide post-abortion counseling. We recently hired a new executive director, and she has done a fantastic job.”
The Knights’ nationwide ultrasound project began in 2009.
The ultrasound machines will help the centers better provide for the health of both mother and child. Ultrasound exams, which are medically indicated throughout pregnancy for a variety of diagnostic reasons, use sound waves to scan a woman’s abdomen, creating a picture or “sonogram” of the baby in her uterus.
Without K of C support, these centers would be unable to purchase the ultrasound devices, each costing tens of thousands of dollars.
To be read at all Masses, March 24-25:
My Dear People,
The Catholic Church has a long history of working with the government to aid children and families. In some respects, our entire network of Catholic hospitals and schools, as well as our many faith-based volunteer groups and community outreach efforts, can be seen as benefiting our neighbors in need regardless of their faith, thus lessening the need for government support.
In Kansas, faith-based adoption and foster-care agencies soon may not be allowed to continue their loving tradition of helping children and families in need. Activist groups are threatening to shut down these faith-based service providers simply because they operate according to religious beliefs. This has already happened to Catholic Charities and other agencies in Massachusetts, Illinois, Washington, D.C., California and Texas.
We can ensure that it does not happen here in Kansas. An insert explaining the “Protect Adoption Choice” campaign and how you can help is included in this week’s bulletin. Please read this insert carefully and call your state representative and senator this week. Time is of the essence on this critical legislation. You may also wish to view a video on this effort at www.protectadoptionchoice.org.
Thank you in advance for your involvement in this important effort. May God bless your efforts for the children. Have a fruitful Holy Week in the Lord.
+ Bishop John B. Brungardt
The art and the heart of family fasting
By Father Ted Stoecklein
Assistant Director, Office of Priestly Vocations
Editor’s Note:The following continues the ongoing series on Fasting for Priestly Vocations. This week’s column encourages and offers ideas in which families can fast together.
Year to year, we in the diocesan vocation office look for and encounter young men who are sincerely seeking direction in their lives. It often happens that I meet a young man, invite him to an Andrew dinner with Bishop John, encourage him to go to a discernment retreat or two, help him to grow in his prayer life, and vigilantly watch his progress ... and after all that, he goes and gets married.
Now, some folks might consider this a failure with regard to priestly vocation. But if that young man has honestly sought God’s will and has found peace in his vocation to marriage, then I consider it a great victory. The family is the seedbed of vocations. When our families are healthy, we will have healthy vocations. If we want to support priestly vocations, we must build up the family.
However, all too often young men tell me that they fear discerning a call to the priesthood because their parents or family members discourage such an undertaking.
On the other hand, when we foster in our homes the honesty to trust whatever God wants for each member of the family, then children and young adults will truly feel free to respond generously to God’s call on their lives.
Fasting and prayer are integral tools to help free us in order that we might find courage to trust God.
Specific to our theme of fasting for priestly vocations, then, I would encourage several ways in which families may take up this call from our bishop.
One can take a direct approach: A family united in some form of fast for priests, seminarians and young, single men is very powerful and does wonders for unity within the family. With this type of fasting, a family should choose one thing that every member of the family is able to do and agree upon it. I think Bishop John offered some wonderful ideas in the last issue of the Southwest Kansas Catholic. I especially encourage periodic fasting from electronics or social media as a family, while feasting on family time, including, but not limited to, family meals.
Fasting for priestly vocations can also be done indirectly by fasting for the members of one’s own family. In the last few years I have witnessed the phenomena of men uniting with other men in fasting for their wives and family. This has been wonderful to behold and I believe it is bearing much fruit.
One such group calls itself “e5men” (e5men.org – check it out). Here, men agree to fast on bread and water once a month for their wives. Their wives in turn offer the graces they encounter at Mass in gratitude for their husbands.
Also, I have been hearing from young men (especially on college campuses) about something called “Exodus 90” (exodus90.com) This is a bit more “hard core” and is really geared toward gaining spiritual purity and freedom for men, but it sure could be used to heal and strengthen families, as well. I have not discovered any women’s group specifically geared toward fasting, but that does not mean that they do not exist.
The point I want to make is that when a husband and wife support each other with fasting and prayer, coupled by that of their children or other family members, goodness follows. In particular, the virtue of generosity flows from such actions. And generosity is at the heart of God’s call to matrimony and priesthood.
Keynote speaker tells young
adults to be bold, beautiful and broken
By DAVE MYERS
Southwest Kansas Catholic
“Be bold! Be beautiful!”
These words might have otherwise sounded like a commercial for a beauty product, but when housed in the love for Christ and his teachings, they become an entreaty to change the world.
Dozens of young adults ages 18-39 from across the diocese — some married and with children in tow — attended the third annual SKYAC (Southwest Kansas Young Adult Conference), March 4 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Dodge City.
Begun in 2016, SKYAC was created by Gentry Heimerman, Director of Young Adult Ministry for the Catholic Diocese of Dodge City, in order to bring young adults aged 18-39 “closer into a deeper relationship with Christ, and to connect them with one another.”
Working alongside Heimerman for the past eight months in preparation for the recent SKYAC were Noelle McHugh and Taylor Schinstock.
“The 100-plus young adults who were involved with the event started their day by participating in the regular 9 a.m. Mass at the Cathedral, transitioned into a schedule of great speakers and plenty of time to mingle, and then ended the day by literally ‘following Jesus’ in a Eucharist procession and Adoration,” Heimerman said.
Keynote speaker Father Gale Hammerschmidt is the pastor of St. Isidore Parish in Manhattan, including the St. Isidore student center, which serves the students of Kansas State University.
Are you truly bold enough to transform the environment that you live in? asked Father Hammerschmidt. “If you are not transforming your environment, then you can be sure that your environment is transforming you.”
Other guest speakers included Catholic podcaster Ethan Stueve, Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Veronica Hill, program coordinator for the Diocese of Wichita, and Daniel and Ana Glaze, AKA, “That Catholic Couple” on Youtube.
“We have to be bold,” Father Hammerschmidt told the young adults gathered in the day chapel at the cathedral. “We also have to be beautiful. … I’m talking about a life that’s beautiful, inside and out. A life like Mother Teresa’s. A life that says, I decided to make the world a better place ….”
He urged those gathered not to wait until they feel “perfect in the eyes of God” before they try to transform the world.
“Don’t be afraid to be broken! If we wait to be healed of our brokenness [before we try to transform the world] – if we wait to be perfect in the eyes of God — nothing will ever get started. It’s precisely in that moment that we feel we’re standing close to Christ.
“If you want to find God, serve others. Pray for them.”
The most important message of all, Father Hammerschmidt said, is to begin.
“I encourage you today to start asking questions about how God wants you to change the world!”
Father Hammerschmidt’s talk can be heard in it’s entirety by going to Facebook, and typing in “Father Gale Hammerschmidt”.
‘God did this’
How a 22-year-old Texan began a Catholic school for Uganda’s deaf children
By Mary Rezac
Catholic News Agency
Denver, Colo (CNA) - Rannah Evetts had always wanted to go to Africa. She has no explanation for it, other than that God had planted a deep love of everything African in her heart for as long as she can remember.
“Ever since I was a little kid, I would say I was going to Africa, and I didn’t really understand why, and my mom would just call me her little African child because that’s all I would talk about,” Rannah recalled.
Today, Rannah is living out her childhood dream, having founded a Catholic school for deaf children in Uganda at the age of 21.
But it came to fruition in a way she could never have imagined.
“Through a lot of hurt and pain that God worked through me,” Evetts told CNA.
Evetts loved to talk about Africa as a little girl. But there was a lot she did not talk about — the sexual abuse she was experiencing and the traumatic consequences she suffered silently for years: depression, suicidal thoughts, self hate and despair.
Desperately seeking happiness in high school, she threw herself into the party scene, looking for relief.
“I wanted to be happy, I was so tired of hating myself and being miserable, and so when I was a junior in high school I started partying a whole lot...and I quickly realized this isn’t making me happy, I’m just suffering more and more,” she said.
Looking for answers, Evetts started attending different churches with friends and family on the weekends.
Having never been baptized, she bounced around non-denominational Christian churches for a while, but did not feel like she had found the truth until she began looking into the Catholic faith.
“When I was a senior I started RCIA...and through all of that, I gave up drinking, no more parties, I was reading the Bible all the time, and realizing that I just want Jesus. He has to be the cure, because I knew that the world wasn’t,” she said.
When she was baptized at the end of her senior year, Evetts said she felt the presence of Christ in an indescribable way, in her heart. She felt God calling her to an unfolding mission that would piece together seemingly unconnected parts of her life, including her love for Africa, and her knowledge of American Sign Language.
“It’s hard to explain the real presence that I experienced of Christ inside of me when I did get baptized...and receiving the Eucharist, receiving him in the flesh, I gave up everything. That’s when he opened up the door and said ‘This is what I want you to do and this is why.’”
At her high school in Texas, the only classes offered to fulfill language requirements were Spanish or ASL. Evetts said she joined the sign language class because it was required, she thought it was “cool”, and her sister had taken the same class.
“It was just a requirement, I did not think even one time that I would do anything with it,” she said, and she even considered dropping the class.
But by her senior year, and as she experienced a conversion, she said God began to pull on her heart through her sign language class, especially when she completed a project on deafness in Uganda.
“I relate to the deaf people here because they are outcasted, they’re seen as cursed, they’re seen as sinners, and so they’re shut away from the world kind of, they’re living in this darkness and this silence,” she said.
“And God pulled me to give what he gave me after all of my years of darkness and hating myself and feeling like I had no friends and nobody to talk to, of wanting to die, feeling like I had no purpose in life - all of those things I was struggling with after being sexually abused, God took them and he transforms everything and he said, ‘These I’m turning into graces.’ And with the deaf people here that’s what he did,” she said.
After high school graduation, Evetts flew to Uganda for the first time to work for seven months at an established school for the deaf in the capital city of Kampala. Through that experience, she met a priest in a village in northern Uganda, in an area with hundreds of deaf children and no resources for them.
“I basically just walked back to the sacristy, and I was like, ‘Hi Father, I’m Rannah, can I talk to you?’” she recalled.
The initial meeting sparked a conversation that continued for more than a year and a half, while Evetts, the priest, and the local bishop discerned starting a school for the deaf.
In 2016, Evetts moved to the village for five months to get used to living in the area and adjust to the culture, and to see if her dream could become a reality. By September 2016, the local bishop gave her permission to use an old catechesis building, “and basically he just said ‘begin.’”
By February 2017, the St. Francis de Sales School for the Deaf opened its doors for the first time. St. Francis was chosen as the patron because he personally developed a sign language to preach the Gospel and teach the Catholic faith to Martin, a deaf man.
“We are here to promote the education and welfare of the Deaf in the West Nile region,” the school’s mission statement says on their website.
“Most importantly we are here to fulfill a deeper meaning behind Christ’s “Eph’phatha” in Mark’s Gospel: ‘... and looking up to heaven, he [Jesus] sighed, and said to him, “Eph’phatha,” that is, ‘be opened.’ And his ears were opened, his tongue was released and he spoke plainly.’”
She learned that the deaf in Uganda are often misunderstood and often mistreated, considered sinners or even cursed. She said that the deaf are often outcast out of malice or because of a lack of resources.
“The deaf are often outcasts in Ugandan society; isolated, deprived of their rights, and looked down upon by hearing people. They are more exposed to being raped, abused, and neglected by society. They are often thought of as stupid, cursed, and many parents still think it is a waste of money to send them to school,” the statement continues.
“We are here to break this cultural stigma, provide quality education, and give our deaf students the most precious thing in this world: Jesus Christ.”
Evetts said she was most moved by her love for God to give language to those who otherwise could not speak.
“I didn’t think I would do anything with [sign language], but it’s like everyday [God] reveals more and more why I’m doing what I’m doing,” she said.
“I knew I wanted to evangelize, I knew I wanted to share the word of God with people and what he did in my life. It’s so huge what he did for me, that you can’t not share that with people! I’m a convert and I’m on fire, you know? It’s like, ‘No, I’ve been to the other side, trust me!’”
But it hasn’t been easy. The school is open to children ages 3-14, and the age range brings a variety of needs. When they first arrive, most of the children have no way of communicating their needs, their thoughts, their experiences, pain or ideas.
“All of a sudden they’re being thrown into this, and they have no idea what’s going on, so we have kids who are trying to run away, a lot of our kids just cried seeing me because they’ve never seen whatever I am, and the everyday challenge of bringing them a language...it was incredibly difficult,” Evetts said.
It also came with times of personal darkness and challenge for Evetts, who was the only foreigner in her village, the only woman living at the parish, and the only person from her culture in the area. She would also often feel overwhelmed by the weight of responsibility on her shoulders.
“I have a lot of thanks to give to my mom, because I would tell her ‘I want to come home Mom, because I don’t know what I’m doing,’ and she would stick with me and pray with me,” she said.
She was also still struggling with anxiety attacks and the painful healing of the abuse in her past.
“I want to tell you this because...it shows God’s goodness, because there were days when I couldn’t do this. I’m 22 years old, and I don’t know what I’m doing and I’m the leader of all of this thing and I’m working in another country and having my own problems... that I’m dealing with and alone in that silence with God,” Evetts said.
There were several weeks at a time where she felt like she was literally unable to get out of bed in the morning.
“But I want to share that with you because it shows that God did this. You say ‘yes’ to God and he does it, he fulfills it, because this is his school and this is his mission,” she said. “I don’t know how to explain it, but he’s here and he’s got this all under control.”
The transformation she and the staff began seeing in the students throughout the year was incredible, she said.
Children came to them having been raped, abused or neglected because of their disability, and were transformed in personality and behavior as they started acquiring a language.
At the beginning of the year, many parents reluctantly sent their children to the boarding school, believing it impossible to educate a deaf child. But on the night after the first term ended, and the children went home for the first time, parents started calling the school in amazement.
“They were like, ‘there’s stuff written in [their notebooks]! There’s grades!’ And then their kids are signing all this stuff to their parents, and these parents are like ‘we don’t know what our kids are saying but they know stuff, and they’re talking with their hands!’”
“And so they’re really seeing the evidence of this works, so its a real encouragement for the parents,” Evetts said.
The school has just begun its second year, with 50 students enrolled. It was recently licensed, and the plan is to eventually find enough land to build a boarding school for more than 300 nursery and primary school deaf students in the area.
Evetts said the way the local community has embraced the school with love has been encouraging. As the only white person in the area, Evetts said it automatically brings her a lot of attention, which in turn lets her bring that attention to her work with deaf children.
“God uses that, then I get to explain about sign language and about deafness and how awesome it is. We’re walking around town, playing games with the students, using sign language, and people just gawk and stare—like what? White people know this language too?” Evetts said. “This year I’ve had volunteers come, and it’s more people knowing sign language and giving it attention, and Caritas is now helping sponsor our school, so it’s just been growing and I see that the community has really taken us on, and it really has been great.”
Evetts said the most rewarding part of the experience has been how God has used her “yes” and the “yes” of her staff members to transform lives and to do something that they would be unable to accomplish without him.
“The closer you get to God in his silence, that’s where he reveals himself, that’s his language,” she said. “And not only that, he reveals you to you—he draws that out of you, and I really learned that the closer I came to him, he just showed me—‘this is why I put this desire in you, and this is how I’m going to use your sufferings or your vices and this is how I’m going to transform it.’
“It was all him.”