Catholic Charities Infant Adoption Orientation for couples
The following is provided by Catholic Charities of Southwest Kansas:
For couples struggling to start a family, there is hope. There are selfless birthparents looking for couples who can offer a better life for their child than they are able to provide. To help couples navigate the adoption process, Catholic Charities is offering an Infant Adoption Orientation on Jan. 12 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Newman Western Center, 236 San Jose, Dodge City.
“Catholic Charities is committed to providing education and support for birthparents as they create an adoption plan, and for couples who want to adopt,” said Lori Titsworth, Adoption Social Worker. “So many times, people are interested in adoption but believe it is too expensive, there is a long waiting list, or they misunderstand open infant adoption. We encourage couples who want to learn more about adoption to join us for this educational opportunity. You won’t be sorry.”
Catholic Charities of Southwest Kansas is part of a national Catholic Charity network that has been looking after the needs of children, parents and families for more than 100 years.
Catholic Charities is licensed by the State of Kansas Department of Health and Environment to place children in safe homes, and has been providing adoption services in southwest Kansas for more than 50 years. For more information about adoption services at Catholic Charities, or this adoption orientation series, contact Lori Titsworth at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or by phone at 620-792-1393.
Catholic Charities launches annual appeal
Catholic charities of Southwest Kansas recently launched the 2017 Year-End Campaign.
“We need your help to make sure that every person who walks through our door experiences hope and fulfillment,” a release read.
Catholic Charities is asking for a special year-end donation of $50, $100 or whatever you can afford to help those in need. To donate online, go to http://catholiccharitiesswks.org/.
Checks made out to Catholic Charities can also be mailed or brought in person to the following locations:
Dodge City Office
906 Central Ave
Dodge City, KS 67801
Garden City Office
603 N 8th St.
Garden City, KS 67846
Great Bend Office
2201 16th St.
Great Bend, KS 67530
“On behalf of those we serve, thank you for your continued support.”
Sister Teresa Orozco, OP, dies
She served God’s people for more than half a century
GREAT BEND -- Sister Teresa Orozco, 76, died Dec. 12, 2017, in the Dominican Sisters’ convent infirmary, Great Bend. Born Oct. 18, 1941, in Lamar, Colo., Teresa was the daughter of the late Pascual and Josephine Jara Orozco. She entered the Dominican Sisters’ Community Aug. 27, 1964, and pronounced her first vows June 13, 1967. She celebrated 50 years of religious life in 2014.
Sister Teresa first worked at the Motherhouse in Great Bend in domestic work before serving as an aide in Saint Catherine Hospital in Garden City, where she also attended classes in nursing education at the local community college. Beginning in 1984, she worked in parish ministry and in the office of Mexican-American Affairs for the Diocese of Dodge City in Elkhart. Later, at the Motherhouse, she served as a translator for the local Spanish-speaking population and as a part time receptionist.
Sister Teresa is survived by her Dominican Sisters of Peace religious community, and one brother, Vincent, and two sisters Susanna (Candie) Stegman and Laura Denise Estep, all of Lamar, Colorado. Sister Teresa’s body was brought to the hospitality area of the Dominican Chapel of the Plains on Dec. 13 where it lay in state until the Mass of Christian Burial Dec. 15, with Father Ted Stoecklein presiding. A wake service was held Dec. 14. Burial was at the Sisters’ Resurrection Cemetery.
Memorials in honor of Sister Teresa Orozco may be sent to: Dominican Sisters of Peace, 2320 Airport Dr, Columbus OH 43219-2098 or given securely on line at www.oppeace.org.
Battling the Christmas blues
By Dave Myers
Southwest Kansas Catholic
‘Tis the season for joy and good cheer! For celebrating gift giving (and the guilty pleasure of gift receiving!). For looking with renewed appreciation at the Christ child and his Holy Family.
‘Tis the season when people who are struggling with depression are pulled down even farther, as if gravity has suddenly become two-fold. Walking through a department store, with the music and the decoration, can become like an emotional workout, leaving one tired and even more depressed.
The jingle bells are jingling
The streets are white with snow
The happy crowds are mingling
But there’s no one that I know
I’m sure that you’ll forgive me
If I don’t enthuse
I guess I’ve got the Christmas blues
I’m supposed to be happy! What am I doing wrong? This is what happens to those walking in sadness when cheerfulness is supposed to reign.
It can be addiction bringing you down. Or a loved one suffering illness. Your own serious illness, perhaps. Struggling with the loss of a friend or family member. Perhaps you’ve been cheated or have fallen victim. Maybe it’s financial troubles. Divorce, maybe. Or just maybe it’s a mix of little things that add up to one big ... pile.
I’ve done my window shopping
There’s not a store I’ve missed
But what’s the use of stopping
When there’s no one on your list
You’ll know the way I’m feeling
When you love and you lose
I guess I’ve got the Christmas blues
Any of these can make the Christmas season seem like something to be avoided, to be gotten through, to be survived.
Sometimes it’s not the commercialism—the focus on gift-buying superseding the quiet reflection of the coming Christ. Sometimes it’s none of that. Sometimes it’s just the blues. No rhyme or reason.
When somebody wants you
Somebody needs you
Christmas is a joy of joy
But friends when you’re lonely
You’ll find that it’s only
A thing for little girls and little boys
May all your days be merry
Your seasons full of cheer
But ‘til it’s January
I’ll just go and disappear
Oh Santa may have brought you
Some stars for your shoes
But Santa only brought me the blues
Those brightly packaged tinsel covered Christmas blues
Perhaps Christmas shouldn’t be a time when people are filled with such elation. That elation comes from the love of family and friends joined in celebration of Christ’s birth, and not all of us are so lucky.
Perhaps instead, it should be a time of unburdening. A time when we celebrate the anniversary of this incredible gift who is the ultimate unburdening of all our sorrows, all our blues. It’s a time that brought the beginning of the end (the end being the beginning!) the joining of us with the Christ, BFFs for all eternity.
It should be a time that tells you, no matter what troubling things are going on in your life, thanks to this wonderful Christmas gift of the Christ child, the best is yet to come.
The best is always yet to come.
The best is always yet to come!
(Lyrics of song by David Jack Holt.)
A Christmas Wish:
To offer heart and home to an adoptive child
By Dave Myers
Southwest Kansas Catholic
Step into the Garden City home of Joe and Laci Salazar and it’s easy to envision a child romping around their living room, excited little pooches Daizey and Moto delighting the toddler into squeals of giggles, two loving parents ready and eager to scoop up the child into their arms.
Joe and Laci represent the quintessential American story: A son and a granddaughter of immigrants, both natives of Garden City, Kansas, meeting only after they had attended school together, falling in love, getting married, finding success in their professions—all amid an endearing faith in their loving Lord.
The picture is replete with extended family stretching for miles and for years, including a 92-year-old grandmother—a history text filled with stories of her life, ever eager to share.
What’s missing from the picture is that one little child.
But with the help of Catholic Charities of Southwest Kansas Open Adoption Program, as well as a Wichita Christian adoption program called “St. Nick,” the couple hope to give a loving home to a newborn child … by Christmas? A Christmas miracle, to be sure.
They remain patient. The couple has suffered through five losses, three of which were miscarriages. Doctors told Laci her body couldn’t take another such trauma.
“When we first pursued it last year, we knew we wanted a closed adoption,” Laci said. A closed adoption is when information is not exchanged between the birth parent and the adoptive parents.
“Through Catholic Charities we learned about open adoption and were amazed.”
The open adoption system allows the birth parents to be a part of the child’s life. By taking that mystery out of the equation, it is hoped that a healthier environment is created for the child, the adoptive parents, and the birth parents.
Over a period of months, the couple attended in-depth classes taught by Lori Titsworth, an adoption social worker with Catholic Charities Open Adoption Program. One class resulted in a personal website created by the couple. It is, in effect, a love letter to the birth parent.
Dear Birth Mom:
“We would like to thank you for taking the time to view our profile. We cannot imagine all of the different emotions you must be going through during this time. We know you must be a strong-hearted and loving person to make this selfless decision, and we cannot thank you enough for considering us as an option to parent your child….”
The site includes personal essays Joe and Laci provide about themselves and each other. Their history. How they met. Their love for each other. What kind of parents they would be. And photos, past and present.
Joe, a Material Handling Supervisor for Tyson, was reared with his four brothers and two sisters, often running off to the park adjoining their home to play baseball, basketball or football with the neighborhood kids. Of course, this was only after he was finished with his paper route, and later, when he worked at age 15 for Pioneer Hi-Bred International, spending hot summer days in a cornfield cross pollinating.
His father, Jesus, is from Mexico, immigrating when he was 14 or 15. His mother is from San Antonio. When not working or spending time with family, Joe enjoys woodworking and painting, many results of which decorate their home—and a good game of softball.
Laci is a respiratory therapist. She is the youngest of three siblings to Ron and Melissa (Ohl) Leiker. She and her two older brothers enjoyed summers playing a neighborhood game of hide and seek, with the family spending many a weekend at a lake.
Among her hobbies is baking with her mother and grandmother.
“Grandmother is from Mexico,” she said. “Her dad was killed by a train when she was 17. She and her oldest brother farmed while her mom cared for two younger siblings. Then my grandpa was killed in a car wreck when my grandmother was pregnant with my mother….”
Joe and Laci host a Facebook site detailing their day to day journey toward adoption.
“It’s called ‘Joe and Laci’s Adoption Journey’,” Joe said. “Through the site we make connections, let other people who may be looking to adopt see what we’re going through. It’s a personal look into our lives right here, right now.”
Family is an adventure with impossibly joy-filled times and equally sad times. Laci and Joe have each shared this adventure with their extended families, and now wish to begin a new adventure with an immediate family of their own. Perhaps there will be a Christmas miracle. But either way, the couple remain patient in their faith that like the Christmas child who came 2,000 years ago, their child will come in God’s time.
For more information, or to see Joe and Laci’s Catholic Charities web page, go to http://catholiccharitiesswks.org/. Or, contact Lori Titsworth, Catholic Charities Adoption Social Worker, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., (620) 792-1393.
A Guadalupe encounter
By Charlene Scott-Myers
Southwest Kansas Catholic
Many years ago, in the late nineties, I traveled to Mexico City to the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe with my friends Dr. John and Rebecca Jackson of Colorado Springs.
I had worked for several years with the Jacksons at their Shroud Center in the Springs, where they gave talks and displayed a life size image of the Holy Shroud of Jesus.
I also had traveled with them to Russia, where they delivered lectures on the Shroud that I videotaped and photographed in Moscow and at a nearby snow-covered village where the monk who brought Christianity to Russia a thousand years ago is revered by thousands who visit his coffin.
In Russia the Jacksons and I stayed together at all times, but in Mexico City the Colorado couple had an important appointment with a friend who was a bishop. I remained behind to explore the Guadalupe shrine for the afternoon.
We had risen early that morning at a Mexico City hotel, and in my rush to get ready, I skipped breakfast and later lunch. I attended Mass that day at the Guadalupe Cathedral in the heart of Mexico City, and after Mass I wandered around the vast courtyard outside the cathedral.
Hundreds of knots of people gathered in the courtyard to pray and exchange stories about their experiences at the shrine, and as the afternoon wore on, I alternated between praying inside the cathedral and wandering about the courtyard searching for the Jacksons.
After a couple of hours, I realized that something was happening to me. I was growing weaker and weaker as the hours passed. I had not yet been diagnosed with diabetes, and I was not aware of the ups and downs diabetics suffer when they do or don’t eat enough. If diabetics go too long without eating, they can pass out and even go into a coma and sometimes die.
I learned later that I already was suffering from diabetes when I traveled to Mexico City. I felt near despair that day at the shrine as I looked in vain for someone to help me. I didn’t know what was wrong with me, and I was growing worse and weaker instead of better by the hour.
I was praying so hard when a woman, a stranger, came along carrying a long white pillow case as she approached me.
“Are you hungry?” she asked with great sympathy as if she already knew the answer.
“Oh yes,” I answered. “I haven’t had any food all day, and I feel like I’m going to faint.”
The kindly lady reached into the long white pillow case and retrieved a thick sandwich from her unusual luggage. I grasped the sandwich with as much gratitude as I think a person stranded on a desert island would welcome a cool and refreshing drink of water!
“Thank you, thank you!” I said to the woman. “I am so very, very hungry!”
The woman looked as satisfied and happy as I felt. And then she was gone! After gobbling down the precious sandwich, I searched and searched for her to thank her again, but I never could find her.
She was tall and thin with dark shoulder-length hair. She appeared to be in her mid-forties and spoke perfect English. I thought she was an American.
I have told this story to some of my family and friends, and two friends said at different times that they thought the lady was our beloved Blessed Mother, who first appeared to the humble peasant Juan Diego nearly 500 years ago, imprinting her image on his tilma (cloak) that now hangs behind the altar of Our Lady of Guadalupe Cathedral in Mexico City.
Perhaps she was the sympathetic Mother of our Saviour, who watched him die hungry and thirsty in agony on a rough wooden cross, but I think she probably was a lady to whom Mary had whispered “Over there is a woman who is hungry!”
Either way, I felt that this unknown person and her sympathetic generosity had saved my life that day and reminded me of the goodness of the Lord and his mother.
Meeting the stranger with the sandwich at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe was a wonderful encounter and enough of a miracle for me, no matter who she was!
Help to build a legacy of hope
Catholic Charities launches annual appeal
From the Office of Catholic Charities of Southwest Kansas:
From pregnancy and adoption to family support and disaster relief, Catholic Charities is here for you, your family, and your community. Please help us continue to be here for those in need with your generous gift to the 2017 Catholic Charities Annual Appeal.
After revamping our infant adoption program to provide better service and an easier profile program for couples who wish to adopt, we now have a diverse pool of families who have completed all of the necessary steps and are now ready to grow their family through adoption.
After a young couple and their small child lost everything in a house fire, they were able to get back on their feet through the Catholic Charities Housing Program. Not only were they able to find and maintain affordable housing, but the program also gave the mother an opportunity to go back to school and get her GED so that she could get a better job, and provide for her family.
Wildfires burned through Kansas in March; a tornado hit Pawnee Rock and Barton County in May; and in August, storms caused flooding and significant damage to homes and businesses in Seward County. Each time, Catholic Charities stepped up to provide assistance, and with your help, we will continue to do so until everyone is back on their feet.
Every day, your support makes stories like these possible.
Today, we’re launching our 2017 Year-End Campaign. Our goal is to make sure every person who walks through our door experiences hope and fulfillment. Even though we were able to meet some needs like those described above, there are so many other individuals we couldn’t help, because we didn’t have the resources to do so. We need your help to make sure that every person who walks through our door experiences hope and fulfillment.
Would you be willing to make a special year-end donation of $50, $100 or whatever you can afford to help those in need? We cannot do this without you; we need your help to make a real, lasting impact in the lives of those who are still in need. To donate online, go to http://catholiccharitiesswks.org/.
Checks made out to Catholic Charities can also be mailed or brought in person to the following locations:
Dodge City Office
906 Central Ave
Dodge City, KS 67801
Garden City Office
603 N 8th St.
Garden City, KS 67846
Great Bend Office
2201 16th St.
Great Bend, KS 67530
On behalf of those we serve, thank you for your continued support.
How to make a confession
Or, don’t sweat the embarrassing stuff
By Dave Myers
Southwest Kansas Catholic
Editor’s Note: I provided the text that is in italics. Catholic News Agency provided the rest.
You can begin your confession by making the Sign of the Cross and greeting the priest:
“Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.”
This is why you’re here. On another occasion, you could easily greet a priest by saying, “Bless me, Father, for I. Am. Awesome!” Why? Because God loves you so much! Even as we are in sin, we are as beloved to Him as a newborn is to their mom or dad!
But here and now, it’s about saying to God, “I know I let you down. Help me to be a better person. Help me to heal.”
King David probably said it best: “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” (Psalm 51:2)
You’re in good company! Even popes go to confession!
The priest gives you a blessing. One response you might give is these words St. Peter said to Christ:
“Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you” (Jn 21:17).
One then continues with the time since one’s last confession:
“My last good confession was... (approximately how many weeks, months or years).”
I’m not sure what a “good” confession is versus any other confession, but the point is, this is similar to telling a dentist when your last checkup was. It gives the priest a little wider perspective on what you are about to confess. If you have a litany of sins a mile long, yet you just went to Confession last week, the priest will probably have different words of guidance than if you last went to confession in 1974.
Don’t be afraid of long lapses! Remember the Prodigal Son!
Say the sins that you remember. Start with the one that is most difficult to say; after this it will be easier to mention the rest.
If you do not know how to confess, or you feel uneasy or ashamed, simply ask the priest to assist you. Be assured that he will help you to make a good confession. Simply answer his questions without hiding anything out of shame or fear. Place your trust in God: he is your merciful Father and wants to forgive you.
I know: This is the tough part. Just know that there is no sin that the priest has not heard before. Probably. When my mom was a girl, she thought her first confession was a rehearsal for the real thing, so she made up a bunch of sins that would have made Al Capone envious. I’m sure the priest sprouted several grey hairs that day.
If you do not remember any serious sins, be sure to confess at least some of your venial sins, adding at the end:
“I am sorry for these and all the sins of my past life (not past life as in, you were once a Roman gladiator), especially for...” (mention in general any past sin for which you are particularly sorry; for example, all my sins against charity).
The priest will assign you some penance and give you some advice to help you to be a better Christian.
This is what some people forget: the Sacrament of Reconciliation isn’t just about how many Our Father’s you’ll be assigned, it’s about receiving caring guidance.
Listen to the words of absolution attentively. At the end answer: “Amen.”
Be willing to do the penance as soon as possible. This penance will diminish the temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven.
Know this: Just because you’re doing penance, doesn’t mean God loves you any less, even temporarily. As it says in the book of Micah (7:19), “You will cast into the depths of the sea all our sins.” From what I hear, that ol’ sea is pretty darn deep!
These priests were martyred for refusing to violate the seal of confession
CNA -- In recent years, some Catholics have been concerned by pushes from governments in locations such as Louisiana and Australia who challenge the secrecy of the sacrament of confession, asking that priests betray the solemnity of penitents’ confessions when they hear of serious crimes in the confessional.
However, Catholics should not be afraid, because keeping the secrecy of the sacrament of confession is one of the most important promises priests make.
The code of canon law states that “the sacramental seal is inviolable; therefore it is absolutely forbidden for a confessor to betray in any way a penitent in words or in any manner and for any reason.” Priests who violate this seal of confession are automatically excommunicated.
Priests take this solemnity of the seal of confession very seriously; these four priests who died protecting it are witnesses to the extreme lengths to which priests are willing to go to protect the seal of confession.
St. John Nepomucene
Born in Bohemia, or what is now the Czech Republic, between 1340 and 1350, St. John Nepomucene was an example of the protection of sacramental secrecy, being the first martyr who preferred to die rather than reveal the secret of confession.
When he was Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Prague, the now-saint served as confessor of Sofia of Bavaria, the wife of King Wenceslaus. The king, who had infamous outbursts of anger and jealousy, ordered the priest to reveal the sins of his wife. The saint’s refusal infuriated Wenceslaus, who threatened to kill the priest if he did not tell him his wife’s secrets.
King Wenceslaus and John Nepomucene came into conflict again when the monarch wanted to seize a convent in order to take its wealth and give it to a relative. The saint prohibited its seizure because those goods belonged to the Church.
Filled with rage, the king ordered the torture of the saint, whose body was then thrown to the Vltava River in 1393.
St. Mateo Correa Magallanes
Saint Mateo Correa Magallanes was another martyr of the seal of confession. He was shot in Mexico during the Cristero War for refusing to reveal the confessions of prisoners rebelling against the Mexican government.
He was born in Tepechitlán in the state of Zacateca on July 22, 1866 and was ordained a priest in 1893. Father Matteo served as chaplain in various towns and parishes and was a member of the Knights of Columbus.
In 1927, the priest was arrested by Mexican army forces under General Eulogio Ortiz. A few days later, the general sent Father Correa to hear the confessions of a group of people who were to be shot. After Father Mateo finished administering the sacrament, the general then demanded that the priest reveal what he had heard.
Father Mateo responded with a resounding “no” and was executed. Currently, his remains are venerated in the Cathedral of Durango.
He was beatified Nov. 22, 1992 and canonized by St. John Paul II May 21, 2000.
Father Felipe Císcar Puig
Father Felipe Císcar Puig was a Valencian priest who is also considered a martyr of the sacramental seal because he was martyred after keeping confessions secret during the religious persecution of the Spanish Civil War.
During the war, revolutionary and republican forces engaged in violent battles for power, and many Catholics were targeted. This was especially true of the coastal province of Valencia, on the Mediterranean sea.
The Archdiocese of Valencia indicated that, according to the documents collected, Father Císcar was taken to a prison near the end of August 1936. There, a Franciscan friar named Andrés Ivars asked that Father Císcar hear his confession before the friar was executed be firing squad.
“After the confession, they tried to extract its contents and before his refusal to reveal it, the militiamen threatened to kill him,” says an archdiocesan statement by a witness to the event. The priest then replied, “Do what you want but I will not reveal the confession, I would die before that.”
“Seeing him so sure, they took him to a sham court where he was ordered to reveal the secrets.” Father Císar remained committed to his position, stating that he preferred to die, and the militiamen condemned him to death. Fathers Felipe Císcar and Andrés Ivars were taken by car to another location where they were shot on September 8, 1936. They were 71 and 51 years old, respectively.
Both Felipe Císcar and Andrés Ivars are part of the canonization cause of Ricardo Pelufo Esteve and 43 companions.
Father Fernando Olmedo Reguera
Father Fernando Olmedo Reguera was also a victim of the Spanish Civil War who opted to die rather than break the secrecy of confession.
Born in Santiago de Compostela Jan. 10, 1873 and ordained a priest in the Capuchin Order of Friars Minor on July 31, 1904, Father Olmedo was killed Aug. 12, 1936. He served the order as its provincial secretary until 1936, when he had to leave his convent due to the severe religious persecution in the area.
Father Olmedo was then arrested, and beaten in prison. He then was pressured into revealing the confessions of others, but Father Olmedo did not give in. According to reports, he was shot at a 19th century fortress outside of Madrid by a populist tribunal. His remains are entombed in the crypt of the Church of Jesus of Medinaceli in Madrid, and he was beatified in Tarragona Oct. 13, 2013.
Historic Windthorst church suffers major water damage
Rueb vows that 105-year-old Immaculate Heart of Mary ‘will be ready for Easter concert’
By Dave Myers
Southwest Kansas Catholic
The historic Immaculate Heart of Mary Church at Windthorst suffered major damage Nov. 11 when hundreds of gallons of water leaked into the basement and worship area due to a boiler malfunction.
The exact nature of the malfunction has not been determined. Susan Rueb, president of the board of directors of Windthorst Heritage, Inc., which owns the building, said she expects the damage to exceed $250,000.
“We discovered it Saturday (Nov. 11) late afternoon,” said Rueb. “We had several community deaths, and Carol Correll came here to put the names on the board. She saw standing water in the church.”
Rueb’s husband, Kenny, a fourth generation Windthorst resident, was the first to enter the church following the discovery.
“When I stepped on the carpet, the water was about an inch deep,” he said. “The radiators, which supply steam heat to the worship area, were leaking water.”
When Kenny tried to adjust the valve, abnormally high pressure forced the water out like a fire hose, shooting from the back of the church nearly to the altar.
They turned off the main valve. Susan Rueb checked the basement and found nearly five inches of standing water. Much of the ceiling had caved in, revealing a burst pipe.
“We realized this was going to take more than a couple of shop-vacs,” she said.
The Diocese of Dodge City closed the church in 1997 and sold it to Windthorst Heritage Inc. for $1.
Since taking over the parish maintenance 20 years ago, Windthorst Heritage, Inc. has overseen numerous restoration projects. They hired a company to clean and refurbish all the century-old stained-glass windows. They replaced all the sidewalks around and in front of the church. They renovated the rectory’s exterior and interior. A new sewer system was installed, and maintenances were performed on the church roof.
Each effort required fund-raising, grant-writing, much sweat-equity and prayers.
Which made it all the more heart-breaking when Rueb found herself wading through five inches of water in the basement to a room off to the side in which she stored all the historic records of the church, including the 1870s document in which the Santa Fe Railroad deeded the land to the Catholic Church.
There were monstrances, chalices, a tabernacle from 1878. As she reached the room, Rueb prayed that they had been spared. When she opened the door, she saw that the ceiling had collapsed. Nothing was spared damage. The historic documents were soaked.
“ServiceMaster told us to place all the wet documents into Ziploc bags,” Rueb explained. “They told us to freeze them. Instead of calling all our neighbors and asking if they had room in their freezers, we called Kirby Meats in Dodge City. They stored them all in their freezer until they go to Chicago for restoration. God bless Kirby Meats!”
The restoration team from ServiceMaster showed up within an hour of Rueb’s call on Saturday afternoon. Their first job was to remove as much water as possible; that night more than 500 gallons were removed from the basement. The team brought 40 blowers, 17 dehumidifiers, and an industrial heater with 50,000 BTUs of heat working to dry the wooden floors of the former worship area.
One team ripped through the damaged ceiling in the basement. Another scraped linoleum from the floor of the worship area to allow the century-old hardwood floors to dry. ServiceMaster brought in two large storage units to allow them to store furniture and other items, allowing them space to work.
Meanwhile, Rueb and other volunteers labored to move all the historic items out of the basement. Community volunteers worked until 10 p.m. ServiceMaster continued until 2 a.m., and was there when volunteers returned the next morning.
While closed as an active church, the structure remains firmly in the heart of a multitude of people dispersed across southwest Kansas and beyond who attended the K-12 Catholic school and grew up celebrating Mass in one of the most beautiful churches in the diocese.
“We were the mother church of western Kansas,” Rueb said, proudly. “We existed in this prairie in the middle of nowhere. This is a monument to the history of the people who settled the plains of Kansas.
“In the 1950s, we had 350 families,” Rueb said. “When we closed we had 33 families. In 20 years, I’ve met a lot of descendants. From one family who lived nearby, the dad helped build the steeple. The kids watched from a distance—they could see Dad at work.”
Rueb is certainly heartbroken at the events of Nov. 11, but she is also deeply appreciative. She’s thankful for the efforts of the restoration team, which quickly took control of the situation and gave her the advice she needed to save the historic paperwork. She’s thankful for the community of volunteers and for the Windthorst Heritage, Inc. board.
“I’m just one of the caretakers,” she said. The success of the structure is “because of the people with whom I’ve been on the board for 20 years. I have a good foundation to work with.
“A tornado did not blow away the church. Nothing is damaged that cannot be fixed. I have a mess on my hands, and I have God looking over my shoulder.”
While the annual Christmas concert has been cancelled, she expects the structure to be ready and in good shape for the Easter concert. The event will not only celebrate the rebirth of our Savior, but yet another rebirth of this beloved church on the prairie.