THE START: CUBA
CHURCH AND COMMUNITY
One summer morning in 2003, I found myself sitting very nervously in a plane going to Cuba. This was not a time of harmonious relations between the United States and Communist Cuba. I was on the plane with my wife, Yuny, and we were going to Cuba to resolve her family problems. So, I had been wondering why it took two hours to go to Cuba by plane and now I found the answer. It was a propeller driven craft that looked like it was left over from World War II. This did not relieve my anxiety and my anxiety was less relieved when the motors started. What noise and what vibration.
When we finally landed in Holguin airport, I met “the enemy” face to face. They were not nice and they had a hard time figuring out why I was there and whether they should let me loose. Eventually we got through immigration and rented a car. We were met at the airport by Yuny’s father, her two sisters, and her maternal grandfather. From there I saw with my eyes the sad way that the common Cuban has to live. I met a people without hope or future and living in a situation in which they are not able to prosper or express free thought. They were always looking over their shoulders to see who was listening when they talked to me. What was nice to see was the love with which they greeted my wife and their acceptance of me. In all of this one burning thought in my mind was that I needed to get to Mass. I asked the members of her very large family at what time the Mass was offered. Nobody knew. No one was Catholic or was affiliated with any religion. They did not know God. Eventually I was told that the Mass was on Sunday at 10 AM. On Sunday we went to church. The group consisted of my wife, her grandmother, her Uncle Faury with his wife Magaly and his daughter. The church was closed. Mass had been offered on Saturday. I stood looking at this church and could see that it was struggling to stay alive. It was worn, unkept and looked somewhat abandoned. It put me in a dark mood to think that one man or devil could chase Christ out of Cuba. Magaly and Yuny’s grandmother found Julia, the lady who kept the church. A priest came from the city of Camaguey on Saturday to offer the mass and spend a little time with the few faithful. Julia came with the key and we went in and this is where my journey began. We all knelt and prayed. Her family had never been inside a church. As I prayed her cousin began to cry. I never found out why but she was moved. I prayed very hard for Cuba and the plight of the people. I looked at the church and thought of those who built it with the hopes that their children and grandchildren would worship within. I could feel what I assumed would be their desperation as they look from above and see the present condition. I felt the sadness of Jesus as he looked at the empty church, basically abandoned and felt His desire to see His children here again, to see the church full of young and old alike. As I prayed, I felt a voice in my head saying “Jeremiah, you have to do something. You cannot just say how bad this is. You must do something to change it”. God was calling me and I answered yes with all of my heart. That was the beginning of a journey. Going to Cuba was taking me outside of my comfort zone. Jesus did this for a reason. I could never have put my energy into helping unless I had seen, and to a lesser extent, lived the real life of the Cuban.
When we came back to Miami, I started looking for ways to help in Cuba but to my surprise, the two Cuban priests that I tried to contact and talk to in Miami did not want to talk to me. Later on, I found out that on a journey in Christ’s service, this type of rejection is common. We worked during the next few years helping Deacon Luis Entrialgo, who is in charge of the Charismatic movement in Cuba and has since been ordained to the priesthood in January 2021. He visited Miami every year looking for the funds necessary to complete his mission in Cuba.
In 2007. Yuny and I went to Cuba again and began to have an influence on her family in terms of conversion. At that time, you could not have a job, all jobs are in state owned enterprises, and be a Catholic. There was pressure in the schools on the children to not participate in any religion. Being a Catholic was like being a leper. We always went to Mass and became friendly with the priest and the small group of faithful. As individuals we helped financially. Her family started to become interested in learning about the faith and over the years not only have converted but have become very active members of the Church.
At that point we began to understand that we needed to look beyond our own money to do God’s work and so began the mission of the Servants in Cuba. The Servants have financed improvements and projects that have given hope to many people. This was the real start to our efforts to help build and support a small church in Sibanicu, Camaguey, Cuba.
We had joined a Charismatic group at Holy Rosary parish which was led by Elizabeth Gaitan from Colombia. After a night of song and praise, Elizabeth approached us and told us about a Mexican Sister who came to Miami to collect funds for her work in Colombia. She had come alone and had to rent a room, did not have much for food and had to walk almost a mile in the hot Miami sun to get to the church where the priest allowed her to seek help from the parishioners. This was in 2005. We went home and talked together and both agreed that the Lord had blessed us. We had two extra bedrooms and we could offer the sister a place to stay and provide for her food. This we communicated to Elizabeth Gaitan who communicated the same to Sister Conchita in Colombia. For two years we never heard any more about this. One evening, as we were relaxing in the house, the phone rang. When we answered we were greeted with “We are here”. Sister Conchita and Madre Terri had arrived from Colombia and were staying in the house of a friend in Broward, north of Miami. We went to meet them and it became apparent that they needed to come and live with us because their work was in Miami, they did not have a car and they did not speak English. This was the beginning of our work with the Servants of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and of the Poor. During the next month that the Sisters stayed with us, we formed a unit or a family. They received a few donations here and there; they did not have permission to ask for funds in the Archdiocese and they were not aware that this was necessary. The checks they received could not be cashed because they did not have an account here in the USA. This led us to form a corporation and open a bank account. Next, we tried to obtain permission from the Archdiocese of Miami to speak at Masses and receive donations. After many attempts, we finally received an appointment it speak to Monsignor Jean Pierre who was in charge of the Missionary Cooperative Plan. When we went to the office, the secretary, Hilda de Los Angeles, met us and was very cordial. All of a sudden, the two nuns became excited about a picture on the wall. They said it was a sign. The picture was of Saint Jose Maria de Yermo y Parres who is the founder of their Order. The picture was given to Hilda by her nephew who was inspired by the story of this saint and became a priest himself. What are the chances of this being a coincidence? Here was laid the foundation of future help for the poor in Colombia. On various occasions the Sisters came from Colombia and lived with us, staying a period of two or three weeks at a time. This effort allowed the Sisters to improve a school they run in Bogota and a refuge for children in Sisga.
When the Sisters were allowed to speak at the Masses and request funds for their missions, we were all elated. Then we realized that someone else needed to speak for them as they do not speak English. Once again, the Lord yanked me out of my comfort zone as I became the speaker at all the English Masses but I did so under the condition that they would stand beside me and pray to the Holy Spirit all the time that I was speaking. This we did as a team in 2010, 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2018.
Yuny and I have visited Colombia about 20 times and therefore know well the work and the needs of the various missions. My daughter Marlena also has visited Colombia on numerous occasions and has participated in this mission. Yuny and I have also visited Nicaragua and Guatemala to witness the work being done by the Sisters.
Shortly after we formed the non-profit corporation to help the Sisters, we started having garage sales at Christ the King Church in Miami. The group of workers were basically members of the Charismatic Movement and for the most part elderly. We had many sales but the sales never really produced enough financially and it was a tremendous amount of work and effort. One day as we sat in the hot summer sun, I looked around me and realized that one of these good people could have a stroke between the excessive heat and the physical work. We also were not making enough money to justify the effort. At that point I realized that the items we were trying to sell here had little value to the people who live here in abundance but perhaps might have more value if shipped to the missions to be used directly or sold. We discussed this and started shipping to Colombia in November of 2012. We discovered that we were helping in many ways. The Sisters used many items that we shipped and therefore did not need to purchase the same, and items they sold allowed the working poor to purchase things they otherwise could not afford. The money from sales was used to sustain the works of the Sisters and also to make improvements in charities that they run. It became a win, win on all sides.
The first area of focus for the Servants was the support needed by a home for seniors followed by an orphanage in Colombia, both of which are run by the Sisters.
Jeremiah Horgan continues…
As a result of the successful efforts in Colombia, we also began shipping used items to Nicaragua in January 2012 and to Guatemala in December 2014.
I have been asked “how did you get from Colombia to Nicaragua and Guatemala?”. Again, the Lord works in mysterious ways and leads you where you were not thinking to go. In the Charismatic group that we were attending in Christ the King Parish, I became aware that many people want to work or help but only in their country of origin. There were many people originally from Nicaragua in the group and I thought it would be good to involve them. This coupled with conversations I had with the Sisters in Colombia who when asked “Which is the mission that is the poorest and needs help the most?”, all agreed it was the mission in Tecolostote , Nicaragua.
I was surprised that the mission in Nicaragua would be considered the poorest and most needy because the Sisters also have missions in Kenya in Africa. When I went to Nicaragua a few years ago I could not see what economic activity was sustaining the people in that area. At that time they had the problems resulting from confrontations between the Communists and the opposition seeking greater freedom which was in effect a civil war.
The reality is that Nicaragua currently finds itself in a deep economic recession with significant political and healthcare challenges that have left serious doubts and worries among in the general population, especially as a result of unemployment.
Clearly this situation affects the school in Tecolostote that the Sisters run. Currently there are 96 students enrolled at the primary level and 106 at the secondary level. There is no state or other funding and at present they can only pay the teachers from the proceeds of what they sell. There is no money for supplies, repairs, equipment, etc.
So, because we had the missions in Colombia well organized and working well, we took the step of contacting the school in Tecolostote, Nicaragua. In that way I got to know Sister Andrea. I offered to send things to sell following the model that had been very successful in Colombia. She wanted me to send money and I explained to her that money was in short supply and that the most efficient way to operate was by selling used items we could send them. She was hesitant and did not appear to know how anything about sales. However, together we worked out how to do it, and low and behold, she became a tremendous sales person and must have been guided by the Holy Spirit because the fruits of the labor were many. At a later time in our Servant relationship, she told me that the school was at the point of closing when I had originally called her, and that she felt it was as if God had sent angels to save the work where they had been laboring for a long time. The Lord works in mysterious ways. He does things in His time and He does it His way.
Then came the Covid19 virus to contend with, just after the arrival of Sister Aury to the mission in Tecolostote. The virus has destroyed the economy which was poor to start with, largely due to the Communist government’s significant restrictions and regulations. In terms of the virus, the government has done little to inform, instruct or lead the people.
Sister Andrea, who was working in Nicaragua, was transferred to the Escuela Parroquial de Santa Cruz in Barrillas, Guatemala. There we continued our Servant relationship with her and helped the community in that location. From there, we came to know the needs in other parts of Guatemala and so the scope of work broadened. Education in Nicaragua is not free. Consequently we help very poor and mostly indigenous children by providing them with a good education. We also help provide health services to the very poor in Jacaltenango most of whom do not have money to pay for the services received. In addition, we help the older and sick Sisters in the Regional House and help to provide for the young girls interested in religious life.
Copyright © 2019 Servants of the Sacred Heart - All Rights Reserved.
" A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE WITHIN THE STATE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE" 1-800-HELP-FLA (435-7352) www.FloridaConsumerHelp.com CH40404
786-253-2585 https://servantsofthesacredheart.org
Powered by GoDaddy
You can now make donations through Zelle at
786-253-2585