Summer Update from Playa Prieta
Summer Update from Playa Prieta
Dear Friends of Help the Helpless,
We thank you again for all the support we have received from you and remind you that we continue to offer the school Mass every Tuesday for you and your families. These past few months have been very busy. At the end of May, we had a lovely festival dedicated to the Virgin Mary. This festival began with a parade of cars decorated with different Marian decorations and a girl from each community who was dressed as a different Marian apparition. At the end of the parade we celebrated Mass in the plaza area outside the church. We think about 1,000 people attended. Afterwards, the festival began. It included juggling, a mariachi band, and raffles that helped us fund some of the event's expenses. We also had a special choir that sang a Marian cantata.
Afterwards, a young couple came up to us and told us they decided to get married in the Church because it was such a beautiful event. They will start premarital courses together soon! We also have the great news that one of the sponsored families, Gabriel and Gabriela, have just gotten married in the Church this past June! This is a great joy for us, since we want the material help that we give to many families to be a stepping stone to their spiritual growth and maturity.
As we are already in the months leading up to First Communions and Confirmations, we were asked by a neighboring parish to help with their annual Communion retreat. The priest usually asks for our help, since he oversees over 60 rural communities, and the pastoral work is impossible to carry out without help. This year, some high school students from our Holy Family School volunteered to help us. There were 250 children preparing to receive sacraments in total, so the volunteers organized the retreat in small groups, providing catechism, preparation for confession, crafts, and games.
Through this mission, we were proud to see how our high schoolers stepped up to teach these children how to be good Christians and good people. The joy of Christ shown through them all, and they were excellent examples to these little ones who look up to them so much.
Finally, we must tell you about the Feast of Corpus Christi, where we hosted a special group of 17 lay people from Minnesota! They helped in the classrooms with the youngest children in our school, made Eucharistic crafts, played with them, and prepared their hearts for this holy Feast Day. We decorated the entire school for the occasion. The celebration started with Holy Mass, celebrated by one of the Servant Brothers and Fr. Aaron, who came with the missionary group. Afterward, we had a beautiful procession throughout the whole school. It was touching to see the little three-year-olds blow kisses towards our Lord and cry out, “Jesus, I love you.” It was a moment of grace not only for the students, teachers, sisters, but also for the missionary group that was visiting. We appreciate your help, collaboration, and, above all, your prayers for this community in Ecuador and for all the work that is being carried out here.
Thank you very much for everything. God bless you.
The Servant Sisters from Playa Prieta
We thank you again for all the support we have received from you and remind you that we continue to offer the school Mass every Tuesday for you and your families. These past few months have been very busy. At the end of May, we had a lovely festival dedicated to the Virgin Mary. This festival began with a parade of cars decorated with different Marian decorations and a girl from each community who was dressed as a different Marian apparition. At the end of the parade we celebrated Mass in the plaza area outside the church. We think about 1,000 people attended. Afterwards, the festival began. It included juggling, a mariachi band, and raffles that helped us fund some of the event's expenses. We also had a special choir that sang a Marian cantata.
Afterwards, a young couple came up to us and told us they decided to get married in the Church because it was such a beautiful event. They will start premarital courses together soon! We also have the great news that one of the sponsored families, Gabriel and Gabriela, have just gotten married in the Church this past June! This is a great joy for us, since we want the material help that we give to many families to be a stepping stone to their spiritual growth and maturity.
As we are already in the months leading up to First Communions and Confirmations, we were asked by a neighboring parish to help with their annual Communion retreat. The priest usually asks for our help, since he oversees over 60 rural communities, and the pastoral work is impossible to carry out without help. This year, some high school students from our Holy Family School volunteered to help us. There were 250 children preparing to receive sacraments in total, so the volunteers organized the retreat in small groups, providing catechism, preparation for confession, crafts, and games.
Through this mission, we were proud to see how our high schoolers stepped up to teach these children how to be good Christians and good people. The joy of Christ shown through them all, and they were excellent examples to these little ones who look up to them so much.
Finally, we must tell you about the Feast of Corpus Christi, where we hosted a special group of 17 lay people from Minnesota! They helped in the classrooms with the youngest children in our school, made Eucharistic crafts, played with them, and prepared their hearts for this holy Feast Day. We decorated the entire school for the occasion. The celebration started with Holy Mass, celebrated by one of the Servant Brothers and Fr. Aaron, who came with the missionary group. Afterward, we had a beautiful procession throughout the whole school. It was touching to see the little three-year-olds blow kisses towards our Lord and cry out, “Jesus, I love you.” It was a moment of grace not only for the students, teachers, sisters, but also for the missionary group that was visiting. We appreciate your help, collaboration, and, above all, your prayers for this community in Ecuador and for all the work that is being carried out here.
Thank you very much for everything. God bless you.
The Servant Sisters from Playa Prieta