Mission Possible!
by Roxanne Wilhelm

It was exciting returning to Jamaica after a year. I knew it was going to be different this time. I was traveling without my husband. This time I was going with a mission in mind. I was armed with 14 boxes of medical supplies and hours of current experience in wound care and the latest information on wound care management. Now all I needed was the support of the Missionaries of the Poor (MOP) and access to the hundreds of residents in their care.

It was great to be back in the midst of the centers and the brothers. They have such joy in the midst of great poverty. I was pleased to be assigned to faith center where I could put my wound care knowledge to use. I am humbled by the size and extent of the wounds so many of the residents endure. They never complain, sitting silently, trusting that we will care for them.

It was quite a shock at dinner that night to learn a hurricane was heading for Jamaica. The next day we went to the centers packed with more rations than usual after being warned that we might end up spending not only our usual eight hours but possibly even the night. By noon the rain was falling in sheets and the winds were strong. The centers area is well built with cinderblock walls and iron gates. The rest of the ghetto was not so fortunate.

Blowing boards and flying metal roofs were a hazard but we remained safe within the walls of the complex. The kitchens were closed down so no one would get food until the storm passed. But, the brothers who daily hand wash every residents’ clothes, did not stop.

The storm lasted the night. We had a simple meal and went to bed listening to the hurricane passing over the island. Early the next morning, Father HoLung said he was deeply concerned about the poor in the ghetto and wanted us to prepare packets of food for the people in the streets and hand them out to those in need. They had no place to go. Many had their homes destroyed and did not know from where they could ever get the wood or metal roofing to replace what was lost. They had no dry clothes, no water since the flooding had contaminated the supply, no food since what they had was underwater, and their mattresses soaked and in standing water.

Those in our group who went distributing the packets in the street to the people were in awe at all who came to greet father HoLung. They were so grateful that someone cared for them. They knew no one else was coming to help them. But, MOP was always there for them putting them before the needs of the brothers or Father HoLung himself. The brothers know, as we all learned, putting these little ones first is feeding and clothing Christ himself.

The centers fared much better. Wet clothes, bedding and hunger were much easier to tolerate than the destruction we witnessed. Some patients missed their medications and wound care but for the most part, everyone survived.

Once the storm passed the hot Jamaican sun beat down on us once again. But all knew that it was indeed the Son that shone down on us that day in His fullest glory.

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