There is so much to share with you and will do the best I can. I may not always have time to check the grammar but if there is a question feel free to ask, comment or email.
Last month we were blest to have a group of volunteers from Akron and Cleveland Ohio. Kaija and her group composed of Kody her son, Pat, Elaine & Ken. They were here to offer a Thanksgiving dinner to the seniors who normally would not be able to get out and not have anyone to share Thanksgiving with. The volunteers worked hard to prepare the food and set up the tables which looked very festive and appetizing. The seniors who came enjoyed the occasion immensely.
During this event we found out that many seniors do not like to venture out of their homes unless it is absolutely necessary. Dinner was served followed by a wonderful time of sharing with Father Beiting making sure everyone was heard. Seniors were then driven home after packing extra food for them to take. They proudly arrived back at their residence loaded down with their gift bags and christmas trees that the generous donors from Ohio provided. After this, we then began another mission which was reaching out to those who were afraid to venture out of their homes and delivered their Thanksgiving dinner. We made many new friends among the seniors and in particular a very special lady named Ruth, a 94 year old. She was very charming and entertaining, happy to receive the dinner.
The following day, another mission ensued. This time we visited the nursing home and delivered gifts for the seniors there, especially for those who do not have family. They were the happy recipients of the warm blankets and lap covers. These blankets are coming in very handy in this unusually cold spell.
The group then proceeded to help us at Point of Hope giving us an early Christmas, with all their gifts, christmas lights and decorations. Thank you to all of you who sent to us. The volunteers then began to put our Christmas lights and decorations up. We were very grateful for this help which gave us an incentive to continue putting up more decorations. With all these early Christmas gifts, we are now able to work more efficiently. Thank you to all our volunteers and donors.
Today, our family that is still here is leaving. The process to restructure our program and to repair all our residences will soon begin. Moving the residents on to permanent housing has been a difficult task and thank you to those who assisted these families in their move. We had hoped that this would have been finished by the end of October and so would have been ready to reopen again in November, last month. As we all know, mission life has its own rhythm and so flexibility is a necessity as Father Beiting so readily demonstrates to us each day. The founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blood, Abbot Francis Pfanner, taught our early and first sisters to be flexible because he said “flexible hearts will not break”.
So we shall end this first bit of info and wish you all a very blessed Advent.
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