(light guitar music)
- [Narrator] Good morning,
this is Faith in Our Hometown,
brought to you as
a community service
and sponsored by
Mercy Hospital Joplin.
And now here's your
host Father J. Friedel.
- Good morning and welcome
or welcome back to any of
our friends who join us
for the first time here
for Faith in Our Hometown.
(mumbles) the conversation
about things that matter to us
as people of faith in
the Greater Joplin Area.
Many of you know
that part of my work
is taking care of
some of the students
out of Missouri Southern
State University.
Sometimes those students
do very interesting
things over the breaks.
It's not all fun and
games for everybody,
but some go to learn something,
sometimes on immersion trips,
and sometimes people in church
operations do mission trips.
And so two of my guests this
morning are two young women
that I actually happened
to have the blessing
of taking a mission trip with
over the Christmas break.
We're gonna be back to talk
about the Missionaries
of the Poor
and our work with
them in Jamaica.
Many people think
that Jamaica's just
for going to the beach,
but we didn't even see a beach
while we were in Jamaica.
So we're gonna be back
to talk with a couple
of our Missouri
Southern students,
and we're gonna do that
right after this break.
We're gonna have a new
Mercy Minute for you,
so sit back and watch it.
Grab your coffee and settle in.
We'll be right back.
- It's silly to be so
dreading it so much
because it was
really no big deal.
There was no pain afterwards.
I was really, really
hungry, so I got to have
whatever I wanted
to have for lunch.
The rest of the
day, I just slept
and there was no pain and
went to work the next day.
Everyday that I opened
up my refrigerator
and saw that referral
on my refrigerator,
I just dreaded having
to go through it.
Now I just kinda laugh about it
because it was no big deal.
Knowing it's behind me,
I just don't have
to worry about it.
(motorcycle softly rumbling)
Well, my husband and I,
we do a lot of riding
and we kind of cram
everything into the weekends.
Eventually, we'd like to
(engine revving)
once we retire,
we wanna be able to go
on vacations on our bikes
and go riding on
weekends a lot more.
We have a lot to
look forward to.
(upbeat music)
- Welcome back.
Again, we're at Faith in
Our Hometown this morning,
and my guests this morning
are two of our students
from Missouri Southern,
Aracely Aguirre and
Danielle Plutino.
So welcome ladies.
- Thank you.
- We had this experience
together in Jamaica.
When you told your friends
you were going to Jamaica,
what did they expect,
and then what have
you had to tell them
since you've been home?
- They were all like, oh,
you're going to Jamaica.
That'll be fun, and I was
like, yeah it'll be fun.
Then when I came back, they
were all asking about Jamaica.
I told them that I
didn't see the beach,
that I was there
for a mission trip
and it was a great experience.
Different experience,
but it was a great one.
- Why, Danielle, would
somebody do a mission trip?
What was the draw,
when you went?
Because this is
your second year.
- Mm-hmm.
- What was the draw?
Why did you wanna go
there in the first place?
And then what brought
you back the second year?
- Right, so what led me to
wanting to go in the first place
was, I would say, probably
just maybe a little bit
of that sense of adventure
where I did kinda wanna go out
and get some new experiences
inside a different culture,
inside a different place.
That was a primary draw.
I would say another primary
draw was just also me
wanting to go and
experience new people.
That does go with
part of the culture,
but also just meeting new people
and being able to help them.
That was probably
the primary thing
that wanted me to go
in the first place.
Then when I went there
and I met the people,
and I got to see the work
that the brothers did there,
that just made me realize
just how important
mission trips are, so
that's why I went back,
just to be able to get more
of that experience again.
- So people like me, we
take people on mission trips
because we know that
they can be those moments
where people begin to learn
some things about culture
and life and themselves that
they never learned before.
What did you learn on the trip?
What was unique about the trip?
- For me it was just
a different culture.
I go to Mexico very often.
So this one was just different.
People in Mexico are poor,
but I don't think to the
extent as we saw in Jamaica.
It was just very...
it was a different experience
to see all the children
just in the state in
which they were in.
Just being able to touch them,
and they would just smile,
and their eyes
would just light up.
It was great.
- Danielle, what
are you gonna learn
in now your second trip?
- Actually, it kinda
builds off of what Arecely
was just talking about where
one of the things I
think is so unique
about this particular
mission trip that we do
is that it's very
human-to-human-based.
Meaning that some people
go to build houses
or to help clean up places.
This is very
important, definitely.
But by this trip, you
are able to actually
interact with people there.
I think that that just
allows you to kind of get
the people perspective
on their lifestyle,
but also on the actual
people themselves.
That is when
everybody's different.
When you're being
able to find Jesus
in someone who can't move
or someone who has Down Syndrome
or someone who has a bed sore
that needs to be treated,
that just kind of allows you
to have a better perspective
on just realizing all
of us are so different.
Jesus comes in a lot of
different shapes and forms.
- Shapes and forms, absolutely.
Well, let's set this up
for some of our viewers
because they don't
know anything about
the Missionaries of the Poor.
Missionaries of the Poor,
founded in many years ago
by a man, a priest,
Catholic priest...
I don't mind
braggin' about that.
He set up this particular group
because he thought
that people were
falling through the
cracks in Jamaica.
His feeling at that
point in time was
the government
wasn't doing enough.
He was going and volunteering
at the state-run hospital
and some of those things
and just did not like
what he was seeing.
He didn't think the people
had enough one-to-one contact,
not enough care as a human being
and some other of
those kinds of things.
Most of the world knows
about Mother Theresa
who did her work in India.
Father Ho Lung
does his in Jamaica
where he got started.
He was actually from
there, from Kingston.
He started the
Missionaries of the Poor.
First the Brothers of the Poor,
but then they wound up
changing their name.
Now there's also a group
for women, as well.
He started this group
to basically go in
and to live and to work
in the ghettos in Kingston
to take care of the
people that society
was letting fall
through the cracks.
Tell me about some of the
people that you experienced
and some of the
places that we worked.
Just pick your favorite one.
- You mean the centers?
- Different centers, like
the different groups.
- Gosh, I was asked
this by Danielle,
which one was my favorite?
I liked all of them,
but I would have
to say that the one
that was a little more
different was Good Shepherd.
It was very different.
I was scared; I wanted to leave.
- And you lied to the
brother who ask you
if you were scared.
- Yes, I did.
(laughing)
I lied to the brother.
- I love it.
- He asked me if I was scared.
I said, no, no I'm
not (laughing).
- Your eyes started
getting bigger.
Your eyes were even
bigger than that.
I just want you to
know when you went in.
Because the day before,
we worked with kids.
We'll talk about that
center in a little bit.
But when we walked
into that one,
it was just a different thing,
basically one large
group dormitory
where 40 men live.
They're family there.
When we got there, what
was your experience
when you walked in?
- It was just a
different experience.
When we walked in, I saw a guy
with this shirt over his head.
I was so scared.
I was holding
Danielle like this,
and I said, I'm so scared.
I thought I was gonna cry.
It turned out that
it probably was
one of my favorite centers.
By the end, we were playing
dominoes with some of them.
We took a lot of pictures.
It was just...
It was so great.
It was just even
better to realize
that I was so scared at first,
and that it was one of my
favorite ones in the end.
- Now, all the men in this
particular home are disabled,
in one form or another.
Some would have Down Syndrome;
some would have autism.
Some would have mental illness,
what we consider to
be mental illness.
Some are just
physically handicapped.
Some with tumors and lesions
and things like that.
Do you remember one
of the first things
that the brother said, even
though he knew you were scared?
Do you remember what he said?
- He said that not
very many women...
- Would come to
volunteer there, right?
- And I just got a
new name, as well.
I got my name as Sally,
so that was very exciting.
(giggling)
- Yeah, it was.
I remember him calling
across the room.
He was looking at
me and he was going,
who is that, who is that?
Because you were over
doing something else
in another area, and
he was looking at her.
He said, who is
that, who is that?
I'm really sorry, but they were.
He was a young man,
so he was like,
you were a lot more
comely to his (mumbles)
than I was.
(giggling)
So he said as you're going,
who is that, who is that?
I said, that's Aracely.
That was when he started
calling out, Sally!
Sally!
Yes, we picked up on
that and gave Aracely
a new nickname that day.
When you first
experienced these folks,
when you first came in, it
was a little off-putting.
You were kind of like, eh,
these folks are different.
What did you discover
as the day went on?
Because we were there
about five, six hours.
What happened as
the day went on?
- Like I said, I was really
scared because they were
just larger men.
I mean, men, you know.
They're stronger than I am,
so it was just
scary to see them.
Sometimes they don't realize
that when they just
try touching you,
it hurts because they hit you.
- One of them did do that to
me right when we got there.
Aracely was looking.
She was like, okay.
- Yes.
But I realized that
they were so sweet.
They were, I mean...
I can't even explain.
I can't even express
how sweet they were,
how welcoming they were,
how respectful they were.
They don't ever see women.
I was just very surprised
that one of them told them,
hey, you don't say those words.
You don't use foul
language here.
These are ladies.
And I was like, wow, these are
men that are very respectful,
which I'm sure that the brothers
probably teach them, as well.
- Sure.
- It was just very
surprising to me
that even though
they don't see women
as often as other men do,
it's very nice
that they were so
respectful to us.
- Again, that was one of the
things the brothers said.
At least, it stuck in my mind.
He was very special
in talking about
that when he said,
welcome to our home.
This is where our members live.
In other words, this
is not just the place
where they're stuck, but
this is where they live.
They take of each other, and
they'll take care of you, too.
And he said, none of
them will hurt you.
You will be okay;
you're safe here.
None of them will hurt
you; you're gonna be fine.
Again, I don't think
that they would have,
they could not have,
really, anybody in the home
that was gonna
intentionally hurt someone
because they're all there
taking care of each other.
Really almost everyone in
there is a vulnerable adult
in one way or another.
Some not mentally.
You talked to some
of the people,
and they're absolutely sharp
and all those kind
of good things,
but could not survive outside
of a setting like that
because of their
physical disabilities.
It's very interesting in
terms of some of those things.
- Even for me,
one special moment
was when I was standing up
feeding another person there.
One of the guys, and then
the brothers told him...
he went and got me a chair,
so that way I could sit down.
That was just something.
Aracely was saying that
these guys don't have
as frequent contact with women,
but yet, they still
knew about that.
That that's a sign of
respect and niceness.
I was just like, wow,
that was really cool.
- Real quick and we're
gonna take a break,
but one of my cute
moments was when
they'd gotten you
chairs in another time
so that we could do
prayers together.
You were sitting at
prayers and everything,
and then one of
the men just was,
again, very limited
in his capacity,
but he was also gonna sit
down on that same chair
and kind of almost
sit on top of you.
- Yes, I remember.
- You got up, right, as he
was getting ready to sit down.
And that was fine.
Then one of the brothers
came over and said,
no, no, no, we got
that chair for her.
Come on, let's move over here.
And he came over and
he sat at my feet
while we were praying.
And as he just sat
at my feet then
that whole time during
the whole prayers,
it was a very moving experience.
We were there and we
were praying together,
and he just got comfortable
sitting right against my legs.
- That's what I was gonna say.
I loved that he was just
right up against your leg
and he was totally
fine with that.
- It's good.
They were just like the kids.
We're gonna talk
about the kids later.
Just like the kids, but bigger
kids from the day before.
All right, we're gonna
take a quick break.
Don't go away; this'll
be a short break.
We'll be right back with
Faith in Our Hometown,
and we're talking
about our mission trip
with the Missionaries
of the Poor.
So stick around for
our second half.
- [Narrator] You're watching
Faith in Our Hometown
on KSN TV, brought to you
as a community service
of Mercy Hospital Joplin.
(upbeat guitar music)
- Thanks for sticking with
us for another episode
of Faith in Our Hometown.
My guests today,
Danielle and Aracely,
students from Missouri Southern,
here with us this morning
talking about their mission
experience in Jamaica
over the Christmas break.
Again, no sunny beaches.
Plenty of hot weather.
But it kind of felt good
at this time of the year,
or that time of the
year when we were there.
So when we talk
about these things,
we talked a little bit
about Good Samaritan Home.
What other spot to you want
to talk about, Danielle?
Because we had so many
different experiences.
- Another center that
probably comes to my mind
as soon as I think of
Jamaica was at Jacob's Well.
Jacob's Well, that one house,
women who obviously had mental
and physical disabilities.
What I really like
about that one,
I mean, I love all
the residents there,
but there was one
resident in particular.
Her name's Flori,
and she was the lady
who had Down Syndrome.
For me, it was so special
because she would hang around
Aracely and I the whole time.
She kept on giving us hugs.
We were there for a
good portion of the day,
and when it came time to
leave, she started crying.
For me, that was very touching,
knowing that just in that
short time that we were there,
she had already gotten
kind of attached to us
because we would
try talking with her
and just take the time to try
to make her feel
more like a human
because we were doing more of
those interactions with her.
Then there was another lady.
It was so sweet because
when I came up to her,
she was like, I pray
for you every night.
I said, you pray for me?
She said, yes, I will
pray for you every night.
For me, that was
just so special,
knowing that some of those
residents who have nothing,
they still take that time
to really pray for us.
I think that is so special.
- That particular
home is the largest
of all of the
centers we worked in.
That one houses a
little over 100 people.
Most of the sections for women,
and there's also a section
up on the other side
for people who are
dealing with AIDS.
Because, again, in Jamaica,
there's a large number of folks.
And when folks are diagnosed,
many in cases, they're
put out by their families,
have nowhere to go,
nowhere else to deal with.
There was also another
little wing, if you will.
There are many different
living quarters in here,
but the large, open area, to me,
was just a great little
community center.
Because in the community
center, they were there.
I knew you guys
were doing nails.
I got to do a lot of nails.
I got to clip a lot of nails
when we were at
Good Samaritan Home,
but you guys did more nails
of the painting kind, etc.,
when we were at Jacob's Well.
Again, wonderful
experiences in terms
of just, I'm feeding people.
Many of the residents
can't feed themselves.
There are some residents
who can help feed,
so they'll grab a bowl
and they'll start feeding
another one of the residents.
They'll also save
some of those jobs
for folks like us who come in.
I think that they realized
that we were doing, at
least in our tradition,
the Catholic tradition,
we would call the
corporal works of mercy.
We would be feeding the hungry.
We'd be giving
thirsty to the drink.
I laugh 'cause the one day,
visiting me in prison.
I laughed 'cause one
kid was in trouble
with some of the
other caregivers.
He was not allowed out of
their unit, if you will.
Their bedroom area, the middle
kids' room, and he was stuck.
Every time he'd say,
I want to go outside,
I want to go outside,
his teacher would say,
you're not going anywhere.
You're gonna sit here
and you're gonna behave.
So I kind of stuck around
in that room that afternoon
'cause I figured I was
visiting him in prison,
and that was that.
At any rate, that's
was what we were doing.
Now, this is an interesting
little twist here,
but you guys are also both
premed students at Southern,
which I think is wonderful.
What did you learn in terms of
how it connected
to your studies?
Because I always think
that's interesting, too.
- For me, I think more
than just physically,
I think mentally,
as future doctors,
we should be able to realize
that some people don't
just need medicine.
They need love.
They need, sometimes,
psychological maybe therapy
or just therapy in
general for their muscles.
There was a little girl
that I can think of.
She was just...
I mean, her head was
kind of twisted backward.
It was very sad.
I started kind of massaging
her neck and her arms.
After an hour, she was able
to just kind of lay there
on her own with
her arms extended.
To me, that was just really cool
to just be able to see that.
- Just to see what
human touch could do
rather than the other things.
- Exactly.
- Exactly.
- That's kind of
where I'm getting at.
It's not just always medication,
but sometimes it's that love
that you can give someone else.
Because if I learned
something there, is that
honestly, I mean, love...
It's just the best medicine.
It really is.
- I agree with you.
Couldn't say anything
better than that.
How about you, Danielle,
what did you learn?
- Definitely a lot
of different things,
but something for me that
really kind of hit home
was when I was taking
blood pressures.
Because I work as a patient
care associate over-
- They're in the area, right?
- Yeah, at Carthage Eye Care.
- There you go, a little shout
out for Carthage Eye Care.
- There we go (laughs).
It's an optometry office.
One of the things I get to do
is I get to take
people's blood pressures.
They're usually, on average
on my eight-hour shift,
I might take maybe 20,
25 blood pressures.
Then when we were at Jamaica,
one of the nurses was like,
hey, can you help us to
take the blood pressures?
This is at Jacob's Well.
So I said, sure.
Aracely was recording
everything for me.
That way we could
speed along faster.
I was like, okay, I got this.
We kept on going, kept on
going, going more and more.
Before I knew it, in
an hour and a half,
we had done almost 70
blood pressure readings.
For me afterwards,
it was a bit tiring,
sitting there and
going, going, and going,
but then as soon as all
was said and done, though,
that just kind of
made me realize
just by that care
that I was able to give
each of those people.
One of the ladies, she
was getting really scared.
She didn't like that I was
constricting on her arm
and stuff like that.
We were trying our
best to calm her down.
That just kind of
made me realize,
kind of what Aracely was saying,
just by being able
to have more of that
human-to-human interaction.
That is really what
helps a lot of people
just to feel better.
Even for, like you
mentioned, us painting nails,
that was something else
that, all of a sudden,
I was like, you know what?
It may not seem super important,
but to them, you were
giving them that touch,
that love that they
wanted and they needed.
For me, whenever I
was painting nails
and someone else would come up,
the person that I was
painting their nails,
they were like, no,
go away, go away.
They didn't want my
attention to be divided
because they wanted
that love and that care.
That was what they
were really wanting.
- I got to see some of
those nails two days later
when I was there.
Because they were
just like, here.
One lady came up
and she showed me her-
- Her fashion.
- Yeah, they were pretty.
Very purple and sparkly.
I'm not sure which one of
you was responsible for that,
but they were very
purple and sparkly.
You know, it's interesting.
Here's one of the things that
I think that I've learned
over the course of
doing mission trips.
This is my first trip as well
to the Missionaries of
the Poor in Jamaica.
I was very impressed
with their charism,
what they do as a community.
I was very impressed
with the joy
and the love of the brothers,
the welcoming hospitality.
Very impressed by
all that stuff.
One of the things that
I was impressed by
and that I'm always impressed by
when I work with people
who are just poor
is that so many times I think,
well, I'm gonna help them out.
But I'm the one that
comes home, I think,
changed more by my visit there
than they were changed
by my visit there.
- Absolutely.
- What do you have
to say about that?
What do you think about that?
- One, I have to say
Danielle was so good
at doing the blood
pressure and everything.
Sometimes they were so scared,
and she would just
calm them down.
I was just kind of
watching and thinking,
wow, I have a
really good friend.
But even just that,
just realizing that we have
such great friends here,
and that as a community,
as residents, which I love
that they call them residents.
They don't call
them handicapped.
They don't call them
anything but residents.
That's exactly what they are.
To me, that was great
that they do that.
I mean, I just learned so much,
like I mentioned before,
just that human touch.
Just touching them,
saying hi to them,
looking at them,
their eyes would light
up and they would smile.
Well, I was sick most
of the time I was there.
I couldn't talk.
- We did give you a little
bit of trouble about that.
That was just because
we were thinking,
well, it's quiet because
somebody can't speak.
Hmm.
(Aracely giggles).
- Yes, I think that God
does things for a reason.
I wasn't able to talk, yet
just by me touching them,
it made them smile.
It made me cry
because I was like,
wow, this is just so amazing.
I can't talk and they still
feel that I want to help.
Just that human love, that
was very amazing to me.
I'm very glad I was sick
for those couple of days
and I couldn't talk.
- It's strange to
hear about this.
I was glad that I
was sick because...
- Because then, it's like
you realize after that
sometimes you just have
to sit back and watch
instead of talk.
Sometimes it's better to
keep your mouth closed.
- My mother has tried to
teach me that for years.
And my dad, but it didn't
work very well (giggles).
Now I talk for a
living, but go ahead.
How about you, Danielle,
what did you learn
along the way there
in terms of that?
- Aracely already kind
of covered that H to H,
that human-human, heart
to heart component.
That was something for me
that was really great insight
that I did learn, for sure.
But I would say another one
has to deal with gratitude.
For that, we were able to attend
some of the little, what do
they call it, worship time,
especially at Lord's
Place where they would
just take a little
time out of their day.
Then they would gather all
the residents together.
Then they would give
a little sermon.
Then they would
start doing songs.
And then they would have
some of the residents
lead in prayer.
Everytime, all the residents
would always start
out the prayer with,
thank you, Lord, for everything.
Just seeing them doing that,
that kind of made me realize
just how important that
attitude of gratitude is.
- Well, we're gonna have
to take a quick break here.
Right after this Mercy
Minute, we're gonna be back
to wrap up for this morning,
so stick with us.
- You don't realize
how much weight
you've put on until it's gone.
(knuckles softly rapping)
I'm Katie Dahl.
I work in the emergency
room at Mercy Joplin.
I'm a nurse.
I've been there for eight years.
I love my job; I think I have
the best job in the world
'cause I get to take care
of people every single day.
I had gastric bypass
surgery almost a year ago.
I have lost a total
of 130 pounds.
30 pounds I lost before surgery
with diet and exercise.
It's not been easy.
The surgery definitely has
helped it come off easier,
but I still have to
watch what I eat,
still have to exercise.
I have a lot more energy.
I can move around.
My body doesn't ache
anymore like it used to.
I was prediabetic, and now
my blood sugars are all good,
and I'm not worried about
being prediabetic anymore.
I feel like I was when I
was younger in high school
and then in my teenage years.
Just getting back to
where I feel comfortable
in my own skin now.
(upbeat music)
- Well again, thank
you for joining us
for another morning here
on Faith in Our Hometown.
My guests this morning,
two of our students,
Aracely Aguirre and Danielle
Pultino from Missouri Southern.
Both premed students there.
Took one of their vacation times
and went on a bit
of a mission trip.
I know many of our
churches around the area
do mission trips for various
reasons to various places.
It's important to enter into
sometimes another culture
where we can in some ways
try to encounter
people where they live.
And many times, we think we're
going to change their world,
but, at least in my experience,
they usually end
up changing ours.
I stop and I think
about I feel so blessed
to live where we live
and have what we have,
but I'm always
evangelized by the poor
because the poor
continue to remind me
that I've got a
heart and it matters.
I hope that you'll join
us again on next week
for Faith in Our Hometown.
It's always good spending
a Sunday morning with you.
I hope that you'll put
yourself in some experiences
out there where you can have
your heart opened up as well.
It is important for
all of us, in terms of
placing ourselves in
positions where we can grow.
God bless; have a great Sunday.
(upbeat guitar music)
- [Narrator] Thanks
for watching.
Faith in Our Hometown can
be seen Sunday mornings
at 6:30 and 9:00 AM on KSN.
Brought to you as
a community service
and sponsored by
Mercy Hospital Joplin.
(upbeat guitar music)
