St. Matthew Catholic Church Mission Group Click Here for 2011 Calendar

REPORT TO THE PARISH 2011

We continue to be grateful to St. Matthew parishioners for all their support and generosity. Since 2001, the Mission Group has been providing monthly financial help for food and medicine to Casa del Niño in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Although we no longer make yearly visits to Honduras, we communicate with the nuns that operate the orphanage every month to find out how they are doing. Some parishioners continue to faithfully make their donations for Casa del Niño and we supplement the rest of the monthly amount with the funds we raise.

In 2009, we decided to focus our efforts closer to home, and made a visit to Casa Esperanza, a children’s shelter in Ciudad Acuña, Mexico across the border from Del Rio, Texas. Since that time we have made several visits and delivered gifts, toys, school supplies, clothing and shoes for the children. Although we continued to hear reports and warnings to Americans about traveling across the border, we continue to visit the children periodically. In 2010 we decided to provide monthly financial help for food for the children at Casa Esperanza. The money is used to buy meats, fresh fruit, vegetables, and milk since they only get non-perishable items from the local food bank.

In July, 2010, some of the people in Ciudad Acuña suffered devastating effects from the flooding caused as a result of Hurricane Alex. Our parishioners responded generously to our efforts to help Acuña. During July and August, the Mission Group was able to deliver $6,000.00 worth of supplies (cleaning supplies, personal hygiene items, non-perishable foods, baby care items) and clothing to the people affected by the flooding. The help was greatly appreciated, and some of the members were able to visit one of the five distribution centers in Mexico to find out how the donated items were being distributed to the people.

We continue to be amazed at what the Lord helps our small group to accomplish. We are able to make a difference for children in Honduras and Ciudad Acuña because of the support from our pastor and parishioners. We are grateful for your prayers, donations, as well as your participation in our fund raisers throughout the year.

For more information about our ministry or to join our group contact:

Deacon Roberto and Christine Rios at 210-344-7310 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Betty Chandler at 210-408-1240