Lay Mission Volunteer Group

A group of 20 students from the Egan Institute of Spalding University will be working in the Bardstown, Ky., area from October 1-5. The group and their campus minister, Audrey Cecil, will be working as Lay Mission Volunteers assisting three women by painting the exterior of their homes. They will be staying on the Nazareth campus. We are happy to continue our outreach with these young adults.

An Invitation to An Encounter in Faith and Solidarity with the People of Belize

Now booking Las Flores, Belize Central America Volunteers

To sign up, please contact:

Sister Luke Boiarski, Director
SCN Lay Mission Volunteer Programs
P.O. Box 9 Nazareth, Kentucky 40048
Phone: 502-348-1581 Email: lukescn@scnky.org

• Cost: $1,500 includes round-trip airfare from Louisville, KY; lodging and food; all activities and excursions. It does not include personal purchases or optional travel insurance.
• A current passport is necessary with expiration date no more than 6 months from date of travel.
• Participants must be able to walk some distances.
• Participants need to be prepared for the heat and sun of the tropics.
• Participants must be able to handle their own luggage.
• Participants are encouraged to read “Belize: A Novel” by Carlos Ledson Miller, available in libraries and bookstores.
• The trip is open to 12 registrants only. (Priority will be given to those who have not previously participated).
• A non-refundable deposit of $750.00 is due on or before October 15, 2012. The remaining $750.00 is due by November 15, 2012.

What Will We Be About?

We will focus on meeting people, learning about other cultures, making friends and sharing faith, while we work side-by-side with people in need.

We will be working with local residents in Las Flores for home and school repairs. We will work in collaboration with our Sisters in Las Flores, Belize. Las Flores is located approximately 33 miles northwest of Belize City.

Expand Your Horizons

There is a saying in Belize that once you drink the water, you will return again and again and again...For the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and their associates, the above adage is the truth. 

The SCN ministry and presence began in Belize with Sister Mary Lynn Fields. In 1975, Mary Lynn heard the call to go to Belize. Today ten SCNs and over 30 local SCN Associates serve with the people of Belize. 

Belize, a beautiful Caribbean land with a population of 280,000, is located southeast of Mexico in Central America. Belize is a land of many cultures, the earliest being that of the great Mayan dynasties.

Lay Mission Volunteer Program

Welcome to the students from Archbishop Williams High School in Braintree, Mass., who will be volunteering here in Kentucky this week. During their time at Nazareth, they will be painting three homes of people in need in Nelson County, Ky.

We pray for them and their journey all this week.

Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities

The SCN Lay Mission Volunteer Program is scheduling mission trips to Belize, Botswana, New Orleans, Appalachia (Southeastern Ohio, Kentucky and Pennsylvania), Montana, Henryville, Ind., and Tutwiler, Miss., to take place starting in October of this year. The purposes of the program is to involve lay persons in meaningful ways in service to others in the spirit of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth.


Contact Sister Luke today.

Sister Luke Boiarski, SCN
P.O. Box 9, Nazareth, KY 40048
(502) 348-1578
lukescn@scnky.org

Diaster Relief Orientation

On Saturday the first orientation for the SCN Disaster Relief Team was held at Nazareth, Ky. This team will respond emergency relief to disasters within a 500 miles radius of the Motherhouse

View photos from the day on Facebook

Last Day at Blackfeet Native American Reservation

From Sister Luke:

Today is our final day here on the reservation. We will tour Glacier Park which is a 40 minute drive. The mountains are absolutely gorgeous.  

We finished all the repairs that Brother Ray needed to have done. We also built two handicap ramps in this area. One ramp for the bunkhouse and the other for his home. 

Brother Ray was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, but he tries not to let that slow him down. 

Yesterday, we had an opportunity to go into the town of Browning, which is the capital of the Blackfeet Nation. It is rather desolate because of the high rate of unemployment. 

We board the train tomorrow morning and travel back to Louisville, Ky.

Montana Volunteers Update

We received the following message from Sister Luke Boiarski…

“We arrived in Montana at 8:30 on Sunday, June 17. Br. Ray of the De La Salle Blackfeet School met us at the East Glacier train station. Our first impression of the area was one of vastness and grandeur. That night we had a brief orientation and selected our sleeping quarters in the bunkhouse or a nearby trailer. We found out Br. Ray has been by himself for almost six months at his home on the church property.


Br. Ray is a gentle and soft-spoken man who has been facing serious health problems. He asked for our assistance with several projects because he has been falling behind with all he is required to do. We learned that sometimes people like Br. Ray, who has dedicated his life to helping the children of the Blackfeet tribe, can also be in need.


The past two days our work has included: mowing, weeding, repairing fences, laying a walkway, and constructing a ramp to make the bunkhouse handicap accessible. We also gathered for an evening meal that included deep sharing and prayer. We were joined by Br. Ray, Br. Kent from St. Louis and John, a De La Salle volunteer who arrived that morning.


Later tonight we will be celebrating Trudy and Wayne Wheatley's birthdays. We have received many blessings in our days here."

Montana volunteers still en route

We just heard from the volunteers on their way to Montana.  They are now passing through North Dakota.  They say it is a bit cloudy and about 64 degrees.  Still have about 8 hours to go to reach Browning, Montana.  In the photo below, Teresa, Trudie, Georgia and Jude get out in Minot, North Dakota to stretch a bit.

Volunteers travel to Montana

Nine SCN Volunteers and Sister Luke left for the "Big Sky " country this morning at 2:30 a.m. They met at Nazareth, KY and drove to Louisville where they boarded the Megabus for Chicago.  In Chicago, they boarded a train to Browning, Montana.  In all, they will travel a total of 36 hours.  While in Montana, they will be working on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.  Check back for photos and updates as we receive them.  Please keep the group in your prayers.

Last days in Botswana

It's hard to believe that our time here is drawing to a close. Yesterday, all the Sisters and Tootsie gathered with us in Metsimothlabe for a debriefing and evaluation of our experience. Our time together was set in the context of prayer. We gave each of the Sisters a small wooden heart as a token of our gratitude.

Today, we visited the St. Mary's Pre-School and the Sisters in Lobatse since we haven't had the chance to spend a lot of time with them. We are so impressed with the school and the work of Sisters Ann and Olive.

Tomorrow we will treat everyone to lunch before we head to the airport. It will take a long time to process all that we've experienced. We are filled with gratitude for each moment.

Volunteers continue to experience Botswana

Yesterday we finished painting the alphabet, pictures, etc on the walls of the Mmopane Center. Monica and Millard also trimmed a thorn tree in the yard. We were proud of how everything looked when we finished. We were surprised today with a performance of a tribal dance by the children of the Center. The students of this Center are known in the area for their dancing and we watched in amazement.

Tonight, we enjoyed an Indian meal prepared by the sisters here and then played Jenga to finish out the night. A great time!

Today, we toured the Hospice and Millard is building supports for a trellis. This afternoon, Sister Pat and Tootsie are driving here for a visit - we've missed them so it will be a treat to see them again. Sister Nalini is helping to lead an all-day workshop for youth in a nearby village.

We stand in admiration of the work of the Sisters in each place we've visited. The spirit of Mother Catherine is so evident. The deep faith and generous hearts of the Sisters shine through in their interactions. What we have given is so small compared to what we have received. Our hope is that our presence here is a sign of our great love and support of what they do every single day.

Our time here is quickly drawing to a close. We are soaking up every minute and remain so grateful for all of this!

Volunteers begin work in Mmopane

We arrived in Metsimothlabe yesterday and received a warm welcome from the sisters. In the evening, we attended a special Mass for a Brother who works in Botswana, followed by a dinner. It was truly an international event with at least 9 countries represented.

Today, we began painting a Center for orphans and vulnerable children in the village of Mmopane. Sister Vinaya is the director of the center and she provided great leadership today. The children are referred to the center through the outreach program of the Hospice. We are painting the alphabet, numbers and some pictures to help with their educational efforts. We made great progress today. We are surely grateful that Sister Olive joined us to share her artistic skills.

Project completed in Tswaaneng, Botswana

We finished painting the church in Tswaaneng village today.

Each place we visit leaves us with new insights that broaden our understanding of the world. One of the many lessons learned these two days is how precious water is. When we arrived at the church, we learned that the water had been shut off to the property and the water vats were empty. An elderly woman brought two 5 gallon buckets of water for our use, and we know that she was sharing a valuable resource with us. We saw donkey carts with jugs and buckets on the wagons, lined up at the water station on the way to the village. For the people in this village, water is extremely precious. This experience makes us think about the ways we use water.

Tomorrow we leave for Metsimothlabe where we will visit with the Sisters and paint a day care in the village of Mmopane. Thanks for sharing in our journey in this way and for your prayers for our continued safe travels.

Monday in Botswana

Today, we traveled to the remote village of Tswaaneng to begin the work of painting the church and replacing the doors. As we arrived at the village, we stopped to meet the village chief. Then we stopped at the school, where the children sang for us. The headmistress then asked what song we would sing. We decided that "My Old Kentucky Home" was appropriate, and we were grateful that the students didn't laugh at our pathetic rendition!

The village is about 1 1/2 hours from Kanye where we are staying. One thing that has made an impression on us is gentleness of the people. We've met many people and most tell us their name, followed by the meaning of their name. We've met a woman whose name means "thanksgiving", and another whose name means "comfort". Thandi, who drove us to the village told us that her name means "love", and we worked today with a young woman whose name means "tears". Gracious, loving, and heart-filled people.

We've almost finished painting the inside of the small church. Tomorrow we'll touch up the inside, and we hope to complete the painting of the outside of the church also. Millard worked hard on the doors and with a lot of muscle-power and a hand-saw, the front doors are almost finished.

On Wednesday, we'll head to Metsimothlabe where we will visit with the Sisters there, visit their ministry sites, and help to paint a day care center in Mmopane.

We continue to feel very blessed.