We are wrapping our our men’s demo mission in Annotto Bay. We were a small but mighty team of faithful men who knocked down a dilapited portion of the convent at St. Theresa’s.
The day’s were hot(!), reaching almost 90 degrees. But we were grateful for the sun and quick dips in the ocean.
As with each mission, we begin and end each day in thanksgiving with Jesus and time for fellowship.
Phase 2 will be rebuilding this part of the convent as part of a mission hub. It will enable the parish to expand it’s community outreach programs as well as host other mission groups, which would give the parish a more reliable source of income.
Thank you for all the friends, family, and benefactors who made this trip possible.
Frassati Missions has had the privilege of serving the community of Annotto Bay since 2019. Because of the generous outpouring of so many, we have been able to make steady improvements through our partnership with St. Theresa’s Church. St. Theresa’s manages a weekly food distribution to the poor and shut in, operates several mission schools and chapels in the Blue Mountains, and provides a safe place where families can gather and be nourishes spiritually through various retreats and outreach programs.
Over 6 missions, with the help of 50+ missionaries and countless donors…we have been able to remodel a school playground, termite proof 2 schools, repaint a school building, install a new garden, re-tile the church floor, provide new windows screeens, repair St. Theresa’s leaky roof, purchase and refurbish a new shipping container for St. Theresa’s food handout, and demolish a detioriating building.
Thanks to your help, we have provided over 12 youth and community retreats serving over 400 people…and have begun regular annual visits to the local Annotto Bay High School in support of the GEMS (Girl’s Empowerment Movement), a group started by the local principal to support at risk teenage girls.
This year and with your help, we hope to finish re-building the Pier Giorgio Mission House (demolition pictured above), which will serve as a missionary guest house part-time and multi-purpose space for future parish outreach needs.
As part of the Church’s Jubilee Year, our theme this year will be “Missionaries of Hope” as we share the good news of mercy and forgivness. Through this lense, we will also provide a large several retreats, visit the sick and homebound, and work with the local high school.
Thank you for your support of Annotto Bay and for encouraging the lay faithful to be missionary disciples through their care of the poor, sick, and marginalized through these works of mercy and sharing the Good News.
Friends! We are headed back to Annotto Bay, Jamaica this January 15-20, 2025, and we invite you to join us as Pilgrim of Hope.
Embark on a transformative 6-day mission trip with Fr. Herald Brock, CFR this January 2025 as a “Pilgrim of Hope” in the new Jubilee Year. From the beachfront of St. Theresa’s to its vibrant mission schools in the Blue Mountains, we will immerse ourselves in the community of Annotto Bay through service projects and enriching parish retreats, centered around grace and forgiveness. Enjoy living in Christian community with daily Mass and Adoration. No experience needed—just bring your sense of humor and adventure! Register here.
This past April, Frassati Missions had the privilege of collaborating with Arthouse2B for its second annual Behold the Beautiful One Euacharistic retreat for artists. The theme this year was “Mary, Mother of Beauty.”
About 100 artists, lay and religous, gathered for a weekend of uplifting talks, fellowship, delicious hospitality and time with our Eucharistic Lord. We also got to reunite with Father Dominic Bump, OP, who served as a chaplain during our second mission trip to Peru. And the paintings shown in the slideshow above were painted by him.
This past Easter, we had the joy of accompanying Father Herald on a short mission to the island communities of Guanaja, Honduras. We spent Wednesday thru Easter Sunday of Holy Week there and took part in supporting the various Holy Week celebrations.
Like many of our mission communities, the Church is held together by a few parishioners who are steadfast in the faith. Many of the parishioners reside on the island of Cayo, an island town made of labrynth-like pathways. Unfortunately, their church burned down in October 2021 due to a town-wide fire. But their Faith has remained strong, and Franciscan Mission Outreach has been a key partner to drive the fundraising efforts to rebuild.
While the Thursday service of washign the feet took place in a temporary chapel on Cayo, the Good Friday Stations of the Cross service, and Easter vigil took place on other islands. Rather than traveling by car, folks travel by water taxi to get from one place to the other.
Though our time was short, it was an incredible experience to be with such a faithful community during Holy Week, and we hope to return soon.
Hello friends! Praying for God’s blessings on all of you from Annotto Bay.
Friday
We had the joy of visiting May River primary school (also in the Blue Mountains) and did another day of firsts — Mass and Adoration, both framed by teaching our, “Jesus, Bread of Life” program.
These children were so attentive and willing to share what came to mind for them during the various times of prayer throughout the morning. And we even had a few special guests join us at the school: Mary and baby Jesus, then Jesus #1, Jesus #2, and Jesus #3!
On this mission, we wanted to highlight some very importance aspects of the Eucharist — that this “bread” is meant for us to consume, that it is gift and miracle meant to nourish us, that it truly Christ’s body, and that the blessing/breaking of it recapitulates Christ’s sacrifice on the cross as well as the graces won from it.
To do this, Father elaborated that not only was Jesus was born in “the house of bread,” but Mary also placed him in a manger — which was actually a trough, a tray that held food for animals to eat from. Jesus #1 represented Jesus multiplying just a few loaves to feed the five thousand. Jesus #2 represented Jesus at the Last Super when he incorporated the Eucharist by celebrating the passover, telling his disciples to “Take and eat, this is my Body…” Jesus #3 represented Jesus on the cross, when he died for the forgiveness of our sins.
In a very special way Fr. Herald explained that as an ordained priest, when he says the words of Jesus, the bread offered at Mass becomes the body of Jesus Christ and Jesus is fully present (body, blood, soul and divinity) at every Mass.
Saturday
We broke into 3 teams to do home visits — visiting those who have fallen away from the faith or those whose health prevent them from attending Mass). This was another first for Frassati Missions in Jamaica. We can all agree that after covid in 2020 many things have changed. There have been numerous Catholic Churches that have seen a decrease in Mass attendance, it was no different at St. Theresa Parish.
The goal of our home visits was to reminded those we visited that they are missed and loved, they are not forgotten, and that they are part of a church family who is always awaiting their return with open arms. While on these home visits, it was wonderful to hear the parishioners stories of what they remember of St. Theresa parish, to meet other members of their families, and to pray together.
Work Project
Some folks may recall that last June 2023, we came to Jamaica for a men’s demo project — they demolished an old guest house, which was deteriorating (you can see photos from past posts on Instagram). Through your generosity and your prayers, we are going to be funding the construction and material of a new “mission house”. The new building will be able to house more missionary groups as well as other guests/programs so St. Theresa can further expand how it serves the community of Annotto Bay. We began phase 1 this mission, with the reconfiguring of a new bathroom including all new tile, fixtures etc. An especially big thank you to the female missionaries at the convent who have been so patient and joyful despite having lost water on several occasions!
You all are in our prayers.
Please pray for us, this mission, and the people of Annotto Bay.
Greetings and prayers from sunny Annotto Bay! What a joy to be back in Jamaica doing God’s work.
We arrived yesterday (Wednesday) after traveling both by air and land. We touched down in Montego Bay ~1pm then drove 3 hours east, from the resort side of Jamaica to “out country,” as they say here on the island. Though a long drive, we enjoyed seeing the beautiful, lush mountains of Jamaica as well as the Caribbean blue sea. We also enjoyed some delicious Jamaican patties along the way. We arrived at St. Theresa’s around 5:30pm and started with Mass followed by dinner, Holy Hour, and a planning session. By the time we settled down for the night, there was no running water (it shuts off here around 9pm, and our pump wasn’t working!), but we offered it up with gratitude and with hopeful expectation that God would resolve it by morning…and He did!
Today (Thursday) was a great day of firsts. We trekked to Mount Saint Joseph primary school in the Blue Mountains, which is one of five Catholic schools associated with St. Theresa’s parish. The kids seemed shy at first. But after singing “This little light of mine,” everyone was warmed up and ready to have fun.
We had a very friendly dance-off, showing our favorite dance moves to love Jesus and also played “Simon says.” The boy’s team was so good there was a five-way tie!
The evangelization theme for this mission trip is “Jesus, the Bread of Life”. Although Mount Saint Joseph is a Catholic school, many if not most of the students are not Catholic. They have some Christian background, but many do not have a good understanding of the faith. Over the last five years, we have slowly been teaching very simple yet important catechesis to build up the faith and encourage the children to deepen their personal relationship with Jesus.
Today, for the first time(!), we had the privilege of celebrating Mass at the school. It was an “explanatory Mass”, where Father Herald elaborated what was happening throughout the various parts of the Mass and relating it to various parts of scripture. A highlight was a folded “Eucaristic card” we gave to each of the children – when the card was folded, the children saw bread and a bow on the outside (a gift). And when they opened it, they saw Jesus on the inside. It was wonderful seeing their eyes light up as they made the connection that Jesus makes a gift of himself to us through bread (and wine).
After Mass, the kids had a snack break and then had some special visitors – Mary and Jesus (who appeared 3 different times). We narrated 4 scenes of the bible as some brave students dressed up to depict – Jesus born in Bethlehem / Jesus’ multiplication of loaves / Jesus at the Last Supper / Jesus on the Cross. It was beautiful to witness the students connecting Jesus being born in “the house of bread,” to Him multiplying the loaves, to Jesus then blessing/breaking/giving that bread, and then finally offering himself.
And it gets better — we were able to do Adoration at the school (another first). The children had just learned about Jesus being the bread of life, how he is truly present in the Eucharist, and then we adored Jesus in the Eucharist. They wrote some praises and intentions in an activity book, and Marisel and Luke played beautiful worship music as Father led a meditation.
After Adoration, we said goodbye to the children of Mt. St. Joseph’s and made a quick visit to St. Theresa Basic School where the team did a “show-and-tell” using a toy Mass kit. We ended the day with some fellowship in the ocean, family dinner, and of course Adoration for the team.
Thank you to all our families and friends who have supported and encouraged this mission. Please know we are praying for you, please also pray for us.
Considering joining the mission team and starting the new year with a mission in beautiful Jamaica. We will once more be serving the community of Annotto Bay and St. Theresa, an area and parish we have been serving since 2019.
Click here to register and learn more about the trip.
Presented by Frassati Missions & Franciscan Mission Outreach MEN’S MISSION TRIP ANNOTTO BAY, JAMAICA 21-25 June 2023 Pray, adventure, and get your hands dirty doing God’s work!
A short, 4-day men’s mission friendly for the working professional and/or family man. We will demolish a dilapidated storage building (which will give way for a new mission house wing) and weather-proof a 20ft food storage container. Other repairs may be done if possible.
This is our last update on the mission trip. It went by so quickly.
Monday, January 16, 2023
Monday was a busy day for us, we had a lot to squeeze in. As always, we started the day with the celebration of the Holy Mass. There is a lot to be thankful for! The missions team split up into two groups: one to finish off the painting and one to go to the schools and evangelize.
At Annotto Bay High School we met with the GEMS group, which stands for “Girls Empowered for a Mission of Self-Actualization”. The school principal, Ms. Trudy-Ann, started this group for the girls of the high school because she noticed that many of the young ladies lacked basic hygiene products, didn’t believe in themselves, they came from various backgrounds that made going to school difficult, and they did not have a support system. This group of young ladies meets for 30 minutes before the official start to school, and they spend it as a time of support and encouragement.
We loved meeting up with them. At first they were shy and didn’t want to speak about their individual selves. Mariela, a Frassati Missionary, volunteered to break the ice and share about herself first. She shared how school work came easy, but she always had a tough time making friends, and because of that school itself was hard because she didn’t have people around her that made her feel like she was supported. It was quiet in the room but a few of the GEMS girls nodded their heads in agreement. Almost the entire group of young ladies raised their hands when asked if they had ever felt lonely and again almost the entire room raised their hands when asked if they had ever had someone tell them that they weren’t any good/ they can’t do something. The questions were asked while their eyes were closed, so there was a feeling of being afraid to be “the only one who felt like this”. But we all have the same struggles, as women we all worry about hygiene, about our families, about school work and success. The last question that was asked was if they believed in themselves to achieve their dreams; every young lady raised up her hand high. These young ladies have big dreams! Many of them want to be soldiers, there were a few that said doctors and nurses, and one young lady smiled as she said she wanted to be a hairdresser!
We distributed small hygiene kits to the GEMS group. In the United States there isn’t much talk about how a young woman’s changing body can be a cause for her to stop going to school, the reality is that in many developing countries, like Jamaica, this is all too common. Young women do not have the supplies needed to accommodate this need, so they end up dropping out of school. The kits included feminine sanitary napkins, toothpaste and toothbrush, a chapstick, and a sequenced heart shaped keychain to remind each young lady that she is loved and beloved by God the Father. At the end of our meet-up we all sang along to the song “You Say” by Lauren Daigle.
Next we visited St. Theresa Basic School. The students there are in Pre-Kinder. It is adorable to see them all singing together and clapping their hands. We had a little evangelization moment showing them a picture of Jesus being baptized and a dove in the sky. The children pointed out the colors in the pictures, the bird, the waters, Jesus and John the Baptist. At the end of the visit the ukulele came out (again!) and Theresa led us in a song.
The last school we visited was May River Primary School. Our skits had to be improvised because half the team wasn’t with us since they were elsewhere painting. This was a pop quiz moment for all the missionaries to see if they paid attention to each other’s skits. We all had to fill in for each other and play out different character roles; it was different but the message of Jesus was the same. Jesus Christ is Alive! Jesus is the Way, the Truth, the Life! At the end we split up into three teams and had a dance off competition. These kids have some serious moves! It was decided that everyone was a winner.
The painting at Mount St. Joseph was finished. Brother Joachim, CFR even joked that he was pleasantly surprised that we were able to finish the painting on Monday and that the chapel actually looked nice. Everyone painted and got dirty at one point. However, Martin kept a tight ship on the missionaries finishing the job and having fun while doing so. A parishioner of the church (who went to Welcome Sunday and remembered us from last year’s mission) walked 30 minutes to come and help us. She knew we would be there on Monday morning and wanted to come say hello to the team. It was a great help to have her there because she was able to tell us exactly how to put back the furniture in its original location.
You might remember that our fundraising included the twenty foot shipping container. Through your generous donations we were able to hire local Jamaican workers to construct a concrete slab that would be able to support the container and local Jamaican workers will be hired to refurbish and paint the shipping container (this is a boost for the local economy). While on the ground our team didn’t do much hands-on work with the container, this is a great addition to the parish: it will be used as necessary storage for parish supplies and for a Food for the Poor distribution hub (which distributes food to the the people of Annotto Bay once a week).
Tuesday, January 17, 2023
Our departure flight on Tuesday, January 17th got delayed but we made the best of it at the airport in Kingston. We even had time to have some delicious Jamaican beef patties for breakfast. The team arrived safely at JFK in the late afternoon.
We want to thank all of the missionaries: Irbania, Jake, Megan, Theresa, Lauren, Joseph, Mary, Mariela, Martin, Ingrid, and the youngest missionary Esperanza. We also want to thank all of our friends, families, and benefactors. This mission was all possible because of all of you; sharing of your time, your prayers, and your generous donations.
Please continue to keep the community of Annotto Bay, St. Theresa Parish, and Frassati Missions in your prayers. Know that we are praying for YOU!
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