THE GOOD NEWS
ARCHBISHOP BELTRAN

September 9, 2007

The Good News

...Sometimes, Use Words!

It is amazing to me that so much can be accomplished with so little resources except that this is a Catholic mission conducted by people of faith, love and true dedication.

I’m  writing  today  about  an exciting mission experience I just completed in Liberia, West Africa.  Although it was only one week long, my visit to Our Lady of Fatima Rehab Center in Monrovia will never be forgotten.

Over the years, I have had wonderful mission experiences in many parts of our own country as well as in Guatemala and Africa.  This recent experience at Our Lady of Fatima Rehab Center was the most inspiriting and challenging of all.

This rehab center developed into its present structure and location because of many circumstances of time and place over the past 35  years.  However, I am convinced that basically and fundamentally, it was formed by Divine Providence. It began in Cape Palmas, Liberia.  Then, due to the civil war and later because of looting and terrorism, it was twice exiled to the Ivory Coast. After the war, the center relocated in rental units in Monrovia. It was less than 10 years ago that the rehab center began anew at its present location outside Monrovia.

During these past few years, Our Lady of Fatima Rehab Center has developed and grown far beyond any human plans. This is the reason I believe it has and continues to be inspired and sustained by Divine Providence. God works wonders through human beings who have faith and live in accordance with the Great Commandment of love.

Sister Mary Sponsa, the foundress and director of Our Lady of Fatima Rehab Center, is a Bernardine Franciscan Sister whose community sent her to Africa as a missionary in the early 1970s. Since she was a  registered nurse, she was placed in charge of the clinic. It was there that she noted the great need to provide better pre-natal care to mothers and therapy services to abandoned, handicapped children. These are her two priorities which she has emphasized in good times as well as times of turmoil, exile and uncertainty throughout these many years.

The present location of Our Lady of Fatima Rehab Center is a 14-acre tract reached only by several miles of the most primitive road you can imagine. It was the only land they could afford to purchase. To the eye, at first glance, the 14 acres are not very attractive as it is a rocky terrain with no paved driveways or sidewalks or other niceties. But what happens daily on these 14 acres is truly the work of God through those who minister here in His Name.

Although it is not a picturesque hill, the highest part of the property has become the most important place.  Here is a simple chapel with the constant Presence of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament. Here every Sunday a priest comes from the local parish to celebrate Mass for the rehab community. (Although the parish church is only a few miles away, it is a full hour’s drive because of the road conditions. Imagine how difficult, if not impossible, it would be to transport 100 to 200 handicapped children!) In addition to the Sunday Eucharist (and other Masses when visiting priests are available), the entire rehab family gathers in the chapel three times daily for prayer.  Weekday mornings, Sister Sponsa leaves the center at 5:45 a.m.  in order to attend the 7 a.m. parish Mass.

The original boys dormitory was destroyed by fire one night several years ago. It was rebuilt and can house 90 to 100 boys. The original girls dormitory which sleeps up to 75 will soon be used for the school expansion and the girls will be housed in several other smaller buildings.

Speaking of the school expansion, let me explain. Sister Sponsa has always believed in the need for good education for her handicapped children. At great sacrifice and effort, she has struggled to accomplish this.  When she could no longer afford to send her children to the local schools, she requested permission to open her own school. As soon as the rehab school opened, children from the surrounding areas asked to be admitted. Now grades pre-K through 12th have almost 1,000 students attending school every day!

The present clinic on the rehab grounds is scarcely twice the size of my garage. In this small, ordinary garage-like building, 30 to 75 people are helped daily.  Medical services are not limited to pre-natal care. Anyone who is sick or injured and doesn’t require hospitalization will be served if medications and supplies are available. However, mothers and babies are the largest number of patients. It is immediately evident that there is an urgent need for a larger and better equipped clinic. Unable to get corporate or agency funding for the new clinic (estimated cost is $200,000), Sister Sponsa and the residents of the rehab center trust in prayer. So far they have put in the foundation and a few walls. When money is available, they buy a few bags of cement or other building materials. I know their prayers will be answered by God through generous people “who hear the cry of the poor.”

With  improved  pre-natal  care, newborn babies have a greater survival rate. However, if the babies don’t continue to receive proper nutrition and care as they grow up, they are prone to sickness and ill health. To offer a positive approach to this problem, the rehab center now sponsors a weekly “baby day.” On Thursdays mothers can bring their babies (up to the age of 3) to receive a supply of nutritional foods, vitamins, clothing and other items to help improve the quality of their young lives. Every Thursday more than 200  babies are greeted at the Prayer House of the rehab center “for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.”

Every day, all day long, there is a constant stream of women and girls coming to the rehab center to fill their buckets and water containers. As I talk with them at the pump and watch them draw the life-giving water they need, then carry it away on their heads, I cannot help but think of a Gospel scene. I think of Jesus with the woman at the well.  To the Samaritan woman, He said: “Give Me a drink.” She wondered and questioned Him and He replied: “Everyone who drinks this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst.”

The sick, the poor, the hungry, the thirsty and the handicapped come to Our Lady of Fatima Rehab Center seeking food, water, medicine and therapy, which they get.  But they also get more. Here they learn about Jesus through His generous people and dedicated co-workers who follow the admonition of Saint Francis:   “Preach the Gospel always — sometimes, even use words!”

I began this report by saying how amazed I was that so much can be accomplished with so little.  Certainly everything relies upon the Grace of God. But God’s Grace works through His people. This  mission is conducted by people of faith and love who are truly dedicated. It is supported by generous people of faith and love.

For more information, visit  www.ourladyoffatimarehab.org.