CONWAY — For Maria Redford, the Holy Spirit is at work connecting her past, present and future with several groups in Arkansas.
Redford, a 2009 graduate of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and a former campus ministry intern at St. Thomas Aquinas University Parish, recently led a group of seven adults to Belize with the hope of establishing an opportunity for Arkansans to serve on international missions while reestablishing a presence begun by the Benedictine monks of Subiaco Abbey.
Through the assistance of Peacework, the group left Aug. 4 and returned to the United States on Aug. 11.
“I became involved with Peacework almost four years ago when the organization launched an interdisciplinary, long-term service learning project in Belize with the University of Arkansas,” Redford said.
Peacework helps groups or organizations who want to work internationally by setting up all the logistics — housing, meals, transportation, she said.
“We act as the liaison between the volunteer group and the community partner, ensuring that everyone is on the same page from day one and we design programs on a case-by-case basis,” she said.
Peacework established its program with the University of Arkansas in 2006. For Redford, the philosophy of the organization so moved her that she changed from a philosophy major to an international relations major and became an intern with the organization after graduation.
Redford is now working full-time for Peacework as a project manager. In the fall she will begin the master’s degree program in pastoral ministry at the University of Dallas.
“I was asked by CCM staff if I thought taking students to Belize would be a possibility since mission trips to Honduras were not feasible. I immediately thought, ’Yes!’”
Redford’s connection to Belize dates to her childhood when she listened to her uncle, Father Mark Stengel, OSB, tell stories about the country. Father Stengel spent nine years in Belize serving the local community.
“I remember listening intently to his stories when I was a little girl,” she said. “Belize seemed like a far-off, magical place and the work he described really did sound like a mission from God. I was captivated.”
The Benedictines founded Santa Familia Monastery in Santa Elena, Belize, in 1971 and staffed the building until 2002, according to the Subiaco Abbey website. The mission was started at the invitation of the bishop of Belize and initial plans for the monastery involved establishing a “Benedictine presence” in the community. Because of declining numbers entering the order and the aging population of the monks in the United States, the Benedictines returned to Subiaco although their presence is remembered today, according to the Subiaco Abbey website.
For this exploratory trip, Redford served as liaison to the Arkansas group and developed a plan of service for the week.
The primary goal for this trip was to assist a local priest, Father Lorenzo, a missionary from El Salvador, in establishing a youth program in the Bullet Tree Falls community in the Cayo District of Belize, she said.
The Arkansas group included Ruben and Marietta Baltz and campus ministry advisers Drs. Paul and Theresa Cronan, all of Fayetteville; and campus minister Deacon Richard Papini of Conway. Maria Redford was also joined on the trip by her sister, Rachel, a freshman at the University of Dallas.
Each day the group participated in three sets of activities: work projects at Immaculate Conception School, family ministry and youth ministry.
The group painted a building addition and built benches for use in the school’s computer lab. Family ministry included spending time with local families in their homes and sharing lunch, Redford said.
“Visiting and interacting with the people and their families over meals was indeed one of the highlights of the time spent there,” Theresa Cronan said.
Cronan said the group lodged at the Santa Familia Monastery and honored the Benedictine tradition of morning and evening prayer in the chapel.
The third activity and the primary focus was the formation of a youth ministry.
“We led sessions each day and had about 15 youth attend,” Redford said. “It was a huge success. The youth group that formed is already meeting on their own and has elected officers, made plans for the future and is looking forward to the possibility of a (mission) group coming in the spring.”
Redford, 25, said she and her sister are encouraging the leaders of the group through the social networking website, Facebook.
“My conviction is that college students could really do great work with the youth by building the faith,” Papini said. “Although the country is 65 percent Catholic, there is a terrible absence of Catholic missionaries. Other religions, like Mormons, Jehovah Witness and evangelical Protestants, are storming the area.”
Papini said he would like to take a group of college students to Belize in 2011 for a spring break mission trip or at the end of school year.
“We hope to plan in tandem with the Benedictines at Subiaco to further the spiritual foundation they planted and nurtured over many years,” Cronan said. “The love, service and care of the Benedictines who originally went to Belize are very much evident and alive today.”
The overall goal for the Catholic campus ministers who participated is developing an ongoing and sustainable avenue for international mission trips, Papini said.
Cronan said the hope is trips would not be limited to just college students but also adult groups seeking a venue to serve. Each member of the group will take back what they learned and develop plans to visit again with their local college students, Cronan said.
Redford said the possibilities are great for continuing service.
“I think this is just the beginning for Catholic programs in Belize,” she said. “It is close, easy to travel to, politically stable and English speaking.”
She also said the Arkansas connection to Belize is strong both inside and outside of the Church, not just through the monks at Subiaco, but also through the partnership of Peacework and the University of Arkansas.
“I think we will all be in awe of the way God can work through the partnership to transform individuals and an entire nation,” Redford said.
