Phlox parish assists missions

By Heather Chrudimsky
Compass Correspondent

	Stewardship Stewardship: A Way of Life is the diocesan thrust. It invites Catholics to acknowledge that all of life is a gift of God and to respond through prayer, service and sharing. This series will look at ways to do that.

The concept of enthusiastic stewardship is hardly new for parishioners in rural Phlox, and their recent donations of more than $13,000 to world missions prove it.

Each year, World Mission Services of the Green Bay Diocese produces a Projects Available Booklet outlining mission projects that parishes, groups or individuals can do.

Members of St. Joseph/Holy Family Parish in Phlox recently raised more than $13,775 for three projects highlighted in the booklet.

St. Joseph Parish in Phlox and Holy Family Parish in Mattoon merged in July and the projects helped not only the missions, but also to bring the two parishes together into a single parish.

Dcn. Tom Hartman, pastoral associate, said giving to others was a staple in both parishes before the merger and that continued after the two parishes became one.

St. Joseph/Holy Family parishioners chose three projects to donate money to.

• Fr. Celestine Byekwaso's "Water is Life" Project, Uganda:

The parish recently sold the rectory in Phlox, and is in the process of selling the church and rectory in Mattoon, so parishioners were thinking of ways to use the money. The idea of donating the proceeds from selling the rectory in Phlox to the missions was suggested by St. Joseph parishioner Don Heinzen at a joint parish meeting.

At first, parishioners were told that money from the sale of the property could only be used for capital projects, but after talking with diocesan officials they were given the go-ahead to use part of the funds - $10,000 - for Fr. Byekwaso's "Water is Life" Project.

The project benefits schools in the Diocese of Kasana-Luweero in Uganda. Unlike schools in the United States, many schools in the Diocese of Kasana-Luweero don't have running water on campus; some don't even have drinking water near the compound. Then it was learned that there is a lot of water underground, but they needed to raise $10,000 in order to retrieve the fresh water for students.

• Franciscan Missions "Cow Project," West Africa:

The second mission project parishioners contributed to was something the people of the rural Phlox area could relate to: They bought cows for $75 a head to help the people in West Africa.

"As a rural parish where many parishioners are farmers, they know what having a cow means," Dcn. Hartman said. "The parishioners really got behind this project. I never expected to have so many people donate."

Through a program they dubbed "Holy Cow," parishioners cut cows from a poster and gave $75 for each one. The cows are donated to a leprosarium - a hospital for the treatment of patients with leprosy - sponsored by the Franciscan Missions in Guinea Bissau, West Africa.

The 37 cows, which cost St. Joseph/Holy Family parishioners $2,775, will provide milk to supplement diets, and manure that when mixed with dirt becomes mortar and a natural fertilizer.

"This project seemed to be a good fit for our parish," Dcn. Hartman said.

• Missionhurst's "My Home Kindergarten" Project, Mongolia:

The parish donated $1,000 for Missionhurst's "My Home Kindergarten" Project in Erdnet, Mongolia. The donation will be used to provide food and shelter during the day for 5 and 6 year-olds, while preparing them to enter primary school by teaching them the alphabet, colors and how to write with a pencil.

A donation of $5 to My Home Kindergarten will buy a pair of boots and a winter coat for one child. A $50 donation provides one hot meal a day for a child for an entire year.

"St. Joseph/Holy Family parishioners are very generous," Dcn. Hartman said.

The parish, which has about 200 active members, is in a good place financially and parishioners saw this as a great opportunity to do what they could to help others, Dcn. Hartman said.

"The generosity of our parish community is amazing," Dcn. Hartman said. "Donations far exceed anything I expected."

Dcn. Hartman said these projects, along with the parish's long history of generosity, is a great preparation for the Advancing the Mission diocesan stewardship campaign, now in its early stages at Phlox.

"These projects seem to be a good fit with the ideas of Advancing the Mission," Dcn. Hartman said.