CHARLOTTE — Hurricane Matthew blew through the Caribbean and up the east coast of the U.S. in early October, causing thousands of deaths, billions of dollars in property damage and leaving millions of people without electricity in its wake.
Two teens from St. Matthew Church had been scheduled to fly to Haiti just before the hurricane hit. Reagan Bitter, a junior at Charlotte Catholic High School, and her friend Emma O’Sullivan, a junior at Ardrey Kell High School, were forced to postpone their mission trip due to the storm that ironically bore their parish’s name.
Fortunately for them, their one-week trip to assist the Missionaries of the Poor was quickly rescheduled, and they departed for Haiti Dec. 3. St. Matthew’s Deacon Daren Bitter, Reagan’s father, accompanied them. Deacon Bitter had traveled to Haiti for the first time in October 2015, and Reagan had asked him to take her to see firsthand the lives of the Haitian people and the work of the MOP brothers.
They were among the latest people from the Charlotte diocese who have assisted the MOP. For decades parishioners have been serving the poor and needy by working alongside the brothers both here in the diocese and in their international outreach centers, especially in Haiti and Jamaica.
The Catholic News Herald asked the two Charlotte teens about their experiences on their mission to Haiti.
CNH: Why did you want to go on a mission trip to Haiti?
BITTER: I wanted to go to Haiti to get a firsthand experience of a Third World country and to be involved in helping those living there. I also wanted to see all of the effects of St. Matthew’s hard work in helping the Haitians.
O’SULLIVAN: I knew it would be an amazing experience and something I would never forget, and I was with my best friend so it would make it easier to be away from home.
CNH: Were you scared to travel there, knowing how poor the people are and how difficult their lives are there?
BITTER: I was anxious to be exposed to such extreme poverty, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to improve their lives much. Since this was my first mission trip, I felt unprepared as to what I would see, but all the people there are very kind and welcoming so it was an easy adjustment.
O’SULLIVAN: Somewhat, but I knew that they all had good hearts.
CNH: What were you most worried about encountering there before you went on the trip?
BITTER: I was most worried about not being able to help enough and not knowing what to do in order to best help the MOP brothers. It was difficult to know what to expect since I had never been to a Third World country, but staying inside the MOP compound made me feel very safe and at home.
O’SULLIVAN: Getting attached to the kids and having a hard time leaving.
CNH: What did you think when you got there? Was it like you imagined?
BITTER: I had seen pictures that my dad took on his trip last year so I had some idea of what we would be seeing, but taking everything in for the first time and meeting all of the residents is an experience that is different for every person. The neighborhoods we saw were all severely impoverished, but it was more emotional to see the people in person than in pictures or in the media.
O’SULLIVAN: I thought I would be happy when we landed but it was actually really hard to see the people and how they lived, and I was not mentally prepared for it at all.
CNH: What did you do to help people while you were in Haiti?
BITTER: Inside the MOP compound, we did everything from playing with the children, dressing them, feeding them, cleaning the rooms and mopping the floors, and any other things that the brothers needed help with. We also went to one of the schools that St. Matthew’s works with and played with all the children there.
O’SULLIVAN: I showed them my love, I played with the kids, and I think they helped me more than I helped them. They changed my life and changed my perspective towards life.
CNH: What did you enjoy most about your mission trip?
BITTER: The thing I enjoyed most was seeing how happy the Haitians were every day, even though they have so little. It was a very humbling experience and made me very grateful for all the blessings and luxuries I have in my life, even air conditioning and hot water.
O’SULLIVAN: The people and how they smile – no matter what.
CNH: How did taking this mission trip affect your faith?
BITTER: During our week in Haiti, we attended morning Mass and rosary and also attended a Haitian Mass on Sunday. I also journaled every night, which strengthened my faith by being able to talk to God about the difficult things I saw and did each day.
O’SULLIVAN: God is so good, and even though these people have it so bad in life they are still enriched in love and faith. They showed me what it looks like to live life following Jesus.
CNH: What would you say to a young person who may be considering going on a mission trip?
BITTER: I would definitely recommend going on a mission trip to any young people, or anyone of any age. It was extremely eye-opening, and I think everyone should have to witness the hardships of poverty in order to fully appreciate what we have in our own lives every day.
O’SULLIVAN: It might be scary, and not at all what you would expect. You will get homesick and want your everyday life back, but do it. You will leave Haiti a changed person. Your heart will be so full, and it is so fulfilling.
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
Learn more
At www.missionariesofthepoor.org: Get more information about the Missionaries of the Poor and their nine missions around the world, including their community in Monroe
Some years before I was ordained, during a visit to my grandmother in Washington, D.C., I went over to the U.S. Capitol and just roamed around. I recall seeing the statue of a man wearing Franciscan robes holding a church in one hand and a cross in the other. The base was engraved with the name “Serra.” At the time, I didn’t know anything about the man the statue portrayed. I have since learned that it represented Father Junípero Serra, a Franciscan priest from Spain who is considered the builder of the state of California and one of four Catholic priests honored in the U.S. Statuary Hall. Ever since then, I have been interested in the missions of California.
I recently returned from a pilgrimage to the 21 old missions of California that were founded by the Franciscans from 1769 to 1823. It was a spiritual journey along El Camino Real (“the Royal Highway”), and I learned a lot of history while being inspired by the missionary zeal of the Franciscans.
Our Lord gave His apostles the commission to: “Go forth and make disciples of all nations!” (see Mt 28:19) With the colonization of the New World, missionaries sought to bring the joy of the Gospel to the natives living on this continent. Father Serra was one of these missionaries, arriving in Mexico from Spain and then being sent to California where he established the first mission of San Diego. He would go on to establish eight more mission before his death in 1784.
At Father Serra’s beatification ceremony in 1988, St. John Paul II said that the priest was “a shining example of Christian virtue and the missionary spirit.”
Father Serra learned the languages of seven different tribes and prepared a catechism for each. He also worked with the natives and helped them to develop farming techniques and basket making skills, as well as the manufacture of leather products (such as saddles) and other items that could be used in trade. The Franciscans planted the first grapes and oranges in California and also opened the first school.
The major cities of California had humble beginnings as Franciscan missions. For example, the mission of San Gabriel provided the seed for the modern city of Los Angeles, which is today the second largest city in the nation.
There were times when the good padres stood between the natives and the Spanish soldiers stationed in the area to protect the missions but who did not always practice the virtues.
The Franciscans did not believe in forced conversions but always sought to live in accord with Gospel values to teach the faith. There were thousands of baptisms during the mission period.
Pictured are San Diego, the first mission of 1769; San Carlos in Carmel; and San Junípero’s grave in the sanctuary of San Carlos, Carmel. The saint died in the Mission of San Carlos in 1784. (Photos provided by Father Mark Lawlor)Today, there are some 10 million Catholics in California, and their faith is rooted in these early missions.
The missions began under the jurisdiction of Spain, but after Mexico gained independence from the Spanish crown in 1721, they fell under Mexican rule. The Franciscans were dismissed by the authorities of Mexico in 1734 during a time of secularization. During the war between the U.S. and Mexico in the 1840s, some of the missions were actually occupied by U.S. forces. Some missions fell into disrepair or suffered from earthquakes or fires.
After California became a state in 1850, most of the missions were returned to the Catholic Church by U.S. presidents, including Abraham Lincoln shortly before his assassination.
Today, 19 of the original missions are still connected with or are serving as parishes. Two are part of the California State Park system. Several have Catholics schools connected with them and the old Mission of Santa Clara sits in the middle of the campus of Santa Clara University.
The missions still serve the Church, as this pilgrim can attest. At the Mission of San Raphael, for example, Mass is celebrated in five languages every Sunday: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Vietnamese and Haitian!
I returned to Charlotte from my pilgrimage inspired by the early missionaries. I am reminded that our faith is built on those who blazed the mission trail before us. At the canonization of Blessed Junípero during his pastoral visit to the United States in 2015, Pope Francis said the following:
“Father Junípero Serra was the embodiment of ‘a Church which goes forth.’ He was excited about blazing trails, going forth to meet many people, learning and valuing their particular customs and ways of life. He learned how to bring to birth and nurture God’s life in the faces of everyone he met; he made them his brothers and sisters. Junípero sought to defend the dignity of the native community, to protect it from those who had mistreated and abused it. Father Serra had a motto which inspired his life and work, a saying he lived his life by: ‘¡siempre adelante!’ (‘Keep moving forward!’) For him, this was the way to continue experiencing the joy of the Gospel. ... He kept moving forward, because the Lord was waiting. He kept going, because his brothers and sisters were waiting. He kept going forward to the end of his life. Today, like him, may we be able to say: Forward! Let’s keep moving forward!”
Father Mark S. Lawlor is the pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Church in Charlotte.