A five-member medical assistance

team left Holy Trinity Catholic Church in late September for a remote

village in Guatemala.

"We began this journey

with the intent to give to others, and we did. But in the end, we were

the beneficiaries, receiving far more than we gave," said Awilda

Guadelupe, the interpreter for the trip.

Their destination was San Mateo,

a small town in the mountains of Guatemala, where the Mayan influence

is especially strong. Arriving with suitcases packed with medical supplies,

four nurses, accompanied by Guadelupe and the Rev. Fernando Molina Restrepo,

a parochial vicar at Holy Trinity, saw and treated more than 200 men,

women and children in the course of a day and a half.

According to Guadelupe, the

nurses attended to a variety of complaints that included infections, wounds,

intestinal parasites, skin rashes and malnutrition.

"The people of San Mateo

waited long hours in a small waiting room and outside the building in

the muddy rain just to be seen by the medical team. The people were very

receptive to the team's care and intervention," Guadelupe said. Miraculously,

the limited amount supplies stretched to meet the needs of the endless

stream of patients, she said, just like the story of the loaves and fishes.

This is Holy Trinity's second

mission trip to Guatemala. In May, 10 members of the parish, including

this reporter, traveled to about eight towns to assess the physical and

spiritual needs of the people served in the Catholic Archdiocese of Huehuetenango.

Their findings prompted the return trip to focus on the medical needs

of the people.

Kathy Leoffler, one of the

four nurses on the team, called the mission trip a great success. "It

was a success for both the people of San Mateo and the people from Holy

Trinity... it brought a spiritual bond that only an interpersonal interaction

can bring," she said.

The parish's commitment to

reach out to another community of Catholics started last December, on

the eve of the Jubilee year of the Catholic Church. The Hispanic and Anglo

communities within the parish joined forces to fulfill one of the directives

of Jubilee 2000, that is to be involved in an act of social justice. Guatemala

was selected in a random drawing as the focus area and with the help of

key players in the Atlanta Archdiocese, the parish linked up with the

Diocese of Huehuetenango.

The wheels were set in motion

and the journey began. In the course of the last year, the parishioners

of Holy Trinity have committed to sending $4,000 per month to Huehuetenango

for distribution among its parishes for a breakfast program for the children.

The medical mission established the need for a follow-up trip where Leoffler

and her colleagues encouraged participation by a dentist, optometrist,

and a home-visit team. "Future trips should also focus on primary

care needs, such as hygiene, nutrition, well-woman care, injury prevention

and child nutrition," she said.

In addition, the parish has

been asked to help fund the construction of a church hall type building

in San Mateo.

Work has begun, but an additional

$15,000 is needed for completion, according to estimates submitted by

the town's parish priest.

The projects that have been

initiated will continue into the new year, with the guidance of a six-member

committee.

The seeds of friendship and

commitment that were planted in the Jubilee year are expected to flourish

and bloom in the years to come, according to the parishioners involved.