Parish Assigned to Mission: St. James
Mission Contact:
Reverend Gary Wiesmann
PO Box 11062
Fort Lauderdale, FL 3339-1062
Email: garywies@yahoo.com
Website: https://www.mandevillediocese.com/
Mission Appeal:
Ministerial Needs Requiring Outside Funding
Evangelization, through the on-going development of Diocesan Catechetical Programs for adults, adolescents and children, is a primary goal of the Diocese of Mandeville. We need to provide on-going theological updating for coordinators and catechists. Approximately 20% of our people are illiterate and catechesis is time consuming and personal. As our people come to know Our Lord more personally and are more formally educated in the faith, our ability to evangelize will be enhanced and our diocese will grow.
From our 20 parishes and 3 missions, Sunday collections cover about 10% of the cost to operate our parishes. In addition to spreading the Gospel in our Catholic tradition, the Diocese of Mandeville has many programs to help our poor. We strive each day to evangelize and help our people experience the goodness of the Lord by being examples of that goodness through our work to bring God’s love and dignity to our people. We take seriously Pope Francis’ sensitivity to the needs of the poor and his call to us to find the face of Jesus in the poor and marginalized—and accompany them. Mission Appeals are ESSENTIAL to enable us to evangelize and provide basic dignity to our beloved poor.
--We provide the basics: food, clothing and housing for poor people throughout our diocese. Some in our diocese have lived their lives in rubble-like shacks made of boards/tin/cardboard/palm fawns and without running water, electricity or bathrooms. One man was living in a chicken coop. Many live with their children in overcrowded situations with multiple families in one small house. Some are trying to escape abusive relationships; some are squatting; some are being evicted because they can’t pay rent. The Diocese of Mandeville, in conjunction with volunteers, builds some simple houses for the indigent. Each year people lose their shacks and what little they possess due to the tropical weather and storms. Financial assistance enables us to continue to put humble roofs over the heads of some who are destitute.
--Youth residential/work formation center. We need financial support to provide a program for abused, neglected, orphaned youth and youth who need a chance to learn a trade to support themselves in life. We help youth grow up in a SAFE, FAMILY ENVIRONMENT, caring for medical needs and educating them so they can get a job and break the cycle of poverty.
--In order to help youth in our primary/secondary schools to know Our Lord in our Catholic tradition and to break the cycle of poverty into which they were born, we have established as many schools as finances allow. Our catholic religion is taught along with the skills and courses our youth so desperately need to survive as adults. With the help of MCP, we will be able to support our schools and may be able to open more schools in the future to educate children. We also provide breakfast/lunch for children who come to school with no food or having not had breakfast and purchase text books, supplies and uniforms for children whose family can’t afford We hope to provide scholarships to catholic adults so they can be educated to teach in our Catholic School System and we seek to increase salaries for teachers who are paid well below the average salary for public school teachers.
--Because of our belief that with education the cycle of poverty can be broken, we support as many university students as possible assisting with their tuition and helping in other ways because this is critical in helping youth and families break out from poverty. Mission appeals are integral to continuing this ministry!
--Since youth in Jamaica so often stray away from organized religion, we have Diocesan Youth Director to create programs in parishes and at the diocesan level to welcome youth and to provide an environment for youth to know the Lord and become committed to the call to holiness. Funding is needed to “grow” this program and provide an environment for our youth to grow in the Catholic faith and learn Catholic morals.
--The diocese operates clinics which provide basic health care for the sick. These clinics also assist our people who suffer from HIV/AIDS and other terminal illnesses. AIDS is still a major taboo in Jamaican society; we need to minister to those who have contracted this disease and educate society toward adopting a different attitude toward people living with HIV/AIDS. Our diocese is large in area and we need to expand this pastoral/medical outreach to outlying areas. More clinics are needed to respond to health issues brought to us by our people since many may never see a health care professional except at one of our clinics; and, we need help for our AIDS ministry. We hope to be able to build a clinic in the Santa Cruz area of the diocese; now, in the era of COVID-19, our clinics are even more essential.
--Our Home for Destitute Elderly houses 75 people in their “golden years,” many of whom are sick and have been abandoned by their families. We believe each should have dignity as a “child of God” during the last years/days of his/her life. We rely upon contributions to bring this dignity and a home to our destitute elderly.