Newsletter for October 2006
Dear Friends and Family,
In our large cities and suburbs, it is very difficult for the rich and poor to build friendships. This situation keeps us from helping each other. As a result of not knowing the poor, the modern world often approaches the poor with uncharitable truth or untruthful charity.
A Simple House is trying to serve the poor with charity and truth. To avoid ignorance, it is important to discuss the real struggles of the poor. It is also important to protect privacy and avoid gossip. Whenever a situation is described in our letters, the names are changed and no information is given to link a particular story with a particular family.
We recently met the Campbells, an elderly couple who have been married for thirty years. Ten years ago, their house had an electrical fire, and the couple started repairing the damage on their own. Unfortunately, Mr. Campbell suffered a stroke, and it became necessary for him to use an oxygen pump. These infirmities left Mr. Campbell unable to climb the stairs and trapped him in the two upper rooms of the house. Mr. Campbell’s illness stalled the renovation, and for the last decade, the Campbells have been living in the shell of a house where open walls expose pipes, wires, and insulation.
The Campbells are private people, and it is only with a flexible and gentle ministry that people like the Campbells can receive the help they need. Mrs. Campbell confessed that they qualify for almost every program designed to help the elderly, but she is too busy at her job and caring for her husband to pursue help. Mr. Campbell should never be left at home alone, but this is a luxury they cannot afford. We help the Campbells by giving Mrs. Campbell rides and assistance signing up for aid. We have also started a project to close up the walls in their home.
Although volunteers can fix the interior walls, there are two holes in the roof which require a professional contractor. The Campbells cannot pay for this repair, and we do not currently have the funds to help them with this problem. Please pray that we will receive the funds to help the Campbells with their roof. When need is as extreme as this, it feels like a great honor to be able to provide assistance.
The Holley family is only a mother and daughter. The daughter is thirty years old and suffers from cerebral palsy which has shrunken and curled her body. The mother is her full-time nurse, and they live in a small apartment with a hospital bed. Although the daughter cannot speak, they appear to comprehend each other’s needs and moods.
In early September, we took Ms. Holley to meet her daughter as she was coming out of surgery. When we arrived, the surgeon told Ms. Holley that her daughter would probably pass during the night. At this important time, our volunteers were the only people to comfort and help the mother. To our surprise, the daughter had been baptized as a Catholic (even though her mother is not Catholic). We found a priest to administer the last sacrament.
Even though her life was almost entirely hidden, large numbers of people attended her funeral to testify to her love and witness. It was impressive to see the powerful effect on others of a life lived in silence. Because of your generosity, we were able to help support this family in their hour of need and defray some of the funeral costs.
There are many women prostituting themselves on the street in front of my house. They seem confused and rarely make sense when they talk. They do not like to make eye contact, and they often do not finish statements or answer friendly questions. Paradoxically, they seem to like being talked too. I have had the privilege to know a few of these women after they got off the street and were clean for a few months. They were new women. They talked intelligently and were very articulate. After admitting to one woman that I didn’t really know that she could talk, she confessed that she was too ashamed to talk with people. Now that she was recovering and attending a church-based program, she was no longer ashamed.
Another woman whom I recognized from the street told me, ‘I have a real job!’ This announcement was strange because out of politeness we had never openly talked about her fake job. Her attempt at being a cashier was short lived, but a few months later she disappeared from my street. After a long absence, I saw her walking down my street without ‘walking the street’. I stopped her to talk, and it was the first time she was articulate, smart, and for the most part unashamed. She had been in a recovery program and started living in Virginia. She was revisiting my street to see if the old excitement and drama was still there. She admitted that it was no longer exciting and interesting, rather it greatly scared her. Realizing that she was on the brink of falling off the wagon, I offered her a ride home, but she would not take it. She was still looking for something on the street. A month later, it was clear that she had fallen back into prostitution. She now has a foot in both worlds. Please pray for her.
What We Are Doing
We are currently doing more work than we have ever done. Every month Simple
House volunteers are packing and delivering over 75 bags of groceries,
and in August, we delivered school supplies assembled by the freshman
class of Visitation High School.
Short notice picnics for the families we serve have become a Simple House staple. We travel fifteen miles outside of DC to Great Falls National Park, and the family gets a tour of the falls, an outfitted catfishing expedition, a barbeque feast, and plenty of chucking the football. All of this begins and ends with prayer. One mother together with her six children caught 25”, 23”, 22”, and 16” catfish and one medium-sized snapping turtle with Vienna sausage as bait. It is hard to place a value on the experience of bringing inner-city kids to a national park, giving a struggling family good family time, and letting the love of God shine through the project.
We are still focusing on the harder and more important work of helping people with religious reflection, studying the bible, going to church, and hoping for the future. The spiritual works of mercy are the harder part of the ministry and the least quantifiable part of what we do.
For Volunteers and Sponsors
For volunteers and sponsors, A Simple House is starting The Little Book
Club which had its first meeting on Sept. 18 at the House of the Three
Teresas. The purpose of the club is to read little books or parts of big
books with a focus on the writings of the saints, primary source documents
related to the history of Christianity, and religious fiction. Future
meetings will be held at 6:30 on the second Monday of each month (the
next meeting will be on Oct. 16 instead). The next book we are reading
is ‘Something Beautiful for God’ a biography and interview
of Mother Teresa. Everyone is invited.
On September 22, A Simple House hosted Michael Firmin, the Executive Director of Golden Harvest Food Bank and a member of the Alleluia Community of Augusta, GA. He spoke on his conversion and how we must not only ‘know the truth’ but also ‘live the truth.’ (John 3:21) This knowing and living is integrity. Mr. Firmin stayed an extra day to provide a training session for Simple House volunteers. We are grateful for his wisdom on serving the poor and for the witness of his life.
Some Blessings Since June
The Missionaries of Charity (Mother Teresa’s sisters) have been
a long standing witness to us and our neighborhood. Their monastery is
contemplative, but the sisters do outreach by walking through the neighborhood,
knocking on doors, and praying with people. When they find a case of extreme
need, they sometimes introduce Simple House volunteers to the family.
In addition, the sisters have been very generous donors of food and supplies
to A Simple House.
St. Mark Catholic Community of Vienna, VA donated a missionary fellowship to provide the majority of financial support for our new full-time missionary, Jessica Hensle. Jessica graduated from Mary Washington College and found out about A Simple House from students who helped paint the House of the Three Teresas as an alternative spring break. Audrey O’Herron has moved out of the House of the Three Teresas but is continuing to volunteer part-time as she starts her graduate studies at the Institute of Psychological Sciences (which specializes in studying psychology from a religious perspective). Since the last letter, Teresa Reardon, Natalie Regan, and Danny Shields have come on board as part-time volunteers.
The Newman Center at George Washington University sponsored a lasagna day for A Simple House. They made nine lasagnas and ten apple pies which were delivered to mothers raising families in the poorest neighborhoods of Washington, DC.
The Copley Crypt Church community of Georgetown donated a used mini-van in order to replace the one that was stolen and then wrecked. Copley Crypt has also donated a missionary fellowship in honor of their former pastor, Fr. Paul Cioffi, SJ. This fellowship will support the work of Laura Cartagena as she serves as a full-time missionary.
In August, I was allowed to speak to a crowd of young adults at an Irish pub. The topic of my talk was ‘letting Jesus ruin your life.’ It was a humbling honor to be allowed to share Christ in this way, and I’m thankful it went well.
Thank you for praying for us and for this ministry,
Clark Massey with board members Luis Cartagena, Kristina Massey, Michael
Ortner, Richard Realbuto, and Fr. Adam Ryan, OSB, and with live-in volunteers
Laura Cartagena and Jessica Hensle.