St. Patrick Church, Hudson and San Jose Church, Yalpemech became Sister Parishes in the Winter of 1998.
The village of Yalpemech is located in the Northeastern mountain area of Guatemala, State of Alta Verapaz. It was settled by a small group of families of Spanish and Mayan ancestry. They settled there after living as political refugees in a camp in Honduras for nine years.
Sister Joannes Klas, a School Sister of St. Francis, worked and lived with the villagers throughout the political upheaval and turmoil in their lives and is a leader in the partnership with this faith community.
The villagers lives are filled with centuries long traditions of family, church, and love of one another. Their history is a rich tapestry of rural and urban life, relative material riches and abject poverty. And as political refugees, they are sometimes trapped by their times, their geographic place, and by a system that impedes their ability to build on their past to improve their future.
The church is the center of the villagers lives. Lay people prepare the Sunday scripture as there is no resident priest. The Eucharist is celebrated every four to five weeks. The entire faith community participates in lively fiestas to celebrate church holidays and important life events.
Over the years, St. Patrick's Parishioners have:
- improved
electricity infrastructure
- brought in telephone lines
-
road improvements
- pay taxes on land
- build cement block houses
- a three horse-power generator
- obtained a vehicle for Sister Johanna to help her minister to villagers
- medicines, vitamins, and medical/dental care
-
some fresh water collectors
- some land purchasing
assistance
- school supplies
- friendship,
empathy, compassion, and hope
A sister parish relationship
is an active, mutual and ongoing commitment between two faith
communities to bond together spiritually, culturally and economically.
Sister parish involves developing a friendship, as well as a working
relationship between two communities and the individual members.
St. Patrick's Parishioners Have Been Given:
- friendship, gratitude, and a deepening of faith
Parishioners from St. Patrick's
parish are now sponsoring four students from our Sister Parish of San Jose de
Yalpamech in a three-year training program in accounting. The goal is to help
them attain careers and also train them so they can offer accounting expertise
to the Sister Parish. The students are very grateful as this really opens up
the opportunities in their lives and in the community through the sharing of
their knowledge.
