[ S.O.S. Mission Statement and Vision Statement ] [ S.O.S. Philosophy ]
[ What We Do ] [ S.O.S. Funding ] [ S.O.S. Mission Statement and Vision Statement ]
[ S.O.S. Philosophy ] [ What We Do ]
We are Sending Out Servants, a Catholic Lay Mission serving as a Ministry of Presence among the indigenous Maya in the remote and mountainous Quiche’ area of Guatemala.
S.O.S. is a 501c3 non-profit Catholic mission organization headquartered in Houston, Texas. It was founded in 1998 by Ernest and Connie Braren and Reverend Thomas Ponzini and became incorporated in 1999. S.O.S. is not a ministry within a parish but rather it is an independent Catholic mission organization that operates with the approval and blessing of both Archbishop Joseph Fiorenza of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston and Bishop Mario Humberto Molina Palma of the Diocese of Quiche, Guatemala.
S.O.S. has an Executive Director, Mary Kay Dauria, and a Board of Directors who are dedicated to not only improving the quality of life for the Maya living in the Quiche area of Guatemala but also dedicated to igniting the faith of men, women and youth through a short term foreign mission experience.
Board of Directors
Reverend Thomas Ponzini – Chairman of the Board
Pastor, St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Texas City
Connie Braren, President and Chair – Mission Committee
Sending Out Servants
Ernest Braren – Treasurer
Sending Out Servants
Ken Henry
Sending Out Servants
Marilyn Henry
Sending Out Servants
Leonel E. Mejia, Chair – Marketing Committee
Quantum/SUR Marketing & Advertising
Non-Voting Member
Mary Kay Dauria – Executive Director
Sending Out Servants
S.O.S. facilitates approximately three to four one week mission trips a year to Guatemala. It is the liaison for arranging the mission visits with the Guatemalan hosts; it forms the teams, prepares the team members pre-mission trip, plans the mission activities, accompanies the teams while on mission, and arranges all transportation and lodging. Post trip, it seeks to help team members continue to grow from their mission experiences.
S.O.S. FUNDING
S.O.S.’s sole source of funding is from the generosity of individual donors and through its annual Gala Event. Less than 10% of donations is spent on Administrative costs. Over 90% goes directly to benefit the Maya children, adults and communities. See S.O.S. Assistance Programs.
Below you will find a map of Guatemala ponting to the city of Quiché, marked in red.
S.O.S. MISSION STATEMENT
Sending Out Servants is a Catholic Lay Mission organization dedicated through its Ministry of Presence, to be an effective instrument through which the Holy Spirit can move souls to ‘conversion, communion, and solidarity’ within the Mystical Body of Christ.
S.O.S. VISION STATEMENT
VISION OF SENDING OUT SERVANTS (SOS)
The Catholic Lay Mission Outreach, Sending Out Servants, desires to strengthen the Kingdom of God by fostering and facilitating consistent cross-cultural exchanges of mutually shared life and faith experiences between faith communities here and those in distant countries. It depends upon the Holy Spirit to work amidst this profound sharing. By developing long-term relationships of mutual trust and respect with our brothers and sisters, it will listen to expressed needs and respond when possible by offering its talents and resources.
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PHILOSOPHY OF S.O.S.
To be a vehicle for prayer and faith in action through which the Catholic laity can share their talents and resources.
To promote the Gospel call to love. To be peaceful witnesses of this call by raising awareness of life conditions that exist for most of our extended family in Christ.
To prepare team members with emphasis on spiritual, cultural and relational formation so as to grow as World Christians and deepen personal relationships with Christ.
To have the attitude of both a servant and guest whose actions and speech reflect an appreciation and sensitivity to people of other cultures.
To first listen and then respond to expressed needs in such a way that human dignity is mutually preserved and respected.
To come as equals to our sisters and brothers with the conviction that we can all learn together; that each has something to give and each has something to receive.
To strengthen and build community within the host country as we help them reach their expressed goals.
To promote self-reliance and independence amongst members of the host country by teaching them to teach each other and by never doing for them what they are able to do for themselves.
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WHAT WE DO?
S.O.S.’s primary call is to be a Ministry of Presence not a Ministry of Presents.
Our primary focus is in developing a long term relationship of mutual trust and respect with the indigenous Maya living in the remote mountainous area in Guatemala. Through consistent cross-cultural exchanges of mutually shared life and faith experiences between our faith communities and the Maya faith communities, we both grow to recognize that each has something to give and each has something to receive. Therefore, during our visits, S.O.S. Travel Teams participate with the Maya in Family Spirituality, Scripture, and Disease Prevention Classes. Team members also conduct Religion classes for Maya children Kindergarten through sixth grade and facilitate an afternoon Vacation Bible School type activity for those children not able to attend school.
One of the fruits flowing from our Ministry of Presence is that we are able to respond to the expressed needs of the Maya not out of pity for them or from our own self- interests, but from a true spirit of solidarity with the Maya in their desire to improve the quality of their lives. Therefore, any assistance we are able to give is offered in such a way as to empower the Maya and to maintain their human dignity by never doing for them what they can do for themselves. See S.O.S. Assistance Programs.
WHAT IS A MINISTRY OF PRESENCE?
Our Ministry of ‘Presence’ is a spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical state of ‘being with’ the indigenous Maya. We desire to ‘enter into’ their culture not to change it, not to rescue the perceived oppressed and not to criticize the Maya way. Rather we desire to ‘enter into’ a rich mutual sharing of our faith, our life’s challenges and stories and in that profound sharing to come to regard one another as true brothers and sisters in Christ.
WHY GUATEMALA?
Because there are so many needs within our own communities, cities and nation and indeed other countries, S.O.S. is frequently asked, “Why Guatemala”? Simply stated, this is where God has called its Founders just as He has called others to be His arms and voice to those in need in other places.
Our Ministry takes us to an area in Guatemala where the indigenous Maya have suffered through a 36 year long civil war of extreme oppression. During the height of the war in the late 1970s and 1980s, they were targeted for genocide or extermination. Over 200,000 Maya were killed, 400 villages totally destroyed, and over 100,000 disappeared. Many priests, religious sisters, catechists and those trying to help the people read and write, were brutally killed. The Peace Accord was signed in December of 1996 between the guerillas and the government military. This officially ended the devastating war but not its effects on the Maya. With the Maya caught in between the government military and the guerillas, the war had left the Maya communities disintegrated on every level: emotionally, economically, socially, and even spiritually. What the people saw and experienced left wounds that for some would never heal and for others only their faith and love from others would help them heal in time. And this is why S.O.S. is dedicated above all, to ‘enter into’ this time in their history with a Ministry of Presence. See about Guatemala.
[ Top ] [ S.O.S. Funding ] [ S.O.S. Mission Statement and Vision Statement ]
[ S.O.S. Philosophy ] [ What We Do ]
