ACN Feature Story: The Bethlehem Mission, Sao Paulo, Brazil
17.12.2019 in ACN BENEFACTORS, ACN Brazil, Brazil, by Rodrigo ArantesBrazil
The Bethlehem Mission: Being family for those who have none.
by Rodrigo Arantes, ACN Brazil
Adapted by Amanda Bridget Griffin, ACN Canada
Published on the web December 17, 2019
In the city of São Paulo there are over 25,000 homeless people. To borrow from a phrase used by the missionaries at the Bethlehem Mission: They are our “brothers and sisters of the streets.” The Bethlehem Mission (Misión Belén), an outreach program founded by Fr Gianpietro Carraro and Sister Cacilda da Silva Leste in 2005 has a charism of living out the very first Christmas Night; “becoming incarnate in the midst of the poor, so that God can reach them in a more profound manner.”
The members of the Bethlehem Mission originally began their work by actually living on the streets with the poor. But they soon realized that what was needed was to give these people shelter. So began their work of welcome, bringing men and women, children and the elderly in off the streets. In most cases, it also meant delivering them from a life marked by drugs, violence and abuse.
“The person who does not give to God, gives very little.”
These words of Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI are often on the lips of the missionaries of the Bethlehem Mission. Fr. Gianpietro tells us that it is like a wound to the heart when he hears people say that they are a social aid agency. “Of course, we do all we can to help these brothers and sisters of ours, but we are above all, a work of evangelization. Jesus healed, preached, blessed and lived among the people, just as we do at the Bethlehem Mission. Whenever someone comes to our shelters, it means that he has already been touched by God, because it is extremely difficult for anyone to get off the streets and off drugs for any other reason. Over these last 14 years 1,500 people have asked to be baptized.”
One of the people rescued by the Bethlehem Mission is Rafael de Jesús. His childhood suffering spiralled into a life of violence, drugs, robbery and spells in prison. He ended up in the centre of São Paulo at the point where he no longer wanted to live. He had been living on the streets for six years, a crack addict, eating out of garbage cans. His only prayer was that God would end his life; he wanted to fall asleep and never wake up again. “When I arrived at the Bethlehem Mission, nobody asked me about the bad things I’d done, but instead they embraced me, gave me the gift of a smile and offered me food, a hot bath and new clothes. I was still wearing the same clothes and hadn’t washed for at least two months. I knew that God was merciful, but I didn’t realize just how merciful. Because I had had many opportunities and had thrown them away, I was convinced that I was lost. I thought that God had withdrawn his hand from me and that I would die on the streets.” Today Rafael is an altar server and he is planning to get married. “I feel like a human being again,” he says.
It is mainly on account of this work of evangelization by the Bethlehem Mission among these marginalized people that ACN is happy to be part of its story.
Making a radical difference!
Every individual who is welcomed into the embrace of a mission refuge, is encouraged to go on a retreat and given a personal “spiritual diary”—a monthly leaflet with the Gospel of the day, a meditation on the Word and a space to write down how he is living this Gospel. At the same time, thanks to this diary, many people have been able to learn to read and write for the first time.
However, it was difficult to provide the necessary continuity of material. This is where ACN has come in to lend financial help and also provide copies of the youth catechism YOUCAT, which is given to every individual after a stay of six months.
“It is wonderful to realize that in the Church we are all one. We are on the streets while at the same time there is somebody, often a very ordinary person, far away, maybe someone who cannot even get out of the home, but nevertheless makes their own contribution. It is wonderful because this benefactor thereby becomes a real instrument of evangelization. If we did not have Bibles and catechetical materials, how would we go about our work?” asks Fr. Gianpietro, profoundly grateful for the generosity of ACN’s benefactors.
ACN is supporting “Misión Belén” with catechetical and other religious materials for the next four years—a promise it is able to make because it is backed by the generous donations of its benefactors. At Christmas time many people are looking for a way to help the neediest, and many would be happy to make a radical difference to the life of people living on the streets. This project is a great opportunity to do so, and your support can restore dignity to the lives of people who, like the Holy Family, have found so many doors closed in their faces, but now have the chance to experience the birth of the Divine Child in their hearts.
Right now some 2000 or so homeless people are being cared for by members of the community in Brazil, which includes 70 consecrated members and 200 full-time voluntary members. They all live together in the various communities, like one big family. People who have until now been living on the streets slowly become accustomed to living an orderly life in the community and are able to begin to discover the potential for themselves. The community also offers them the opportunity to have therapy where necessary. And they can also take advantage of the chance to gain practical and professional qualifications or become re-accustomed to the world of work. Wherever possible, the street children are encouraged to return to or at least make contact with their families. Where this is not possible, they are helped to find loving homes with foster parents or adoptive families, in collaboration with the relevant authorities.
So far around 50,000 people have been taken in and helped by these communities. Roughly half of them have since been able to return to normal life. Many have found their way to faith and sought baptism. It is a particularly moving sight to see grown men, some advanced in age and after years of homelessness and addiction, dressed in a white baptismal robe, standing there with a baptismal candle in their hand, or going forward like little children to receive their First Holy Communion. In such cases it is quite evident that baptism has been the start of a new life for them as children of God.
Despite her 88 years, Sister Halina does not just sit around twiddling her thumbs. She has surely earned the right to do so, after a long life of daily service on behalf of the poor. And yet she continues to this day, tirelessly visiting the sick and sewing quilts and pillowcases for newborn babies. And her equally elderly fellow sisters also still want to make themselves useful – listening to and counselling those who come to them for advice, helping children with their homework and comforting the sick and needy. Some of them even continue to instruct and give talks.
The sisters are delighted to see that there are many young women who also wish to join their congregation. At the same time, however, seven of their elderly sisters are already in need of constant care, while another five are very advanced in age. Since the congregation has very limited sources of income, we help every year for the most elderly and infirm, with a contribution to the cost of their care and support. This year we are giving 6900 dollars.
His example shows just how vital is the presence of priests among the people and what good fruits their ministry can produce. Yet, it is becoming more and more difficult to find missionaries from abroad. For one thing, most religious communities in Western nations are gaining fewer vocations, but on the other hand, Dom Joaquín Pertíñez Fernández, the Bishop of Rio Branco is also very aware that what is needed is native Brazilian priests, who are accustomed to the challenging conditions of the rainforest regions.
We are supporting the diocese with $10,150 towards the cost of their formation. Would you like to support seminarians like this? In Brazil or elsewhere? Give us call! or click the ‘donate’ button below!
