John Paul II Seminary alternates between a domestic and an international mission trip each year. For Dillon Bruce, David Arellano and Gregory Guilfoyle, three seminarians of the Diocese of Richmond, this phrase was reintroduced in another way when they traveled to Montego Bay, Jamaica, for St. John Paul II Seminary’s annual mission trip.“At the same time, they were praying the rosary with the kids and Liturgy of the Hours,” Mr. Guilfoyle said.
“Four years ago, when Monsignor Gregory started this ministry, these kids were being abandoned,” Mr. Bruce said.
Address Windsor Lodge, Adelphi, Montego Bay Contact Person Administrator: Ms. Cordell Huie Email cordell.huie@mustardseed.com.
The experience of serving the children at Blessed Assurance helped him to further recognize the need for priests throughout the world, including Jamaica.Seminarian Gregory Guildoyle, center in white t-shirt, attends Mass with the children.Today, Mustard Seed is present in more than 20 communities throughout the Caribbean and Southern Africa, and cares for more than 500 residents.Seminarian Dillon Bruce prays with a child at Blessed Assurance home in Montego Bay, Jamaica.“What Mustard Seed is doing, in serving the poorest of the poor, at the same time is changing the entire country of Jamaica,” Gregory Guilfoyle said.“It showed me my role as a servant of the people of God,” said David Arellano, a second collegian seminarian from St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Rocky Mount.Mr. Mustard Seed Communities is a non-profit, community development organization that began in 1978 in the depressed community of Mona Common on the outskirts of the city of Kingston, Jamaica. BLESSED ASSURANCE. Guilfoyle, a first year seminarian from St. Andrew’s Parish in Roanoke was astonished by the vibrant devotion to Catholic prayers and the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, despite the fact that very few of Blessed Assurance workers are Catholic.Mustard Seed has plans to build a seminary on the grounds of Jacob’s Ladder, and the seminarians hope this foundation will foster more vocations in the future.“I was a little bit scared, but once I got out there, I really enjoyed my time with them,” he said.“I have been going on mission trips since college and this was my fifth mission trip,” Mr. Bruce said. This May, eleven Providence College students will be traveling to Montego Bay, Jamaica, to Blessed Assurance, a Mustard Seed Community which is a residential home to over 30 children with disabilities. Hogar Immanuel is Mustard Seed Communities’ home in Dominican Republic. However, through Mustard Seed’s interaction with the local community, many native Jamaicans now serve in the homes, establishing a bond between the local communities and those who were cast out.For Mr. Guilfoyle, the trip to Blessed Assurance was his first experience outside of the United States and his first mission trip. “And I think eventually it will turn into a lot of conversions.”During their mission trip, the seminarians alternated between feeding and playing with the children and building a reservoir to supply fresh water to the community.
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