MARY, STAR OF THE SEA, CHURCH
Sandy Bay, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
For the last several months, I have been collecting surplus church furnishings for a little parish in Sandy Bay, down in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, where I volunteer regularly.
I fell in love with this little community of Catholics and their simple little church the first time I had Mass there. During my most recent trip this past spring, I showed them an artist sketch of what I might be able to do to help them upgrade their church a bit if they were interested. They got excited and so did I!
I gathered 100 of the old red chairs that were being taken out of our Cathedral here in Louisville and replaced with new ones. The Sisters of Providence over in Indiana gave us a large wood crucifix. The Ursuline Sisters gave us Stations of the Cross. A family in New Albany gave us 6 new ceiling fans. We remodeled the restroom. We painted the walls. We cleaned and polished the floor.
On the Feast of Corpus Christi, they proudly moved into their "new" church to celebrate their parish's First Communions. Here are some before and after photos they sent me.
Thanks to everyone who helped bring this project to completion. Several other church furnishings have been given to other of the small parishes in the islands: a tabernacle, a monstrance, paschal candles, candle stands, a Mary statue, a censor, a chalice and many other smaller items. Indeed, "one man's trash is another man's treasure!" It shows what can be done when people in need are connected with people who have things they don't need! That is basically what my mission in the islands is all about - making those connections!
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
Since it was the Feast of Corpus Christi, they had First Communion Sunday as well with Bishop County.
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