About
The goal of the Mission of Hope (MOH) of St. Joseph Parish is two-fold: first, to seek out areas to work where a need exists either from a natural disaster poverty; and second, to commit and respond to this need as a community of faithful believers in Jesus Christ as directed by the Holy Spirit.
We, as a team of youth and adults, strive to relieve the suffering of families and individuals by the strength of our hands and hearts. This work may include cleaning, building, replacing and/or rejuvenating homes and community work.
The skills of our missionaries grow each year and we are able to accomplish increasingly more difficult tasks. When necessary, we provide training through-out the year to develop the skills of our missionaries to ensure that all of our participants feel capable and safe as they strive to do God’s work.
Love one another warmly as Christians, and be eager to show respect for one another. Work hard and do not be lazy. Serve the Lord with a heart full of devotion. Let your hope keep you joyful, be patient in your troubles, and pray at all times.”
— Romans 12:10-13
Our History
The Mission of Hope ministry of St. Joseph Church was first introduced to the parish in November of 2006 with the words: “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” The parish wanted to send volunteers to assist with the ongoing disaster relief work needed as a result of Hurricane Katrina hitting the Gulf Coast region of the United States in 2005. With the generous support of our parish and our pastor at the time, Fr. Robert Sanson, forty-five parishioners, ranging in age from 15 to 76, raised over $19,000 to cover the cost of air transportation to New Orleans and van rental upon our arrival. Our Parochial Vicar at the time, Fr. Barry Gearing, traveled with us to provide spiritual direction and liturgical support. The original Mission of Hope logo was designed by parishioner, Pam Connell. It included the year, 2007, and the “fleur de lys” symbol because we were traveling to New Orleans. The symbol and date were later dropped to make the logo more generic and allow it to be used for all of our future outreach efforts. We invite you to be a part of writing the next part of our history…
Our Presence
Mission of Hope Accomplishments
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled, without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
— James 2:14-17
The purpose of our mission experience is not only to provide labor but to be a spiritual journey for our missionaries. We come to share not only our work but participate in daily liturgy; cook, serve and share communal meals; participate in guided scripture discussions during lunch; and incorporate opportunities for prayer and faith-sharing throughout the day. A special bond happens when you share your days side-by-side. We are family.
Mission Trips
- Berea, OH – Ohio Guidestone – July 2023
The Mission of Hope was given the opportunity to help reopen one of the residence properties at Ohio Guidestone in Berea. In total we had as many as 25 people working this project from July 7th through July12th. The building that they asked us to assist with can provide a home for 6-8 children that need a safe place to live due to domestic issues in their current home. Each of the rooms has 1 or 2 wooden dressers. We were asked to sand off the all of the old finish and refinish all of the dressers. We started sanding these on Thursday July 6th before the majority of the painting would start. We started the work on July 7th with Morning Prayer lead by Deacon Michael. After prayer we were off to work. Likewise on July 7th, 8th & 9th we started with Morning Prayer before starting to work. We were asked to paint the entire facility inside and some minor painting on weathered surfaces outside. We were asked to update the kitchen from the damaged Formica countertop to a Butcherblock surface, in the kitchen in addition to painting and replacing the counter, we also replaced all the hardware on the cabinets and drawers. In the common room with the community TV we removed all of the dark soiled carpet and replaced it with lighter colored carpet squares. We also rewired the cable inlet and the power source for the TV to give more floor space and decrease the chance of wires being damaged. Similarly we replaced the carpet in the “privilege” room for good kids to have a place to be alone and play video games etc. The facility also as a safety item asked us to replace all of the door strikers with a ball release that can be opened just by pushing on the door. We also replaced all of the electrical outlets with new safety outlets that makes it harder for foreign objects to be put into an outlet. Outside one of the posts holding up the roof was not connected to anything on the ground. We broke up the concrete and reset a support for the post. After resetting the post everything on the front porch was painted to make it look new.
Overall the team did a great job with the whole project. When we arrived the color scheme was too dark with grey as a major color on the walls. The new scheme uses light beige or marshmallow for most walls with a medium blue accent color on door, windows, baseboards and chair rails. While we didn’t do much to the lights other than clean some lights, it is dramatically brighter and looks more welcoming than before.
While the project was planned to run from July 7th until July 10th we had a small crew finishing up some painting and clean-up on the 11th and 12th. We had completed 95%+ by the 10th and the Guidestone leadership had painters to finish the work, our team didn’t want to stop working until it was 100% done and like all MOH trips, being done included making it cleaner when we left than when we arrived including all the floors and the bathrooms. Andrea O’Brien The Director of Strategy for all of Ohio Guidestone met with us for dinner on Saturday the 8th and explained that they didn’t have a budget to get this building updated, but because of our work she said they will now have 6-8 kids in this refurbished building on October 1st.
Get Involved
The Mission of Hope Ministry is designed to give all persons, ages 16 years on up, an opportunity to serve God by serving His people. Adults of all ages are essential to address the work and always needed to fill the roles of mentors, teachers, guides, friends, supervisors, role models and drivers. If you think that you might be interested in participating in the Mission of Hope experience, or if you would like more information, please contact us.
Why Should I Join?
The Mission of Hope offers something for everyone. No experience is required. You will feel welcomed and at right at home no matter if this is your first trip or fourth. The work we perform utilizes many different skill sets, so if you would like to paint, do carpentry, or enjoy working in the kitchen to help feed the entire group, there is no one left out.
By the end of the trip, I had a whole new group of friends, a new appreciation for what God has blessed me with and a new view of the challenges others are faced with, many times through no fault of their own.”
— Jim Lechko 2010
What to Expect on a Work Mission
We travel in 12-passenger vans, chartered buses, or by plane. We often stay in churches or schools, sleeping on air mattresses on the floor of a gym, classrooms or a fellowship hall.
Days begin around 6:00am for breakfast and we leave for our worksites by 7:30am.
The work teams are structured to provide a balance of different ages and levels of abilities. We strive not only to complete the job at hand but also to facilitate the development of our participants’ skills, self-confidence, and love for mission work. The work is varied from cleaning and painting to carpentry, plumbing and landscaping.
We have a morning break around ten and lunch at noon. There is time after lunch for devotions that have been planned by our worship committee. Work continues until 3:30pm when we clean up and head back to our housing site.
After showers, dinner and some relaxation, we share Eucharist as a family. The evening is spent in fellowship and closes with devotions lead by our members, and lights are out by 10:00pm.
You can expect to come home tired and Spirit-filled!
Donations and Support
The goal of the work mission is to be accessible to everyone who wants to participate, regardless of financial circumstances. Several opportunities are provided throughout the year for each missionary to raise the funding needed to participate. Significant financial support comes from the generous donations provided by the members of St. Joseph Church, who have always responded to the call to invest in our mission workers.
We also hope to benefit from generous donations of equipment and supplies. Typical items we are in continuous need of are electric, plumbing, landscaping supplies; hand tools, lumber and paint. When these materials are donated, we have been able to focus more of our resources on the needs of the chosen community and work sites.
If you are interested in making a equipment or supply donation, or if you would like to make a monetary donation, please contact us to make arrangements.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are my donation options?
You may mail a check made out to St. Joseph Church with Mission of Hope written on the memo line.
How will my donation be used?
Your contribution will help to keep this mission group active in our community for those in need by paying for materials and trip expenses such as travel and food.
Is my donation tax-deductible?
Yes. Saint Joseph Parish is registered as a 501(c)(3) charity. If you live outside the United States and you believe this donation may be tax-deductible, please consult local tax laws and/or a tax attorney.
Resources
- Mission of Hope Brochure
- Covenant for Success
- Sample Daily Mission Trip Schedule
- Work Team Roles & Responsibilities
- MOH What to Bring
- Policy: Transportation Cost Reimbursement
- Policy: Transportation Cost Reimbursement Flowchart
Forms
- Adult Participant Interest
- Youth Participant Interest
- Parent / Guardian Liability Release for Young Volunteers
- Adult Medical Information
- Youth Medical Information & Authorization
- Release, Hold, Harmless and Indemnity Agreement
- Diocese of Cleveland Uncompensated Volunteer Form
- Volunteer Waiver of Claims and Picture Use
- Volunteer Mileage Reimbursement Form for Trip Travel
Contact Us
If you think that you might be interested in participating in the Mission of Hope experience, would like to make an equipment or material donation, would like to submit a local project idea, or if you would like more information, please feel free to contact the parish office.
Parish Office, 440.238.5555
Postal Address
St. Joseph Catholic Church
Attn: Mission of Hope
12700 Pearl Road
Strongsville, OH 44136