OLGC New Teachers - Our Lady of Good Counsel

September 20, 2012 | Issue 4 | Vol. 4www.olgcnj.orgTwenty Years of Jamaican MemoriesContinued from page 14We all teamed up, broke into groups andwent to the facilities the next day. I was in thefacility that housed men and most of our dutiesconsisted of washing, shaving, and feeding themen. I also cleaned and repaired anything andeverything. It was in doing these menial tasksthat I saw the presence of the Lord and thegospel stories started to come alive.After my first trip I was “Ho Lunged,”meaning that my life changed. I was bound anddetermined that I would do whatever I could tosee that Father had what he needed to sustainlife to the poor I meet.Msgr. McGovern asked if each of us wouldspeak during Mass the following Sunday andshare our experiences. We mentioned thedesperate need for funds especially in needwas to pay off a $3000.00 water bill. We alsoasked for food, clothing and medical supplies.At the end of Mass, a parishioner handed oneof us volunteers and enveloped and walkedaway without saying a word and the envelopecontained enough monies to pay off the waterbill. More donations came pouring in and thatgenerosity has never stopped. Our parish notonly paid the water bill but fed the hungry andclothed the naked.I found myself asking for all sorts of suppliesfor the missions and one of the people Iasked was a former Navy pal who was still onactive duty. I asked if the Navy could supplymattresses as the mattresses being used at thefacilities were beyond words to describe theircondition.The Navy came through as always with 500mattresses and I took anther trip to Jamaica tocoordinate their arrival. The Navy had madethe arrangements with the Jamaican governmentto come into port however the person in chargeof the port didn’t get the word. What a surpriseit was to see a USS Navy ship coming into portand unloading all these mattresses!Our parish continued to send trucks full ofmedical supplies, food, clothing, and beddingover the next years. What fun it was to goon mission and see things that we packed inHeritage House being used in Jamaica. Packingsupplies for the missions started to be a prettybig job but thanks to the youth group, REstudents and adults, the job was completedeach time. Over the first few years of our parishbeing involved with Fr. Ho Lung’s missions,we provided funding for two dormitories,remodeled bathrooms, and even paid for anurse to be at the facilities.I also enjoyed coordinating Father HoLung’sconcerts held at OLGC and other parishes inthe area. Our home was concert central formany years. I was excited to help bring theconcerts to our parish because I had seen theThe Good Counsel Courier | 15concerts in Jamaica and knew that they wereone of a kind.A few evenings that we were on mission wewould help with the concerts by selling ticketsand programs after our day at the facilities.One evening after a tiring hot day, we returnedto our rooms only to find out that the city hadturned off the water to sections of town.The good sisters of the convent that we werestaying with knew we would need water butcould only manage to get two liters of coldwater to us on our return. Sister said to us,“At least, you can brush your teeth and in themorning we should have water again.” Afterpassing the water from room to room, we hadone whole liter left as each person wanted theother to have what remained. Talk about theloaves and fishes! Each of us could have drunka whole liter after our hot day. This is just asmall example of how we all cared foreach other on our trips. The followingday we found out that there wasanother convent close by with constantwater supply plus a pool. All our tripsare not at Immaculate ConceptionConvent.I also enjoyed many other tripsto Jamaica for special occasions andevents. My last trip to the Missionfield was in 2000 traveling to Haitiand being present when the chapel ourparish funded was dedicated.The Parish of Our Lady of GoodCounsel gratefully acknowledgesthe exemplary leadership of ThomasMcCorkell in the mission field andon August 27, 2012, in honor ofthe parish’s twenty years of missioninvolvement, the parish presented Tomwith a plaque to honor his dedicationto the Mission Church. WinstonChurchill once wrote, “We make alife by what we give.” Thank you formaking your life here at Good Counselsuch an example of selfless giving!