Expanded El Puente-Hispanic Ministry J.C. headquarters blessed
Is a hub for new and time-honored services
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Bishop W. Shawn McKnight reaffirmed the mission of El Puente-Hispanic Ministry before giving its newly-expanded headquarters in Jefferson City a thorough blessing.
He pointed out that the Catholic faith is El Puente’s founding motivation, “but we serve people of all faiths, and we’re confident that anyone would find a welcome here.”
“Our prayer and our desire is that we pull together more strongly as a community and that our differences in culture can be our strength, rather than our division,” he said.
Joining Bishop McKnight at the interfaith celebration were clients, members of El Puente’s board of directors, benefactors, representatives of organizations that cooperate with El Puente, and the staff and some of the volunteers who carry-out its mission.
Deacon Enrique Castro, diocesan executive director of faith formation, which included Hispanic and intercultural ministries, who also assists the pastor of St. Peter Parish in Jefferson City, helped administer the blessing.
Bishop McKnight spoke of the expanded facility as a crossroads of culture and faith, of welcome and relief, of people from many backgrounds.
“It will be a center for our community activities and a place where we may come to know one another and give witness to our faith in Christ,” the bishop said.
Place of welcome
El Puente Executive Director Cristhia Castro believes everyone who attended the dedication felt welcome and “right at home.”
“People from different denominations and many different backgrounds were here because they wanted to be a part of the blessing, because they recognize how important our ministry is,” she said.
El Puente is Spanish for “The Bridge.”
Founded in 1999 and sponsored by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, the Diocese of Jefferson City and local parishes, El Puente is a separate, nonprofit agency offering an array of services to the Hispanic communities primarily in and near Jefferson City and California.
It serves as a link between cultures and between immigrants and the communities they’re joining.
The ministry moved in 2020 from its longtime location on East McCarty Street to half of the current location at 2709 Industrial Drive.
Since then, El Puente has been expanding its services in response to needs that have become apparent.
“The vision all along was to serve as many people as we can in the space we have, and eventually to expand that space,” Mrs. Castro stated.
The El Puente staff and board were convinced all along that additional room would become available, because God meant for them to be able to use it.
“It’s such a blessing that God keeps leading the way in providing what we need through all these people who believe in our ministry and the work we’re doing to welcome new people into the community,” said Mrs. Castro.
In word and work
At the dedication, Bishop McKnight prayed to God of Mercy and Truth to bless the facility and everyone who uses it.
“May all who come here know the presence of Christ, experience the joy of his friendship and grow in his love,” he prayed.
The bishop then walked through each room of the facility, sprinkling holy water onto the walls and floors.
The aroma of candles and fresh roses filled the room where the people were gathered.
The bishop strode past a large, framed reproduction of the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Jesus’s mother, whose apparitions in 1531 in present-day Mexico have helped lead millions of people to faith in Christ.
At the end of the service, Bishop McKnight called down a blessing upon everyone present:
“May the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,” he prayed. “May the word of Christ dwell in you, so that all that you do in word and in work, you will do in the name of the Lord.”
Visitors then shared fellowship over a meal of Venezuelan arepas and tequeños from the COMO Arepas Restaurant in Columbia.
Deacon Castro prayed the blessing before meals in Spanish, and the people responded by praying it in English.
“Whenever we can, we like to introduce food from different countries,” said Mrs. Castro. “It’s always good to help the wider community learn about the backgrounds of various Hispanic communities.”
“Know your neighbor”
El Puente’s mission is “to make present the healing love of Jesus, the Incarnate Word, promoting human dignity through a ministry of presence and outreach to the Hispanic community.”
This, according to Mrs. Castro, includes helping connect Hispanic immigrants and their families with even more of the people and resources they need in order to become engaged, successful and faith-filled members of society.
El Puente staff members serve as bilingual, bicultural liaisons between Spanish-speaking immigrants from Mexico, Central and South America and the neighborhoods and faith communities they are eager to become a part of.
As of last month, the agency had 1,270 regular clients.
In addition to accompanying people to doctor’s appointments and providing language-interpretation services, the staff and volunteers help individuals and families overcome obstacles to fulfilling the dreams that brought them here.
They provide support to individuals in meeting their basic needs through direct services and referrals to support the well-being of families.
“We’re not just serving a need but a community with needs,” Mrs. Castro said.
The ministry’s staff also gives cultural presentations to non-Hispanic groups.
“It goes back to the belief of if you know your neighbor, you tend to be more family-like,” she said. “But if you don’t know how to approach them, you don’t know how to welcome them.”
Bridge work
Volunteers now use part of the expanded El Puente facility to tutor children who need help keeping up with school.
“Some of the students we have now are still learning English,” Mrs. Castro noted. “If they’re having trouble understanding the concepts and their parents can’t help them, they can easily fall behind and start wanting to quit.
“This program gives them the help they need to stay in school and finish their education,” she said.
Jim and Barb Kemna anchor the agency’s popular Welcome Program, which distributes donated necessities such as shoes, clothing, beds, bedding and household items to asylum-seekers who arrive with little more than what fits in their suitcase.
“They come to this country legally, but there’s nobody waiting to welcome them when they get here,” Mrs. Castro noted. “So once they find out about us, we can help them with finding clothes, shoes, signing their kids up for school, signing up for the food pantry at Catholic Charities and other food pantries.”
Volunteers sort the donated items in storage space provided free of charge by Immaculate Conception Parish in Jefferson City.
“The Welcome Program is a great opportunity for people in the community to participate in this important work,” said Mrs. Castro. “We couldn’t do it without volunteers and people in the wider community, and donations of money and the items we distribute.”
El Puente participates with other community agencies in offering an array of social programs such as food assistance, legal assistance, counseling, educational programs, and faith and cultural-integration services.
The primary service area includes Cole, Moniteau and Callaway counties, but people call or drive from as far as Buchanan, Boone, Christian, Morgan and Osage counties, seeking help.
“Sometimes, people are willing to drive an hour-and-a-half or more from where they live, especially for the legal assistance we offer,” Mrs. Castro noted.
New clients contact El Puente almost every week in search of at least one service the agency provides or can refer them to.
Lately, many of the new clients are asylum-seekers from Nicaragua, where political and social instability threatens their lives.
Mrs. Castro asked for prayers for God to bless El Puente’s newly expanded headquarters and give wisdom and insight to everyone who seeks and does His work there.
“And pray for more people to come along in our journey, to help us accomplish our mission,” she suggested.
