A Catholic Lay Ministry: A Year of Change

Each August a new group of Catholic individuals dedicate a year of their life to the Bon Secours Volunteer Ministry program.  The ministry allows singles or married couples of at least 21 years of age to take a retreat from their lives for one year.  The volunteers come to offer help and hope to the poor, only to be surprised by the changes in themselves.  During that year, the volunteers live in a simple community of prayer and service.

The lay ministry was started by the Sisters of Bon Secours seven years ago.  The Sisters are primarily a nursing order.  As a result, the Bon Secours Volunteer Ministry Program has more medical assignments than any other type.  However, the volunteers are assigned their year long position based on individual talents.  Some work as nurses while others council patients, visit the dying and their families, or provide patient advocacy services.  Not all assignments are in hospitals or for the sick.  Some work in schools and centers for the homeless.

One of the volunteers, Sarah, worked in a middle school for girls.  During that year, Sarah was moved by the changes she witnessed in one of the students.  The school is located in a rather poor neighborhood in Baltimore.  One of the students was having difficulty with anger management.  Each day, the girl had outbursts and was belligerent to everyone.  She was disruptive in her classes making it difficult for those around her to learn.  Her grades were poor and she did not seem to care about anything.  Sarah's assignment was to spend time each day with the student.  This is something the teachers and school administrators would have loved to have done but simply did not have the time.  As the days passed, Sarah listened to the girl.  She befriended her and helped her to talk through any problems she was having.  Sarah finally saw a difference in the student's attitude. The girl started to take pride in her school work.  She was able to control her anger and manage through a day without outbursts.  The love and attention she was given was changing her life. 

Vanessa worked with the homeless.  She was assigned to work with a woman who took her children and fled from domestic violence.  The woman had no education and no means of supporting herself and her children.  Each day Vanessa helped the woman study for her GED.  It took the entire year to prepare for the test.  As Vanessa's year came to an end the woman was ready to get her high school equivalency diploma. 

During their year of ministry, the volunteers live together in community.  They are provided housing, utilities, and health insurance by the Bon Secours Voluntary Ministry.  The volunteers also receive a stipend for food and personal needs and have a community car to share.  On the year long retreat from their regular jobs or schooling, they live a very simple life.  They support one another in their ministries and spend time praying together. 

The people the volunteers help come from impoverished neighborhoods in Baltimore, Maryland and Richmond, Virginia.  The volunteers continually relate the same sentiment.  They came to serve the poor but were themselves changed by the experience.  The volunteers work with the ministry for only a year but have an experience to carry with them throughout their lives.

To learn more about the Bon secures Volunteer Ministry Program visit their website at, www.bonsecours.org/bsvm