May 2008 - Fr. Harold Rahm, S.J.

Last month we had a very special priest visit us – Fr. Harold Rahm, S.J. Fr. Rahm, who is 89 years old, was the original founder of Our Lady’s Youth Center back in 1953. He started the organization to work with the gang members in South El Paso. Along with a talented team of volunteers and social workers, Fr. Rahm started many different types of activities for the children and teens who lived in the surrounding neighborhood. The Youth Center sponsored cultural activities, games, sports, and a summer camp for the youth, to name a few. At its peak they handled some 600 underprivileged teens and pre-teens on a daily basis.

In 1964 Fr. Rahm was chosen by his Jesuit superiors to go to Brazil to do missionary work. He has been in Brazil ever since, continuing his apostolate to the poor and marginalized people there. He has founded numerous centers and programs through the years and is especially known for his work with drug addicts, street children, and women in the red light district.

While in El Paso raising funds for his ministries in Brazil, Fr. Rahm celebrated Mass and visited with us. He wrote in his autobiography and also shared with us the following:

[In 1964] my superior asked me to go to Brazil because my charism is “first beginnings.” I plant seeds. Others take over. My superior told me that I could ask any priest in the Province to take my place in El Paso. If the chosen priest agreed, he would assign the priest as director of Our Lady’s Youth Center.

Immediately I thought of Richard Thomas, S.J., a former student of mine in Tampa. Richard had all the necessary qualities to work in South El Paso. He was popular, a good teacher with an attractive, dry sense of humor, and above all, a spiritual man. I asked him to take my place. He flew to El Paso to have a look at what we were doing. As we were getting ready to drive around South El Paso, he said he wanted to stand in the back of the pick-up to get a better view of things. So I drove him around and we conversed through the window. At the end he told me, “Okay, I’ll come.”

Under my direction the Center had become nationally famous. Father Thomas placed the center on an international level. He did not follow my outline. He turned the Youth Center into a locale where prayer was of primary importance. He changed the focus from the gangs to the destitute in El Paso and in Juarez, Mexico. Father Thomas remained with his poor. Slowly, the other side of town realized that this mendicant priest was a saint. I laid the foundation. Richard sanctified the edifice.

Fr. Thomas went on to direct and expand the ministries of Our Lady’s Youth Center for 42 years, until his death in 2006.

It was a delight for all of us to meet Fr. Rahm and to experience his love and joy firsthand.

April 2008 - Baby Daira

Luz Carrillo knew that something was wrong with her baby Daira. When she was released from the hospital after giving birth everything seemed fine. But her concern grew as she realized her baby’s legs just didn’t look right. Her doctor agreed and ordered x-rays. The x-rays showed both of the baby’s hips were displaced and if the condition was not corrected, Daira would be crippled for the rest of her life.

Not having the means to pursue further treatment, a distraught Luz brought Daira, who was a month old at the time, to our medical clinic at the Food Bank in Juarez. “Can you help my baby?” she pleaded. Jim Gallagher, who takes care of these complicated medical problems which are beyond the scope of our little clinic, told Luz, “The first thing we would need is x-rays.” “Oh, I already have those. I’ll run home and get them now.” Jim took the x-rays to a doctor in El Paso who told us that it wasn’t a bone problem but that he wanted to see the child right away. Jim arranged the necessary permissions to cross the mom and baby, and after the examination the doctor sent them over to a place that specializes in prostheses for babies. They fitted Daira with a special harness and gave instructions to Luz on how to use it and what it was supposed to accomplish. Luz is very bright and caught on fast, and with an appointment to come back in three weeks, she headed back home with Daira all rigged up.

After the three weeks were up, it became clear that Daira needed to see a specialist. An orthopedic surgeon from El Paso, who does volunteer work at a hospital in Juarez, agreed to see the baby. When the surgeon examined Daira he told Luz, “We need to act right away. The longer we wait, the worse her condition will be. I want to see her in El Paso to operate on her next week.” Sick with worry, the family wondered how they would ever be able to pay for even a fraction of the cost of surgery. Jim Gallagher assured them we would help in any way we could. The surgeon made arrangements with a hospital in El Paso and the procedure was scheduled for a week later. This was remarkable because usually it takes us months to get all those details worked out, and even more remarkable, everything was being done free of charge!

The morning of the operation, Jim crossed Luz and Daira and got them to the hospital in plenty of time. The medical staff fell in love with this precious baby who smiled at everyone. Thanks be to God all went well. The surgeon put a cast on Daira from the waist down which has to stay on for 6 weeks, but when that cast comes off Daira will be able to crawl, pull herself up, and walk like any normal baby would do. Luz can’t wait for the day!

March 2008 - Man Healed of Cancer

Stories keep emerging about how the Lord used (and is continuing to use) Fr. Richard Thomas in a mighty way to bring healing and hope to people. A few days ago Heidi shared this testimony with me.

About four or five years ago, the father of one of her friends was very sick and had been in the hospital. Since his liver had ceased functioning and his kidneys were rapidly failing, the doctors sent this man home to die. They gave him 15 days to live at most. Heidi went to visit him and suggested, “Do you want me to take you out to the Lord’s Ranch so that Fr. Thomas can pray with you?” “I guess so,” the man answered despondently. So they drove him out to the Ranch for Sunday Mass. He was so weak that they had to carry him from the van to a wheelchair and wheel him into the service.

As was his normal routine, Father Thomas finished celebrating Mass and then went to another building to hear confessions and counsel people. After the sick man had been helped back into the van to drive to that other building, he was too weak to get out again. This whole trip had been strenuous and exhausting in his feeble condition. Heidi went inside to look for Father and asked him, “Father, I brought a dying man here so that you could pray with him. Can you come outside to the van because he is too weak to come inside?” “Where is he?” Father asked. “I’ll come out right now.” Heidi led the way and Father went up to the window where the man was sitting. After giving him the anointing of the sick, Father Thomas laid his hand on the man’s shoulder and prayed out loud, “Lord, nothing is impossible for You. Please come and heal this brother who is in bad shape. Fix him up like only You can. Amen.” That was it. Father went back inside to hear the confessions of those who were waiting.

On the way home the man seemed to be in a daze. “I felt heat come from his hand as soon as Father touched my shoulder,” the man shared. “I felt that warmth spread all over my body, and I still feel it.”

Four months later he went to see the doctor. “What are you doing here?!” the doctor exclaimed. “I’m here for my checkup,” replied the man. “You’re supposed to be dead! Your liver was destroyed, your kidneys were failing – there’s no way you can still be alive!” “Well, here I am,” laughed the man. “God ‘fixed me up’!”

This man is still alive today and doing well, thanks be to God. We are saving up all these testimonies and more keep getting added to the stack as people share with us how God used this truly amazing priest in their lives.

February 2008 - Making Tamales

One of the special foods for holidays in Mexico are tamales. Tamales are made up of either a savory or sweet filling surrounded by a cornmeal dough, all wrapped up in corn husks and then steamed. They are very delicious, but after being involved in preparing tamales, you can see why they are only served at special occasions – they are quite labor intensive.

This year we wanted to serve this festive food for the celebration of Three Kings Day (the Epiphany) at one of our Food Banks in Juarez. We knew it would be a big task to prepare the many dozens of tamales needed to feed all the people. But we had a group of college students visiting from the Franciscan University of Steubenville who were willing to help. With some experienced local helpers guiding us, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work.

The first task was to get the meat off of 10 big turkeys that had been roasted the previous day. This meat had to be shredded into small pieces so it could be added to the chili mixture. We had pots of red chili and green chili sauce bubbling on the stove and as the meat got shredded, it was stirred in. While the filling was being prepared, the dried, golden corn husks were soaking in a big tub of warm water so that they would become supple and easier to work with.

Now came the time to put it all together. We formed an assembly line with the first station spreading the masa, the soft, white cornmeal dough that gets spooned onto the now-moistened corn husks. These got passed to the next person who put a spoonful of the meat and chili filling in the middle. The next person in the assembly line would carefully fold over the corn husks, making a neat package ready to be put in the steamer. Soon the fragrant aroma of cooking tamales filled the room making everyone hungry, but no one sampled any of the finished product (except the official taster).

The following day at the Food Bank, the college students set out the feast. Steaming hot tamales, fluffy rice, beans, hot tea and cake were served to our brothers and sisters of the colonia. The people cheered and shouted out, “Glory to God” when they saw the tamales, a rare treat for them. The crowd swelled as word spread like wildfire around the neighborhood. Thanks to the students’ hard work, there was plenty for all who came. While not the best looking tamales in the world, everyone agreed that they were delicious, and the people were so touched to know that we had made them ourselves.

“It gave me a lot of joy seeing how happy the people were to get our tamales,” shared one of the students. “It was hard work, but so worth it!”

November 2007 - Mike and Norma Reuter's wedding

The church was packed and the atmosphere was charged with excitement. Young and old crammed into the pews, mothers bounced babies, and rambunctious toddlers climbed on the seats. What was happening? Two special members of our community were getting married.

Mike Reuter, the groom, first came to work with Fr. Rick Thomas back in 1985. He was 21 years old at the time and wanted to spend a year doing missionary work. He ended up never leaving. This was God’s call for his life, he decided. However he also felt called to marriage, but how was he ever going to convince a girl to join him in this radical lifestyle. Mike lived at the Lord’s Ranch where there is no air conditioning in the summer and no heating (except from the sun) during the winter. Floors are bare cement, bathing is limited to two showers a week, and none of the staff receive a salary. All of us are full-time volunteers, dependent on the Lord’s providence to supply our needs. Mike took seriously Matthew 6:33 where Jesus says, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these other things will be given you as well.” He knew God wanted him working in this part of His Kindgom, and he trusted that the Lord would bring the right girl along. And thus began a very long wait.

God had a plan. Enter Norma Garcia, the bride. Norma was only 6 years old when Mike moved down from North Dakota to live here. God had her in mind for Mike but obviously it would take some time before she was ready to be his wife. She lived only miles from the Lord’s Ranch but their paths would not cross for many years.

Finally, when Norma was 24 years old, she came to the Ranch for the first time. She started volunteering in the ministries, and then started staying at the Ranch. After several years of being good friends, Mike could see that Norma felt called to live at the Lord’s Ranch also. So on New Year’s Eve, the feast of the Holy Family, he asked her if she would enter into courtship with him. She gave a joyful yes and they started dating. Mike proposed to Norma on Holy Saturday a few months later, which happened to be Norma’s birthday, and they announced the wonderful news after the Easter Vigil Mass. The congregation erupted with hoots and hollers at this great news.

The day of their wedding was sunny and bright. Over 450 people, including Mike’s family from up north, filled the church to celebrate this very special ceremony uniting two beautiful, dedicated servants of the Lord. After the vows everyone broke into spontaneous applause and cheers.

Mike and Norma are on their honeymoon in Italy as I write this, thanks to very generous donations from family and friends. They will make their home together in the building that also houses the chapel where Mike spent many years praying for his future wife. What’s he say about it now? “She was well worth the wait!”

October 2007 - Eduardo

Sometimes the multitude of problems in the lives of the people we serve leave us bewildered as to how to help them. Such was the case with Eduardo. Eduardo basically raised his kids due his wife’s alcoholism. He took the children everywhere with him while they were growing up. Eventually his wife left him for a younger man. Then Eduardo’s father tragically burned to death when his house caught on fire.

After these events, Eduardo sank into a deep depression and stopped caring for himself. All day long he sat in the darkened room of the cardboard house he lived in next to one of his grown son’s home. He constantly muttered to himself and would go to the bathroom on the floor inside, living in filth. We would repeatedly try to get him to bathe, but he stubbornly refused. We cleaned his living quarters, but the next week it would be back to the filth. This went on for several years. Frustrated with his behavior, his kids gave up on him. We just kept praying for God to intervene.

A few months ago, we noticed he was bleeding from his stomach. It must have scared him because he wanted to go to the doctor, but the doctor wouldn’t see him until Eduardo had bathed. A lady who gets help from the Food Bank offered to take him to her house. She and her husband had an extra room where he could stay. He meekly agreed to go with her, and he allowed them to clean him up.

The transformation was incredible. You could hardly tell he was the same man, now with clean clothes on and his hair cut and combed. They had even cleaned up his fingernails and toenails which had been infected with fungus.

Now Eduardo smiles and is happy. He continues to live with this couple as he receives medical care from the doctor. His children have been to visit him and are pleased with the change in their father. Thanks be to God, what was a seemingly hopeless situation has been turned around.

August 2007 - KJES Radio Station

After many months of planning and waiting, we have a new antenna and transmitter for our shortwave international radio station KJES. As you may recall we use this radio station, which is located at the Lord’s Ranch, to broadcast the Word of God around the world. We have received mail from many countries over the 15 years we have been on the air including Japan, Cuba, Siberia, Canada, Haiti, China and New Zealand. But we wanted to further expand the areas where our signal is heard, and we also needed a reliable back-up transmitter when the main one breaks down.

To help us in this project, we enlisted the aid of John and Ruth Stanley, missionary engineers who travel around the world getting Christian radio stations up and running and maintained. John and Ruth have worked with us many times at KJES, and graciously agreed to help us again. Part of their task involved flying to Costa Rica where the new transmitter was being made to oversee its completion and to conduct initial tests on it. Finally it was loaded up and shipped to the United States. After the lengthy process of getting it cleared through customs, the transmitter arrived at the Lord’s Ranch in June. John and Ruth drove to the Ranch and set up shop, living and working out of our radio station building.

The Lord blessed us with some extra helpers. Dean Straw, an engineer friend of the Stanleys, drove in from California and was a huge help. Uswaldo Gallardo, a good friend of ours who works for the phone company, was able to get donations of wire and other supplies needed and he saved us a lot of time and money with his suggestions and help.


The existing antenna we use sends the shortwave signal east and west while this new one points north and south. Our goal was to be able to transmit more into Mexico and South America. Already we have heard from Brazil that we are coming in there loud and clear.

The back-up transmitter we used to use was old and unreliable and very complicated to operate. The new back-up transmitter from Costa Rica is much easier to run and also sends a stronger signal.