Hospice
Home for the Dying | Caring Centre | Soup
Runs
Food Bank |
Marian House | Our Lady of the Wayside | Mission
Trinity
Communications Network | Ministry to Drug Addicts
Vision of Hope | Foodbank Training Project
Catering
Ministry | Mercy Home
 |
Attending
to a patient |
HOSPICE HOME FOR THE DYING
23 Warner Street, Newtown -
Tel: 622-1424
When we opened our Hospice in 1983, a word from Scripture
was given to us that this place would be a "gate of heaven" (Gen 28:17)
and certainly it has been our privilege, to prepare hundreds of souls for this ultimate
moment of our lives!
So many have been brought to our Hospice suffering and
afraid and have found comfort and peace and alleviation of their pain. The nursing
staff, under the supervision of our matron who has been there from the beginning, are
dedicated to caring for each patient as though that person was Jesus himself.
Our Hospice is dedicated to St Maximillian Kolbe,
martyr of Auschwitz, who gave his life that another might live. St Maximilliam who
ministered to others condemned to death with him, continues his ministry to the dying
patients here at this Hospice as some of our patients have told us of his presence with
them at the end.
The front section of the Hospice accommodates twelve
patients who are terminally ill and in the back section a further seven beds are provided
for dispossessed, very ill men and women with the purpose of rehabilitating them.
Back to All God's Work
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The
poor will always be with us |
CARING
CENTRE
28 Duncan Street, Port of Spain - Tel:
627-6753
"Frennie"
is an old lady who lives in the Salvation Army shelter for the homeless on Duncan Street.
When we opened our Caring Centre in April 1984, she was there to partake of the
first meal to be served and hasn't missed one in the ensuing fifteen years!
"Frennie" and others like her have become beloved members of our extended family
of sisters and brothers, who come to Duncan Street daily to share a tasty meal, have a
shower and a change of clothes and take a break from the harshness of life on the streets
of Port of Spain.
Sybil and Ronald and their willing helpers, who voluntarily
give of their time and their love to the less fortunate, have seen true
miracles of God's
providence as each day all who "come to the water...have good things to eat and
rich food to enjoy." (Is 55:1 & 2b. No one who comes hungry is
ever turned away. The multiplication of the loaves and the fishes is a regular
occurrence here! Often when it appears to those who are serving that the food is
insufficient to feed the crowd, Jesus seems to step in and all get fed with "scraps
left over".
SOUP RUNS
Since the inception of the Community a "soup run"
ministry feeding the homeless with soup and sandwiches in the evenings has been practised.
In this was we get in touch with those who are sick and may need to be admitted to
a hospital or our Hospice, and with abused women or abandoned children.
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Getting
food parcels ready |
FOODBANK
107-109 Frederick Street, Port of
Spain -
Tel: 623-4677
In these times
of economic hardship, when so many families are deprived of the basic necessities of life,
we have been able, through the generosity of all who contribute to the work of the
Community, to provide food hampers to those in need on a regular basis.
In this we are especially grateful to the Food for the Poor
organization in Florida, USA, who ship container loads of rice, Soya, cornmeal, beans,
etc. for us to distribute. In this way we are able to provide basic food items to
needy families in communities all over Trinidad and Tobago.
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Marian
House boys and supervisor |
MARIAN HOUSE
New & Henry Streets, Port of Spain
- Tel: 625-6571
In December 1987, the doors of Marian House were opened.
This house is a centre for homeless and abandoned youths.
Michael was a street boy, his mother dead, his father
alcoholic and abusive. Michael scavenged in the city dump on the Beetham Highway to
stay alive. Someone told him about Marian House; he walked away from the dump and
walked into a new life. Today he is a supervisor at a glass manufacturing company,
has just given his girlfriend a diamond ring and plans to be married soon. The years
in between saw an angry and frightened boy become a serious and responsible young man
whose care and concern for his family brought his brothers, Jose and David, into the
safety of this centre and a life with a future.
Michael's story is just one of many that make the ministry
of Marian House one that is truly special. More and more this home has become a
haven for the abused and abandoned youth of our society, and a place where broken lives
can be made whole again, through the dedication of those who have taken up the challenge
to love one another as He has loved us!
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Halfway
House children at an outing |
OUR LADY OF THE WAYSIDE HALFWAY
HOUSE
Faced with the necessity to provide a shelter for the
stream of abused mothers who found their way to our Centre, we were able to rent a house
in Belmont in 1988. When the landlord needed that house another was located in
Cascade. Finally, the necessary funds were provided enabling us to purchase a
permanent home. This now accommodates from newborn infants to older children (who
have been abandoned or abused and brought to us by social workers and/or community
Police). In addition, women in crisis are provided with interim shelter,
until they can sort out their lives.
This involves round-the-clock supervision and caring
permanent staff, as well as lots of volunteer 'aunties' and 'uncles' who help in various
aspects of this labour of love.
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Prayer
meeting at Saba |
MISSION
Hearing a call to be a missionary community and in response
to an invitation from the Bishop of the Netherlands Antilles, on September 10, 1988, we
sent our first Mission Group to two small islands in the Netherlands Antilles - Saba and
St Eustatius.
Four members of our household community are stationed on
Saba for this mission. Here our ministry is to evangelize, to teach religion in the
schools and generally to build up the Church. The people of these islands have
responded warmly to our mission and to date there is a committed covenanted community of
some forty-five members on the island of Saba.
Clayton, our brother who is now on his third mission
assignment says, "Mission is a service of love which helps me to fulfill my call
as a follower of Christ and which enriches my life."
For six months of each year from 1992-1994, our Community
also sent a mission to Russia where the ministry ranged from setting up soup kitchens and
visiting the sick, to evangelizing on the streets and teaching in the schools.
And in January 2003, we started a mission in
Barbados.
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On
set with TCN |
TRINITY COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK
107-109 Frederick Street, Port of Spain
- Tel: 625-5168
"God's word is something alive and active:
it can cut like any double-edged sword but more finely." (Hebrews
3:12)
How in these modern times do we communicate God's word to
as many people as possible? The answer of course is through the media of television
and radio. On Radio 7.30 AM the Celebration of the Eucharist is broadcast
'live' each day from our Living Water Community Chapel, drawing together into worship
those who are listening while driving in their cars, doing their shopping or sitting at
home. This is especially meaningful to the sick and "shut ins".
Since February 1993, our Community was given the use of a
channel on the cable network in Trinidad. At present, we televise eight hours of
programming on a Sunday and produce video recordings of various teachings and other events
that help spread the Good News.
The studio and editing rooms are located upstairs of the
Centre on Frederick Street and equipment and personnel are constantly being upgraded so
that programming can become more professional and meaningful to our viewers.
See TCN.
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Group
session with clients |
MINISTRY
TO DRUG ADDICTS
The Community's ministry in the field of drug abuse
consists of:
New Life Ministry Prevention Centre - Bretton
Hall, Victoria Ave, POS - Tel: 623-6418:
- providing Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) and
confidential counselling services
- Drug education at the school level
- Parenting courses
New Life Ministry Rehabilitation Centre -
Mount St Benedict -
Tel: 662-1797:
- Rehabilitation through a comprehensive residential programme
- Follow-up and after care programmes for clients with the
disease of addiction
This ministry has been in existence since 1986. The
Rehab Centre occupies the building that formerly housed the 'Abbey School' and
accommodates twenty clients at a time. The problem of addiction in our society is
severe, with many factors that militate against recovery, but the challenge spurs us on to
persevere in this difficult ministry, which brings us face to face with the ugliness of
drug abuse.
VISION OF HOPE
New & Henry Streets, Port of Spain -
Tel: 625-6571
An offshoot of Fountain of Hope which operates as a
small garment business doing contract work for the industry while upgrading the skills of
those graduates wishing to make garment manufacture their career. This little
undertaking has placed several young ladies into permanent jobs in the industry.
 Advanced sewing at Vision of Hope
FOODBANK TRAINING PROJECT
Also at this location, some older women who receive
assistance from our Food Bank, undergo a three-month training programme in handicraft and
cooking, enabling them to supplement their income and assist their families.
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CATERING
MINISTRY
107-109 Frederick Street, Port
of Spain - Tel: 625-5168
 It's 7.00 am and the kitchen door opens at 107 Frederick
Street; one-by-one the staff (both permanent and voluntary) of the Catering & Coffee
Shop ministries begin the day's work. Sandwiches to make and muffins to bake in
order to get the Coffee Shop started. Those assigned to prepare the lunch that will
go on sale get down to business. There's not much time and plenty to get done!
Lamb, chicken, fish, rice, cassava, carrots, salads, all deliciously prepared with
simmering sauces, will be presented to the hundreds of faithful, well-satisfied customers
who dine with us each day - Community members and business people.
Meanwhile, there may be a special luncheon
for ten, to be delivered to the chief executive of a downtown bank and a dinner for the
Ambassador of a foreign government! All to be fitted in to the day's schedule.
When Christmas time comes along, there are
huge corporate dinners for 800-1000 guests! Pastelles (one of our
local
specialties) to be provided for 10,000 over three days! All in a day's
work!
Living Water Community's catering ministry has
gained an enviable reputation for its top-of-the-line cuisine, catering for banquets,
wedding receptions and other functions. The service provides the Community with
income for its work with the poor.
The efficient, smiling staff who serve at various
events are mostly volunteers from our Community, many of whom having worked hard all day
come out to assist in this ministry whenever called upon.
DONATIONS
Please help our
Ministry to the Poor |
