ROMEOVILLE—A career missionary, St. John of God Brother Luis Mojica of Bolivia, peered at a blank wall as he attempted to formulate a response about the immensity of global poverty. Realistically, how can a few scattered efforts have an impact on the insidious nature of abject poverty?

Speaking through translator Father Luis Gutierrez of St. Dominic Parish in Bolingbrook, the visiting missionary summarized the efforts of well-intentioned missioners around the world with a single word—solidarity. As a member of a Catholic religious congregation, he told the Catholic Explorer during a Nov. 2 interview that the idea of “presence” takes on a more significant role when the object is to provide the needy with a sense of dignity and integrity. Whether the mission is organized on an isolated Navajo reservation in New Mexico, an island in the Philippines, the ghettos of urban Sucre, Bolivia, Nairobi or Calcutta, the focus is humanity and its deserved respect, he said.

“What keeps you motivated is solidarity,” which, practically speaking, serves to unify the “global community” through understanding. “It’s an important message. As you try to be in solidarity, you evangelize. Through being human” and the interaction with “human weakness,” there is a sense of “understanding” that is derived from the combination of giving and taking, said Brother Mojica, whose congregation oversees medical missions in 51 countries on five continents. The newest venture was opened last spring in China, where the brothers started a center for ailing senior citizens.

A spokesperson for the medical missions in Sucre, Bolivia, Brother Mojica arrived at the diocesan Office of Peace and Social Justice, located at St. Charles Borromeo Pastoral Center, to provide input pertaining to Christ of the Americas Hospital that is largely supported with donations from this seven-county region. He was one of several presenters at the second annual Partnership in Mission fund-raising event dubbed the Faith Promise Dinner. It was held Nov. 3 in Glen Ellyn.

Having spent 12 years in medical missions work, he said post-Vatican II missioners have learned to squash the imperialistic attitude that dominated the 18th and 19th century missionary scene. While evangelism continues to be a crucial element of mission work, it’s expressed through outreach efforts coordinated to meet the needs of the specific region, he said.

“You have to be sensitive to the needs of the people.”

Considering the rise in the number of evangelical missioners from a variety of faith groups in mission efforts around the world, Brother Mojica said, “The challenge is to really meet the needs of the people,” rather than vying from conversion. As for inspired donors, he warns them to seek organizations where funding and expenditures are coordinated successfully to assist the community. Mission coordinators in the Diocese of Joliet are good examples because they have carved out relationships with communities that develop regionally pertinent programs, including the establishment of healthcare centers and hospitals, schools and irrigation projects. They work hand-in-hand with local residents to identify need, he added.

At the Faith Promise Dinner, longtime diocesan missioners Henry and Rosa Mendivil and Vernon Witte were recipients of the St. Francis Xavier Award. The Mendivil’s joined the Sucre mission project in 1995, he as a doctor and she as a translator; the couple is native to Bolivia. Witte, a member of St. Patrick Parish in Yorkville, formally adopted an attitude of practical assistance in the name of the needy beginning in the late ’90s. Since then, he’s been a regular missioner for the diocesan team.

Meanwhile, Bishop J. Peter Sartain offered his appreciation for the work that missioners perform with little fanfare and a lot of dedication. The dinner raised more than double the revenue gleaned in its debut year in 2005. More than $45,000 was donated to assist in the efforts of the mission projects sponsored by the Diocese of Joliet in a variety of places in the United States and around the world, said Tom Garlitz, director of the Diocesan Office of Peace and Social Justice.