Mission Field
Michiko Takei
Saturday, April 14, 2007
The three Mexican nuns of St. Catherine’s Catholic Church are just like everybody else in Emporia. They study, drive, dance, whistle and tell jokes.
Laurentina Garcia, Aurora Viilamar and Carmina Troncoso came from Mexico as missionaries and live together in a small house next to the church. Sister Aurora came to Emporia 13 years ago, Sister Laurentina came 11 years ago, and Sister Carmina came eight months ago.
“I could not speak any English when I first came here,” Sister Aurora said.
According to the 2000 census, 5,752 people in Emporia, 21.5 percent of Emporia’s population, are Hispanic. Like the nuns, most recently arrived Spanish-speaking immigrants are not fluent in English, Sister Laurentina said. She said they come to St. Catherine Church and the nuns for help.
“Many Hispanic immigrants don’t have any English education before they come to the United States,” Sister Laurentina said.
There are two government-funded adult schools for non-English speakers in town. Sister Carmina, who came to the United States eight month ago, goes to English school almost every day.
Some new arrivals do not have time to go to school to learn English because they are busy taking care of their children and working, the nuns said.
“Our mission is to help people whenever they need us,” Sister Aurora said.
The nuns pray at Mass four times a week and teach bible study for adults on Thursday and for children every Saturday morning.
When people can’t come to the church, they go to them, counseling people who are going to marry, babysitting for single mothers who work all day and visiting newborn babies. They counsel those with financial problems, too.
According to “Our Land: A History of Lyon County Kansas,” a history book written in 1976, the first Mexican-American generation came to Emporia in the 1900s. The original St. Catherine Church, built in 1942 represents that first generation’s struggle with segregation. Today, a new pink church sits besides the old one.
The first generation came to Emporia to work in rail yards; newer arrivals have been working in meat packing.
The three nuns and the Hispanic Catholic community in Emporia are strongly tied together. Church members often spend time fixing and cleaning the church.
The nuns and Catholic women recently met to make tacos, burritos and tamales for the fund-raising.
“We are trying to raise our funds to maintain the church,” Sister Laurentina said.
Sister Laurentina said she they are going to stay in Emporia as long as their “amigos” need them.
“I think people like us, we like people here and I’m happy about the situation we have now,” she said. “We’ll just keep on going.”
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