Florida Catholic | Dreaming Of a New Home

Dreaming of a new home

Are you called to serve others through mission work? Find out at Orlando Diocese’s Festival of Faith

NAOMI GONZALEZ | SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA CATHOLIC

Published: 05.08.08

A little girl stands in the entrance to her home in La Cucarita, Dominican Republic. This structure is typical of the houses Dreambuilders seeks to replace.
Courtesy of Mission Office

To see the model, visit the Festival of Faith exposition hall Friday, May 9, 8 a.m.–8:30 p.m., and Saturday, May 10, 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m., at the Orange County Convention Center, South Concourse, 9899 International Drive, Orlando.

ORLANDO | Many of us dream of new houses with the latest in smart technology. Yet, there are many in this world who dream of what many in America would consider basic.

Until my Dreambuilders’ mission trip, I didn’t realize how something so basic could be so special. I saw firsthand the work of the Diocese of Orlando’s Mission Office in our sister diocese of San Juan de la Maguana, Dominican Republic, and it changed me.

I was inspired by the feeling of seeing the joy on the faces of a family walking through the door of their new home for the first time. A home with walls, a floor, a bathroom – the basics. A home that only six months prior was a family’s dream. We helped them realize their dream.

When you visit the Festival of Faith, you will have an opportunity to see, feel and touch a full-size model of the houses built in our sister diocese. You will have an opportunity to learn about the many hours of labor and planning it takes to construct a home.

You will be introduced to Dominican life – see how our water purification system has created clean environments in remote mountain villages, and see how our Dominican brothers and sisters lived before the construction missions touched their lives in so many ways.

We hope the exhibit at the Festival of Faith will inspire everyone to answer the call of social Catholic teaching and become part of the Dreambuilders’ family.

Naomi Gonzalez is education coordinator for the diocesan Mission Office.

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