Catholic Mission Trips

What inspired you to start this business?

In 2001 a Youth Director in Texas felt called to do mission with his Youth Group. He researched and bought $3K of building materials to take into Mexico to build a chapel. With 15 youth in tow, they made it down to Mexico only to find that the building materials never were delivered. In fact, they didn’t show up until the day the Youth Group was heading back to Texas! The Youth Director left the materials with the community. The kids were so excited when they arrived back home the following year they had twice the amount of kids! In year three they tripled in size with 90 youth! Long story short, they learned a few lessons, how much of a positive impact they make on a community, and how much more of an impact they could make if they were there longer. Most importantly they discovered Mission trips are hard to put together! That’s how Catholic Mission Trips began. A Catholic Non Profit that provides 25-30 mission trips a year. Staying in communities for a longer period of time hosting of 10,000 participants since 2008.

How does your faith shape your work?

We are Catholic Mission Trips, all of our missions are Service Oriented, Sacramental, Formational, Christ-Centered, and Spirit Led. As Catholics we focus on the whole person: Physical- We are focused on the Corporal Works of Mercy providing disaster recovery and building projects. The Spiritual- Daily mass, adoration, praise and worship, rosary, and liturgy of the hours are offered and prayed throughout the week. The Mind- We are formational, reflecting on the day and the works performed as well as what God is doing in our lives through small groups, testimonies, and speakers. One of the fruits from our Missions is, 8% of all CMT Staff have entered Religious life!

What's a favorite patron saint or scripture?

As Catholics we believe in the Church Triumphant and there are 6 Saints that are powerful partners in our Mission. Since our Mission started in Mexico it begins and end with St. Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Patrons of Missionaries St. Francis Xavier and St. Theresa the Little Flower and our modern day saints of St. Paul II & St. Teresa of Calcutta who loved the Youth and loved serving others. We ask the Church Militant to partner with one of these Church Triumphant partners in praying for and supporting our missions. One quote that is near and dear to us is “I am a nobody, I am a small rope, a tiny ladder, the tail end, a leaf.”- St. Juan Diego. The CMT staff understand that we are a small tool in the hand of our Lord and God to be used to promote his kingdom and serve his people.

What's one thing you'd like customers to know?

Youth Groups, Colleges, and high schools join us from around the U.S. including Florida. We go where the need is greatest, this summer that is South Texas, Lake Charles, Kentucky, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. A couple in South Texas had so much damage done on their home the CMT contractor told us we would have to tear down and build from scratch. CMT started with the foundation last year and will be 100% finished by the end of the summer. The final project is an 1,100 sqf 3 bedroom 1 bath house built from the ground up. The couple who have been living in a temporary trailer will be moving into their new home in August.