Mission work changes lives — offering improved health and living conditions while sharing God’s love and hope.
Across the Diocese of St. Augustine, parishes host mission efforts each year to serve those in need.
As part of the Jubilee Year of Hope, Our Lady Star of the Sea in Ponte Vedra Beach is coordinating the Jubilee of Missions on Oct. 18 from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. The morning begins with Mass and includes formation on being a missionary and testimonials from mission participants. Email carmenjsardinas@gmail.com for more details. If you have ever considered joining a mission trip, this event offers a chance to hear firsthand what it’s like to serve abroad.
Mass on the Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist will begin at 8:30 a.m.with Father Andy Blaszkowski serving as celebrant and Father Rafael Lavilla as Concelebrant
A light breakfast and welcome will take place after the Mass followed by missionary discipleship formation at 10 a.m.
An array of witnesses from local parish missions will be on hand to help spread the word and share stories of the initiatives they have been involved with.
Father Blaskowski close the Jubilee of Missions with a blessing for missionaries at 11:30 a.m.
Our Lady Star of the Sea, Ponte Vedra Beach
The Sister Parish Ministry at Our Lady Star of the Sea began in 2013, founded by Dr. Donald “Don” Barnhorst and Robert “Bob” Hart to serve some of the Dominican Republic’s most impoverished communities.
Support includes medical and dental care, nutrition for the elderly, preschool education, job training for young mothers and infrastructure improvements. Thirty missions have taken place since its founding, with evangelization at the center.
The ministry also organizes family and school missions so adults and children can serve together.
Through medical clinics, clean water projects and parish partnerships, diocesan missions show faith in action — carrying Christ’s light to those who need it most.
St. Anastasia, St. Augustine
Deacon Santiago Rosado-Rodriguez of St. Augustine is executive director of Friends of the Missions, Inc., which since 1995 has provided outreach in 16 countries, helping more than 150,000 people with medical supplies during 70-plus trips.
The ministry began by building structures and addressing basic needs in host countries. In 2006, medical missions were added when St. Anastasia Parish invited Deacon Rodriguez, a physician, to join.
“My first mission trip was in 2007 to Honduras,” he said. “I’d wanted to go before but never had the chance.”
Since then, Friends of the Missions has served in Liberia, Tanzania, Honduras, Guyana, Puerto Rico, Peru, Jamaica and Colombia. A water engineer now joins trips to build wells and cisterns in Tanzania and Liberia.
“Water is something we take for granted here, but in many places it’s a luxury,” Deacon Rodriguez said.
Teams typically include 15 to 30 volunteers, with six to eight doctors and nurses. Others sort medicine, work triage, translate and manage crowd flow.
“In Yoro, Honduras, we would see 300 to 700 people a day,” he said. “Some walked five or six hours just to see a doctor.”
He recalled a mother lifting her five-year-old over a barbed-wire fence so someone inside the clinic could guarantee the child was seen before day’s end.
“That’s the level of desperation you meet,” he said.
The next medical mission is Nov. 8-16 in Peru, followed by India in February 2026. Email friendsofthemissions1@gmail.com for details.
Queen of Peace, Gainesville
Queen of Peace Parish has made mission giving a parish tradition, donating 10 percent of its yearly offertory — more than $300,000 — to local and international charities.
Its mission approach grew during the pandemic, when Father Al Esposito organized parishioners to meet unmet local needs. The success led to the Foreign Missions Advisory Team, which now guides parish stewardship abroad.
“Many of our parishioners have traveled outside the United States and realize how blessed we are,” said Sharon Breitinger, co-chair and founding member.
She shared a memory that shaped her outlook:
“Thirty years ago, my husband and I ended up on the wrong train and found ourselves deep in southside Chicago, which was not safe at the time,” she said. “That moment planted a seed — no matter someone’s circumstances, we are all God’s children. Our eyes opened wider, and so did our desire to be His hands of love.”
Queen of Peace supports more than 17 community partners worldwide. Projects include building a classroom in Bogotá, Colombia; funding salaries for social workers through the Kiera Grace Foundation, which helps parents navigate childhood cancer treatment; and packing meals for Rise Against Hunger with parishioners of all ages.
Mission trips are being planned for 2026, including one to Butare Catholic School in Rwanda.
