August 20, 2009 by Admin
Filed under Needs and Requests
As the Mission Center facility nears completion we are in need of store racks and display cases for the Thrift Store.
The picture at left shows the new store, which will be considerably larger than our current one. The new location, within the actual Mission Center will allow us to quickly move items from the warehouse into the store. If you can help with find racks and other store items, please contact us at donors@fatherbeiting.org. Thank you!
August 20, 2009 by Admin
Filed under News, Uncategorized
The construction of the new Mission Center facility is nearing completion! The staff at the Mission Center can’t wait to move into the brand new building, which will feature 42,000 square feet of warehouse space, adminstrative offices, conference space and the Attic Treasure Thrift Store. The new facility will allow us room to grow for many years. Future plans include collaborating with the Catholic Charities to provide affordable mental health counseling and other services.
These photos, courtesy of Jack Prietsch, are from a recent trip Jack and his wife made to Louisa.
Father Beiting and Candy Prietsch enter the warehouse portion of the new Mission Center through the small truck loading dock.
The new warehouse will have plenty of space for donations!
A couple of weeks ago a man was waiting for me as I finished my 8:00 A.M. mass at Inez. In a recent flood we had in the county the water got up to his trailer door. His septic tank got flooded and now all he has is a bad smell. In addition, the wind damaged his roof and now it leaks badly. The inside of the trailer is soaked. He has a wife and a handicapped son. After all this the wife moved out; she wasn’t going to live in a pig pen. The boy is shuttled between them.
The man wants me to put a new roof on the trailer. After talking to him, I went to see the trailer. It was in horrible condition. It would be a waste of money to repair it. It was still in danger of floods. The immediate temporary help was to cover the trailer that was 12×60 feet.
I told him to get another trailer, but he has no money and is on SSI for less than $600 a month. I got him to come and see me twice a week and get his wife to come along. They have come twice already. I have them working and planning with us on how they can get their life back on track. I have been impressed by how faithful they have been to the visits.
Then a break happened. One of the families I have been helping at the Point of Hope shelter got a job at McDonalds. Both husband and wife got a job. They are now able to move and rent a house. Their trailer became vacant. The very day they moved out, a couple, with 3 children, came asking for a dwelling. The property where they had a trailer was being sold and they had 30 days to move. They couldn’t find a place and did not know what to do with the trailer.
The first thing I did was to get a friend of mine to allow them to park the trailer on his property for 6 months at no cost. We then made our trailer available to them and helped them get their furniture moved in. I asked them how much they had to have for the trailer. They needed $1,500. This trailer is in good condition and would work for the facility in Inez.
So far I have purchased tarpaulins for the old trailer to give them temporary relief. A trailer company has to have move the trailer and set it up on higher ground. I have $150 and need $2,000 for a good trailer setup out of flood danger.
I feel so good about this as the family that was separated are now working to budget their expenses and get back on their feet.
I hope you see how I try to solve problems and not put band aids on them. With your help, we are creating a new future for these families.
The husband who came to me first said, “How can we thank you and what moved you to help us, complete strangers, when every one else turned us down?”
“I saw Christ in you,” I said, “and when you were so willing to cooperate I couldn’t let you stay in that pig pen.”
Dear Kin Folk,
Greetings once again from the hill country, deep in the Appalachian Mountains of Eastern Kentucky. Today is the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. When he appeared to St. Margaret Mary in the 17th century, he asked her to tell our Catholic faithful that he loved them without limit. He asked us to attend first Friday masses and receive communion. I shall remember all of you this day and ask Christ to let his love embrace you.
60th Anniversary
On Friday, June 5th, St. Jude Church was filled to overflowing. Bishop Gainer, our wonderful bishop, presided. Fr. Frank Osburg, a former associate of mine, gave the homily. It was so moving that he got a standing ovation. A wonderful group of priests and nuns made it a time I shall not forget. My family was there from Northern Kentucky. They are my special joy. Friends for more than 30 years came. Volunteers from years back as well as present ones were there.
Many of you who could not be here sent such beautiful cards that expressed your prayers and good wishes.
I asked God if he could give me still more years to work for Christ and his poor in Appalachia.
Warehouse
We had tours of our new warehouse before the mass and everyone was amazed on my anniversary. “You shouldn’t call it a warehouse,” they said. “This building will house so many more activities than a warehouse. It is truly a mission center for so much that is needed.”
The builder says the best he can do to complete it is October. I am praying to our Lady that we will be in it and working by the Feast of the Holy Rosary, October 7th.
I want to thank all of you who donated so generously to my 60th anniversary. We didn’t reach our $100,000 goal; so we still need your generous support.
How Did I Get to Appalachia?
“I was born on January 1, 1924, in Newport, Kentucky. I was the eldest of 11 children: 7 boys and 4 girls. My father was a carpenter, and my mother was the light of our house.
Through the prayers of my family and the wise direction of priests and nuns, I became convinced that God was calling me to be a priest and a servant to the people of God.
In August of 1941, I entered St. Gregory Seminary, in Mt. Washington, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio. After 4 years, I was sent to Mt. St. Mary of the West, Cincinnati’s major theological seminary.
While there, a new Bishop was assigned for the Diocese of Covington, Kentucky, the diocese to which I belonged. His name was William T. Mulloy, and he was given special direction from Rome to care for the Appalachian Mountain area of Eastern Kentucky.
In the spring of 1946, I was called in by the Bishop and told I was being sent for the summer to the mountains of Appalachia in Eastern Kentucky. Being from Northern Kentucky, I knew nothing of the Appalachian area except that it was poor, very missionary, and a long way from home.
I told the Bishop that I could not go to the mountains that summer since my father had gotten his leg crushed in a construction accident, and I wanted to get a job that summer and to help my family. The Bishop did not agree and I found myself going to Appalachia for an uncertain summer.
This was the summer I fell in love with Christ, in the mountains.”
“Go Tell it on the Mountain,” first published in 1981, is Father Beiting’s first-person account of his work in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky. To obtain your copy, please contact us at donors@fatherbeiting.org.
