A Home to Build, a Mission to Share
Eight volunteers were commissioned at Nazareth on Sunday, Nov. 8, before traveling to Belize, where they will help build a home for a local family.
During a ceremony at St. Vincent de Paul Chapel, Sister Valerie Miller presented each volunteer with a candle as they prepared for their trip.
The volunteers are now in Belize, where they will spend the next several days working alongside a family and community members to construct a new home.
The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth have organized volunteer experiences for many years, giving participants opportunities to support the Congregation’s ministries, learn about other communities and build relationships with the people they meet.
This year’s team includes retirees, experienced volunteers, longtime friends of the Sisters and participants making their first international volunteer trip. Each brings different skills and experiences to the project.
The team is helping David and Flor, who live in Las Flores, Belize, with their two young children, ages 8 and 2. Volunteers will work alongside the family and local community members to construct a house that will provide the family with a permanent home.
The project is made possible through the generosity of Sister Valerie and honors Alberta and Louis Schultz, whose longstanding connection to the Sisters and the people of Belize helped make this opportunity possible.
Different Paths to the Same Mission
For Laura Babbage of Lexington, Kentucky, the journey carries particular meaning. Her brother, Greg, died Nov. 8, 2025, from neuroendocrine tumors. Just 17 months older than Laura, he was someone she admired throughout her life, a role model who taught her, as she wrote in her introduction to the volunteer team, “how to live well and how to die well.” Greg had been a builder his entire life. When Laura learned that the commissioning ceremony would fall on the first anniversary of his death, she saw an opportunity to honor him through something he loved. Participating in the construction of a home in Belize became a way to remember the “building” pieces of his life.
For others, the decision to volunteer grew from relationships that began decades earlier.
Rosemary Miller of Louisville was raised in Nelson County, Kentucky, where she attended St. Thomas School and was taught by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. After a 39-year career with the U.S. Postal Service and raising two children, she found her way back to the Sisters through the encouragement of her sister, Ellen Sprigg, and a family neighbor, Sharon Cecil. Today, Rosemary serves on the Congregation’s Development Advisory Council and Crisis Team. The Belize experience will be her sixth mission trip.
Her sister, Ellen, brings another kind of experience to the group. Ellen retired from the Nazareth Volunteer Program in 2023 after leading numerous mission and disaster response trips, including journeys to Belize, Nepal and India. Yet retirement did not end her involvement. In her written introduction, she described how experiencing the Sisters’ ministries firsthand and “building lasting relationships with volunteers and communities” continue to draw her back. Recently, Ellen became an SCN Associate, deepening her connection with the Congregation. She will serve as the group leader for this trip, helping guide volunteers through an experience that can be physically demanding, unfamiliar and personally meaningful.
The team also includes David Miedzinski of Hollywood, Maryland, better known as Wayne. He first traveled to Belize for a home build in 2015 and has since participated in 10 builds. He has also helped communities recover from natural disasters, including tornado damage in Durant, Mississippi, in 2017. His years of construction and disaster response experience will be valuable as the group works to complete the family’s home.
Not everyone arriving in Belize has that kind of background, however, and that is part of what makes the Nazareth Volunteer Ministry accessible to people with different abilities and experiences. Christy VanDeventer of Bardstown recently retired after years devoted to family life. Married for 37 years, with four children and five grandchildren, she sees this chapter as an opportunity to give more of her time to others. In her introduction, she expressed a desire to be “the hands and feet of Christ.”
Anita Smith, meanwhile, has spent 32 years working at Nazareth and currently serves as international administrative coordinator. Originally from Marion County, Kentucky, she has wanted to participate in a Belize mission trip for years. Receiving Nazareth’s annual Employee Scholarship has finally made that opportunity possible.
Jasmine Huston of Bardstown is experiencing the ministry from a different perspective. As the new volunteer coordinator for the Nazareth Volunteer Ministry, she helps connect people with opportunities to participate in the Sisters’ mission. Now she is joining her first Belize home build, gaining firsthand experience with the work she helps organize. A wife and mother of a 5-year-old son, Jasmine wrote that she is grateful for the opportunity to work alongside the family and help create a place they can call home.
Together, the volunteers bring practical skills, professional experience, personal motivations, and a willingness to do something unfamiliar.
Building Relationships
The work in Las Flores will involve long days of construction as volunteers work alongside the family and local community members to complete the home.
During Sunday’s commissioning, Sister Jackulin Jesu, SCN, president of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, reminded volunteers that their time in Belize is about more than building a house.
“Will you work together with compassion and respect, recognizing that the relationships you build are just as important as the home you will help construct?” she asked.
“We will,” the volunteers responded.
“Are you willing to open your hearts to the people and culture of Belize, to listen, to learn and to welcome the gifts others have to share with you?”
“We are,” they answered.
The exchange reflects the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth’s approach to volunteer ministry, which emphasizes working with communities rather than simply completing projects.
For decades, volunteers have joined the Sisters in projects throughout the United States and internationally, including home construction, disaster recovery and other community needs.
Many return for additional trips, while others remain connected to the Congregation through friendships, volunteer opportunities and support for its ministries.
The Invitation to Participate
Before the commissioning, volunteers gathered to review travel arrangements, safety procedures and expectations for their time in Belize. The meeting also gave team members an opportunity to get to know one another before departing.
During the ceremony, Sister Valerie presented each volunteer with a candle.
“May these candles remind you of the light you bring to others, the light you will find in the people you meet, and the connections that will remain long after this journey has ended,” said Spalding Hurst, director of Mission Advancement, who helped lead the commissioning.
Sisters, Associates, family members and friends participated in the blessing, extending their hands in prayer for the volunteers and the family they will assist.
The Belize home build is one of several opportunities offered through the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Volunteer Program. Participants do not need previous construction experience. Volunteers of different ages and backgrounds contribute according to their abilities, working alongside local communities on projects that address specific needs.
As the team begins its work in Las Flores, we look forward to sharing updates on the home’s construction, the people they meet and their experiences in Belize. We will share more about their work and the completed home in the weeks ahead.
As the volunteers begin their work in Belize, we look forward to seeing the home they will help build, the friendships they will form, and the memories they will carry home. In the coming days, we will share updates, photographs, and stories from their journey, offering a glimpse into the experiences and relationships that make the Nazareth Volunteer Ministry so meaningful.
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Interested in volunteering with the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth?
The Nazareth Volunteer Ministry offers opportunities for individuals to participate in the Congregation’s mission through service experiences at home and abroad. To learn more about upcoming opportunities, contact Jasmine Huston, volunteer coordinator, at jhuston@nazareth.org or 502-348-1580.