Last March, Sizemore Group CEO Bill de St. Aubin went on a mission trip to Cuatro Cienegas, Mexico. When he arrived back to Atlanta, Bill wrote this first-person account of the trip and how it helped reinforce the values we hold strong here at Sizemore Group.
At 65 years old I have never attended a mission trip. I thought it was about time! Sandi and I have sent our boys on mission trips and seen them come back inspired with a new perspective on what really matters in life. Understanding community needs around the world and at home helps you see both disparity and commonality. For our son Michael it became a way of life as today he works around the globe doing humanitarian work.
To be honest, I really did not know what I was getting into. A busy life kept me from preparing and reflecting on what I was about to experience. We landed at Monterrey Airport on Saturday March 15th at about midday. We had a great lunch at the airport and got to know the awesome Lumen* Members and their families from around the USA who attended. In my case, my cousin Mark came as a fellow Lumen member. This was a special treat as we both work in the development industry in Atlanta and have many friends in common. Yet working on our Catholic faith and spending time together in the desert was special. Here is us standing on gypsum sand that never gets too hot!
The first day we traveled most of the day from Atlanta to Monterrey to Cuatro Cienegas to the Hotel Marielena. As we recently finished a town plan at the office named Marcelena in Tennessee, I became curious about the name. With a little Google research I found, in Spanish Marielena means “star of the sea” and symbolizes grace and light, reflecting serenity and Joy. A very fitting name for this place and hotel as we would soon learn.
After checking in, we headed to mass at St. Joseph church in the center of town, a short walk across the town square.
The next morning a few of us awoke early to hike to the top of a mountain, Tierra Maria, and catch the sunrise over the mountain across the valley.
As the sun peaked over the mountain, I felt the presence of God welcoming us to this special place. I was proud of the ease with which I climbed the mountain and thankful for my wife Sandi inspiring me to go to Orange Theory 2-3 times a week. Pride is a slippery slope as I would soon learn when I slipped on the way down and landed amongst thorns as is often the case in deserts. It took a week or two to remove all the thorns. It was a great reminder to stay humble.
After the hike we went back to the hotel Marielena and had a great breakfast and headed around the corner to Genesis live museum and Lab.
It was nice to hear the presenter’s passion for how amazing the origins of the universe are and how inseparable they are from his faith. Genesis is a museum that cares about science and religion with an awe towards God’s infinite life-giving creativity.
We got an amazing presentation of the science behind the origins of the universe and the unique life science qualities of the desert around us. This desert used to be an ancient sea. The fossil of the fish on the wall in the Museum is over 2 million years old. They had a fossilized pine tree trunk over one billion years old. Some of the sea still exists in the desert fed by underground springs. There are ancient life forms that exist today in this desert that can be found nowhere else in the world except Australia.
Over the next few days, we got to visit the remains of the ancient sea and swim in the crystal-clear water. You can feel cold streams across your body as you glide through the warm water. Very cool and joyful. The name Marielena began to make sense.
Over the next three days came the biggest surprise and most sacred experience: walking 16 miles through the desert during the Lenten season of our Catholic Faith. I could not help but reflect on Christ’s 40 days in the desert after his Baptism in preparation for his ministry. He was tempted by the evil one to thwart his ministry. Yet in response he rebuked the devil each time with the power of God. Made me think of the temptations in my own life and how the power of God can conquer them.
The walk was so peaceful and serene.
In the town of Cuatro Cienegas we covered 3 stations followed by two days in the desert. The two days in the desert covered 11 stations, with some stations 2-3 miles apart. The three-day walk of the Stations was led by Father Daniel. Father Daniel wrote the book “Lessons from the Workshop of St. Joseph”. Each of the 14 chapters in the book represents a different station.
While that 16 mile walk in the desert may seem extensive it was really inspiring as each station reflected on the lessons of St. Joseph. In addition, we had wonderful meals prepared by the Marielena hotel staff under shade trees.
I began to learn that St. Joseph, the foster father of God, was a primary focus of this trip. One father we met was key to the mission. Although I bet he would be the first to tell you it was all God’s work. You see Alphonso Gonzalez Arocha (left below) grew up in this desert on a 200-acre farm. His parents could not afford to send him to college, so they sold the farm to pay for his education. He is now a successful businessman leading a company he created called “Qualfon” that operates on all seven continents of the world. On a mission trip in his hometown, he realized the importance and responsibility he had to help his own community out of poverty. Soon after, he created Plan 2040.
Alphonso apologized to us for leaving to attend a conference where he was asked to speak. He accepted because they would let him speak about God. When he is not allowed to speak about God he does not go. Wow that’s a great filter to both leverage and control your time commitments as a CEO. His success by the grace of God enabled him to buy back his parents’ farm and several others. Five years ago, he started a vineyard on some of the desert land. Today that wine is winning awards.
The 2040 plan started with several goals to impove the lives of the famlies in Cuatro Cienegas. They have critical KPI’s they measure. Two that stood out for me were the number of fatherless families (40%) and the lack of education beyond 9th Grade. By the year 2040 they would like to assure all the children born complete their high school graduation and the number of fatherless families are reduced if not eliminated altogether. I thought of areas back home just minutes from downtown Atlanta that have similar metrics of poverty, lack of high school education and missing fathers. Research shows families without active fathers often result in lower levels of education and a higher poverty rate as well as mental health and wellbeing of the next generation. Active fathers in a child’s life are at the heart of caring for each other and improving the health of a community. Lessons for us back home as well to serve others and mentor fatherhood.
What I love about this program is they are mentoring the fathers and young men to be good fathers and fathers of faith. The church in the center of town is called St. Joseph and is the heart of the community. The goal is to bring the fathers together to learn from each other and lean on their faith to be great fathers. To provide role models and education on fatherhood. Lessons from the workshop of St. Joseph.
Of course, we could not miss the feast of St. Joseph that was celebrated while we were there, including a Mariachi band to close out the Mass. After Mass, we all went into the town square for music, dance, and dinner under the desert sky. Beautiful!
Our role at the feast was to serve the artists’ food. Turns out it was groups of young artists performing dance and songs together. They seemed to be orgaized by age from 5-15 years old I would guess. What a blessing to see them dance together and the smiles and shyness at times when they came to our food table.
One of the challenges is how far the fathers are from the center of town. Many are at work villages in the desert. On the 4th day of our trip we all hopped in a van and went to these villages and got to meet with the families. Mark and I were led to a wonderful famliy with a strong father and lots of love between each other. I could not help but ask each one in the family what their dream was. You see, having a dream was one of the metrics as well. Their 2040 mantra was “Full-Time Dreamer”. This I could relate to.
The family we met above from left to right: Ariana the oldest child, Jorge the Dad and Brenda the mom. The second Child, Andrea, was in a deep sleep the whole time we were there. The stories about Andrea reminded me of our youngest son Joey. They said Andrea was full of never ending energy, climbing up cabinets, walking on counters and playing with the chickens by throwing them around before passing out for a deep sleep. That was Andrea. That sounded a bit like our Joey when he was young. Now Joey travels the world full of energy whereever he goes. I look forward to meeting Andrea some day.
Oh, the other two goobers are my cousin Mark and me. I believe, the two little chickens had names, can’t remember. The best part of this visit besides seeing the love in their faces was when I asked each about their dream. Ariana wants to be a doctor. When I asked Jorge he said I was looking at his dream: his wife and two children. He nailed it. In a culture where 40% of the fathers are gone, Jorge was living the right dream for sure. He added one, and my grandchildren! He will be a great Dad. I can’t remember Brenda’s dream, yet as a bike advoctate, some would say a bike-obessed person, I perked up when she said she was going to sell her phone (that Ariana was always using) and buy her a bike. That became my first misssion for the trip: to get Ariana a bike!
Ariana the oldest child.
We have more to do here as we closed the mission with a new group of commited friends to help complete the 2040 vision and help support the dreams of the famlies. One immediate goal we took on with the help of Catholic World Mission is to get them a van as soon as we can. A van will help the 2040 team reach the fathers and famlies in remote desert locations.
Michael DeLise (a Lumen fellow) and Jerry Garcia (a 2040 leader) discussed organizing a marathon in the desert that could attract runners around the globe. I would be happy to join them if they will allow some of us old folks to bike the marathon.
I thought a long term generational vision may be to build a techincal or higher eductaion campus within or adjacent to the town. Higher eduction could provide training for job advancement in life science or other needs.
Several of the children dreamed of being nurses and the Genesis museum and labaotory have alread laid the ground work for Life Science studies and research. This would bring additional people jobs and research to this region to help build their dreams.
Perhaps the most valuable part of any trip is meeting new and awesome people that become life long friends. Here are some pictures of some of our group on the trip.
In no particular order, some of the people I now call friends:
Katia, Roby Garza, Gerardo Garcia, Father Daniel, Mark de St. Aubin, Regina Meade, Alejandra Planas Rego, Bob Dill, Chuy Santos, James Flanagan, Jim, Kara, Kristen Stevens, Maria Ines Girault, Michael DeLise, Nico, Roberto, Susana Calderon, and Alphonso Gonzalez Arocha.
So much to do and pray for, I must go back. We must go back. We must invite others to go as well.
A special shout out to Maria and Reberto above who oraginzed a follow up dinner at their home in Cumming, GA.
An update on the Bike.
The Bike arrived April 17 and so did the pictures. Made my day. Not sharing to brag at all. To spread the love and knowledge that it is always more joyful to give than receive. It was my blessing to be able to help, and I truly feel honored.
Man, those chicks grow fast.
*Lumen Institute is a Catholic organization for business and social leaders who seek personal development in character, faith, and leadership.
About the author:
Sizemore Group CEO Bill de St. Aubin brings over 30 years of experience leading aspirational, culturally significant designs involving complex challenges. His process is to collaborate in an open manner with the client, communities they serve and multi-disciplined teams to assure aspiring designs are completed within constraints of the market while addressing the needs of the community. He directs each project or town plan to realize the highest aspirations of the community and client. The results are innovative resilient environments that provide a beautiful sense of culture and community. Often these projects and studies are catalysts for the redevelopment of an entire urban/suburban district and become regional and national models.
These days, Bill can be found working with clients as well as building the next generation of firm leadership, moving our practice in a positive direction. Since becoming the CEO in 2015 the firm has doubled in size and continues to grow through innovation, geographic expansion, leadership training and acquisition of new and diverse talent. In his free time, you can find Bill on bike trails throughout the region and annually throughout the world, as his passion for endurance riding fuels the energy for his passion for the firm and our clients.