P4 The SpokeSman • WedneSday, december 8, 2021
Missionary
Continued from P1
Was her son released? “I
can’t comment on that,” said
Smucker. “I’m afraid of saying
anything. It’s a hard situation.”
Who are the 400 Mawozo?
Reporters describe them as
brazen, violent, and unpredict-
able.
The New York Times re-
ports the gang is infamous for
mass kidnappings. Haitian of-
ficials estimate the gang makes
$70,000 a week from ransoms
and extortion.
In the case of these mission-
aries, the 400 Mawozo asked
for $1 million dollars per per-
son for a total of $17 million.
How does Smucker feel
about paying a ransom? “I can’t
comment on that.”
The July assassination of
Haiti President Moïse and the
7.2 magnitude earthquake in
August has cast Haiti into a
state of lawlessness. The Chris-
tian Aid Mission reports 600
kidnappings in the first nine
months of 2021, up from 231
kidnappings in Haiti during
the same period of 2020.
Gangs command many ar-
eas of the country and control
goods and fuel at seaports.
Do you know whether your
son is safe? “I can’t comment
on that.”
While the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, the U.S. State
Department and Christian Aid
Ministries negotiate for safe re-
lease of the hostages, Smucker
doesn’t dare breathe a word
that could endanger the deli-
cate talks.
Releasing even the smallest
details probably won’t help.
Even the slightest gaff has the
potential to harm her son and
the remaining 14 hostages.
Smucker hasn’t heard a sin-
gle word from her son in more
than six weeks. “Not. A. Word.”
‘God had him there’
He’s 3,000 miles away. She
has no contact. Smucker feels
helpless, but not without hope.
“Of course, it’s extremely
scary,” said Smucker. “I’m con-
fident that he was there for
such a time as this, as it says
in the book of Esther. I believe
God had him there.”
The New York Times reports the gang is infamous for mass
kidnappings. Haitian officials estimate the gang makes
$70,000 a week from ransoms and extortion. In the case of
these missionaries, the 400 Mawozo asked for $1 million
dollars per person for a total of $17 million.
The Smuckers raised their
five children, now ages 28 to 9,
in Poland. “It was a mission,”
she said. “We were doing a
church plant as well there.”
She believes their travels
have given her children a mis-
sion world view. “I know he
has that world view, as well,”
she said. “I don’t think this
would hinder (his mission
work) in the future.”
Smucker leans on her Men-
nonite faith. She meets twice
daily with her support group,
members of the organization
and others directly involved.
They give one another moral
support and pray together.
They know the 400 Mawozo
gang has released hostages in
the past. They released two of
their group earlier this month.
Community support
As Smucker has been quiet
about her ordeal, so has the
community of Madras come
around her in quiet support.
The kidnappings caught
Lysa Vattimo’s conscience
when she saw it in the news.
She started praying about the
situation weeks before she
found out Smucker’s son was
among the hostages.
She was shopping at Pe-
nelope’s Soaps and Such,
where Smucker sells her can-
dles, and an epiphany hit her.
She would bless Smucker
by buying her candles, and
she would bless other people
by giving the candles to them.
She gave a candle to her
doctor and thanked the staff
for their grace throughout the
pandemic. She added a card
explaining the connection to
the kidnapping.
The next time Vattimo vis-
ited the candle store, she ran
into her doctor buying can-
dles. The story moved her
doctor to also buy candles
and give them away.
“It blesses everybody. Lau-
ra’s blessed. I’m blessed,”
said Vattimo. “The people
receiving them are blessed.
The people giving them are
blessed.”
Vattimo’s “Candle Project”
started Nov. 11 and took off.
She posted her idea on Face-
book. Soon people from all
over the state sent Vattimo
money to buy candles and
give them away. She bought
candles $200 and $500 at a
time.
Vattimo does what she calls
matchmaking. When a friend
whose mother suffers from
Alzheimer’s donated money,
Vattimo used it to buy candles
for the staff at a memory care
facility. When a sheriff ’s office
retiree donated money, she
bought candles for people at
the sheriff ’s office.
Vattimo did all of this with-
out telling Smucker.
“I thought there’d been
an accounting error,” said
Smucker. “My candle sales
were too high.”
Smucker’s business partner,
Angela Rhodes, was in on the
secret and filled her in.
“Candle sales have gone
through the roof,” she said,
with grateful amazement.
“More than doubled. I’m
humbled and grateful.”
The Smuckers and the other
families of the hostages have
no power over their circum-
stances, but their community
has found ways to provide tan-
gible comfort.
$185K grant reinforces
COCC equity efforts
From a press release
Central Oregon Commu-
nity College’s (COCC) office
of diversity and inclusion was
recently awarded a $184,902
grant from the Meyer Memo-
rial Trust’s equitable educa-
tion portfolio that will sup-
port, expand and implement
a range of equity and diversity
programs at the college.
The majority of the award
will be applied to COCC’s
college preparatory programs
designed for underserved dis-
trict high schoolers, aimed at
specific operational costs and
the funding of a Native Amer-
ican program staff member’s
salary.
The funds will also help
underwrite a similar pro-
gram for Black high school
students that is currently in
development. Other dollars
will enhance equity-centered
professional development
at COCC, bringing more
training offerings to faculty
and staff.
“This incredible aid will
directly benefit the futures
of many youth in our un-
derserved communities,
offering them educational
direction and access to tech-
nology and resources that
they wouldn’t otherwise
have,” said Christy Walker,
the college’s director of di-
versity and inclusion.
More than 80 student
participants of the college’s
Latinx, Native American and
Afrocentric college prepa-
ratory programs will receive
a complementary laptop to
empower their educations
thanks to this and other fund-
ing.
The college preparatory
programs feature two com-
ponents: an embedded high
school classroom during the
school year and an on-cam-
pus, weeklong symposium
in the summer. Free to par-
ticipants, these college-cred-
it-earning programs celebrate
culture and foster leadership
while spotlighting college of-
ferings and wraparound ser-
vices through academic en-
couragement.
The programs are currently
embedded in Redmond High
School, Ridgeview High
School, the Redmond Pro-
ficiency Academy, Culver
High School, Crook County
High School, Madras High
School, Bridges Career and
Technical High School in Ma-
dras, the Roots Alternative
Education Program at Warm
Springs, Bend High School,
Mountain View High School
and Summit High School.
While geared toward specific
cultural identity groups, the
programs are open to all stu-
dents.
Measuring high school
graduation and college enroll-
ment rates is essential to as-
sessing the programs’ success.
Data from recent years shows
that 85% of participants in
these programs are graduat-
ing high school, while 75%
are enrolling at COCC or an-
other college; in comparison,
Oregon’s 2020 four-year high
school graduation rate was
82.6%.
Ways you
can support
Thelma’s Place:
• Vehicle donations
• Cash donations
• Sponsorships
• Volunteer
CHILD CARE
AN INTERGENERATIONAL PROGRAM
Your support makes a difference!
Redmond: 541-548-3049
Day Respite and Support Groups
www.thelmasplace.org