Sister Rebecca Trujillo, SNDdeN, embodies the mission of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur to make God's goodness known to people in the most abandoned places. After 30 years of service in Nicaragua, Sister Rebecca received a year sabbatical, a time of healing and integration before she began discerning God's call for ministry.
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| "I kept hearing in my heart, El Paso, El Paso, El Paso." - Sister Rebecca during her discernment process after being forced to leave her ministry in Nicaragua. |
Amid the discernment, "I kept hearing in my heart El Paso, El Paso, El Paso," said Sister Rebecca. So, she decided to visit El Paso and Volunteer on a short-term basis at Holy Family Migrant and Refugee Center to learn about the culture and experience the Borderland between the United States and Mexico. During this time, Sister Rebecca explored other possible places for ministry in the El Paso Dioceses. Although she is from Las Cruces, New Mexico, El Paso was an unfamiliar urban center. Now, with decades of international ministry experience, she recognized the divine purpose in her mission to this vibrant border community.
After discerning with the Notre Dame Community, Sister Rebecca was missioned to El Paso full time with three ministries in mind: Volunteering at Holy Family Migrant Shelter, accepting a job with Center Santa Catalina (CSC) women's Cooperative in Juarez, Mexico, beginning training with CAPACITAR International to work with people who are experiencing trauma. She also accepted an invitation to live in a Community with the School Sisters of Saint Francis, who live in downtown El Paso near the Mexican Border.
Ministry at Holy Family Migrant and Refugee Shelter
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| Sister Rebecca with Father Jarek Wysoczanski, OFM Conv, Site Coordinator of the Holy Family Refugee Center. |
Living the charism of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur to serve where needed the most, Sister Rebecca returned to Holy Family Migrant and Refugee Shelter and asked, "Which shift has the least volunteers?" Father Jarek Wysoczanski, OFM Conv., the coordinator of the shelter, replied, "The weekend overnight shift." And that's precisely what Sister Rebecca chose to do.
This decision allowed her to be fully present to the migrants staying at the shelter. She was the only person working the shift from 7 pm to 7 am, so she could connect with the migrants as they ended their day.
"I could just be present to them," Sister Rebecca explains. The migrants were more relaxed in the evenings. They could share their experiences without pressure. They often engaged in relaxing conversations before bedtime. The women could share simple self-care activities such as painting their nails, facials, and hair braiding.
Community
When Sister Rebecca arrived in El Paso, she found a welcoming community with the School Sisters of Saint Francis. "I have so much in common with these sisters," says Sister Rebecca. They share years of ministry experience in Central America, including Nicaragua, which created an immediate bond.
Through her Community, she entered her ministry with CSC, A Woman's Sewing Cooperative in Juarez, Mexico, and a solidarity gift shop in El Paso. "Their products are beautiful. There's just no other word for them," Sister Rebecca shares about the women's creations. "I see beauty as a portal to God in my life. People must create beauty, which these Mexican women do together."
Work with Centro Santa Catalina
Centro Santa Catalina was founded in 1996 by the Adrian Dominican Sisters to help women working in the garbage dump on the outskirts of Juarez. They created a small Mexican nonprofit center for educating women and children. For the families to move out of work in the dump, they also formed a for-profit cooperative to earn a living by making handcrafted products. CSC hired Sister Rebecca to work in Juarez and El Paso (which has a separate nonprofit status in the U.S.) with a grant from the Franciscan Sisters of Dubuque, Iowa. The Adrian Dominicans continue to support the ministry, although none of their sisters are living in El Paso or Juarez. Other religious congregations have supported the work over the years and continue offering services to assist Sister Rebecca.
In El Paso, she coordinates the CSC Solidarity Gift Shop to sell the cooperative's products. The women she works with are the daughters of the original women who worked in the dump. The shop and the cooperative theme is "Empowering Women One Gift at a Time." The women empower one another, including Sister Rebecca and the five women shop staff in El Paso. "It is mutual empowerment, as we develop together through work relationships," states Sister Rebecca.
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| Centro Santa Catalina Store, located at the Loreto Center in El Paso. | Sister Rebecca visits the Co-op in Juarez once a week. |
In Juarez, she visits the women to work on quality control of products and brings the materials across the border to the shop. The women are developing both in their work and spiritually as they grow together. It is integrated with workshops in business skills, prayer, and physical exercises to create Community, which is another SND value. This community building also occurs in the shop with the staff and volunteers.
These actions reflect Sister Rebecca's faith and mission to make God's goodness known to the people around her. Sister Rebecca's experience running small businesses in Nicaragua makes her well-suited to support these women in building sustainable livelihoods through their beautiful creations. "The women are sage and observant," she notes. "They have been great guides for me."
Healing Through Capacitar International
The third prong of Sister Rebecca's integrated ministry includes International Capacitar training. It is a way to give people self-help tools to deal with trauma using energy work and holistic practices. This approach connects her to her earlier work in Nicaragua, where she used similar popular education methods. She is associated with the CAPACITAR group in Juarez, where she is completing her training. She can practice the techniques both in the El Paso shelter and in the women’s cooperative.
Through her various roles—shelter volunteer, shop manager, women's advocate, and trauma healing practitioner—Sister Rebecca lives out the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur's commitment to education and presence with people facing difficult circumstances, especially women and children. Her journey reflects the congregation's willingness to serve where needed, listening attentively to the Spirit's guidance to meet present needs with simple joy and inclusive love.