The Journey Begins

Starting the Model T to begin the trip El Pardo, New Mexico.

Here the Catechist begin their journey to El Pardo, just outside of Taos, New Mexico.  The Model T was one method of transportation in their early days in New Mexico.  The early models required one to turn the crank at the front of the vehicle in order to start it. The Catechists have chosen a community as their mission center, and would go out to administer to neediest missions in northeastern New Mexico.  The earliest missions were just south of the Colorado state line, within view of the Sangre de Christo Mountains. From their base at the mission center, the Catechists would travel to their outlying missions to teach Catechism classes.  These classes would usually occur in the district schools at the end of the school day.  The Catechists would also train lay teachers to teach Catechism classes.  The idea being that the lay teachers would carry on the Catechism classes for the children once the Catechists moved on to another needy mission after a year or two.  The Missionary Catechists were also Medical Missionaries.  They had been trained in home health care and visited and nursed the sick poor in their humble dwellings.  They would also dispense food and medicine to the poor.  They instructed mothers in the care of newborns.  They also worked as Social Service workers.  They taught children cooking, sewing, and singing.