Msgr. Thomas McGettrick pastor of St. Andrew by the Sea and Fr. Bob Dun, pastor of Most Precious Blood pose with children from San Pablo, Ecuador.

Father Bob Dunn is no stranger to international mission work. On more than one occasion he spent time at the former diocesan mission in Atreaga, Mexico, and has made three trips to Patzun, Guatemala, to assist in the work of Clinica Corpus Christi.

His most recent missionary endeavor was being part of a Catholic medical missionary team who traveled to San Paulo, Ecuador. The fruits of the trip included the people of a very poor Ecuadorian parish having a new surgical suite donated to them by the members of Most Precious Blood Parish in Corpus Christi, where Father Dunn serves as pastor.

"I think the main thing was seeing the infrastructure and the spirit of cooperation from the people of Ecuador and the groups from Houston and Corpus Christi," said Father Dunn, who was so impressed by the trip that he challenged his own parishioners to help after he returned. They responded generously by giving more than $30,000 to the cause.

The mission trips to Ecuador began about five years ago and was started by Father Hugh Cullen who had been assigned to Ecuador but was then stationed in the Diocese of Houston Galveston. He contacted Fr. Joseph Lopez, Chancellor of the Diocese of Corpus Christi, with a request for help putting together a Spanish speaking medical team to travel to San Pablo. The result was a dedicated team of doctors, dentists, and other health care professionals willing to travel and provide care for those in desperate need of medical help. Local ophthalmologist Dr. Arnold Villarreal coordinates the medical team from here.

Father Dunn, was invited to take part in the medical mission to the parish of San Pablo, a parish of 12,000 people in one of the poorest areas of Ecuador. Upon his arrival Fr. Bob was assigned to do home visits and hear confessions along with Msgr. Thomas McGettrick, pastor of St. Andrew by the Sea, who was making a return visit to San Paulo. Both priests were moved by the faith of the people who came in large numbers, over 3,100, for healing of both soul and body. Msgr. McGettrick saw a significant improvement in the apparent health of the people. "They appeared to have benefited from improved nutrition and hygiene. "

The medical mission has provided classes in both areas for the parish. "The children especially looked healthier, cleaner, they were wearing better clothes, and their teeth looked much better. In 2007 team dentists extracted over 100 teeth daily and we saw a lot of illnesses caused by malnutrition. A lot of progress has been made over the years"

Fr. Bob, who was occupied making home visits, hearing confessions and administering the sacraments, became aware of a number of local women who had come to the clinic with severe gynecological abnormalities, which would require major surgery. The facilities simply were not available in the existing small clinic building to perform such complex operations. The team would have to leave San Paulo without being able to help them.

Returning home, Fr. Bob shared the story with his parishioners recounting the goodness and deep faith of the people as well as their poverty. He told them that committing funds to a project like a surgical suite would build not only something of value but also something, which will last for years. Generous people of the parish committed to raising $20,000 for the building, they ended up raising $34,000. The funds will go to provide a free standing building on the campus that contains an operating room, a hospital room for those who need to stay overnight after the surgery, and a utility room. "It was a wonderful experience for me," said Fr. Bob "and then to have the parish people respond so generously to the critical need of the Ecuadorans was something I will never forget."