MELBOURNE  |  The accident happened on a Texas highway. A deadly crash claimed one life, injured many others, while leaving one passenger with only a few bruises. That passenger, Randall Meissen, recalled the experience as a “shocking thing that sears in your mind and emotion.”

The experience also led him to ask, “What does God want me to do with my life?”

God’s answer ultimately led the college-aged Missouri farm boy to the priesthood. Twenty-five years later, it brought Legionary of Christ Father Randall Meissen to the rugged mountains of the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean. His mission was to bring clean drinking water to local families.

Father Meissen is the chaplain and director for the Catholic Campus Ministry and an adjunct professor for humanities at the Florida Institute of Technology. Los Guayuyos is the small farming village where, this January, he and five of his students got their hands dirty.

Using pickaxes and shovels they dug trenches in the often-sunbaked soil. They also glued together and buried mainline and distribution water pipes. The qualification for his students to join the mission trip was a positive response to one question, “Can you dig a hole?” Being no stranger to manual labor, Father Meissen set the example.

Elias Orellana is working on his electrical engineering degree and has accompanied Father Meissen on two mission trips. He is a third-generation Dominican living in the United States. He found his experiences were “a good reminder of the different types of poverty that exist around the world.” “I felt reinvigorated in my connection to my culture,” he said.

Recalling the time he heard God’s call, Father Meissen said, “I originally thought I was supposed to be a doctor of bodies, but I found out I was supposed to be a doctor of souls.” Following his studies and his hands-on contact with the less well-off he said, “You can see across cultures that people are very much the same. The material circumstances vary widely. The levels of education vary widely. But people themselves are very much the same.”

Because of the support from volunteers in places like Los Guayuyos, the local people recognize that they are not alone. “On the part of the communities (we serve) there is a deep gratitude that they are not forgotten – that they have brothers and sisters in faith that love them and care deeply about their needs,” Father Meissen said.

Through its Mission Office, the Catholic Diocese of Orlando has a 32-year history of supporting mission activities in the Dominican Republic. Material assistance, technical advice and volunteer involvement are part of making Christ’s presence real. The work of Father Meissen and his students is one such example.

However, Father Meissen believes discipleship does not always require going to foreign countries. He said, “In the ordinary circumstances around each of us there are dozens of opportunities to be a witness of Christ’s love.

Learn more about our Missions Office by clicking here.

By Glenda Meekins of the Florida Catholic staff, February 27, 2025