There's No Place Like the Pio House for the Holidays

Charlie Wallace
Dec 31, 2024
4 min read

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Pio House!

As we jump into 2025 and the third year of the Pio House, here's a recap of the past few months:

This school year we started with Marvin (right), Nigel (center), my brother Chris (not pictured), and myself, Salvador (left). Chris has since moved out, but we recently welcomed Xavi (center right) and Nathan (center left), who is Nigel’s little brother. Currently we are five young men living in the Pio House striving for fellowship and a relationship with God together by sticking to our pillars of faith, service, and fellowship.

Charlie always envisioned the house being passed onto and led by the local Belizean community, and it's an honor to have filled shoes these past few months. It has been a blessing to share family dinners with these incredible men. We are always willing and praying to welcome more young men into the house and join our brotherhood.

Check out below for a month-by-month review of what's been happening at the Pio House:

⦿ AUGUST ⦿

Moving in started with deep cleaning the house. I spent a good part of my day on Facebook Marketplace looking for furniture for the house. I was lucky enough to find a nice corner shelf and a cupboard to make the house more homey and welcoming. I also printed pictures of the young men that have lived in the house the previous year and framed them so we can always remember them.

During this month, a few of us got to go on the OLA (Outdoor Leadership Adventure) with the junior college students of John Paul the Great College. This 5-day camping experience is done every year at Mountain Pine Ridge Reserve, which is one of the most beautiful places in Belize. It is a kickoff to the school year for the college students to prepare them for the various challenges they will face in this next chapter of their life. Nigel joined as a student leader, Marvin got to go for the first time, and I was invited to take photos. I was particularly amazed by Nigel for stepping up and giving a talk about courage to the students. Marvin also stepped up and served as a good leader and role model to the younger men.

We ended the month with an all-night adoration at the Pio House. This was a gift and an opportunity to invite other guys from our community to join us in adoring the Lord all night.

Tremendous leadership shown by the Pio House men at the OLA

New furniture is perfect for our overnight adorations! (big step up from a sheet of plywood with a bedsheet stacked on cinder blocks as an altar)

⦿ SEPTEMBER ⦿

This month, Nigel started the FORGED men’s group. After putting together a Bible camp for kids this past summer, a desire to start a youth group started to grow in him. He brought the idea to some teachers, and they helped him start the men’s group and started meeting every Thursday at the Pio House. The first night was very memorable with a campfire, marshmallows on a stick, and sharing the vision of FORGED and about each of our spiritual journeys and desire for growth.

Padre Pio’s feast day is September 23rd, so we had a big party at the house this night in which we invited many of our friends to come celebrate our beloved patron.

FORGED has been a huge success, and we're glad to have Nigel's leadership and a house to host the weekly meetings

⦿ OCTOBER ⦿

On the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, the veteran altar servers of our parish were vested in their new albs. These albs were hand-sewn by the Poor Clare Sisters of Chetumal, Mexico. Marvin, one of our guys, goes to daily mass and always serves whenever there is no one serving, especially on weekdays. He was also vested and was an example to all the younger men that you are never too old to serve the Lord as an altar man.

This month, we were also blessed to receive the blessed sacrament to our house overnight. There is always something so beautiful about all of us coming together to adore Him all night.

Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary!

Another overnight visit from our Lord!

⦿ NOVEMBER ⦿

This month is very special because we prayed for more guys to move in

And the Lord heard us!

New guys meant we had to clean the house and get it nice and ready for them to want to move in. Marvin, Nigel, and I came together one weekend, and we moved things around to make the house more spacious and homey. As we prepared for Xavi’s arrival at the house, we planned a huge dinner on the day after Thanksgiving. We invited missionary volunteers, classmates, friends, and even our lovely priest, Fr. Beau. My favorite memories at the house have been coming together for dinner, and this was a very special one indeed!

Good food and good company!

⦿ DECEMBER ⦿

Early this month, we finally had Nathan (Nigel’s little brother) move in with us, and it has been a joy to have the house full of life! As Christmas approached, we knew that our Christmas dinner was coming up, and, to keep the tradition going, we planned a gift exchange with all the Pio House members. The day finally arrived, and we enjoyed a good meal with prayer, lots of laughs, giving, and a good movie with some snacks. After dinner we usually use playing cards to determine who washes dishes, but this time, we used our newly opened Jenga game to determine who will wash dishes, which was a fun change of pace. It was a joy to celebrate Christmas as a house and a brotherhood.

Annual Christmas gift exchange!

Jenga!

These past few months have been life-changing, and I'm so grateful to have lived and learned with these young men. The house has served as a refuge and safe space, enabling growth and cultivating brotherhood. It's funny how God can plant a dream like the Pio House on someone and only by His grace make it possible. The Pio House has truly been a blessing to Benque Viejo, and I can't wait to see all the good things it brings in 2025. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the men of the Pio House!

“Pray, Hope, and Don’t Worry” - St. Padre Pio, pray for us!