The Sisters

Meet the Spindt Family

The Spindt Family have been members of St. Paul’s Catholic Church for over 15 years and service to others as a family is very important to them. They are long time volunteers with local organizations in Waukesha such as the Hope Center and the Eras Senior Network. Even though Charlie and Miranda have served with the medical missions before, this is the first time the entire family is serving together in Peru and are very excited.

Miranda “Charlie” Spindt has been a part of the Peru Outreach Ministry since 2013. This will be her third trip as the medical coordinator for the mission. She is a Physician Assistant in Family Medicine and serves as a volunteer provider at St. Joseph’s Free Medical Clinic serving the homeless and uninsured. Currently, she is the Clinical Education Coordinator and a Clinical Assistant Professor at Carroll University’s Physician Assistant Program in Waukesha. She serves St. Paul’s as a Eucharistic Minister and together with her husband Marc, as a pre-marriage FOCCUS facilitator. She loves to spend time with her family and helping the community. 

Marc is the Vice President of Service Delivery for an internet security company in Brookfield. He serves as a group leader for high school age kids with the religious education program at St. Paul’s. He is also a Eucharistic Minister and a pre-marriage FOCCUS facilitator. Marc and Charlie have been married for nearly 24 years and have two great kids together, Miranda and Nicolas. He loves to spend time with kids and is currently a coach with the Kettle Moraine Sporting Clays and Trap Team. He is looking forward to traveling to Peru to help with water filtration program and support the medical mission.

Miranda is a Sophomore at Marquette University where she is a double major studying Political Science, Economics with a minor in Spanish. She is in the Burke Scholars program where she has the opportunity to volunteer in the Milwaukee community and has become involved with the Next Door Foundation working in the pre-school classrooms. This will be Miranda’s third trip to Peru. As part of her Girl Scout Award in 2016, she helped our mission bring 50 water purification systems to help families have access to healthy drinking water. She looks forward to helping again with medical translation, the water filtration program and is super excited that she gets to share this experience with her brother Nico for the first time.

Nico Spindt will be finishing his sophomore year at Kettle Moraine’s School of Health Sciences where he is an active participant of the Lake Country Fire and Rescue Training Center’s Firefighter I workshop. He hopes to be a volunteer firefighter and EMT while he pursues a career in medicine in the future. He has been serving the homeless veteran community for many years. At the age of 10, he started a service project that he called Socks & Sole-diers, which collects new socks and gently used shoes for homeless veterans. He continues to engage the community with drives and to date has collected well over 4K pairs of socks and over 1K pairs of shoes donated to multiple local homeless outreach organizations. He raised funds to purchase sandals to donate to the mission to help decrease the spread of parasitic infections from walking barefoot. He is a member of KM Sporting Clay and Trap team, Tri-M National Honor Society and is the Student Representative for his class.

Meet Dr. Peggy

Dr. Peggy is a Family Medicine Physician and works at Froedtert in Sussex. She earned her Doctor of Medicine degree in 2002 from the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) as well as her residency at St. Michael's Hospital with MCW. 

She is known for her caring and compassionate approach to patient care. In 2010, the Wisconsin Medical Society recognized her with the 2010 Citizen of the Year Award for her commitment to the community in which she lives and her work with our team is another example of that commitment. 

She is very passionate about sharing her time and talent and serving the Lord in her community close and far. This is her second medical mission trip with Connecting Hearts and Hands with Peru. She has also done many other mission trips with other churches. She and her husband Chuck have three beautiful daughters and two dogs. She stays active with volleyball and running. She loves traveling and looks forward to serving the people in Peru. 

Meet Roseemary and Doug

Rosemary and Doug met in 2007 and have been together since. They enjoy time spent with their four children, grandchild, and many other family members and friends. They love to travel and have visited a number of countries throughout Europe, Mexico, Canada, the continental US, and Alaska. They enjoy reading, fishing, and time spent outdoors.

Douglas has a degree in Business and has spent many years in the pharmaceutical industry. HIs primary focus for 12 years was the treatment of Asthma and Allergies and later selling chemotherapy for breast, lung, and prostate cancer. Currently, he owns his own business working in the commercial trucking industry testing and treating commercial drivers for Obstructive Sleep Apnea. His passion has always been helping others which is why this mission is so important to him.

Rosemary is a bachelor’s prepared registered nurse with early education in the medical field alongside her father who was a veterinarian. In the past 29 years , her experience has included work in Cardiology, Cardiothoracic surgery, Trauma, Medical Surgical, Home care, palliative care, and hospice. She has held roles as Director of Nursing and assistant Director of Nursing in the hospital setting. Currently, she is working as a senior case manager for a level one trauma center in Milwaukee, WI. 

Rosemary has had a lifelong passion  to be involved in a medical mission and she's looking forward to serving the community in Peru. The Peru mission has been made possible by  her long friendship with her past co-worker and friend Dr. MaryAnn Papp and her spouse Dr. Louis Papp. She has been a lifelong member of St. Bernard’s Catholic Church in Watertown, WI.

Meet Sylvia

Sylvia is a Licensed Practical Nurse at the VA Hospital in Milwaukee, WI, She is currently living in Waukesha, WI with husband, Alfredo and son, Casey, She is fluent in Spanish and is very excited about her first mission trip to Peru,  and looking forward to working with a great team!

Meet Michael and Deb

Deb and Michael have been married for over 33 years and have two

children from Guatemala. They received a calling to international mission work after they heard that St. Paul Parish would be twinning with a church in Guatemala City, in partnership with the School Sisters of St. Francis (SSSF). This relationship began around 1992. During the 18-year twinning relationship, they had the opportunity to travel to Guatemala on a variety of mission trips either to the orphanage in Santa Apolonia, the clinic in San Marcos, or the church in Guatemala City. They also traveled to Guatemala in 1994 and 1997 to pick up their boys from an orphanage in Guatemala City. They both feel that the twinning relationship has helped them grow in their faith.

In 2013, St. Paul Parish explored the idea of doing God's work at St. Clare School in Paita, Peru. Deb, Lisa and Sarah traveled to Paita, Peru and felt that it would be a perfect fit for the congregation. 

Michael is proud to volunteer as a member of the Martial Arts Veterans Project (MAVP - www.themavp.com). MAVP is a team of black belts teaching martial arts and self defense to veterans at the Milwaukee Veterans Administration. They are celebrating their sixth anniversary this summer. 

This will be Deb's sixth trip to Peru and is pleased that Michael will finally  be joining her on this mission trip. 

Meet the Vavra Family

The Vavra’s are a family of six who are all very excited about going on their first medical mission trip to Peru this summer.

[From left to right: Jim, Abby, Morgan, Jordan, Denise, and Justin]

Jim has over 25 years of experience working as a podiatrist. He is part of Foot and Ankle Associates of Wisconsin and works along with ProHealth Care and Aurora. He is a father of four children and has been married to his wife Denise for 27 years. Jim has been on one mission trip before with his daughter, Abby, and is excited to embark on this mission trip as a family.

Denise was a physical therapist for about 10 years until the birth of her third child, Abby, in 2000. She enjoys volunteering and helping others; some of her time is devoted to volunteering at St. Paul Church, Catholic Memorial and Knollwood Farm. She has never been on a mission trip before and cannot wait to go to Peru.

Justin is the oldest child in the family. He is an alumnus from UW-Milwaukee, graduating with a major in computer science. He now works in IT for North Western Mutual. Aside from his work, he loves music and can play guitar, piano, bass, and ukulele. Justin has also never been on a mission trip and is very excited to go to Peru to volunteer.

Jordan is graduating from UW-Eau Claire in May and is heading to graduate school for speech language pathology next fall. Jordan is proficient in sign language and has lots of experience working with individuals with special needs. She loves volunteering and is currently volunteering at a dog shelter in Oregon while waiting for graduation this spring. Jordan has gone on a Catholic Heart mission trip before and had a blast. She loves traveling and is looking forward to Peru.

Abby is a soon-to-be-sophomore at Wisconsin Lutheran College. She played soccer and basketball at WLC her freshman year and is looking forward to playing basketball next year. Abby is a certified nursing assistant and is in the nursing program at WLC. Abby has been on two mission trips in the past and loved them. She enjoys volunteering in her free time and is excited to go to Peru to help others and gain learning experience.

Morgan is going to be a senior next fall at Catholic Memorial High School. She participates in musicals as a singer, dancer, and technology help, and golfs as well. Morgan loves to be in touch with her creative side and spends her free time painting, drawing, and creating beautiful pieces of artwork. She has never been on a mission trip before, but she is excited to go to Peru.

Meet the Weber Family

The Weber’s are returning to Peru on their second medical mission trip!

In 2016 Olivia, Lisa, and Lindsey lent a helping hand and this time around Grace, Jon, Lisa, and Olivia are going! Lisa is currently a professor at WCTC teaching Anatomy and Physiology and has 18 years of experience as a chiropractor. This will be her third mission trip as she and Olivia have gone to Guatemala and Peru on previous medical missions. Olivia is graduating in May with her Master’s in Physician Assistant studies and will be entering into an emergency medicine fellowship through Marquette. Grace is going to be a junior at the University of Illinois Springfield where she has played two years of collegiate basketball and is majoring in Business with a marketing emphasis. Jon is going to be a Senior at Kettle Moraine High School. He is currently on the trap shooting team and spends some of his afternoons tutoring math and science students.

The Webers are enthusiastic about the opportunities to help the Peruvian people, learn more about their culture, and make a lasting impact. They are excited about strengthening and deepening their relationship with God. They are also eager to use their Spanish!

Meet Nancy

Nancy is a recently retired RN. Her last job as the outreach nurse to the homeless of Waukesha County was also her dream job. Nancy’s been blessed in her life with a wonderful husband and family – 5 children and 9 grandchildren. She feels it is important to give back to those who have not been so blessed.

Nancy has traveled to Guatemala and now to Peru thru the auspices of St Paul Parish and the School Sisters of St Francis. She continues to volunteer at shelters, outreach sites and with those in need.

Nancy enjoys quilting, reading, gardening, camping, biking and spending time exploring new experiences.

Meet Drs. Lou and Mary Anne

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Drs. Lou and Mary Anne have been married for 43 years and have three children and five grandchildren. They both served as medical officers in the US Navy. 

Lou is with Children’s Medical Group at Bluemound Pediatrics. Mary Anne worked at Froedtert and MCW as a cardiologist and now works as Cardiologist at the Zablocki VA.

They look forward to sharing their God given gifts with their brothers and sisters in Peru.