Bishop Ochoa and the Madera Method Wagon Train

For The Madera Tribune

Retired Bishop Armando Ochoa is shown here on the right.

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Every time I think about retired Bishop Armando Ochoa my mind jumps instantly back 18 years to the lawn of Courthouse Park where a group of junior high school students, their families, and this writer had gathered.

We had formed a circle and were listening to the voice coming from the speakerphone. The party on the other end was in El Paso, Texas, and he was giving us a blessing, for he was the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of El Paso, Texas.

At the conclusion of the prayer and blessing, we loaded up in two vans for El Paso. We were going on the most ambitious Madera Method Wagon Train trip yet. We were going to follow a 49er’s trail across Texas.