Youth dip into mission this summer
Published Aug 16, 2007
PLAINFIELD—Dan Parks, a 17 year old from St. Mary Parish in Mokena, rocked an infant to sleep Aug. 2 at Del Valle Head Start in Plainfield. Fifteen-year-old Bridgett Mitchell from St. Joseph Parish in Manteno motioned for silence in the nursery of the child care facility. Parks looked over at Mitchell and whispered, “I love kids.”
The teens were at an unusually quiet moment of their week filled with mission work and spiritual growth as part of the Joliet diocesan Summer Witness In Mission program July 30-Aug. 4.
“Every year, each kid brings something new to the table,” commented Leah Champion, coordinator of SWIM. The 13 participating teens hailed from several faith communities—St. Margaret Mary Parish in Naperville, St. Joseph Parish in Manteno, St. Joan of Arc Parish in Lisle, St. Jude Parish in New Lenox, Ascension of Our Lord Parish in Oakbrook Terrace and St. Cletus Parish in La Grange.
“This mission is different because the kids get to visit places in their own community. They don’t realize how much help their own community needs,” added Champion.
The teens traveled to more than seven locations throughout the Diocese of Joliet to share their gifts with others in need. They dished out school supplies at the Catholic Charities Back to School Fair at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, performed light construction work in Hopkins Park and delivered household supplies to the Aurora apartment of a refugee family from Rwanda, among other tasks.
Each destination was a surprise to the teens until their arrival at places such as Kankakee, Gilman and Romeoville. Champion pointed out that she purposely surprises the teens with the destinations and tasks of the day. She said, “Jesus didn’t always know where he was going. He just did the work needed.”
Reading books and stacking building blocks with toddlers was the task at hand for Lee Gorski, a 16 year old from St. Joan of Arc Parish in Lisle. He briefly paused to discuss why he returned to SWIM for a second time. “You really get to see God through them and your actions. Playing with the kids, you see God’s grace in their face.”
Gorski also referred to the refugee family that they shared dinner and conversation with on the evening of Aug. 1. Each teen brought household items, such as nonperishable foods, household cleaners and paper supplies. They also chatted about their very different cultural experiences with the mother and two teenagers. Gorski said, “When you’re done, you see their face, their happiness, their relief. You also see God’s presence there.”
Elmhurst and Homer Glen youth help Navajos
Three carloads of volunteers from Immaculate Conception Parish in Elmhurst and St. Bernard Parish in Homer Glen left July 29 for Chinle, Ariz., and returned around midnight Aug. 6. The 11 teens and six adults assisted in patching and building roofs and repairing staircases in homes of the Navajo Nation while staying on the grounds of Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Chinle.
Julie Krakora, director of youth ministry at Immaculate Conception Parish, commented, “The teens I minister to come from privileged homes … taking them outside of their neighborhoods was a chance for them to open their eyes and hearts to realize not everyone lives as well as they do.”
The mission trip was a first for both groups, according to Krakora. It was the initial mission trip for the youth ministry of the Homer Glen parish. And while the Elmhurst parish’s youth ministry has been sponsoring mission trips for a decade, this trip was the first time that the parish had planned the experience on its own. Typically, they teens would participate in already established missions by other groups such has Nazareth Farm in West Virginia.
“I think learning about, respecting and living in solidarity within this culture is an opportunity that cannot be experienced in the usual large group experiences,” added Krakora. She noticed the teens took more ownership of the experience this year by planning and offering input on the travel plans and work being performed.
Summer mission trips have become a good source of spiritual enrichment for the teens at Immaculate Conception Parish, added Krakora. “When you learn to value all you have and not take anything for granted, you start living life more fully in service to others.”
Ali Beatsch, a 16 year old from Immaculate Conception High School, pledged to live a life more active in sharing her earthly blessings with others when she returned home. She discussed her experience during a telephone conversation Aug. 6 enroute from Sante Fe, New Mexico. She told the Explorer, “I feel more connected with the world now.”
The trip also helped Kaitlyn Hull, a 16 year old from Immaculate Conception, in linking together her faith with others. The first-time missioner said she realized the universality of the Catholic Church as she sat alongside Navajos during a Mass. She said, “I learned you can be close to someone no matter where you live.”
Because of the entire group’s ability to look outside of their world and share their individual gifts, Krakora declared the trip a success. She added, “Truly, I believe this is what God planned—for each of us to acknowledge our mission and do something to make the world a better place with the tools and resources we have been given.”
Frankfort teens find mission work locally
The youth ministry of St. Anthony Parish in Frankfort found success July 27-July 31 with its first locally-based mission trip—“Your Will be Done.” Janet Caschetta, director of youth faith formation and youth ministry, said over 40 teens and chaperones volunteered their time and talents at the Will County Community Health Center in Joliet, a Mokena residence in need of repair and the motherhouse of the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart in Frankfort.
“We wanted our youth to experience there is need without traveling hundreds of miles,” stated Caschetta. The eighth-grade students and high school students sat with patients waiting for appointments, read to children and filed patient records with clerical staff at the health center. They filled a 50-cubic-yard dumpster while repairing a home containing mold, broken windows, deficient plumbing and water damage. They also worked in 90-degree heat to sort and organize donations for the nuns’ annual garage sale. She added, “The volunteers were incredible and had endless energy; they found time to even tackle the Padua Center basement (at the parish), clearing out items that needed to be tossed.”
Despite the sweat and aching muscles, the teens took time to consider the reason behind the labor. In addition to praying together during breakfast and dinner each night, the group gathered July 28 for a special evening of spiritual enrichment. A teen offered a reflection on serving the Lord through service to others. Father Thomas Corbino, pastor, presided over a special Mass for those who were still filthy from the day’s work. Caschetta quipped, “No one had ever attended Mass that dirty, but when you are doing (God’s) will, he opens his arms wide!”
