Thursday and Friday!

Thursday was our final day at our worksites in beautiful St Louis! We were blessed with 85 degree weather and after the exhausting week in the sun we were all very thankful for the sheet of clouds that protected us from the hot St Louis sun! Yesterday was filled with packing food for the homeless, playing with children, organizing clothes, cleaning buildings and Norb actually went to Lowes, bought lumber, nails, a saw and a few of our guys built a new stair case for a sweet lady named Mrs. Rice. As she came out on her back porch once the steps were finished, she almost fell over with joy! She was so incredibly gracious but her lifelong generosity to serving those in need truly inspired our youth. Last night was the community cookout where we broke bread with all the neighbors living near Compton Heights. The boys tried to plan a water fight/ attack against the girls, but the girls were naturally well equipped with buckets of water waiting in the kitchen. Last night was also the ever memorable foot washing ceremony, where the adult leaders show the ultimate act of service by washing the youths feet. We went around the group one at a time, praying over each and every person as we went along. As always we were the last group to finish-- long after the 11 o'clock lights out call-- because this group, like most groups in the past have united to form one body and in this have truly learned the importance of supporting each other. Christ was ever present this whole week, and we could feel Him last night as we showed each other the power or servantude and love. We just arrived at our final campsite, have gotten sweet corn, grilled cheese, and tomatoe soup for dinner. There is not a cloud in the sky and God has blessed us again with safe travels and beautiful weather. Please pray for good road conditions for our trip back tomorrow-- we are all very excited to share our stories with friends and family. Have a good night and God bless, we are all sending love from Bolga state Park in Iowa!!

Christmas in July

Yesterday the YW staff woke us up by singing Christmas carols! We celebrated christmas in July with cookies and carols and lots of red and green. Our days have been full: we've made friends at a community center, sorted clothes, cleaned out warehouses, served food. Our work has been hard, varied, and very rewarding. We've been consistently amazed at how grateful and joyful the people are here. At night on Tuesday we watched a movie about Joe's place, a homeless house for boys in STL. We were amazed by their stories, strength, and perseverance. We were reminded how much we take for granted. Last night we went to some botantical gardens. They were absolutely beautiful and we enjoyed walking while we listened to live music. Our group is bonding very well and we can hardly believe this is our last night. Thank you for your prayers; we're thinking of you!F

Monday, Monday

Our first full day was great, we were able to do so many different activities from cooking meals for people in an apartment complex to finger painting with kids to dancing with the elderly at a nursing home!

We all had very different experiences but for the most part we stayed out of the heat! Monday night we went to the St. Louis arch and westward expansion museum which was very beautiful but very scary at the same time.

We are all working are hardest and serving to the best of our abilities! We are excited for the rest of our Tuesday ministry sites and ready to see what the evening brings us!
Keep posted and commenting!

On the Road Again!

We're back on the road after a successful night camping last night! We had a great evening at Mark Twain Park. We attempted to attend Mass this morning in Warsaw, Illinois but masstimes.com failed us so we said some lovely prayer intentions in the lawn instead. The seniors of this year led us in a great prayer service last night, as they always do. This morning we went swimming, took a self-led walking tour through Hannibal and now are on our way to St. Louis and will arrive tonight! Thanks for all your prayers to make this possible! keep checking in on our new blog posts and see how the weeks going! God Bless you all!

Let the count down begin....

Our adventure to St. Louis begins in eight days!  As all of the final pieces come together, last minute packing and shopping gets taken care of, plans are finalized, etc., let's take a moment to be thankful.  Let us be thankful for our family, friends, and parishioners who have made this trip possible for us.  Let us be thankful for the opportunity to spend a week in faith and fellowship.. a week of growth and change in service to others.  Let us be grateful for all of the Mission Trippers past who paved the way to make this experience possible.  Let us be grateful for each other, for the laughs, tears, and gifts that we know will be shared during this inspiring and rewarding week we call "Mission".  Let us thank God that we are so very blessed. 

Let us also remember to keep the people of St. Louis in our prayers, the children we will be working with at Kids Club, the other churches who will be sharing this experience with us, the staff who is working hard to prepare for us. 

This Sunday we get sent forth from our parish... sent forth to be representatives of this community through love and service to our brothers and sisters in St. Louis.  This parish is proud of you, adults and youth alike, for being the compassionate, gifted, faithful individuals that you are.  This parish is proud of you and you should be proud of yourselves.  Have a great week and get ready for a journey of a lifetime!