Youths help others grow in faith through summer mission trips

Bryce Denning, a member of St. Meinrad Parish in St. Meinrad, helps reclaim a beach on a pond in an interdenominational center for troubled youths in Michigan while participating in “Service Week.” The mission trip was sponsored by St. Robert of Newminster Parish in Ada, Mich., and brought in nearly 150 youths from several dioceses during late July. (Submitted photo)

By Sean Gallagher

What did you do on your summer vacation?

In years past, many youths returning to school in the fall answered that question in assigned essays or speeches by recounting family vacations or sports leagues they played in during June, July and August.

But not Katie Petrik.

She joined 28 other youths from St. Michael Parish in Bradford on a mission trip to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota from June 27 to July 5 to live out her faith by serving others in need.

“I think I was really lucky to be able to go on this,” said Petrik, who is now a freshman at the University of Notre Dame in northern Indiana.

“I would choose it over the sports and the other typical summer activities. We made a lot of good memories and met lots of amazing people, and hopefully changed some people’s lives for the better.”

Youths from St. Boniface Parish in Fulda, St. Martin of Tours Parish in Siberia and St. Meinrad Parish in St. Meinrad—all in the Tell City Deanery—went on their own mission trip to Grand Rapids, Mich., from July 20-25. They were led by their pastor, Benedictine Father Adrian Burke, and a group of adult chaperones.

They brought youthful enthusiasm to their faith-filled trip—even when they had to leave their southern Indiana homes at 5 a.m.

“I’m not good at 5 a.m.,” Father Adrian said. “I’ve got my coffee, and I’m trying to wake up. And Derek Brown comes bouncing in with his luggage and he says, ‘Oh, we’re just going to have the best time ever, aren’t we, Father?’ And I just looked at him through my half-closed eyes and said, ‘You bet, Derek.’ ”

While in Michigan, Derek and other members of the three parishes’ youth group did such volunteer work as helping make improvements at an interdenominational center for troubled youths.

The trip also helped them grow in their faith in other ways. They met nearly 150 other youths from several dioceses, and prayed with them each day at Mass and during other prayer services.

The youths also took turns giving presentations on different aspects of their faith.

It is all part of a program called “Service Week” sponsored by St. Robert of Newminster Parish in the Grand Rapids suburb of Ada, Mich.

With many youth mission trip opportunities to choose from, Father Adrian and his parishes’ youths appreciate this one because it integrates so many aspects of the faith.

“It helped me see the faith more,” said Derek Brown. a member of St. Meinrad Parish. “And it showed me new ways to pray and to see God in different ways.”

Father Adrian also sees trips like these—which he says takes youths “out of their comfort zone”—as opportunities for personal growth during an important time in their lives.

“We see marvelous things happen,” he said. “The kids always come home having learned something new about themselves and discovering some new strength or some new fear that they had to overcome.”

This summer’s trip was the third one for high school junior Bryce Denning, a member of St. Meinrad Parish.

“It’s a fun experience just to be able to go up there and be yourself and not have other people judge you by the way you are,” said Bryce. “You can just meet new people, and get to be closer to God.”

The youths of St. Michael Parish went out of their comfort zone by traveling to a South Dakota Indian reservation marked by severe poverty and other social challenges.

“I think that was important to help us to see that even though we do live in a rural area and it’s not the most luxurious over here, we have it very good compared to a lot of people,” said Petrik. “It really makes us appreciate what we have, and also develop compassion for people who don’t have it as good as we do.”

During the trip, Petrik and other youths from St. Michael Parish helped paint homes for the poor on the reservation, and operated a vacation Bible school for some of the reservation’s children.

It was the opportunity to show that Christ-like compassion to those in need that motivated John Jacobi, St. Michael Parish’s director of religious education, to start organizing mission trips in 2001 for his New Albany Deanery parish’s youths through an ecumenical group called Youth Works.

“It gives them the chance to be the hands and feet of Christ,” he said. “I try to stress to the young people that we do this because that’s who we are as Catholics. We reach out and assist people because Jesus told us to.”

In the end, Jacobi, like Father Adrian, said that no matter how much good the youths do for others on their trip, they also benefit as teenagers.

One teenage girl who experienced blessings on her trip to South Dakota was Jacobi’s youngest daughter, Stephanie, 14, a high school freshman.

“I learned that I actually love working with kids,” she said. “It definitely helped me figure out what I might do as an adult for a profession.”

Stephanie learned this, in part, through spending time with a young boy named Matto, who lives on the reservation.

“Once I met him, I gave him piggyback rides,” she said. “I helped him fill up water balloons, and we had a blast finding people that would let us throw them at them. You could tell that he felt loved.” †