So as the mission trip is fast approaching our team is gearing up to go. A lot of my teammates are receiving donations in the mail that have been collected from around the country (Zoey had a box with hundreds of rosaries show up at her door. I told her to pray ALL of them haha) as well as collecting their own donations. Tyler has been working really hard to get all of our flight info, travel paperwork, and donations in order so that we are ready to get our visas and go in July. Rachael told me that she is working hard to have our spiritual formation ready while Father Steve is offering masses for us (and also preparing for Siberian Tiger attacks of course). And finally I am sitting here on the internet. YEA!
In addition to all that and then some, the entire team is reading He Leadeth Me by Father Walter Ciszek, a Jesuit priest who went to Russia during Soviet rule, was arrested, spent many years in jail, was sentenced to 15 years at hard labor, and had a difficult probation period after before finally returning to the US. His book offers both his physical and spiritual experiences in these deplorable conditions as examples of the common successes, failures, and misunderstanding many people have in their relationships with God. So far the book is great and will be a good talking point when we all meet in New York.
Everyone I run into at family gatherings and church events keeps asking me when I leave and how long I'll be gone and if I am excited. I cannot put into words how excited I am for this mission trip. Our departure date is fast approaching, but it doesn't seem like it is fast enough. In a little over a month our small team will be halfway around the world! As always please keep us in your prayers.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Monday, May 6, 2013
About our mission
by Chris
So this post sort of outlines everything that I know about this trip. I'll start with some basics.
The team, consisting of a priest, 4 full time FOCUS missionaries, and 7(?) students will be traveling to Eastern Russia to do mission work! This mission trip is being hosted by FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) as well as other organizations that are helping us get to the parish we will be working at. Each member of the team has had to fundraise (mostly through donations from very generous family and friends) the cost of the trip. We will be away from home for 4 weeks: 3 in Russia, a few days in NY to train and prepare, a quite a few days of just traveling.
Most of our trip will be spent in and around Vladivostok, Russia, a city on the eastern peninsula of Russia. While there we will be working at a parish set up by an American priest, Father Myron. Our work, to the best of my knowledge, will include working at an orphanage, hospice, and any other places in or around the parish that needs our assistance. We will also be hosting a youth summer camp a few hours outside of Vladivostok and attending the Far East Conference, which is like Russian version of SEEK.
A bit of background on this area: basically we are in southern Siberia. The reason this area is so important to Catholic Mission work is because during the rule of Stalin, this area was completely cut off from the rest of Russia. Additionally, religion of any sort, especially Catholicism, was completely outlawed. The government seized all Catholic churches and converted them into buildings for other uses. Recently, the Church has begun to reclaim these old churches and rebuild the Catholic faithful in the area. Nevertheless, the living conditions for these people as well as the level of Christianity (or lack thereof) in the area needs improvement, and so our band of Americans will go to serve as best we can.
So this post sort of outlines everything that I know about this trip. I'll start with some basics.
The team, consisting of a priest, 4 full time FOCUS missionaries, and 7(?) students will be traveling to Eastern Russia to do mission work! This mission trip is being hosted by FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) as well as other organizations that are helping us get to the parish we will be working at. Each member of the team has had to fundraise (mostly through donations from very generous family and friends) the cost of the trip. We will be away from home for 4 weeks: 3 in Russia, a few days in NY to train and prepare, a quite a few days of just traveling.
Most of our trip will be spent in and around Vladivostok, Russia, a city on the eastern peninsula of Russia. While there we will be working at a parish set up by an American priest, Father Myron. Our work, to the best of my knowledge, will include working at an orphanage, hospice, and any other places in or around the parish that needs our assistance. We will also be hosting a youth summer camp a few hours outside of Vladivostok and attending the Far East Conference, which is like Russian version of SEEK.
A bit of background on this area: basically we are in southern Siberia. The reason this area is so important to Catholic Mission work is because during the rule of Stalin, this area was completely cut off from the rest of Russia. Additionally, religion of any sort, especially Catholicism, was completely outlawed. The government seized all Catholic churches and converted them into buildings for other uses. Recently, the Church has begun to reclaim these old churches and rebuild the Catholic faithful in the area. Nevertheless, the living conditions for these people as well as the level of Christianity (or lack thereof) in the area needs improvement, and so our band of Americans will go to serve as best we can.
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