So, this week, I'm helping at a Archdiocese leadership retreat called Ascend. I've never attended Ascent before, but decided that it would be fun to blog about my daily experiences while surrounded by so many faith-filled people. Pretty much everyone here either works for the Archdio or is a Catholic youth minister. I'll be updating this post nightly, so you can follow with me every day, or read my experiences at the end of the week. Peace and Love
Sunday, 7/13:
My friend April and I arrived in Federal Way around 3:45. The retreat is taking place at the Archbishop Brunett Retreat Center, which is pretty much a Catholic hotel. This place is actually pretty swanky, and I heard that I get my own room for the week! We met up with the rest of the staff, who had been there for a couple hours already, and began to help them make decorations and make folders for the retreaters. While working, everyone was laughing and telling in-jokes that everyone seemed to be in on except for me. Some people tried to talk to me, and we'd exchange a few sentences before running out of things to talk about and then resumed our silence. Still, everyone is really nice, so I don't feel super uncomfortable. At dinner, we gathered at a large table, and enjoyed each other's company while eating. I guess what I say about food is true; it really does bring people together. We played some games and had reflection after dinner to get to know each other, and it was incredible to hear about why everyone wanted to staff this retreat and what being Catholic meant to them. It make me wish that I had more opportunities to attend retreats like this when I was a teen. Who knows how my life would be if I had attempted to grow in my faith more while in high school.
As the evening went on and we made some final touches to the retreat center, I began to settle into my role as the Camera/Technology Guy for the night. The best part was that even if I was not 100% sure how to do something, people were willing to help. Thank God for that, and for giving me enough brain power to fix computer problems. The teens are arriving just before noon tomorrow, so I better get some beauty rest before the craziness starts.
Peace and Love
Monday, 7/14
Sooooooo tired, so I'm going to do this as fast as I can. After finishing up some prep work, the kids started arriving around 10 and my group played games with them. A half hour into games, I remembered that I was supposed to be taking pictures, so I began my duty as Camera Man! The cool thing is that when I'm not taking pictures, I have a group I can go and hang out with! This week is superhero themed, so a lot of the ideas are based around superheroes and comics. The main talks will follow "The Hero's Journey". Today, we discussed "The Call" or why people want feel called to make a change. It was great to see how seriously the kids took these topics. It's a really good group of kids. Most of them are very outgoing and clicked with other retreaters. It's great to see those connections built after just a couple hours!
We had some other games and talks during the day, but I had to continue my duty as Camera Man. It's a bit of a bummer, because I can't participate and take pictures at the same time. It's ok though, because when Ascend ends and people want to remember how much fun they had this week, it will be my pictures that they will be looking at. I'll try to get more involved, but things are going fine without me. Ok, I'm going to bed, but I'm really looking forward to tomorrow!
Peace and Love
Tuesday, 7/15
After a rough nights sleep, we started our first full day at Ascend. Today's focus was on Mentors and Friends, so we had a speaker, Mike, talk about how we can't do things alone. He also talked about the strength that our faith can give us, and to prove it, he called a friend of his; the former principal of Columbine High School, who had just retired and was principal during the Columbine Shooting. It was a really powerful moment for all of us listening.
The rest of the day, I took a lot more pictures, since this day involved more small group time. We did come together at the end of the day for a campfire and skits, which was a really fun way to end the day. Just before going to bed, I joined my group for closing reflections. When asked what was a "low" of my day, I said that I couldn't spend as much time with the group since I had to take pictures, but I was happy to have spent the last two hours with everyone. One girl spoke up and said that me accepting my role as picture taker was a form of leadership and that I should be proud of what I was doing. Hearing her say that did make me feel proud of my work and what I hoped to do during the rest of the week!
Peace and Love
Wednesday, 7/16
After a good nights sleep, I was ready to take on the day. I was really looking forward to this day and was not disappointed. After a great talk about God pulling you out of the abyss, the teens had a lot of small group and project time. I continued to walk around and snap pictures, but it was a pretty low key day. The good news was that I actually got to spend some time with my group and laugh with them for a bit. Though I'm don't know if I'm cut out to be a youth minister, its still fun hanging out with people, considering I've been sitting on my couch eating and watching bad anime all last week.
Speaking of sloth, I finally got the chance to go to Confession today! I was really excited because I hadn't had the chance to go for over a month, and haven't been receiving Eucharist for the past few weeks. So, I was really excited that the priest at our daily mass said he would hear my Confession. It's a great feeling, and I'm excited for Mass tomorrow morning! For tonight's activity, we had a Reconciliation reflection and prayer time, since we couldn't offer reconciliation due to a lack of priests. We asked the teens some questions relating to the Seven Deadly Sins, and it make me realized how much I have to do in my faith. I'm far from where I want to be, and I feel like God is calling me to do more. I hope that more reflection, and maybe some reading, will help me better understand what I'm feeling.
Peace and Love
Thursday, 7/17
Today was a day of fun and success! It felt like God's love energized the group today as they had the opportunity to do some service work and listen to more talks. I continued to take pictures and start compiling a slideshow for the kids tomorrow (hopefully). I hope it goes well and that I didn't listen to Tobymac's "Favorite Song" multiple times for nothing. I didn't really have a specific God moment today. It seemed to be filled with God's love. From the kids making me sing for them at lunch (I busted out the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme) to the talent show we had tonight, God was really in our midst. The talent show was LA-GIT! Seriously, these kids are blessed with so many talents and gifts. It's weird to think that this is the next generation of Catholics. Actually, I'm only a couple years older than some of these kids, so I guess I'm a part of their generation too *shutters*
I don't believe that I want to be a youth minister, but I felt like I could if I worked more at understanding kids. Some of them are cool with me being around (I think it's because they want their picture taken), and I had a chance to talk with some of them at lunch. They're a fun group and I'm going to miss Ascend when we leave tomorrow. But, I don't want to dwell on that right now! The kids are finally calming down, which means it is time for bed!
Peace and Love
Friday, 7/18
Well today was our last day and I'm sad that Ascend had to end, but glad that everyone had such a great time. After waking up late and almost missing the leaders meeting (opps), we began the closing ceremonies for Ascend. I put the finishing touches on the slideshow. The kids were all running around hugging and taking pictures. It was great to see those relationships develop, and I hope they will continue to support each other in the future. Everyone seemed to enjoy my slideshow, which made me really happy. I got a lot of great photos and I hope that OYYAE will be able to use it in the future. I wish I could show the video here, but I didn't get enough time to send it to myself.
After the commissioning mass, parents began to pick up their kids and everyone began to say good bye. The staff cleaned up, said a final prayer, and went to Red Robin for a celebration lunch! Thinking about the past week and how nervous I was of everyone on Sunday seems like a distant memory now. Youth ministers seemed so weird to me, especially the ones that I met at Ascend. But as April told me "You have to be a little weird to be a youth minster". So, I may not be called to be a YM, but then again you never know. All I know is that if I want to work with kids, I should be myself. That is one of the best lessons that the leaders at Ascend could have taught me. Be yourself. Be open with others. That is something that I need to work on, but when I work on Sacred Heart's core team, I'll give it a try. It's never been a strength of mine, but if I can be vulnerable and open to the Lord, I can do that for actual people as well.
Maybe I'll help out at Ascend next year, but who knows. All I know is that the future of the Catholic Church is in good hands and I can't wait to see what these young people will do.
Peace and Love
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