Here is a sample of what has been happening in the lives of faith-filled youth and the adults who are serving right along with them:

Catholic HEART Workcamp

Father R. Dean Probst, pastor of St. Jude Parish in Rochester, participated in two back-to-back CHWC trips in June. "These were my 12th and 13th trips," Father Probst said. "We went on a trip to Cincinnati with the older (high school and college) students from June 15-21 (at a 'Next Level' camp) and then with the younger kids who were entering eighth grade — and a few who were in high school — to Oklahoma City from June 22-28." Youth and chaperones from St. Peter Parish in Petersburg accompanied the St. Jude group on the trip to Oklahoma City, he said.

Also on June 22, a group of young people and chaperones — 66 youth and 14 adults — left from St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Chatham to travel to Nashville, Tenn., for a workcamp. Kevin Collings, St. Joseph youth minister, said the students were from mostly from St. Joseph, but some also came from Carlinville, Virden, and Jacksonville and from Sacred Heart-Griffin High School in Springfield.

Nick Flesher of St. Joseph Parish was the "veteran" on the trip, said Collings. "Nick attended seven times as a youth, two times as a staff member for CHWC and now as a chaperone, for 10 consecutive summers," he said. "He is just a great young man."

The largest diocesan youth group traveled from the Teutopolis area to Atlanta — hailing from St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Teutopolis, St. Isidore the Farmer Parish in Dieterich, St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Sigel, Sacred Heart Parish in Lillyville, and St. Mary Help of Christians Parish in Green Creek.

"We had 98 people; 81 were young people and 17 were chaperones," said Karen Pruemer, a volunteer from St. Francis of Assisi. "We pretty much filled two buses and while we were there we did a nice variety of things. We did a lot of painting, built porches, repaired sheds, served meals to the elderly, did some planting and picked up trash. A few of our group worked in a daycare." The group held a great deal of fund-raisers to earn enough money to take the trip, she added.

For the second year in a row, Catholic HEART workers were not only leaving Illinois to help others, but workers came to Springfield to lend a hand. Under the direction of camp manager Dave Knoepfle, a parishioner at St. Jude Parish in Rochester and a math teacher at Franklin Middle School in Springfield, hundreds of workers attended a "Next Level" camp. They were housed at Springfield Southeast High School and worked all around the area.

A sizeable group of workers were welcomed to one of the Catholic Charities buildings in Springfield, where they painted interior walls and took care of some outdoor clean-up. Of course, they did many other jobs as well.

Collings said the young people who attend the camps "model servant leadership" and show care and compassion for those they serve. "I was also impressed by the number of youth in Nashville that took advantage of daily Mass, reconciliation and adoration," he said. "Catholic HEART does a great job of introducing our youth to adoration at the 'Next Level' camps."

Catholic HEART Workcamp was founded 22 years ago by Florida residents Steve and Lisa Walker. The first camp in Orlando had just 100 workers. Today the program has grown to include more than 12,000 campers in 48 cities across the United States as well as two international camps — one each in Belize and Jamaica. Campers raise the money to earn their own ways on the trips. To learn more about the camps go to www.heartworkcamp.com.

SHG Joshua mission trip

Forty-nine Sacred Heart-Griffin High School students and their 12 adult chaperones made the 15th annual SHG JOSHUA mission trip the first week of June, returning to Springfield tired but fulfilled knowing they were able to make a difference in the lives of others.

The Urban Mission Ministries invite SHG to participate in a JOSHUA trip — or Journeys of Service Helping Upper Appalachia — and every year the trip is well attended. Sister Linda Mary DeLonais, OP, and Phil Seck, both campus ministers at SHG, organize the event, which provides assistance to the residents in and around Steubenville, Ohio.

In a letter to parishes who offered financial and spiritual support for the trip, Sister Linda Mary said the JOSHUA participants worked on a dozen sites, including painting the outside of three homes and the inside of another, painting several decks and a garage, building a deck and a wheelchair ramp, fixing and patching walls, ceilings and floors, and repairing gates, fencing and siding. Additionally, the group worked in the local "Unity Kitchen," fixing meals for guests and preparing a neighborhood garden.

"All of this and more was done in four days of working time," said Sister Linda Mary. "Most important are the relationships we build with our neighbors in Steubenville and with each other." Students also gather to pray, celebrate Mass and to reflect on what they are experiencing during the trip.

Blessed Sacrament parishioners Sydney Compton and her mother Vicki Dhabalt Compton made this year's mission journey. Sydney, who is going into her junior year at SHG, said this was her first JOSHUA trip. "We went to different service sites. I worked with a group that built a wheelchair ramp," she said. "It was just an awesome experience. It's great to see the faces of the people you are helping. You can see that they are grateful." Vicki, who is director of the Office for the Missions, volunteered in the kitchen, cooking meals for the SHG group.

Steubenville is a small town located on the west bank of the Ohio River, about 40 miles from Pittsburgh. Once a prosperous community with many residents working at nearby steel factories and also at the former glass manufactory, Steubenville fell victim to the economic downturn in the late 20th century. Volunteers stay in a four-story converted convent that was donated to the program by the Diocese of Steubenville and the former St. Anthony Parish.
Students raise the majority of the funds for the trip by offering M&M's "for Money and Missions" at local parish Sunday Masses.