Programs for Teens

YOUTH MINISTRY
The Saint Joseph Youth Group meets weekly to discuss their faith, participate in service projects, and learn from special guests and speakers. Additional programming is arranged at different times.

CONTACT
Youth Minister
574-234-3134

YOUTH MISSION TRIPS

Saint Joseph youth engage in acts of service each year, including dedicated service mission trips. Below is a testimonial from one of our summer 2018 trips:

The Youth Group Mission Trip to Lorain County was truly an eye-opening experience. In Ohio, I discovered a community similar in many ways to South Bend. The people were welcoming and very glad to see us, and we could see that there was certainly a lot of work to be done. While the areas we worked in weren't falling apart before our eyes, they certainly needed a lot of work. I helped in putting up drywall in the house of a man named Billy. Billy has schizophrenia and is taken care of by his sister, Gloria. Gloria greeted us warmly and even made lunch for our group a few times. Billy was shy and not very talkative, but he seemed very nice and polite. I got to contribute in several ways, doing everything from taking measurements to cutting drywall to mudding up seams. By the time we were done, I'm proud to say that we'd successfully put up drywall across almost the entire upper floor of Billy's house as well as the stairwell.

The entire experience was truly formative. Doing the hands-on work to help Billy showed me that there are more ways to do our Christian duty than just donating to charity. It's good to get your hands dirty and get some good work done—not only does completing a task fill you with satisfaction, but being able to make a difference in a community that has gone through such hardship makes the experience that much more wholesome. Which isn't to say donating is bad! Work is hard to do without the resources to do it, so making sure charities have all the funds and materials and other things they need is certainly important—but this mission trip taught me that it's not so bad to get your hands dirty once in a while.

Oscar Noem, Youth Participant


The Giving Tree

Each year, the SJYG sponsors the Giving Tree. Ornaments on the tree specify needs of local charities whose work brings hope and new life to the disadvantaged. Ornaments are available on the First and Second Sundays of Advent. These gifts benefit local charities such as St. Margaret's House and Women's Care Center.




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