By Fr Alex Swain

From June 28-July 3, 12 youth from St Philip’s, along with Fr Alex and two other adult chaperones, will be in Navajo Nation, Teec Nos Pos. They will serve with several other churches from different denominations as part of the Sierra Service Project’s (SSP) first summer cohort.

Major projects that St Philip’s youth will support include building accessibility ramps, stairs, and porches, as well as making roof repairs for elders in the community. Programming will invite the youth to reflect on service and God, as well as the history of the indigenous peoples in the land.

This is CYFM’s second year participating in a Service Learning Opportunity with SSP. Last year’s mission trip in San Diego was an incredible experience for everyone involved, and youth and adults are looking forward to this year’s trip.

In order to help raise additional money for this year’s trip, a group of volunteers visited a local farm (owned by parishioners Amanda and Troy Ruboyianes) to work this past weekend. They weeded the gardens which produce fresh fruit, shelled pecans, and picked apples. And we fed some very cute cows, too!