TUPELO – Youth from across the Diocese of Jackson are invited to do a little home work this summer. The Home Work Mystery Mission trip is set for June 15-19. Applications are due May 15. Teens will stay in the Parish Life Center of St. James Parish, but will take trips throughout northeast Mississippi to do service work during the week.
There are service trips available out of state, but Home Work gives young people an opportunity to make an impact in their own communities and bond with other Catholics from Mississippi.
During last year’s Home Work trip there was plenty of service work to complete. A series of deadly tornadoes swept through Tupelo, Louisville and nearby communities on April 28, 2014. When the teens arrived in June they were able to help with cleanup and repairs.
Therese Seghers, youth minister for Greenville St. Joseph Parish, detailed some of the projects in an email to the paper. “Last year we visited/volunteered at a nursing home, we did yard work for churches and those in need, we helped with tornado damage cleanup, we worked with the soup kitchen for the homeless, and we worked with the St. Vincent de Paul Society.  We will be adding on some additional projects this year,” she wrote.
Seminarian Mark Shoffner went last year. He said he loved being able to meet teens from all over the diocese. “I saw many of them again at Abbey Youth Fest and at the Cross Connections conference. It made the diocese seem a little less spread-out,” he said. He said while the work was hard, no one needs to come with special skills, just willing hearts and hands.
The program also includes spiritual reflection and opportunities for liturgy. This year each day will have a mystery theme to be revealed during the trip.
Home Work is open to teens who completed grades ninth through 12th this past school year. The cost is $75 per person.
Applications are available on the youth page of the diocesan website: www.jacksondiocese.org or by contacting Kathie Curtis, coordinator of the Office of Youth Ministry, 601-949-6934, or Kathie.curtis@jacksondiocese.org.