YNIA STL Day One Pics

Once again, connectivity this week is high, so I (Orin) hope to put up a few pics every day from YNIA St. Louis. This is the same program I did a couple weeks ago in Tijuana MX, just a different time, location, staff, and participants. I am prayer and music coordinator again this week.

Participants meet in sharing teams (made up of a cross section of adults and youth from every youth group) in a common area at Saint Louis University High School

Participants hear a little about their week ahead from Program Director Jane.

Participant journals scattered about the ground during team introductions outside (I think that's a bunch of Nebraskans in the background).

The participants from St. Bernards in Appleton, Wisconsin introduces themselves to the rest of the group. They're showing a piece of chalk art they created, each drawing a little puzzle piece.

Our little corner of the beautiful chapel at SLUH (more pics of it later this week) set up for Sunday night prayer.

That's it for Sunday - more of course will come, especially as today we visit work sites for the first time and continue to learn more about Catholic Social Justice teaching. Please keep all of us in prayer again this week!

YNIA - St. Louis!

Once again this week, Orin is Young Neighbor-ing, this time in his own back yard, St. Louis.  I'm not sure how much connectivity I'll have, but I will try to update y'all on the week as best I can.  Pray for us all!

PS - I'm not sure where the "Recent Comments" in the sidebar have gone.  I know you all miss them terribly.  I'll try to figure it out sometime, but may not get to it until next week...

Update on the Polls

So, a healthy 20 folks have voted on our new Oddwalk Poll (over in the sidebar) as this is being written - and the inanimate object, the Oddwalk Keytar currently holds a slim lead, tied with Oddwalk's Wives. We wanted to bring to your attention a couple aspects of the poll that may not have been clear at first:

1) You may vote for more than one favorite (i.e. 'Orin' and 'Matilda the Gorilla') if you like.

2) You may change your vote at any time while the poll is still active - say, for instance, Shannon steals all your lunch money one day and is no longer amongst your favorite members of Oddwalk.

This is all, please resume normal activities...

Yard of the Week!

So, Orin is pretty sure his folks' yard has pretty much looked like this for at least 10 years now (except for the sign, of course, and it's usually in color), but a couple weeks ago, it won, for the first time, Yard of the Week!  Dad reports things have been growing well, due to the wet spring and summer.  A neighbor suggested that perhaps the Awards Committee simply ran out of other homes (Tyler's population is only 1,200 after all) to give the honor to.  I think they're just jealous.

Congratulations to "Doc" and Eva (Dad and Mom) Johnson!

In a world where wedding videos get creepy little trailers...

Orin's wife Erin's friend Stephanie got married to Patrick a couple weeks ago, and Erin was the whatever-of-honor. The videographer made this little clip montage for them.  It's funny, if a little weird.  Watch for the amazing talents of co-star Erin!

Oddwalk Polls

So, Blogger has added (in beta) an ability to add simple polls to the blog. Check out the first one, over there in the sidebar.  It will be active for two weeks.  You may select multiple answers (unless you only have one answer).  I guess having no answer is acceptable too, but if that's the case, then why are you even visiting this blog?

YNIA Tijuana - Wrap-up

Just a few pics from the end of the YNIA week in Tijuana, MX:

The beautiful stained glass window in the chapel.

Program Director Cathy at the closing session.

Site Coordinator (and fabulous musician) Sarah.

And the whole group poses for a photo at the large outdoor cross:

Safe and Sound

Orin is back.  Still tired, and a little ill (not from the trip), but okay.  And his wife Erin won $50 at bingo tonight.  Whee!  A couple more pictures and maybe a wrap-up post lie ahead, after playing catch-up around the house and at work.  Thanks all for prayers - it was a good, successful trip.  Pray for Shannon now as he gears up for ChristPower and Orin as he has another YNIA week in St. Louis next week.  We should be back to our usual programming soon...

Some YNIA Pics, Day 6

Some heavy-duty weeding almost done at Casa Hogar de Santa Teresita, an orphanage in Tijuana.

A pretty rose at Teresita.

Some construction work at Corazón de Jesús, building new residences for the order.

What's a trip with Orin without a visit to the local Apple Store (right, Honey?)

There may be more photos later from our evening session and tomorrows farewell Mass. I'll catch up with you all back in the USA! Pray for safe travel for all returning home.

YNIA pics, Day 5

Again, a whole bunch today, so they're small, please click to see the larger versions.

A quick shopping trip revealed a St. Louis-like Arch.

A Young Neighbor paints some art in the courtyard at the Missionaries of Charity orphanage.

More art created by the YN group at this worksite.

Mickey Mouse in progress.

Then all the YNs all gathered at the OMI mission in La Morita for Mass, dinner, and a fiesta with the local community. The parish is named for St. Eugene DeMazenod, the founder of the OMIs.

This is the exterior of their Church.

And the sanctuary, ready for mass.

I met Alonso, who sang me a couple songs before mass.

The YNs and locals shared a dinner of chicken, rice, corn tortillas, and rice-milk.

Most of the fiesta was a joint talent show. She was part of a circus act.

Young ladies share a Mexican dance.

Then (and no, I'm not making this up) anyone who cared to ended the night by doing a line-dance much like the electric slide to a Spanish-language version of Achy-Breaky Heart.

Tomorrow (Friday) is the last work day, After Saturday Mass, everyone goes their separate ways. Please continue to keep us all in prayer still as the week begins to draw to a close!

Many Day 4 YNIA Pics

Lots of pictures, and lots to say, can't say it all. At the OMI Mission in La Morita, outside of Tijuana, met with Bros. Webert and Helacio, to practice music for Thursday's mass. Also talked with Fr. Nick and "Padre Guapo."

Also did some work. With Mike, we built a little gate for the reception are at the parish office and fixed the screen door that the large German Shepherd, named Kaiser, likes to try to jump through when he sees children.

Finished product. The secretery Rosarita seemed pleased.











I'm sure those small slats will stop the 75 lb. dog.











Is this the playground equipment you worked on a few years ago, Shannon?











Others dug trenches for water lines and painted tire fences.












Then, some recreation at the beach:


Playing with the volleyball











The Churro salesman was very popular. Churro is similar to American funnel cakes. They were cooked in that cart and served immediately.

Me. I got the hat from Fr. Pablo at La Morita.











Um, a message for my wife. Yeah, that's it.  : )

(and sorry if the formatting is screwed up, I finally got the post to look okay on this machine!)

YNIA Day 3 Pics

We visited The OMI presence in La Morita - I should have much more to say about this place tomorrow, as I intend to stay the whole day there tomorrow - work, Mass prep, Mass, dinner and party! Today I visited the OMIs there (pics of them tomorrow), and visited our participants. Here's a picture of a couple Young Neighbors with Fr. Pablo (aka Fr. Guapo, I hear):


And some other YNs do some gardening and house-building - I hope to write more about these sites later in the week:

UPDATE - oops, I lied - work day Wednesday, Mass and Fiesta Thursday.  Don't worry, we'll get it all in...  : )

Two More Day Two YNIA Pics

Some Young Neighbors share with one another principles of Catholic Social Justice teaching, just before...

... a beautiful Tijuana sunset over the ocean.

YNIA pics from Day 2

Monday, July 2:

The chapel, set up for morning prayer.

Youth preparing food for distribution at a local food pantry. Don't think American pantry though, this looks much more like a business, with a lot of "unsellable" food donated by large American companies.

Youth play with some children at a local orphanage run by the Sisters of Charity (mother Teresa's order)

Some adults help feed the youngest children at the orphanage.

I hope to post pictures later from evening prayer, which we will hold around sunset at that large outdoor cross I previously mentioned. Everything, as far as we know, is going quite well so far!

Young Neighbors in Action - Day One Pictures

So, if anyone was confused a bit by that last post, Orin is helping out as Prayer and Music Coordinator this week for a program called Young Neighbors in Action. They have several sites and weeks for the experience, this one is in Tijuana, MX. This is Orin's first time helping out, though Shannon and Orin's wife Erin have previously.

Here are a few pics from Day One (Sunday):

Participants gather to find out more about the week from Program Director Cathy.

The retreat center, Manresa, where we're all staying this week.

A view of the Chapel.  The large windows face the same directions as Orin's room (see next pic), and the large cross is outside, on the edge of the cliff.

The view of Tijuana and the ocean from Orin's room at the retreat center.

Please continue to keep all of us in prayer!

Hello from Tijuana!

Hi everyone! Orin has arrived safe and sound at Tijuana, MX. We're staying the week at a retreat center on top of a tall hill, so I get pretty good reception with my treo (Sprint) from the US. I'll try to report in occasionally. Please pray for me, the staff, the young people and their adult leaders this week. Everything gets going today around 2pm.

More later (hopefully even pictures)!
-Orin

UPDATE: Looks like there's a wireless network nearby too, not sure if it belongs to the retreat center or not... But staying in contact might be easier than I anticipated.  Of course, at first, logging into blogger everything was in Spanish...