Living your faith through service to other is an important aspect of youth ministry and the identity of Bellarmine Parish. Among other service programs, Bellarmine offers a week-long immersion trip to Appalachia, a mountainous area challenged by poverty and eco-destruction but rich in culture, beauty and bio-diversity. We stay at a Methodist church in Helton, Kentucky (a creek runs through it) and our main task is to repair homes in the area. The crew also cooks, cleans up, leads prayer for the group and participates in potluck with the local community.
High school students still make up the core of our crew as they traditionally have (since 1990) but participation has grown to become inter-generational. The Appalachian Mission Project trip is open to anyone in the parish (14 years of age or older). Teens aged 11-13 may attend if accompanied by a parent, and special arrangements can be made for whole families with children of any age to attend. Also, we encourage parents, godparents, grandparents and siblings to join our crew.
We are also open to adding new trips as the needs, interests and connections of the parish and the Spirit direct. We have spent two summer sessions in Chicago's inner city with Young Neighbors in Action ('08, 09) and six summer sessions in Tuba City, Arizona on the Navajo and Hopi reservations directed by parishioner Dr. Brian Volck ('08-'13).
