ROGERS — During the first Tour of Duty, teens in northwest Arkansas learned about Catholic social teachings from a younger Catholic’s perspective.
“Teens participating in Tour of Duty are here to learn about social justice and how to put it into action. In other words, learning how to walk the talk,” Lance Dufour, Life Teen director at St. Vincent de Paul Church in Rogers, said.
Based on Catholic Charities Summer Institute, a diocesan program geared for youth that began in Little Rock in 2006, Catholic Youth Tour of Duty presented 13 teens the opportunity to live out social justice ideals in their neighborhoods and towns June 20-24.
Tom Navin, diocesan director of social action and one of the organizers of C2SI, said, “We wanted to reach those teens who couldn’t make it to Little Rock in the past. We are staying in a different parish hall each night of this event and this gives each parish an opportunity to be involved in the program.”
Through a variety of presentations and activities, four area churches — St. Joseph in Fayetteville, St. Raphael in Springdale, St. Vincent de Paul in Rogers and St. Stephen in Bentonville — played host to the teen group in an effort to raise awareness about local needs in each community and how to serve more effectively.
Beginning at St. Joseph Church in Fayetteville, the teens, along with their adult leaders, gathered the evening of June 20 to prepare for next day’s visit to a Fayetteville soup kitchen and Seven Hills Shelter to hear a homeless person’s presentation about life on the streets.
At St. Raphael, Frank Head, director of Catholic Charities Immigration Services – Springdale, provided information on immigration issues. Later in the evening, two sisters who attend Bentonville High School, Gabrielle and Marissa Spear, gave a presentation on human trafficking in the United States and around the world.
“These teens responded very positively to our presentation on human trafficking, and in turn, they want to make more people aware and get people talking about this important issue,” Marissa Spear said. “Human trafficking or modern-day slavery can include child labor and/or sex trafficking. According to LOVE146.org, an anti-human trafficking organization, two children are trafficked every minute. This past week has opened my eyes even more to how blessed we are and how much our lives can affect other people’s lives for the better.”
Gabrielle Spear said, “Sometimes I think as Christians and Catholics, we are overwhelmed by the term, ’social justice’. We tend to think it implies saving the world. The reality is that only Jesus can save the world, but we are called to change it. Tour of Duty reminded me that Jesus was as homeless as the men and women we met this week. Therefore, it is possible to see the face of Jesus in all of us.”
Wednesday’s events included a tour of the Jones Center’s Family Resource Center in Springdale and the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank. A limited amount of funds were made available to the teens for their lunches. In their group, they had to determine how to feed everyone with that amount as an exercise in budgeting.
To build awareness of the difficulties of homelessness, the teens moved daily to a different location, taking their belongings with them. Another activity involved swimming at a local pool where they would have the opportunity to take a shower, followed by a trip to the local laundry facility to wash clothes, again on a limited budget.
On Thursday, the day’s activities included working at St. Vincent de Paul Society’s food pantry in Rogers and the Samaritan Community Center’s soup kitchen in Bentonville.
Thursday afternoon, Rebecca Leis, a member of the Haiti mission team at St. Vincent de Paul Church, spoke about the experiences of traveling to Haiti to work with the Haitian community.
Reactions to Catholic Youth Tour of Duty have been positive. Kevin Good, youth minister at St. Joseph Church in Fayetteville, said, “Some of the parents had contacted me over the weekend following the event to tell me how the children are already starting to change because of this experience. The kids who attended Tour of Duty told me that they want to bring all the parish teen groups together each month. When you do this kind of work together, it definitely helps to bridge those connections a lot quicker.”
One parent, Sue Spear, said, “Having these hands-on experiences can be life-changing for our teens. In these activities, the teens in the group were sad to witness the people’s sufferings, but they were impressed to see the resources available in our community. Now they are eager to let others know about ways they can reach out and help.”
As these same teens reach out to their youth groups to speak on the importance of social justice, many others will be going on to college or into the workplace.
“They don’t always know how to get involved in the parish as a young adult after their participation in a church youth group,” Dufour said. “If they are still in our area, they will know about these opportunities to serve like the food pantries or the homeless shelters — all the ways that they can serve and practice their faith after high school. If they have this experience and know how to serve, it can make a difference for them in practicing or not practicing their faith.”