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The young members of our parish—the SOYO of the Basilica of Saint Mary in Livonia, MI—just returned from a trip that made history. We were all so blessed to participate, support, and watch this holy work take place!
On July 18, our twelve teens: Ibrahem Alrabady, Melissa Ansara, Celine Barghout, Pascal Barghout, Hani Kandalaft, Marisa Khamis, Joseph Nicolas, Michael Nicolas, Elena Saliba, Natalie Samaan, Katerena Sirhan, and Kaila Ziadeh, and two trip leaders, Christina Stavros and Michael Ansara, traveled four hours north on the first ever, 2015 SOYO Summer Mission Trip, to help "build up" the first Orthodox church in Traverse City, MI, the Archangel Gabriel Greek Orthodox Church. To our knowledge, this is the first mission trip, ever, in the history of our parish and, perhaps, the first time one mission parish has offered to help a mission parish in another Orthodox jurisdiction build their church.
A lot of what we did was new, but our hope was fulfilled. All of us were profoundly impacted by the love and service we offered to the new Orthodox community in Traverse City as well as the love that we received in return from our brothers and sisters in Christ there who worked alongside us.
For five days, we were immersed in the liturgical life of the Church and this new Orthodox community while helping to build a greenhouse on the property which will eventually hold the new, permanent church in which the Archangel Gabriel Orthodox Church community will worship. We hauled wood, painted all the parts of the building, assisted with tools, and helped construct the structure, piece by piece. For refreshment from the hot sun and our work, our tasty meals were provided to us by the wonderful members of Archangel Gabriel community. Additionally, refreshment was provided by daily trips to the water and beaches of Grand Traverse Bay and on the last day, the group went cherry picking and enjoyed time in downtown Traverse City. Glory to Jesus Christ for the rich blessing of this opportunity to GO. LOVE. SERVE. (Mark 10:45)!
By Ms. Melissa Ansara, High School Junior, Basilica SOYO and Mission Trip Participant
with Christina T. Stavros, M.Div, Cert. Byz. Mus., Parish Ministries Coordinator and Cantor, Basilica of St. Mary
Image may be NSFW.
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Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
