Munir Pavez is the son of Fr. Michael and Khouriya Mireille of St. Michael Antiochian Orthodox Church in Beaumont, TX. As President of the Diocese of Wichita's SOYO, and Vice President of the NAC SOYO, he recently participated in a youth service conference sponsored by the International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC). After this week of ministry, Munir wrote this report for his bishop, His Grace Bishop Basil.
Your Grace Bishop Basil: Master, bless.
Blessed Feast of the Transfiguration! I also hope that the end of the Dormition fast continues to be fruitful and blessed. It was great seeing you at the Archdiocesan Convention a few weeks ago! I would just like to tell you a little bit about my trip to Minneapolis last week for the IOCC Serv-X-treme Conference. As you probably know, this was a pan-Orthodox leadership/service conference for high school seniors that, by your blessing and delegation, I was so fortunate to attend. Going in, I was very nervous and didn't know what to expect. I had no idea that the next seven days would be some of the most amazing and fruitful of my life.
Throughout the week, we had many speakers come talk to us about various topics such as suffering, compassion, charity, and Orthodox unity, just to name a few. However, the main focus of the week was service. Every day the group of 26 teens would complete at least one or two service projects. We prepared food and cleaned at a Salvation Army Center, played with kids from low income families at the Boys and Girls Club, assisted in building houses with Habitat for Humanity, and cooked and served dinner at the Simpson Homeless Shelter. It was through these projects that I learned the true meaning of Orthodox diakonia.
I was amazed to discover that service can be as small of an act as just listening to someone's story. I got the chance to talk to a man named Oscar at the Simpson Shelter for nearly two hours. He was so grateful that I was the first person ever to take the time and listen to his story. However, I should have been the one thanking him, because he gave me way more than I could have ever given him. His display of faith and trust in God left me speechless for the next hour—it was truly humbling. It really hit me that we all really are icons of Christ.
Lastly, what made the experience even more amazing were all the great people I got the chance to meet. Within two days it already felt like we had known each other for years. Yes, we all had our various ethnic differences, yet we quickly realized that we are actually all the same. We are all Orthodox Christians, and we all have the same goal. Thank God, we all left not only understanding the importance of unity, but craving unity.