Week 6: Holy Redeemer- Thursday

Today we woke up at 7;15. After that, we ate breakfast and all met up in morning circle. Then we prayed the divine mercy chaplet. This was followed by a short film which was about four different migrant workers growing up from middle school to highschool. Next we met up in small groups and discussed things we could change about the situation. We then went to mass at assumption church and ate lunch. Finally we went to the lake and went swimming. We also Showered!!! Yay! But then we got dirty again at the migrant camp having fun with the kids. Finally we came back for a ice cream partayyyy!

Thank you for a wonderful summer! This is our last Thursday blog post! Check back in 2019. We couldn't run this program without the prayers and support of our communities!

Week 6: Holy Redeemer - Wednesday

Today was a busy, tiring but incredibly fulfilling day. We got to see all of the weeks' hard work pay off with our food bank. Everyone served with a smile and it was such a wonderful experience. Seeing the gratitude in the faces of the farm workers made all the hard work seem even more worth it. Getting to have this experience was incredibly eye-opening and life changing for sure. Sad to see it slowly reaching its end. - Jordan 

today we went to the Bellingham food bank and then we got more food. then we went to the field at some church and unloaded all the stuff and there were already people waiting for us and then we set up tables and then we scooped up rice and flour and maseca. then we ate our lunch and the bread was very very soggy because we needed lots and lots of mayonnaise to keep the flavor tasteful. then we took a nice restful break to re junvininate our brains while everybody else set up the food bank. the food bank was really cool and there was a lot of people but we took a lot of breaks because it was reaslly hot. then we ate snacks and it was good. after the food bank we came back to the church and had a yummy taco bar! 

sincerly, michael and justin

Today we served 126 families at our 7th and final food bank! Thank you for all your support and donations. It was an incredible summer filled with service, joy, and gratitude.

Week 6: Holy Redeemer - Tuesday

Hi Friends!

Today at Agape it was migrant immersion day! We started the day off this morning at 5am and headed out to work at the farms at around 6:30am. We were picking weeds and working on the farms for about 3 hours. It was an eye opening experience, realizing how hard this migrant workers work in order to keep the crops growing. We only worked for 3 hours and we were all exhausted and tired by the end, crazy to think people are doing this everyday for hours and hours. After farm work we did a dinner activity where we were put into "families" and received wages that we would get if we were actually migrant workers and then had to go to the grocery store and buy food to feed our family for the rest of the day. The fact migrant workers have to live off these wages are unbelievable and it really made me realize how I take for granted the fact I have 3 meals everyday and a roof over my head. To end the day we went to Sunrise Camp and played with all the kids which was very enjoyable. We did water games today and all the kids had a lot of fun. Today was a very
busy and long day and I'm ready for some sleep and am super excited for the food bank tomorrow!

Goodnight Friends!
- Ella Levy



08/07/2018

Today was the first morning of my 2018 summer where I had to wake up before the sun had fully risen. This was absolutely well worth it, as we were up early to head to Growing Veterans, which is a local farm located right outside of Lynden, Washington. We arrived at 7am exactly, and even though we were all dragging just a little, I could tell everyone was excited for our work shift today. Majority of our morning was spent pulling weeds in the pumpkin patch and cleaning up around the greenhouse. I personally, continued to get to know my fellow missionaries while working, and I definitely got to learn more about those who are on the Agape Service trip with me.
After eating lunch, we headed straight to the YMCA for our first shower of the trip. Not being able to shower for a few days has really made me appreciate the shower that I have at home.  The first activity we had after showering, was shopping for tonight's dinner. The activity, in short, was that we were assigned a "family" and we were given money to go purchase food in Grocery Outlet. My group was given 5 dollars exactly, to buy enough food to last us for the rest of the day... it was noon.
We purchased white rice, a can of corn, pork beans, and a box of granola bars. This shopping experience was extremely eye opening and humbling, as this is what migrant workers may experience every single day. As I write this, it is 9pm and the last time I have had anything to eat was at 2pm. Today has really given me an opportunity to step into a migrant workers shoes, and experience some of the daily struggles that they go through. I have really realized the things I may take for granted, like 3 home cooked meals a day and the ability to shower every day. We ended the evening playing with the young kids at one of the local migrant farms. Tomorrow we are putting on our food bank and I am beyond excited to see all the families we can greatly impact with the donations.


Thanks for listening,
Caden Wengler

Week 6: Holy Redeemer - Monday

Happy Monday!

Today was our first full day and it was an exciting and busy day! After breakfast and a group activity, we went to Mass at Sacred Heart Parish. We then returned to the parish center for a team building activity and an eye-opening puzzle game that demonstrated social injustices within our world and community. Next, we ate lunch, then headed out to Service at Sunrise to play with the kids and experience their lifestyles. We ended the day tabling and received generous donations for our food drive we will be putting on Wednesday. Finally, we returned to the parish center for a solidarity soup dinner and evening reflection. We're heading off now to pack our shower bags for our service immersion day tomorrow.

- Matteo & Sara

Thank you for your donations today! Check back here to see how many families we were able to serve with your help!

Week 6: Holy Redeemer - Sunday

August 5, 2018

Hello, today was our first day at Agape! mission. We started the day by all of us meeting together at mass this morning at our home parish, Holy Redeemer. We then hopped in the cars and got on the road. After stopping along the way for lunch, dinner, and bathroom stops, we arrived at Sacred Heart parish in Bellingham. We unloaded the donations we received from our families in our parish, and then took the rest of our gear to the sleeping quarters. We then got together to get to know each other and spent some time in prayer. One of our prayer experience was an Ignation prayer/meditation that was very powerful. We are looking forward to growing together as a community and working with children. Thank you for reading our blog, and we encourage you to check in every day for more updates on our mission! Remember to live Agape!

Week 5: St. Anthony's and St. Theresa's - Thursday

Today was an amazing day. We really just celebrated all the accomplishments we have all done this week for all the migrant families. We went to mass in the morning to start off our day so God and Jesus could give us all the strength we needed that day. We then went to the pool to just have fun and spend quality time with each other. After that we went to the migrant camps to go play with all the children's and have a really nice barbecue. Seeing all the smiling faces of the kids is an image i will never forget because even though they don't have the best life they still try to be happy. Overall today was a good day and we learned a lot this week that we will never forget.
Hi my name is Maili and today was a fun celebration day! When we first woke up, the parents/drivers and the Agape staff surprised us with a delicious breakfast. It was good. After that we went to mass at the other Catholic church in Bellingham. It kept us all awake because it was only 30 minutes!! Then we went to the community pool and swam for about 2 hours. We returned to the church and ate lunch then went to the sunrise and had a barbecue with our friends there. In the end, it was hard saying bye to our friends there because we've already spent so much time with them and grew a lot of amazing friendships. This week was something I would never forget because I met so many people and it was really fun bonding with them.

Week 5: St. Anthony's and St. Theresa's - Wednesday

today was a wonderful day lots of fun. waking up at 7:15 isn't so bad when working hard to make people happy is the reason. today we had our food drive and i was working on the toys and it broke my heart when i had to say no to the kids when they asked if they could have more then 1 toy but we wanted the kids to all get at least one so seeing there smiles and appreciating that they at least had one made me really happy to see there smiles. seeing the families smile to and seeing that they have a chance to feed there families made me really happy. seeing all those families  made me really happy. Am enjoying camp agape really much im learning and discovering new things and its amazing. una buen dia :) - sandy   

Today we worked at the Food Bank.  It was one of my favorite days!  I handed out lots of things and it made me so happy to see the joy on the peoples faces.  I felt so joyful because Foa (an adult leader from St. Teresa) kept me laughing the entire time.  It was one of the most memorable experiances I have had this year!  -Elaine 

Today we served 158 families, a record for the past few summers! Thank you all for your support and donations. We could not have done this without you! - Agape Staff

Week 5: St. Anthony's and St. Theresa's-Tuesday

Migrant Immersion Day! The day of the week where we are supposed to live like the migrant farm workers. So first, we had to wake up at 5:00 AM, which is 2 hours and 15 minutes earlier than when we would usually wake up in the week. And then the usual breakfast/Reflection, and then we were off to the blueberry farm. The people there we so nice; they pay their clients double than the usual and let us try the six varieties of blueberries they had. Our group got to pick blueberries and pick out sticks and weeds out of the ground. After that were the showers at the YMCA (our first shower of the week). And because we had to live our day like migrants, we were paid with our wages and after combining with other groups, we spent our $20 at the grocery store to make fried rice, having to gather our ingredients in 10 minutes (the fried rice was okay, for the record). Then we went back to the camp, where we were reunited with the cute children we got to play with (shout out to Daniella, who I will never forget). Then the nightly Reflection, and here I am. This Tuesday of Agape is one I'll always remember. 

- Vincent

Today was Migrant Immersion Day where we had to live in the shoes of migrant workers. We started the day at 5:00! Then we drove ourselves to an organic vegetable farm. At first I thought pulling weeds out of the floor would be easy but it was very difficult. Now I have a deeper understanding of what migrant workers have to go through each day of their lives. One statistic that shocked me today was when my mom explained how Mark Zuckerberg makes more money in 4 hours than some migrant workers in a whole year. This struck me because I imagined myself working for hours just to get paid so little. After the farm we took a quick shower at the YMCA then went to Grocery Outlet to shop like migrant workers. Each person only got $1.50 to spend to buy a meal. Most groups ended up grouping up and made a lot of food with more money. After making our meals we went back to sunrise to read and play with the children. Overall today was a great day filled with action.

-Connor

Week 5: St. Anthony's and St. Theresa's - Monday

Angelique (St.Anthony Parish)- Waking up to my first day of Agape I wasn't very sure what to expect. Mass with Father Ross was quick and sweet. Definitely gave us a good start to our day. Quickly eating my breakfast i was eager to go to the Migrant camp. After we went over what to expect we all got into our cars and drove there. Arriving there we saw a lot of simple buildings and a playground to our right. We didn't see the kids immediately however when we were unloading the car a lot of kids ran out to greet us. A group of us went around to the cabins and knocked to see if any of the other kids wanted to come out and play. When I was crafting and making bracelets with the kids a lot of them wanted someone to go and push them on the swings because they didn't have anyone else to push them. When I was sitting with the bracelets and noticed that there was a girl who was deaf. Seeing that I knew sign language she was very eager to have someone to communicate with. Many of the leaders and kids played various games like dodge-ball, soccer, swings making bracelets drawing and so on. We came back to the church and got ready to go tabling.
Jissel (St. Theresa's)- After we came back from the migrant camp we had a quick break and we talked about the game plan for tabling. Since i was a first timer i didn't know what to expect as i have never done anything like this before. On the car ride there i was talking to the other about it and they just gave me tips and tricks. We went to the grocery store. We set up our areas by taping two carts together and placing the banner in front of them. We were then given fliers to hand out to the people and then went to our spots. I was near the entrance of the store and so i got a lot of people who were either in a rush or completely not interested. But the ones who were interested and showed that they cared, gave me hope to not give up. To the people who just brushed me off i made sure to keep a smile on my face and say thank you. I saw an old friend who seemed very eager to help she ran back into the store and asked her dad to purchase cans. I looked into the store and i saw her juggling a couple of cans in her hands. At the end of the day i walked away with a heart full of joy and happy to know that i was part of the change. I was spreading the word.

Thank you for all your generous support and donations! Check back Wednesday night to find out how many families we serve at our food bank. We will be collecting food outside of Bellingham and Ferndale grocery stores next Monday for the last time this summer.

Week 5: St. Anthony's and St. Theresa's - Sunday

My name is Chloe and I go to St. Theresa's church, I currently am a junior in high school and this is my 4th year participating in the Agape service project. Since I've been here before, I already do have an idea of what I'll be doing this week. I am already very excited of what lies ahead of me this week and I am very eager to get started. Today we loaded in donations to the Agape food bank and we got to meet everyone, we played a couple ice breakers and then sat down for one of our first lessons. We learned several things such as the gifts of the holy spirit and more. We are just starting to get to know everyone but I am sure that by the end of the week the parishes will be become close and act just like family. I can't wait to serve others in God's name!

Hi guys! My name is Ethan and I am a member of St. Anthony's Parish. I am going to be a freshman in high school and this will be my 1st year in the Agape public service project. My Agape story begins at my church, as the group I am travelling with departs for Bellingham. The long, tedious car ride prepares me for the week to come. When we met our destination at Sacred Heart Parish, we met the other parish of which we would be spending the week with, and got to know each other with many fun icebreaker games. After, we sat down for the first reflection, participating in prayer, meditation, and other actions that brought us closer to our Catholic religion and God. Our new family learned of what was to come, and was shown the ropes of Agape. I will go to sleep tonight ready for the coming week and the opportunity to serve others worse off than I am. I am so ready!

This is one of our Agape groups deciding on a name and chant that will represent their group.

Week 4: Our Lady of the Lake and St. Catherine of Siena-Thursday

July 26, 2018

        

      Today was a celebration day and the last full day. We started out by going to church in downtown Bellingham, the church was very beautiful and had statues of saints. After that we came back to eat lunch which was all the left overs from past lunches. Later, we went to the pool to swim and take showers. Then, we left to go to a camp and have a barbecue. We had hot dogs and hamburgers to eat which happened to be very good. We played with the children at the camp for the last time and said our goodbyes. It was very hard for me to say goodbye to the girl I had been hanging out with for the past three days. We came back to the church and had a very deep reflection time and talked about our experiences with the Agape service project. It was a very eye opening experience for me and I was able to understand the reality of this world and how I'm very fortunate to have the opportunity to go to school. We are currently having a dance party right now and everyone has ate their ice cream. In the end all of it was worth it and I have no regrets, I for sure will be coming back next year if I have the chance.

-Hannah

It's been an incredible week! We are very thankful for this group of youth and proud of all the work they have done. Thank you to all the adult leaders, youth, and communities that made all of this possible.

-The Agape Staff

#livegenerously

Week 4: Our Lady of the Lake and St. Catherine of Siena- Wednesday

To start off our fourth day of Agape we all went to the church to pray the rosary. Next, we were put into groups to prepare for the food bank. From there, we met at the field to begin setting up. Some people did portions for the produce while others brought out tables and so much more. Hours later, the food bank began in the blazing sun. We got to serve and give food to 140 families who were all so grateful. Every person was given a station to work out and get to speak a little Spanish. Seeing all of their smiling faces made all the work worth it and made us realize how much each of us have and take for granted. 

Thank you for all your support and donations! We served 140 families today! This wouldn't be possible without our communities and home parishes. We were able to purchase extra juice, cereal, hygiene products, baby clothes, and toys with your donations. 

#livegenerously

Week 4: St. Catherine of Siena & Our Lady of the Lake - Tuesday

This is one of the families from Grocery Outlet today.

Today at Agape we had to wake up at 5 am to go work at farms. We went to a strawberry farm and a blueberry farm. We picked weeds and blueberries. Then we had our first shower of the week and we only had 10 minutes. Next we were put in groups or families and were given money to buy dinner. The money amount ranged from $5-$8 for groups of 4-6. After that we came back and cooked our food and slept. We then went out to migrant camps and passed out flyers for our food drive and then played with the kids. Now we are going to eat our leftovers.

Week 4: Our Lady of the Lake and St. Catherine of Siena-Monday

 Agape has fun playing with the children at a migrant camp. We made slime, did face paint and friendship bracelets with the kids. The kids were extremely excited to see us because some of them don't typically play and be kids because they are always watching siblings and taking care of the family.

In the morning we did a game with puzzles representing the kinds of unfairness you see in the world. For example some had half of their puzzle missing while other groups had a really easy full puzzle, which represents how some groups/families in modern society have to work harder than others. 

Thank you for all your support and donations! Check back on Wednesday to see how many families we were able to serve!   - Agape Staff

We had a blast collecting food for our food bank.

- Emma G. 

-Beckett M.

One of our Agape groups at a Bellingham Haggen!

Week 4: Our Lady of the Lake and St. Catherine of Siena - Sunday

We were all excited as we gathered in the St. Catherine's parking lot. All of us were ready for the six day service trip in Bellingham. We enjoyed the scenery on our two hour drive up to Boulevard park, God has given us such beautiful land! When we arrived at Boulevard park we ate a tasty meal, while enjoying the beautiful water in Bellingham. At Sacred Heart we helped load donations into the church basement. We all then participated in a meaningful prayer service. From all that we can see now, we are in for a week full sacrificial Godly love. Oh, and fun!

Week 3: Eastside Catholic & Our Lady of Fatima & St. Mary Anacortes-Wednesday

Hi everyone I am Will Schimmelman from Our Lady of Fatima parish, Today we got up and went to cash and carry to get  a bunch of big bags of food to bring to the food bank. We then set up for it, and I was on the top Ramen station and it was great to see all the little kids seeing all the families collecting their things. It got repetitive but was still kinda fun. I believe I got closer to Jesus today.

Hi, I am Erik guzman and I'm from Saint Mary parish. Today I got up and set breakfast, got ready, and ate early. We then went to church and prayed the rosary. We then loaded up the trucks with all the food and diapers we had collected for the food drive. We then went to the food bank and set up all the tables and food. We sorted all the food. I was in charge of bandages and heat pads. We stayed there for the rest of the day from before lunch until about 5:00. We then packed up all the leftovers and tables and came back for dinner. We had reflection circle afterwards and talked about the gift of piety.

Hello, I'm Kasper Kelly from Eastside Catholic school. Today was the day we finally got to see how our work, from earlier this week and the past, benefited the people we were trying to help. Today we got to set up the food bank and hand out our donations to the migrant workers and their families. We started by filling up the trucks, buses, and cars with food, toys, and hygiene products to bring to the food bank. We drove to the designated location and set up the food bank. Many people arrived to the food bank an hour to an hour and a half before we started letting people pick out goods because they wanted to get the products they wanted before they were taken. After lunch we opened the food bank and got to work. We had jobs to help people carry their boxes, jobs to tell people how much of each item they could take and more. After a couple hours, the food bank was over and it was time to pack up and head back home. Once we returned to the church for dinner and reflection circle, the counselors asked us to try and guess how many families we served. A lot of people thought we served about twenty to thirty families. The counselors then told us that we had served a total of one hundred and thirty-four families in total. Many of the children including me were surprised with the numbers. Overall, it was a fun experience for all of us; and we even found ourselves bored when we came back to the church and when we had no job to do at the food bank. I hope everybody in the world who has come to serve others can feel the same way did today at the food bank.

Today we were able to serve 134 families! Thank you all for your support and donations. Without you, this wouldn't be possible! - Agape Staff

Week 3: Eastside Catholic & Our Lady of Fatima & St. Mary Anacortes-Tuesday

Today  at  five am we woke up to go to the blueberry farm and Sam's farm. At the blueberry farm, we weeded and picked the blueberries and we really wanted to feel like we were relating to the struggles of the migrant workers. I picked twelve pounds of blueberries today and just to think that you're supposed to get 500 pounds of blueberries per day for 75 cents per pound I was blown away. This showed me how the migrants struggle with daily life and care for their families. At Sam
s U-pick strawberry farm, we didn't harvest, but instead weeded the strawberries. We saw Jesus at Sam's when we saw that the one potato grew a potato plant out of itself to grow other potatoes. It sacrificed its life for others like Jesus.
-Spencer, Maureen, Gio

While the farm we worked at pays 75 cents a pound, most farms pay only 32 cents.
-Agape Staff

Week 3: Eastside Catholic & Our Lady of Fatima & St. Mary Anacortes-Monday

One of today's group at Haggen

       Hello, my name is Allie Treacy (co-written by Ellery Norton.) Today, was packed full of experiences that will shape us through out the week (and probably life ;)). Some memories will last a long time, like a girl i met at the migrant camp. She came galloping up to me and hugged onto my side as if we were old friends, the she demanded "Give me a piggy ride!" She jumped on my back and ordered, "Run to the playground and jump the small white fence." i tried. The afternoon was spent with "piggy rides," swinging, and making lanyards My friend Ellery told me after we left, "At one point I was playing  soccer, me being a defender took the ball from a unusually small eight year old, To which he responded, "Why would you steel the ball from a little kid!?". My face said it all, but its okay we laughed about it later."
      Later after a quick break our group broke off and we all went tabling at different stores, there were plenty of kind people, but there were a few people who were kind of rude. However, there was one lady who really stood out to me, she listened patiently to our speech about where the food was going and who was benefiting from it and when she came out of the store she had two bags of food and baby supplies and she left, she gave us all hugs and said we inspired her for the future. We left with our carts and our hearts full!!
     Once we returned to Sacred Heart everyone helped store the food and then quickly filed inside ready for our food, as it had been a long day and all we wanted to do was eat and then fall right asleep!!!
   

Thank you for your donations today! Check back here on Wednesday to see how many families we were able to serve with your help. - Agape Staff

Week 3: Eastside Catholic & Our Lady of Fatima & St. Mary Anacortes - Sunday

Hi, My name is Micah Apple, yes, apple like the fruit, yes your apple/fruit joke was hilarious.  Today we arrived at agape and delivered the donations we had collected and headed into the church.  First we played some games, like: "get in a line in birthday order without talking" THAT was interesting.  after that we played some get to know you games we listened to the same bible verse three times and the third time we had to put ourselves in the verse.  I was a bystander as Jesus got baptized and it honestly helped me see it in a different way.  I saw Jesus as a person and not some imaginary being. Today was fun, but uneventful. -Micah 

Hello. My name is Ellery Lorraine, well technically Ellery Norton. Me  along with eight other children and four teachers, we boarded a miniature bus with mediocre air conditioning and 90 degrees as the temperature.. Me being an eight grader i boarded the bus with three seventh grade boys i did not know. As we got on i-90 with Anne-Marie 2002 blowing from the speakers and a chaperone dancing, we quickly became aquanticis which, the hope is to blossom into friends throughout the week. Then me and another girl, attempted to avoid bonding opportunnities with other kids, however we got stuck making a motion and are name in front of the group. However, these"bonding situations ended up being, well fun. Then started the reflections,m we first were read the bible verse, Peter 4:10. We found what this meant to us. To Nolan Wright an eight grader at Eastside Catholic said, "I had time to reflect on my two giving handsI am going to use this week. I will try to be an example, and follow the example of St. Francis my schools Saint, and the camps Saint, St. Clare". Today was the intro to the week and it seems that is looks pretty great. Thanks for reading to the end. -Ellery Lorrainre

Week 2: Sacred Heart and Mary Queen of Peace-Thursday

This morning we ate the most delicious blue berry bagles then started to pray the divine mercy chaplet, then went to mass at Assumption. We came back and ate a homemade lunch of chicken, beans, and rice. Not long after we left to go to the pool and spent time at the pool until 2:00pm. Later we went straight to the Sunrise Camp to play and set up a  BBQ with the families. After a fun filled day we had closing prayer and ice cream.

Week 2: Sacred Heart and Mary Queen of Peace- Wednesday

 Today was a very special day, we had our food bank. We got to serve many families from different camps and were able to make a difference. We had fruit, produce, higene items and much more. Today was my favorite day. we got to see all the work we've put in this week finally pay off. being able to see the joy in all the migrant workers faces was estatic and very effectual. it was a satisfying feeling when we got everything put away after the food bank and seeing how much food was given out. we served 111 families today! we have collected all donations and put a lot of hard work we have put all our sweat, and tears but it was totally worth it and I am happy to say that agape has been a very meaningful experience.

Thank you for all your donations and support! Our group served 111 families this week!

Week 2: Sacred Heart and Mary Queen of Peace - Tuesday

Today was migrant immersion day. We woke up at 5 am and got ready to go to the farms. Mary Queen of Peace Parish went to Bellingham Country Gardens and Sacred Heart went to Growing Veterans farm. At Bellingham Country Gardens, we weeded beans, corn, broccoli and beets from 7 am to 10 am.At Growing Veterans the farmer helping the sacred heart group explained how the farm employed and helped veterans reintegrate into the community if they struggled with P.T.S.D. After we ate lunch we took showers at the YMCA. After showering, we went to Grocery Outlet to collect our wages and buy our food with the money we earned. A family of three had $3.75, a family of four had $5.00, a family of five had $6.25. We couldn't go  over the amount of money we earned, and the food we bought was our food for the rest of the day. Overall it was a tiring day of hard work but we got to enjoy the last bit of our day hanging out with our Sunrise friends, and learning more about understanding.

- Alexa and Adria

Week 2: Sacred Heart Bellingham, Mary Queen of Peace - Monday

. Today i was given the wonderful opportunity to hang out with some of the farm workers children. I also went to Haggens to talk to people to donate food for the farmworker kids, i had a lot of fun and got to learn a lot about other people and the things that i can do to help and improve the world. -Tumi

Thank you for your donations today! Check back here on Thursday to see how many families we were able to serve with your help!

Today's Group At Haggan

Week 2: Sacred Heart Bellingham, Assumption, and Mary Queen of Peace - Sunday

Today we learned about the meaning of Agape, which is a Greek word that means love. We discussed the Fear of the Lord and the awe with which we view Jesus and God. We got into small groups to learn about each other and created group names and chants to present.

As a large group, we shared our gifts bestowed upon us by God and also what we each desire to improve on through our service to others. 

-Matthias and John

Week 1: St. Louise and Sacred Heart Enumclaw - Thursday

we woke up,ate and went to church to have mass. Then we came back to sacred heart to grab our things to go shower at a local pool and swim too, it was fun and  shower took a least 10 minutes. after that we went to sunrise camp and had a Barbecue with the family and kids there. we played for 4 hours and 30 minutes and had to say our last goodbye to our friends and buddies. we learned that not every family is the same and that they suffer a lot to be with their families and work every hard. we learned that god will be with them always and love them no matter what.  (Alondra and Timothy 2018).

Week 1: St. Louise and Sacred Heart Enumclaw - Wednesday

Today we completed the Gift of Piety. First thing in the morning we woke up, got dressed, and ate cereal and yogurt for breakfast. We went to worship out God after breakfast at the local Church. We sang songs and prayed to Jesus. We left the Church and loaded the truck full of donations. It took a while but soon enough we finished. We got in out cars and we drove off. We got to the Church and set up the tables and food. People started to show up and we practiced our Spanish one last time and we opened our food bank. We all had many fun and exiting experiences. All adults and kids were very grateful. In the middle we took a Popsicle break and people stopped coming through the food bank line. It slowly came to an end so we put everything away. It was fun because at the end we got to climb up onto the skate park ramps. We walked back to our adult leaders cars and drove back to Sacred Heart. We ate tacos for dinner, they were my favorite in my opinion. We reflected on the day and here we are now. 

We served 140 families today at the food bank! Thank you for all your support and donations!

Week 1: St. Louise and Sacred Heart Enumclaw - Tuesday

Today we experienced the life of a migrant worker. We woke up at five a.m to get ready for the day, and split into two different groups to go to two different farms. We weeded for three hours, then went to the YMCA to shower and tidy up. After that, we went to the grocery store and split into "families". We then used our day's wages to buy meals for our individual families. We only had around six dollars or less to spend and had ten minutes to decide what we wanted to eat for dinner. When we got back, we had some down time and each family cooked their dinners. Any leftovers were stored for after we came back from playing with the migrant farmers' children. Before we went to Sunset, we went to other camps and told the people, "hola, hay un banco de comida manana" which in English says, "hello, there is a food bank tomorrow." Then we headed off to Sunset to play with the children for a while. They were so happy to see us again and painted our faces and played dodge ball. When we came back, we had reflection and finished our leftover food.

Week 1: St. Louise and Sacred Heart Enumclaw - Monday

Monday=Funday! Today we started off the day with a substantial breakfast. We had opening circle and learned about St Claire of Assisi and focused on the gift of knowledge. Next, we did a puzzle activity to gain a deeper understanding about fairness and using the gift of knowledge. There were 6 groups, each with a different scenario ranging from a Swedish ski trip to paying off debt as a migrant worker. Everyone got a ribbon, and if someone pulled an end of the ribbon and the ribbon went undone, it was theirs. You couldn't get other people's ribbons until the puzzle was completed. Group number six had the hardest puzzle with over half the pieces missing and were therefore not able to complete the puzzle and couldn't pay off the debt of the family. However, they had more group members to demonstrate how many people in our world experience that scenario or something similar. Group number one completed their 24 piece puzzle within minutes. They made a million dollars a year and if the puzzle was completed, they would get a ski trip to Sweden. They then proceeded to take everyone else's ribbons. It was unfair, but we used the gift of knowledge to attempt or complete the puzzle. We then had lunch after doing a fun name game and team building exercise. We visited Sunrise (the migrant worker camp) and played with the children for 2 hours, then collected donations at stores to use in the food bank. Today was one to remember.
-Agape Youth


Thank you for all of our donations today! Check back here on Thursday to see how many families we were able to serve with your help.
-Agape Staff

Week 1: St. Louise and Sacred Heart Enumclaw - Sunday

At the beginning of the day, the St. Louise group went to the 11:00 mass and got blessed by Father Gary. Then we went to the parish hall and sorted all the donations, put them into bags, and loaded them into cars. We ate lunch in the hub and then sorted into cars and drove to the park. Ewa bought pizza for dinner that we ate at the park then we drove to Sacred Heart and unloaded all our gear. We then introduced ourselves and had a silent reflection. We answered a few questions and then got our Agape shirts and ate cake.