Contributed by Ben Guion

Editors Note: This is the first of a two part series from the youth on their EYE trip. While they are away, please remember to keep them in your prayers. We will get an update from them when they return! -DB

youth 1Last week, on July 9th, ten members of the high school Youth Group departed for an Episcopal youth fellowship event followed by three days of urban mission work in Philadelphia, graciously sponsored in part by the Episcopal Men’s Fellowship, St. Hilda’s Guild, the Endowment Fund, and the generosity of our supporting parishioners. Everyone on board is incredibly excited and can’t wait to get started! Joining together with almost 90 different diocese from around the country, as well international friends from the Episcopal Diocese of the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Taiwan, our trip starts with a four day conference of teambuilding and worship exercises while we stay at Villanova University.

After the Episcopal Youth Event conference, we’ll be working with St. Mark’s church around the city and improving lives in the process, working anywhere from soup kitchens to places on the street. In all, the Fig is contributing more than 230 man-hours of work to the cause. But it’s not all just work, we’ll also be able to tour the city after our mission work is done each day, and we’ll be spending lots of time with our sister diocese from Oregon. After all the evening activities, we’ll return to our mission work home base at the famed University of Pennsylvania’s Roding College House. This much-needed mission work will improve the lives of many people around Philadelphia and will be a fantastic experience that none of the Fig Youth will ever forget.

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Morning worship and getting ready for a work day at camp!