From our Host

Hello! My name is Jo Ann! I am originally from Pittsburgh, PA, and I now work at Dolores Mission as the Youth Minister. Part of my position is to coordinate the high school and college immersion trips that come to Dolores Mission. You are my first group to come, and I am very excited for you to come and experience how wonderful and special the community is at Dolores Mission.

My position as Youth Minister is coordinated through the Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC), which means I am here as a volunteer, not as a paid employee. There are both domestic and international JVC programs, and I am participating in the one-year domestic program. I decided during my senior year of college that I wanted to volunteer afterwards. I looked at different programs, but JVC appealed to me the most. In my opinion, it has a very holistic approach to volunteering. It’s not just about service, but about a whole lifestyle.

JVC has 4 tenants around which our lifestyles revolve: Spirituality, Community, Simple Living, and Social Justice. Each of these tenants provides structure and guidance for our life as a Jesuit Volunteer (JV). We live in community with other Jesuit Volunteers in which we share house expenses, such as rent, utilities, and food shopping. Our payment from our various agencies is just enough that it covers all of these things. As part of our commitment to community, we have dinner together 4 nights of the week as well as having one night a week where we do a community activity together. As part of our commitment to spirituality, we have a spirituality night together once a week as well. Part of the commitment to social justice takes place in the jobs we do. It is important to try and balance all of these. It is both an individual and communal burden and blessing.

It isn’t always easy, but for myself it is important to place my faith and trust in God, and he will grace and take care of all of the rest.

Active Escape

Congratulations on making this trip. East LA was one of my favorite experiences at Carroll; you will get to experience a community beset with challenges that may seem very foreign to some of you, as well as challenges that are old hat. At the same time, you will see a community responding to those challenges in ways that can only be described as creative, effective, and inspiring. Keep wide eyes and a ready mind, and keep your listening ears on at all times. You are going to meet some truly remarkable people.

And that’s really the best advice I could give you going into this: listen. These trips are opportunities that offer largely what you put into them. I find it helpful to view them as a kind of “active escape” or “retreat of doing”; something both truly “active” and truly “contemplative” at the same time. As such there is a real and vital spiritual component to what you are doing. It isn’t a “mission trip.” It isn’t simply “service,” at least not in the common understanding of that word. It is a building of something–externally (the people you will meet, the conversations you will have, the friendships you will develop), yes, but also internally (what your mind does with your time here, the way you feel your desires and impressions change, the way some aspect of your experience simply sits with you). Let it happen. Quiet your mind. Incline your mind outside of yourself and onto those around you. For now, just let yourself go for a bit (your opinions, your phone, your grades, your year, all that you think you know) and just simply be. Incline yourself towards prayer, or simply incline yourself towards an authentic kind of inner silence. And, above all, listen.

Have a great time this week. I’m so excited for you, and I’m praying for you.

Kevin Jam

Going to California

Hello,

Welcome to another break and another Headlights Immersion trip! This time we are going to East Los Angeles, California. The last time we visited East LA was in the Fall of 2007. 15 students will be traveling with Nathan Scheidecker and myself to learn about the realities of gangs, the complexity of immigration and about a community that has worked hard for the future of their children. We will primarily be spending time at Dolores Mission – A Jesuit parish and school and we will also tour Homeboy Industries in downtown Los Angeles.

As we travel the students will be reflecting on their experiences and the new people they meet.

Be sure to follow us!

Peace,
Colleen

Participants

Nathan Scheidecker – Butte, MT
Matea da Rosa – Meridian, Idaho
Fred Collins – Helena, MT
Mary Gillette – Miles City, MT
Ryan Anderton – Seattle, WA
Jacob Winegart – Florence, MT
Hayley Dahlem – Seattle, WA
Andrew Schneller – Tacoma, WA
Tyler Frohlich – Billings, MT
Kirby Longo – Billings, MT
Stephanie Johnson – Portland, OR
Travis Biederman – Big Fork, MT
Darbi Brady – Fairfield, MT
Jon Campbell – Pasco, WA
Liz Thompson – Idaho Falls, ID
Brekk Bass – Miles City, MT