New Orleans

After 9/11 we had the privilege of doing the first youth conference for the Archdiocese of New York, and after Hurricane Katrina, we now had the privilege of doing the first World Youth Day for the Archdiocese of New Orleans. On TV it is hard to grasp the scale of the damage there, where even after a year, miles of houses are still abandoned, with only the occasional FEMA trailer breaking up the landscape of devastation. Most young people were going to school in Texas or elsewhere for a whole semester, and many people have still not returned. Youth Director John Smestad told us he lost all his family pictures - when they were originally evacuated, they expected they would return in a few days - nobody imagined their houses would be gone.

Despite all of this, 1100 teens registered for their World Youth Day, and they also had a couple of hundred Junior High on a seperate track. The Archdiocese has an outstanding Youth Council named Teen Cross, who have two representatives from each parish and school with youth ministry. They have had as many as 100 at a time on the team. This year numbers were down a little as many parishes have closed and churches have been destroyed, but they were still one of the largest and most dynamic peer leadership groups we have seen. They introduced the proceedings, did skits, and some led the Junior High kids for the day.

At the opening, I was introduced and did a couple of icebreakers with them. We then split into workshops, and I gave YOU HAVE A CALL in two sessions. One boy told me he came both times! The technical side of the event was outstanding, with three projectors and screens, plus two plasma TVs. The videos looked so good on the plasma screens that I had the teens sit onstage during the workshops so they could appreciate the visuals even more than usual. We had a good ethnic mix of kids from African Americans to Hispanics and many Vietnamese youth.

In the afternoon for the Evang-a-Ganza, so many teens wanted to come onstage that they were afraid it would collapse. Afterwards I had more "friend" requests on MySapce than ever before in one day! One teen wrote: "hey!!! I went to World Youth Day today ...just wanted to let you know you are awesome....i had a great time getting on stage with you today and rocking out with Jesus by our side....theres no other feeling like it...well just wanted to say thank you for coming today and hopefully i'll have the privilage of singing with you again someday....well it was fun....until next time....PEACE!!!"

Others wrote: ""You rocked last sunday in New Orleans...Thanks for spreding the praise."

"heyy! Nice concert at world youth day! i loved it. ive been listening to your cd everyday! soo awesome!"

Altogether it was a great day, well organized and well executed, and basically, exactly what a youth rally should be like.

Bangor, Maine

"It was amazing! I've never heard anyone speak so powerfully and understandably about Jesus before, including any priests! Tonight was probably the deepest i've thought about God in a loooong time and it was good to forget everything and be close to God for a change."

This was the feedback from just one of the teens who attended our 6 hour retreat in Maine on Saturday night. It was a somewhat challenging and taxing evening for me with a heavy cold and cough, but they say the show must go on.... After a variety of icebreakers and games, small group discussions and the main talk, I had to spray my throat between songs as we approached midnight!

Teens in rural areas often seem far more appreciative of what we do for them, and enter into all the activities with a greater enthusiasm. I was reminded of a similar retreat we did in Michigan early this year, though the numbers were far greater there. Some of the Maine teens asked if we might be able to return for a bigger youth meeting next time.

I was assisted by Phil Marley from St. Sabina's both singing and taking part in the small group discussions. According to one of his group: "Tell Phil I said thanks for being our group leader too! Although our group got a little "off track" at times he definately answered some pretty tough questions we had."

This was one of 2 or 3 events each year where we donate our services to those who do not have sufficient budget. In this case we were even able to buy our flights with airmiles, to ensure that money would not prevent these teens from spending a Saturday evening close to Jesus.

Michigan & Washington DC

On the 7th anniversary of my coming to live in the USA, this was one of our busiest weekends of the year. We began with the annual Michigan retreat for St. Andrew's Romeoville. Some of the teens wrote:

"I was at the retreat with Saint Andrews this past weekend and I just wanted to thank you for such a wonderful time. Your words really helped!"

"hey sal, great time and i liked the vidoes. i liked your friend mascketi mozus too .take care and thank you for your words, i opened my heart"

This was our third retreat for them, and as any teacher can confirm, the makeup of a class or group of teens can change drastically from year to year. This group was particularly respectful and open, and they seemed to listen attentively and respond well. On the Friday night we had the Evang-a-Ganza preceded by a Masheti Moses rap show, then a bunch of games and icebreakers on the Saturday morning followed by The Call, before we had to fly to Washington DC.

We arrived just in time to close a Hispanic concert featuring artists from Spain, Colombia, El Salvador, and elsewhere (some pictured here). The family audience reacted with overwhelming enthusiasm the moment the videos appeared and Art did one Masheti Moses song in the middle. On Sunday we lead a special youth track for High School teens, with The Call once again, and music. One teen wrote:

"I really want to thank you so much for introducing a new method and way of worship! The morning prayer was awesome and I know that you have impacted all of our lifes and I always wanted to hear you play live and also Art's song is really sweet. I thank God for that chance. "

The Bishop for Hispanic Affairs attended the whole thing on Sunday, and he told me the Archdiocese of Washington has 48% Hispanic Catholics. Others told us that since the youth are going to school and growing up here, our bilingual approach fits them very well. I must say the Hispanic groups always seem to deeply appreciate everything we do for them, and we hope to return to DC again before too long.