SOS Calendar of Events
Keep up with what's happening with our high school youth group, Seniors on Sunday (SOS). Use this link to view the SOS calendar.
Click here to access the 2010 SOS Spring Planning document.
SOS Permission Slip for Events
SOS Mission Trip 2009
Thirteen SOS senior high youth and two adult leaders left August 1 on a Mission Trip to Thunder Bay, Ontario. The youth will present a slide show and share highlights of their experiences during worship Aug. 16. You can also view photos and comments about their trip on a blog at: http://stlukedgsosblog.blogspot.com
The trip to Thunder Bay, Ontario, just over the Canadian border, was about a 13-hour drive. The group drove to Duluth, MN, and stayed overnight at the Glen Avon Presbyterian Church, attended worship and then departed Sunday for Thunder Bay.
Once in Thunder Bay, the group joined 50 other junior and senior high youth from five other churches. Thunder Bay is one of approximately 70 world-wide mission sites that the multi-denominational organization, Youthworks, provides for youth mission opportunities.
Once they arrived the youth divided into work teams. Work sites were:
--Shelter House - a homeless shelter
--Pinewood Court - an elder center
--Evergreen, A United Neighborhood – neighborhood beautification project
--Eagle’s Cry – an aborigine center
--Clothing Assistant Mission – thrift store
--Kids Club –weekly ministry for community kids.
The days were busy: breakfast at 7, devotions at 8, depart for ministry sites by 9. Dinner was at 5:30 with evening activities at 6:30, evening programming at 9, church group time at 10 and lights out at 11. They slept on a church floor, showered in a nearby community pool facility, and helped to prepare and clean up each meal.
This was an "unplugged" week for the youth…no cell phones, iPods, gaming, or TV. Instead, the youth will serve as the "hands and feet of Christ" and learn more about the diverse world in which we live. The students saw cultural, ethnic and economic diversity. Thunder Bay has an average income of $27,800/year with about 14% of Thunder Bay’s population living below the poverty line. Thunder Bay has anywhere from 7-15% aborigine population; the aborigine population consists of Inuit and North American Indian tribes with around 40% of the aborigine population living below the poverty line.
After four full days of mission work, the group will left Thunder Bay on Friday morning, Aug. 7, and returned to Downers Grove that night.
Scenes from SOS Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser for This Summer's Mission Trip
18 lbs. of pasta (lots left over!) + 25 lbs. of spaghetti sauce (ran out!)…thanks to all who supported the SOS mission trip spaghetti dinner fundraiser. The $611 profit helped send 12 senior high youth and two adult chaperones on a mission trip to Thunder Bay, Ontario.
