“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

Goals:

• To involve participants in doing tangible good works.
• To help participants.
• To instill a sense of accomplishment and empowerment.
• To follow OCAY guidelines for service projects.

Objectives:

• To engage in a service project, if possible.
• To debrief and discuss the experience.
• To plan a service project that can become the basis of a later youth event.
• To identify other possible projects on a personal or local level that can be done over the year.

Materials:

• Copies of Gifted to Give Worksheet
• Copies of Witnessing by Example Worksheet
• Copies of “I Was Hungry” Poem
• Copies of Guidelines for Service Projects Sheet
• Copies of Making a Plan Worksheet

Before this session (and retreat) you will need to prepare either to be engaged in a direct service activity with and for other people, or be working together to plan a service project in the next couple months. If you choose the planning option, you must be able to guarantee that the participants will be able to meet again to carry it out, perhaps as part of the annual deanery OCAY service event. In many areas, it will be possible to make this session a “field trip” to a local social service provider and get involved.

Activities:

Activity #1: A People Zealous for Good Works
In this session we will take part in Christ-like service to others. Christ said that the reason we should let our light “so shine before men” is so “that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Note He said, “see your good works,” not “hear your good words.”

St. James says in his epistle to the Church,
22But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. (James 1:22-24)

What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead…For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead. (James 2: 14-26)

A Christian who hears the Gospel but then does not live it is like someone who forgets to be Christian—and in the end that person is not a Christian at all.

The Apostle Paul reminds us that, as Christians, God has called us to be a people of His own who are zealous for good deeds (Titus 2: 14).

Write this down: God calls us to be doers of the word who are zealous for good deeds.

Activity #2: Service Projects

Check with your local priest about possible service projects. There may be groups and organizations already in existence in the local community doing service work that your group can get involved with for a couple of hours one afternoon. Or there may be something that is being done at the local parish that can be supported. For ideas go to “20-Something ideas for a Christ-like service to others” and the Success Stories available online at http://yya.oca.org/TheHub/index.htm in the Activities section.

Activity #3: Planning a Service Project

If your group does not have the opportunity to work on a preexisting service project, or having done so, would like to do another project, this activity helps equip them to create and follow through on a service project.

• Hand out the Gifted to Give Worksheet and have participants fill them out individually.
• Then hand out the Witnessing by Example Worksheet, the “I Was Hungry” Poem, and the Guidelines for Service Projects Sheet. Use these to lead a discussion about the types of service that are needed and what they as a group could do.
• Once the group decides on the type of project they would like to do, hand out the Making a Plan Worksheet and actually beginning planning the activity.

Debrief in Small Groups

Having completed the service project, discuss the experience in the small group setting.

Debrief Questions:

• What was most challenging? Most surprising? Most inspiring?
• What did you learn about yourself and others? About God?
• Does the attitude we have going into a project like this make a difference?
• How can we take this kind of work into our regular lives and keep the light shining?
• Give participants a chance to reflect on the three things they would most like to do as good works and the three things they would be most afraid to do. How does this relate to their contribution to the unifying symbol (lamp stand prayer ribbons/ papier-mache world/ city of God)?

Return to the main group and share common experiences and impressions.

The Lord knew that He was asking a lot from us and setting us a standard of love and compassion that was impossible without God’s help. To encourage us, He said,

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

The wonderful irony is that only by giving our lives to the work of Christ do we find real rest and fulfillment. Christ-like service is real “re-creation,” for it allows us to be re-created and renewed in the image and likeness of God. It’s when we are selfish and self-serving that we have the most burdens and labors!

		Department of Youth, Young Adult, and Campus Ministry Orthodox Church in America PO Box 675 Syosset, NY 11791 http://yya.oca.org yyacm@oca.org The Hub | Back to top