Tijuana, Mexico - College students from Penn State University and the University of Connecticut recently joined together for a Real Break Mission Trip to Project Mexico & Saint Innocent Orphanage in Tijuana, Mexico. It was the first time two universities had joined together to comprise one Real Break team since its inception in 1999. A total of 22 students – 14 from Penn State and eight from UConn – made the trip during their annual spring break from March 6-13, 2004. Real Break is organized by the national Orthodox Christian Fellowship office in Boston, MA, and provides college students an alternative to the traditional spring break. Real Break is a time for service, prayer, living out the Gospel, and always extending oneself to the “least of our brethren.”

The Real Break trips have always afforded college students the opportunity to build up a third world country, and as such, they are often referred to as life changing experiences. By having such a large group this year, the UConn & PSU students were able to build one home at St Innocent Orphanage, in addition to laying the foundation for a second home. They were also able to apply a second coat of stucco to a neighborhood home, built last summer by other Orthodox faithful. It was during this trip into a typical Tijuana neighborhood that the students received an up close look at poverty, and conditions that nearly 75% of the people in the universe are forced to live in.

The students were warmly welcomed at St Innocent Orphanage by Fr Pedro Medina, the resident Orthodox priest at St Innocent Chapel, along with the 22 boys at St Innocent Ranch. There was much interaction between the groups. It was quite evident that the boys at St Innocent, all orphans and all Orthodox, who had either been abused, neglected, or abandoned, have easily identified that the power of love, Christ’s saving love, is what will help them to continue healing and leading a life which is well pleasing in the sight of God. They are a gift from God to all of us.

The Real Break trip afforded the UConn and PSU students time for daily Morning and Evening Prayer. On the day the students laid both cement foundations, they held an Akathist in the chapel following Evening Prayer. Each day on the work site, prayer was offered before and at the conclusion of the work day. Morning Prayer was followed by quiet time, and time for journaling of one’s experiences and thoughts. Evening prayer was offered by the boys at St Innocent in Spanish. Following the five nights of Evening Prayer, the 22 college students lifted their voices and sang, “A New Commandment.”

The 22 Real Break participants included students from The Orthodox Church in America, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North America, the Antiochian Archdiocese, the Serbian Diocese, the Ukrainian Diocese of America, along with one Orthodox ‘seeker.’ The group was led by Fr Marc Vranes, advisor for the UConn OCF, parish priest at Holy Trinity Church in Willimantic, CT, and member of the Department of Youth, Young Adult and Campus Ministry.