During the last half of March break, the Senior Youth Group of Christ the Saviour Orthodox Sobor in Ottawa Canada went to volunteer at Saint John the Compassionate Mission in Toronto. They had a great group of 12 eager teenagers who were ready and willing to work. Prior to taking their journey, they held a fundraiser at their church to cover the cost of the trip and a donation for the mission. Through their efforts, the were able to donate $1400 to Saint John's to help support the mission's fantastic work!

St. John the Compassionate Mission feeds the homeless and poor of downtown Toronto and truly does Christ's work. Many people work together to keep this operation going and what is most remarkable about it is the strong presence of prayer and worship throughout the day. The only break in the ministry to the poor is when the ringing of the church bells calls the faithful to prayer. When the prayers are finished, everyone immediately resumes their work of serving the people. The youth were blessed with extra Lenten services and were able to spend a lot of time in the beautiful little church praying, chanting Psalms and worshiping.

The youth cleaned and organized the basement rooms, completely reorganized the food storage pantry, helped out in the bakery, prepared food, served the people and did dishes.... LOTS of dishes! They were able to meet and talk to the community members and find out about how some of these people struggle. All the young people worked very hard and really enjoyed their experience there. It was a wonderful opportunity for them to bond with each other and to grow closer to God as they lived their faith. When they left the mission and started their journey home, one of the teens was heard to say, "I can't wait until we do this again next year!"

Indeed God truly blessed the group with a fantastic, memorable experience!