Year End Review

This past year has been a fantastic year of service and learning for our Young Adult Ministry(YAM). YAM helps facilitate the continued education of our young adults, leading them to the fullness of the Faith and likeness of God; through Worship, Fellowship, Service, and Witness. Our young adults are integrated into the life of the Church , and we encourage them to become active members of the body of Christ.

The YAM has a regular schedule of events. Every second Saturday of the month 9-11am, we serve at the Beacon Day Center located at 1212 Prairie Street. The Beacon Day Center provides hot meals and showers, laundry and counseling services, art programs and budgeting classes. This past year, was the introduction of pastoral care services was well as Bible Study. On any given day (Friday – Monday), over 400-600 clients will receive serves at the Beacon. If you have not joined us at the Beacon, we will continue our schedule into 2012. Check out their new “promotional” video

YAM with the help of the AGOC community participated in our third year of the Black Friday Service at the Beacon where we assigned groups to serve throughout the day. We recognize that the Friday after Thanksgiving is the busiest shopping day the year and millions of Americans will stand in lines all night and day to get hot deals at their favorite store. We also recognize that millions of American’s will stand in lines all night and day just to get a hot meal. It is our commitment to serve these lines, continuing to show how thankful we are for the blessings in our lives. This past Black Friday, over 650 clients received services at the Beacon.

The YAM also participates in a Monthly Fellowship Meal. The last Thursday of the Month we meet at a local restaurant for dinner. This meal serves as a simple gesture to come together as an Orthodox Community. We share a meal together, but at the same time, we share a little of ourselves, finding solace with other people who share our faith, our values and cultural back grounds . We take this opportunity to forge new friendships with other Orthodox Christians from the Houston area.

YAM also participates in the monthly evening services at the Menil Byzantine Fresco Chapel, located on 4011 Yupon Street. Usually we will sing the Paraklesis service for health, healing and intersessions, but on special occasions we may serve a vespers service for the saint of the day. Following the service at the chapel we will continue the evening over coffee discussing other social issues the young adults are facing and keeping up an active Orthodox life. This serves as a new element to the ministry allowing the our young adults to ask questions about their faith, and seek advice and spiritual guidance on making their faith more relevant in their lives while at the same time, feeling in a safe environment free of judgment and criticism.

This past November YAM joined young adults from College Station and Austin at the Saint Paraskevi Monastery for a full day service project. We worked in different groups to bake cookies in the kitchen, shoveling mulch in the fruit tree orchard, clearing dead tree limbs from walking paths, and icon preparation (i.e. sanding, priming, and painting the wood for icon placement). The evening concluded with daily vespers and the Service of Paraklesis to Saint Paraskevi.

In December, YAM had their 4th Annual YAM Christmas Dinner and Toy Drive. Over 20 young adults from the various Orthodox churches in Houston came together to enjoy a Lenten dinner, sing Christmas carols and collect toys for the Children’s Assessment Center on Houston(CAC). We collected over 10 big bags of toys to give to the children under the care of the CAC. We concluded the night by singing Christmas carols. Our group sounded great!

This coming year we plan to continue our regular monthly schedule and God willing expand our ministry to cover more aspects of our life in the Christ, and in church. To get involved with Young Adult Ministries and to be included in our email list-serv, e-mail Fr. Nicholas at frnicholas@agoc.org. You may also find us on Facebook as “Young Adult Ministries in Houston” or visit us at www.yamhouston.org .