My name is Maria Kidd, and this past week, I went to WorkCamp. WorkCamp is a week-long program run by the Diocese of Arlington which gives young people the chance to serve others in need within our own diocese. My days included Mass and prayer throughout the day, including a night of Eucharisitic Adoration, manual labor, doing construction projects in service of others, community-building activities, talks, and discussions.
WorkCamp helped me to see that it is possible for a group of people to live in unity, committed to doing the will of God. We endeavored to form an intentional Christian community like that of the early Church: reading Scripture and breaking bread together, serving and sacrificing for others, and living as people not alone but in relationship with others. For one week, the approximately one thousand people there knew the task that they had been assigned to do and dedicated themselves to doing it well, living simply and unselfishly, and inviting God into it. I used to think that it would be very difficult to live in this way, but WorkCamp made me realize that although it does take some change and sacrifice, it is possible to live in this way, as we are called to live, in our own homes. I would like to share five things that we need to do in order for this to happen: sacraments, scripture, service, sacrifice, and society.
Workcamp was an eventful experience for me. I enjoyed sharing with new people, working and helping others. Adoration and confession were a highlight and made me feel very peaceful. I learned that you don’t need to have that much experience with your faith in order to participate in events like adoration or confession, or experience working with tools, you just need to have the willingness to learn and the confidence to try.
Going into WorkCamp, I was honestly dreading it. I worried that I wasn’t the right kind of person to serve God, and I especially worried that I wouldn’t be able to befriend and connect with any of the nearly 600 other teens that I would be spending an entire week with. There were so many things I was challenged to lean into over the course of the week. But it turns out that being in an environment where basically nothing about my life was “normal” forced me to put myself out there in a way, and it only increased the comfort I found in prayer and in God himself. I never thought I would have such an appreciation for daily mass at 7:00 in the morning, or daily devotionals, or 5 days in a row of having PB&J for lunch, but here we are. I have never been surrounded by such peace and joy as I was at WorkCamp.
On Tuesday night, we spent several hours in adoration, and we received the sacrament of reconciliation. For me, this day was the highlight and the turning point of the week. Even in a room of nearly a thousand people, it got so silent that you could literally hear people’s footsteps. When we were all singing and praying together, it felt so raw and joyful. And I felt the Lord’s presence in such a profound way, and suddenly I was realizing all of the ways God has been answering my prayers and speaking to me and working in my life every day that I had been completely blind to in the past, through both people I met and experiences I had. It’s no coincidence that I was put on a worksite with 10 random strangers, knowing nothing about each other last Sunday, but then leaving on Friday as a cohesive team of close friends.
I am so grateful for that opportunity to form a community with some of the kindest and most supportive and God-loving people I have ever met, beginning with my crew leaders, the members of my crew, and the friends I made within this parish, especially because it addressed one of my biggest fears going into WorkCamp. They all encouraged me to think more deeply about my faith and the love God has for all of us, and when I was uncomfortable or nervous, they helped me to “lean into it.” Not only did I get to see Christ in others, but I had the privilege of showing him to others. My crew and I were blessed with not only the opportunity to serve our resident, but also with heartfelt conversations and quality time with her and the hospitality she showed us in opening her heart and her home to us.
On Friday, the last day of WorkCamp, we had a celebration with all of the residents, and it was so touching to hear how we truly got to bring the love and joy of Christ to them. Thanks to WorkCamp, I have had the incredible opportunity to step out of my comfort zone in so many ways and I’ve grown so much as a Christian and as a person, and I have a strong desire to continue to strengthen my relationship with God and to share his unconditional love. I have also made so many memories and friendships that will impact me forever. This was easily one of the best weeks of my life. WorkCamp was such an unexpectedly beautiful and transformative experience, and I would 100% recommend getting involved with it however you can.
WorkCamp was very much not a standard summer camp experience. The hot, hard work and hour-long shower lines were not my ideal week and I got pretty sick of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches after 5 days. As I gave up my time, energy, and comfort for a week, however, I grew so much closer to God and had faith experiences that I believe have legitimately changed my life.
I sat in a gym with 600 other teenagers who were so devoted to their faiths and listened to the music and words of so many incredible men and women who loved Christ and wanted to help us know Him better. This past week I felt surrounded by and filled with the Holy Spirit which must explain why I’m excited to do it again next summer.
This week, I participated in the 2022 WorkCamp in Winchester. I must admit that all the way back in November, I was a bit hesitant, because I had never done a sleep-away camp before. I was very nervous about sleeping on the floor, taking group showers, and having only peanut butter and jelly every lunch for a week. But more urgently than those thoughts, I knew that I would regret it if I didn’t go.
My crew and I were assigned to tear down and rebuild a deck. But, before we could rebuild the new deck, we had to dig 6 post holes. That, let me tell you, was difficult! Each hole had to pass through massive roots and old concrete. We spent the majority
of our time simply digging, and so in the very end we never finished the re-construction. While we certainly made progress, the lack of completion left us feeling disappointed. It was a low point, but that is not the feeling that will stay with me. I choose to remember the support and love that came doing the work with my crew. This week, I didn’t have a come-to-Jesus moment. I didn’t experience the magnitude of the holy spirit, or a life changing, eye-opening encounter with Christ. But none of this bothers me because what I did experience was a week of peace from my daily anxieties. I received love from others and I became comfortable showing my love for them. I was able to admire their strengths and see them discover their limits. I witnessed a community form for only the purpose of supporting one another. And watched others grow in their faith. So I may have not found God but I found something almost as good, his church. And I hope to continue to grow in it.
As I think back on my experience at WorkCamp, many things come to mind, whether it be waking up early, the showers, or singing worship songs with 600 other teens. But really, I have 3 main experiences I would like to talk about. First being my amazing crew and parish which I got to know over this past week. I made special bonds with people I had never met before, and I hope that these bonds last as we reconnect online. I never thought going into WorkCamp that I would love my crew as much as I did, and the saddest experience there was definitely saying goodbye. The second powerful experience I had was the work itself. I’ve always had an engineer-like mind but I never expected to enjoy building a deck and doing manual work all day as much as I did.
Even though we weren’t able to speak to our resident as much as we had hoped due to a language barrier, seeing her joy and appreciation really meant too much to us. I think what kept me going and what drove me to work as hard as I could was the fact that what we were doing was really making a difference in this family’s life and knowing that our work had meaning and that it would help that family for years to come. The third and most important experience there was how my relationship with God really blossomed throughout the week. During the last couple years or so I was slowly drifting away from God and wasn’t really pursuing my faith. During WorkCamp, however, with reflections and devotional multiple times a day, plus confession, adoration and worship, I was able to have a reconnection with God that I hadn’t had in a long time. I felt closer to God and stronger in my spirituality than I had ever been. I would like to thank WorkCamp and all that made it happen.
Workcamp was an amazing experience that I will carry with me for a long time. I will say I honestly had a fun time which was something I didn’t originally think would happen but I’m so glad that I went. This past week has been really enlightening and I’ve most definitely grown closer to Christ through it. On Tuesday I got to experience adoration for the first time and I went to confession for the first time in what feels like forever. It was truly a beautiful experience. At Workcamp there was just so much togetherness with either your crew or parish or friends you met, and it was just so touching. I’m hoping to bring back all the things I learned at Workcamp to make our community a better place.
I came into this experience without thinking too much of it. If I’m being honest, I didn’t realize how soon I was leaving until the night before. Yet, this was an experience that changed my life. This was my second WorkCamp experience, the first being last year when everything was different because of COVID. The past week was a different experience than the one I had before.
For four days straight, I served in Winchester helping my residents with whatever they needed. Rain or shine, my crew and I did whatever we could to help. Even though my body was aching after the first day, knowing that I was changing the lives of the residents made me feel whole. Not only was I helping my residents, but I was serving the Lord and helping to show His love through me. I had a sense of purpose and that genuinely made a difference.
At WorkCamp, they reiterated this idea of an “intentional Christian community.” They didn’t lie about this. I felt supported by each person there, adults and kids alike, especially on Tuesday night when we had adoration and confession. I felt the presence of God all around me. I watched as hundreds of teens worshiped together, which created an overwhelming experience of warmth and love. I felt distanced in my faith, and WorkCamp was this perfect escape for me. It reminded me of God’s love for every one of us. I remember someone saying that “God CAN fix what is broken.” I never truly believed that until I returned from WorkCamp. I feel re-energized in my faith. WorkCamp brought me closer to God and reminded me that He is my strength when I may feel weak.
If there is any part of you thinking about joining next year, do it. I made so many new friends and have never felt more at peace than being at camp. It impacted my life and was an experience I’ll never forget.
I really enjoyed meeting our resident. It felt good to know that the roof we were putting on her house would last for many years and keep her and her grandchildren warm and dry. Being at the school with hundreds of teens felt uncomfortable at first, but after enjoying the evening program with them and attending daily Mass, I became happy to be there! I especially enjoyed the homilies by Fr. Farrell from GMU’s Campus Ministry.
It’s really amazing to know that we were able to fix the homes of so many people in need during WorkCamp.
My name is Lizza Gedra. I am a recent graduate from South County High School. I am here to tell you all a bit about my experience at WorkCamp this past week.
I traveled to Winchester, Virginia with 16 other teens from our parish to spend a week of our summer living in community with 600 other teens from throughout the Arlington Diocese to serve those in need in the Winchester area. This week was unlike anything I have ever experienced. My comfort zone was tested as I spent a week sleeping on a classroom floor in an old middle school, waking up at 6:30 in the morning, showering outside, and learning how to use power tools that I wouldn’t have even known their names of a week ago. But in a greater sense than that, my faith was amplified in an incredible way as I encountered God throughout the week.
As a teenager trying to navigate learning and growing in faith in an often secular world, it can be easy to feel alone in my faith. I encountered God through the people I met at WorkCamp. My work crew (Blue crew 31 as we call ourselves) consisted of three other teens and an adult leader. Together we worked all week on site, replacing a deck and installing 7 windows in a home.
We entered into the week as strangers, with different backgrounds and parishes, and I truly feel like I left the week with a group of incredible friends. The hours spent working together were filled with joy and laughter along with conversations about our faith! We discussed how Jesus had worked in our lives, sharing what we like to call “Jesus moments” and areas in which we wanted to improve our spiritual lives. These friendships are friendships rooted in Christ. The joy and the love they each showed will continue to be an inspiration to me.
I encountered God through a speaker that spoke to all of us teens at a Monday night program about the love of Jesus. Of course I’d heard this many many times before, “Jesus loves you!”, but there was a realization I had that night that Jesus’s love was unending, unwavering, and unstoppable. A love so merciful and abundant that there was nothing in the world that could stop Jesus from loving me, and nothing in the world I had to do to earn that love. In learning that, it became clear that it was a choice I get to make each day of my life – to truly live in God’s love.
We all had the opportunity to receive God’s love on Tuesday night as Bishop Burbidge joined us for adoration and confession. This opportunity allowed me to pray with Jesus Himself as he was present right in front of me in the Eucharist. On that note, we were blessed to have Fr. B join me and my crew for lunch one day and chat with everyone. After he left, my crew kept telling me things like “Lizza, your priest is cool?!” Deacon Zinjin was also able to join us for the majority of the week, and it was awesome to see him represent our parish as he assisted in Mass and hear his stories during our parish discussions each night.
Workcamp was filled with challenges, but it left me with hope. The joy of each and every camper I met was beautiful, and I feel incredibly blessed to be a member of this future generation of Catholics. It’s an amazing thing to see the love and excitement that I, along with many other teens, have about our Catholic faith that we are ready to share with the world.
On behalf of all of us who participated in WorkCamp from Nativity, thank you for your prayers and generosity leading up to and during our week. This opportunity wouldn’t have been possible without your support. And lastly, please continue to pray for the amazing residents, WorkCampers, and adults so that we may take the many lessons God brought us throughout this week and implement those to our lives.
Thank you and God bless.
When my parents first told me that they had signed me up for WorkCamp, I was not too happy. On top of being away for one week and paying a lot of money, I had heard that the living conditions were not what I was used to. I didn’t understand why anyone would pay to work and why my parents suggested that it would be a great experience.
However, if there’s anything that I’ve learned this week, it’s that there’s nothing like giving service back to God and the community. Even if it means sacrificing time and money, the feeling you get when you help God’s people is amazing. There is also nothing like participating in a community full of youth with the same beliefs as you, as you sing and pray and worship together. The friendships you make, as well as the things you experience, outweigh any price you have to pay. I am so glad that my parents got me into going to WorkCamp 2022. It was definitely a great experience that helped me strengthen my relationship with God. To anyone whose parents are forcing them to go to WorkCamp next year, I promise you that it will be a week you will never forget.
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