This December, we will host our Seventh Annual Winter Service Retreat for Older Teens and Young Adults. Each year, we schedule this during the week after Nativity, when students are out of school for their winter break in studies. Our parish of St. George Orthodox Church (OCA) is located right on the Texas border with Mexico. In year's past, the week included a visit and work project in an orphanage for girls just across the border in Mexico. However, because of increased border violence in recent years, we no longer cross into Mexico. Thanks be to God, this year, we will have a Brand New Church Hall to help accommodate both our Retreat Participants and our Service Projects!

Some retreat highlights include:

* A Speaker/Retreat Master Sharing Talks on Topics the Participants Themselves Have Requested

* Hands-On Orthodox Service Projects, including Preparing For and Staffing a special Nativity Season Distribution at our St. George Food Pantry - which has fed over 50,000 people in the last few years.

* Working as Teams to Actively Help with Retreat Functions

* Praying Together: Actively Participating in Reading, Singing, Praying & Participating in Liturgical Services

* Time for Fun, Christian Fellowship, including a South Padre Island Beach Trip and Talent Show

Who: Geared for Older Teens, College Students & Young Adults plus Adult Chaperones & Orthodox Clergy. Orthodox Christians, Catechumins, Inquirers and their Friends from All Jurisdictions are WELCOME

Retreat Master: Abbot Melitios Webber of St. John of Shanghai Monastery in CA., Metro. Jonah's former monastery.

SPIRITUAL TOPIC: Why Become (or Remain) Orthodox? How Do We Stand Up for & Live the Faith?

Expanded Version: Why become or remain Orthodox rather than simply following the "easier" more populated versions of Christianity practiced by friends and society in general? Why would/should we choose or continue on the more narrow path, which often includes isolation since most parishes are smaller and within which we have few if any peers? How are we to become knowledgeable "apologists" and stand on a firm foundation in the faith? In everyday life? In times when we face special challenges and/or temptations? How do we stand with our heads held high knowing that our beliefs are right and true? How do we do this without being prideful or thinking "low" of our brothers and sisters in Christ outside of the Orthodox Church? What are the real dividing lines which separate our Orthodox beliefs from those held by other Christians?

Dates: This year's actual activities will begin on the morning of December 27th. People will travel, arrive and get settled in on the evening of December 26th. The event will end after Divine Liturgy and a meal on Sunday, January 1st, but anyone is welcome to stay until the following day before returning home.

Cost: $225.00 Per Participant - Includes all Food, Lodging, Local Transportation and Fees. Note: If Adult Chaperones prefer an on-site Motel-type room, we can reserve one for an additional fee.
We try to keep our registration fees as low as possible so as many students and other young people (who often are financially challenged and/or do not have wealthy parents) can attend. To help with this, we even cook most of the food and the retreat staff do not receive salaries. We do this for the love of Christ and in hopes that this experience will touch the lives of the young people who attend.

Where: St. George Orthodox Church; Pharr, Texas - Rio Grande Valley of South Texas near the Texas-Mexico Border. See Driving Directions: http://www.stgeorgetx.org/directions.html The church is located at 704 W. Sam Houston in Pharr, Texas and overnight lodgings will be at the Valley Baptist Retreat Center in Mission, Texas. See the retreat center's website at: http://www.valleybaptistretreat.org/
What: A week of hands-on Service Work, Spiritual Talks & Sessions & Prayers, Christian Fellowship, & Fun. Reunite with your friends and make new friends in a wholesome and spirtually-profitable atmoshere.

To learn more or to see photos from previous year's Winter Service Retreats, see links at:
http://www.stgeorgepantry.org/winteryouthretreat.html

Please let me know if you have additional questions at mateliza@aol.com or by phone at 956-781-2388.

In Christ, Matushka Elizabeth Perdomo

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Camp Canceled for This Summer!

Due to a long series of unfortunate events and circumstances, St. Peter the Aleut

Orthodox Summer Camp for summer 2011 has been canceled. Any registrations

and checks already sent in will be returned. We are very sorry about this and it is

our firm hope and prayer to have an even better camp next summer. We will need

the help of many to staff and prepare for this, so stay tuned for more news later this

year. Thank you for your understanding.

See: http://www.stgeorgepantry.org/summercamp1.html

St. Peter the Aleut Orthodox Summer Camp

Dates: Monday, June 27 - Friday, July 1st, 2011
Cost: Early Registration: $260.00; Late Registration: $280.00/Each
Ages: 8 - 18 - Older Youth & Adult Staff Needed!

Pan-Orthodox Camp Open to Orthodox Youth & Friends of all Jurisdictions

Registration Packet Forms are On-Line at:

http://www.stgeorgepantry.org/summercamp1.html

Mail all camp registration forms and payment to: St. Seraphim Cathedral; c/o Fr. John Anderson; PO Box 191109; Dallas, TX 75219-1109

It's now officially time to mark your summer calendar and think about getting those registration forms in the mail! This summer, the annual St. Peter the Aleut Orthodox Summer Camp will again be held in North Texas, beginning on midday of Monday, June 27th and lasting until midday on Friday, July 1st.

Summer Camp is open to those ages 8 - 18, with older teens and young adults needed to help staff as Junior Counselor. Camp Chaplains will again include Fr. John Anderson of Dallas, Fr. Antonio Perdomo of Pharr, Fr. Seraphim Holland of McKinney and one or more other clergy staff members.

Camp Director, Priest John Anderson of St. Seraphim Cathedral in Dallas, Texas, shared that the camp fee will remain that which has been charged during the last few years. $260.00 per person. Those who register early receive a discounted price of $260.00 per person. If payment is received after June 6th, the registration fee is $280.00 per camper.

Camp will again be held at the YMCA Camp Grady Spruce at Possum Kingdom Lake, South of Weatherford, Texas (about 2 hours S. of Ft. Worth). For a map, see: https://www.campgradyspruce.org/images/upload/Driving%20Directions.doc

Since 1993, this wonderful summer camp has been sponsored by the South-Central Deanery of the Diocese of the South in the OCA. Camp registration has always been open to Orthodox youth participants of any jurisdiction, as well as catechumens and camper's non-Orthodox friends.

The summer camp is a mixture of prayer, spiritual sessions, a talent show and all of the usual suspects you'd find at summer camp: swimming, horseback riding, sailing, archery, arts and crafts, shooting, blobbing and much more! Special campfire times are held in the evening for the older set. A Divine Liturgy is served during the week. This year's spiritual focus will be announced in the next few weeks

As much as possible, we will try to accommodate those who are fasting or have special food needs during the camp. Please inform us of your dietary restrictions or needs!

Photo Set from St. Peter the Aleut Camp, Summer of 2009:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8135007@N03/sets/72157623874150659/

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