Love Begins Here (LBH) completed its 16th year of service this summer, and by doing so, it has now organized more than 100 weeks of volunteering around the diocese.
LBH operates through the Diocese of Madison office of Evangelization and Catechesis to organize local, life-changing mission trips for middle school and high school students in the diocese.
The Catholic Herald was on-site in Lancaster the week of July 7 to cover LBH’s almost two full years of impact, meaning that since its first year in 2009, LBH missionaries have volunteered more than 164,000 hours.
Service, at home
Learning about the Faith, making an impact in their home diocese, and volunteering with friends are various reasons why teen missionaries have enjoyed LBH so much.
They’re also why LBH has been a success in the diocese for more than a decade.
LBH teaches its missionaries that, by staying local and emulating the words of its patron, St. Teresa of Calcutta, everyone is called to “do small things with great love,” which doesn’t necessitate long-distance travel for mission work.
Instead, teen missionaries learn with their friends to see Christ in their next-door neighbor.
The July 7 week in Lancaster hailed middle school missionaries from many regions around the diocese, including: St. Joseph the Worker Pastorate, St. Teresa of Calcutta Pastorate, St. Maximilian Kolbe Pastorate, Queen of Apostles Pastorate, and Epiphany of the Lord Parish.
In Lancaster, teen missionaries spent their time helping at the food pantry, socializing with residents of the Morningside Assisted Living community, cleaning inside and helping outside of St. Clement Church and School, at homes of local Lancaster parishioners, and at other worksites throughout the week.
Emily Wallace, coordinator of youth formation for the Diocese of Madison, was excited for this summer’s teen missionaries.
She said, “It’s been such a fruitful summer; the missionaries and everyone have been super invested.”
Wallace said that because she takes pictures to document each week for parents and LBH’s social media, “It’s been beautiful to capture these moments with the kids.
“With the new pastorates, it has been an exciting opportunity. I know the lead missionaries were excited for this to be a unifying experience — a chance for kids to get to know other kids in their pastorate.
“A lot of the middle schoolers were excited about that,” she added.
Returning to LBH
While there were many newcomers to LBH this summer, many were returning from previous years.
Silas Pometto, who completed his second summer of LBH, was excited to be with his friends and serve.
He said, “I like [LBH] because it’s fun and this was the week my friends were coming. I’d tell people to do it because it’s good to serve others and be outside. Today, we moved dirt out for planting and pulled weeds. It’s just a good thing to do.”
He added that if he could choose any way to volunteer, he’d “probably choose to clean gravestones” because of the way that small act of service makes him feel.
Gabby Dhein, a teen from St. John the Baptist Church in Waunakee, was also serving a second time with LBH.
She said she decided to volunteer again this summer because “I really enjoyed it last year; it was really fun.”
While serving at the Lancaster food pantry, Dhein said, “I love serving our community and showing people God and giving back to the people who help our community, like this with the food pantry — helping them continue on with their mission.”
“I would say to anyone who want to do LBH but is a little bit nervous about it, that it’s an amazing experience, and it’ll help you grow in your faith and your love for your neighbor.”
But it’s not only the teen missionaries that have fun and grow closer to the Lord. Chaperones shared what a beautiful experience volunteering with the teen missionaries has been for them.
“This is my first year as a chaperone. I have loved it so far; I think it’s a really beautiful program,” said one parent who was excited to be at LBH with her daughter and other teens from her parish.
Another chaperone, Rebecca Sande, who attends St. John the Baptist Church in Waunakee which is part of St. Maximilian Kolbe Pastorate, said it was her third time attending LBH.
Sande attended with her fifth of six children and said that her goal at the end of the week is to simply “take a sliver of this home — you wish you could take the whole thing home but that just doesn’t happen — but if you can take little slivers of it home, it’s impactful.”
She added that returning with a younger child, after having seen her older children participate in LBH, “is hopeful for me, too, to see the continued fervor and love for Christ of the younger missionaries. It’s neat that it’s still very much here.”
In addition to service activities, each evening at LBH features prayer time, a short talk, and time spent in small groups to reflect on the day.
This year, Joye Hellenbrand, who spent one year as a teen missionary, returned to LBH as a member of the Core Team, the group of adult missionaries who manage and lead spiritual formation each week.
That week, Hellenbrand gave a talk to teen missionaries and chaperones about prayer, how to pray, and Mary as an example, and she offered the missionaries some simple advice.
She said that Nike’s motto to “Just Do It” is one of the best ways to begin a prayer life and that “Mary is the quickest and easiest way to her son, Jesus,” encouraging teens to start a devotion to the Blessed Mother.
In total, 68 missionaries and chaperones registered for the middle school week in Lancaster, and together, they completed 816 hours of service in and around the town.