Ironmen Take an Alternative Spring Break by Going on Mission

Story and photos by Br. Travis Gunther, SDB

(Ramsey, NJ – May 30) – While others may have been on vacation relaxing during Easter week, April 22-27, eight members of Ramsey’s Don Bosco Prep school community went on a mission. Accompanied by myself and teacher John Darcy, six students went to Nazareth Farm, a Catholic service retreat community and ministry in a small holler in Salem, WV. They joined teachers and students from four other schools from Detroit, San Jose, San Diego, and Los Angeles in spending a week learning how to be present to God and others as they became more aware of themselves.

Nazareth Farm sits next to a creek on a strip of land that has four barns, four dogs, three cats, and a house that quickly became home. As you enter Nazareth Farm, you are greeted with a hearty “Welcome Home.” These words reflect the four tenets and priorities of Nazareth Farm: community, simplicity, service, and prayer.

During the week, students and adults from multiple schools were united into crews to form a community of colleagues in the mission. Each day the teams visited a new site in the local community to paint, put up siding, cook, and sometimes clean. It was clear that our service was not about completing a project but about helping a person or a family. We stopped to pray and eat with the homeowners where we worked. Our prayer services back at the farm were filled with Scripture and reflections on Catholic social teachings.

We had no technology or watches during the week. Without these distractions, we were able to use a few hours of downtime each afternoon and evening for playing games, telling stories, and just sharing life, really forming a community.

The measure of the impact of this mission trip on us can be seen in the large number of memories and stories we continue to share after the trip. Whether it was the hug of welcome, Grover teaching us how to throw a frisbee, having a Communion service because the closest Mass was 45 miles away, the torrential downpour one day, using an outhouse, many games of mafia, biscuits, and gravy, the stories of the homeowners, or pausing several times a day to recognize God’s presence as recognized by the young and old, the week was a powerful experience. Throughout the week, and on the six-hour drive back to Ramsey, several of the students said that the Nazareth Fam experience was one of the best weeks of their life. John McKeon, one of the students on the trip, summed up his experience: “My favorite part of the trip was hanging out with the staff and other volunteers because we got to play frisbee on the grounds or hike on the highest mountain in the vicinity. Nazareth Farms is a lovely little place where we embrace simplicity in our living, eating, and prayer. I’m pleased we got to help local people and make a small positive difference in their lives.”