All year, we have talked about grace in the world, and this month we were reminded that people see God’s grace through us by our call to serve others. Children and parents learned about the plight of refugees through an interactive exercise with Catholic Charities, and heard about food insecurity at the Kids Cafe station where they prepared books to donate to the program. At the Habitat for Humanity area, households learned about inadequate housing in other countries, like El Salvador, where they had a first hand experience building a wall for a house from cement block. Teens did a poverty simulation and served by helping prepare materials for vacation bible school, and cleaning out the Francis garden. At the end of the gathering, each household made a magnet to take home with a reminder of a positive thing they could do this summer.

Click on the first photo to view as a slide show.