NOV. 2005 WORD FINAL - Iglesia Ortodoxa

You.” I’d like to offer a special thank you to Fr. Timothy Baclig who
served as the NAC Teen SOYO Spiritual Advisor for twelve very productive
years. To those who have dedicated a portion of their lives to
serving as an officer of Teen SOYO, your work is greatly appreciated,
Bishop BASIL introduces Joe Samra, OCF Program Director
and the continued participation of the teens in leadership roles
through Teen SOYO is still essential to the youth living the Orthodox
Faith in Christ through Worship, Witness, Fellowship, and Service.
Through the prayers of our patron saint, St. John Chrysostom, may
each of us work together in faith during our time at this year’s
Archdiocese Convention.
Yours in Christ,
Elaina Matook,
NAC Teen SOYO President
SOYO MUSIC CD — SING PRAISES
Teen SOYO has diligently worked over the past couple of years to
compile music sung by the youth across our Archdiocese into a music
CD to reflect our love of the hymns of the Church. This year, our goal
was achieved, and Sing Praises was completed. This collection of
Orthodox hymns beautifully sung by members of Teen SOYO is available
for purchase on-line at www.antiochian.org/SOYOcd. We also
encourage you to stop by the SOYO 35th Anniversary Booth here at
the Convention to view our media presentations, receive some literature
and purchase your own copy of this CD. All of the proceeds
from the sales of this CD will benefit the St. John Chrysostom Youth
Worker Scholarship Fund.
ORTHODOX YOUTH OUTREACH
Orthodox Youth Outreach (OYO) is a ministry of Teen SOYO which
enables teens to make a difference in the underserved communities
of North America through short-term mission trips promoting oneon-one
contact between the youth and their neighbor in need in
keeping with Jesus’ call to love in Matthew 22. In locations, including
South Central Los Angeles, Chicago, and Tijuana, Mexico, among
others, our teens are given the opportunity to step outside their com-
36 The Word
fort zone, open their eyes to the homeless community as well as the
ability to “do something beautiful for God.” For information about
upcoming trips or to make on-line contributions, please visit the OYO
website at www.orthodoxyouthreach.net.
ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
YOUTH WORKER SCHOLARSHIP FUND
NAC Teen SOYO has established the St. John Chrysostom Youth
Worker Scholarship Fund to support the education of those doing
youth ministry at the parish level. Our teens across the Antiochian
Archdiocese are in need of trained youth workers who will guide
them on their journey to the understanding of the faith, God, the self
and their neighbor within the structure of Teen SOYO. As of today, we
have accumulated $72,500 for this fund through generous donations
from both organizations and individuals of our Archdiocese. Once
the goal of $250,000 has been achieved, the application process will
begin in order to facilitate the education of parish youth workers. To
help us reach our goal and to learn more about the St. John
Chrysostom Youth Worker Scholarship Fund, visit www.antiochian.org/youth_worker_fund.
ASK ABOUNA
Teen SOYO has always been known to facilitate “Ask Abouna” online
sessions during which teens can direct any questions concerning
the Church, their spirituality, or faith in general to an Antiochian
Orthodox priest. This Fall we will be implementing a new message
board system which will allow teens to post a question on the website,
whenever they like, which will be answered by various priests of
our Archdiocese through the same website. Keep checking
www.antiochian.org/SOYO to see when the Ask Abouna site is ready
for your questions!
ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS WALK FOR LIFE
NAC Teen SOYO is very excited to have received the blessing of
Metropolitan PHILIP to participate in the January 2006 Walk for Life
in Washington, D.C. Teens from across the Archdiocese will travel,
many by bus with a stop-over at the Antiochian Village, to our
nation’s Capitol to participate in a peaceful walk in support of human
life. We are thrilled to have this opportunity and are greatly looking
forward to planning and participating in this worthy cause.
25th ANNIVERSARY TEEN SOYO SPECIAL OLYMPICS CAMP
Teen SOYO members between the ages of 16 and 19 have helped
staff the Teen SOYO Special Olympics Sports Camp, which we hold
each year at the Antiochian Village, by volunteering as coaches for
the athletes. These young people challenge themselves physically,
emotionally, and spiritually to connect with Special Olympics
Athletes for the week-long sports training camp. NAC Teen SOYO
also raised over $35,000 each year to run this annual Sports Camp,
through the Special Olympics Awareness Day, held the third Sunday
of October across our archdiocese. This year is particularly special
for the Teen SOYO Special Olympics Sports Camp, as it is our 25th
Anniversary Camp. As part of the celebration, there will be a reunion
during the last two days of this year’s camp for former Teen SOYO