WHAT IS OYO?

Orthodox Youth Outreach is a ministry of the NAC Teen SOYO. It has been designed to provide local parishes with the resources necessary to involve junior and senior high students in local community service and short-term mission projects. These tools are made available through a four step service-learning process known as E4 (expose, engage, equip, and entrust). The strategy behind E4 is to move students from observers to leaders. This is accomplished using a stair-cased program centered upon carefully chosen service projects. Each project is chosen based upon specific criteria known to be meaningful in service-learning contexts. In addition, a modified orientation and debriefing component has been created in order to maximize the significance and long-term effects of these projects.

Most of these projects take place during normal school breaks – Christmas, Easter, and summer. In a stair-stepped fashion, the students are required to participate in local/community projects before they are able to qualify for regional or national events. For example, OYO encourages each parish youth group to participate in, at least, one local service project per quarter. However, to participate in a regional service project, students are required to have served in at least three local projects. Likewise, students are required to serve in at least two regional events before they are considered eligible to serve on a national project. With each step, the environmental or cultural tension of the service project becomes more complex. This “created tension” is by design, and provides the kind of context conducive for real spiritual transformation. The goal of OYO is not to produce weekend warriors, but servants for Christ, who are desirous to discover the “poor” in their everyday lives.

YOUNG PEOPLE ARE BY NATURE CRUSADERS

“Lofty and beautiful ideals have always been inspiring the souls of the young offspring of the Church. For, the Church of Christ, during her magnificent advance through history, has not only nourished her children with the life giving juices of her teachings, but has also offered them the opportunity of feeling the enchantment and the attraction of a certain concrete ideal. During the first three centuries Christians of all ages but especially young Christians rejoiced in a single ideal: martyrdom for Christ. Young hearts beated with it, tender lips praised it and youthful bodies shed their pure blood for it. In the history of civilization, one could not perhaps come across a more awe-inspiring scene, than that of young people willingly sacrificing themselves for truth. In the new era, which followed the persecutions, a new ideal pierces the young souls – the glory of the Church. Men like Saint Basil and Saint John Chrysostom were attracted by this ideal from their very youth. It was this ideal that produced holy clergymen, flaming monks and wonderful social workers, who all together created the golden age of our Church. Fruit of this age is the ideal which was being offered to youth…What is, however, the ideal of the free Orthodox youth [today?] Is there an ideal for them? Well, there must be one. And the various signs and events point to the fact that this can be no other than MISSION” - Anastasios Yannoulatos, “Mission as an ideal for youth,” Porefthentes (Oct-Dec 1960), pp. 3-4

Designing “Life Changing” Outreach Programs

1. Start young – junior high.

2. Outreaches should fit into a much bigger picture.

3. Outreaches should be chosen using specific criteria.

4. Outreaches should seek to partner with indigenous leadership and culture.

5. Outreaches should vary in duration and intensity.

6. Outreaches should include substantial orientation and debriefing.

Criteria for Choosing the “Right Kind” of Service Project

1. The project should be “small” enough to be doable and “large” enough to provide a sense of accomplishment.

2. The project should involve personal interaction with the people that are being served.

3. The project should be recognized by others in the community as a ‘real need.”

4. The project should “stretch” the participants – draw them out of their comfort zone.

5. The project should allow enough flexibility for participants to utilize their talents, knowledge, and experience.

6. The project should allow participants the freedom to express their faith.

Orientation

1. Encourage people to take care of themselves (drink fluids, take breaks, etc.).

2. Describe the work setting in detail (duties, schedule, etc.). Prepare everyone for the fact that the sights, sounds, and smells they will encounter will form memories that may come back to them from time to time.

3. Offer education and special precautions on the psychological impact of things with which the students will not be familiar. This may include explaining cultural contexts, stressful working conditions, and the background of other groups or organizations with which the students might be working. If possible, it’s always helpful to offer a graphic description of the sensory experience they will most likely encounter.

4. Allow an opportunity for anyone who may feel he or she cannot handle the service project to gracefully exit (or be assigned a less stressful duty). Make sure that someone takes them aside and helps them process their feelings they have about their decision to not participate.

5. Make sure that everyone knows who to speak with if they need physical, spiritual, or emotional support at any time during the service project.

6. Remind everyone that there will be a mandatory debriefing after the service project.

7. Encourage the use of a “buddy system” if appropriate for the service project.

8. Also encourage people to journal. It can help people externalize some things (self-debriefing) and help them later, when things slow down and they want to review (and reflect upon) their assignment.

9. Set their spiritual expectations. Explain to them their Christian responsibilities and privileges within the context of the service project.

Debriefing

1. Examination

-Begin by reviewing what actually happened during and after the service project (e.g. what each person heard, saw, smelled, touched, thought, and did).
-Then review the feelings each person had at the time of the service project and in the time since the project.

2. Exploration

-Ask participants to explain what they perceive to be the underlying issues or problems associated with the situation or people whom they are serving.
-Then ask them what solutions they might suggest, if any.

3. Education

-Provide a scriptural vision/context for their service experience, and suggest how they might process/view it.
-Help participants to form a plan for “reentry” into their normal daily lives; in other words, assist them to integrate their experience and plan for future action.
-Educate participants on the potential (and normal) physical and/or psychological aftereffects of their experience.