our lady of guadalupe

Reach Gonzaga

2008-05-23T23:22:00.000-07:00

Reach Gonzaga was AWESOME!!! It was the first Conference I'd ever been to, having never been to the Discipleship Week or the Gonzaga weekend, and it was ridiculously fun, faith-filled, and crazy. Yay Jesus! So everyone should check out the video on YouTube. The link is right here:
REACH GONZAGA WEEKEND VIDEO

God bless!

Our Lady of Guadalupe
Reach Team
2008

Benefit Dinner Success!!!

2008-04-25T13:37:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a week! This past Tuesday we had our Benefit Dinner our at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Selah, WA. and it was an amazing success. The Reach Team members decorated the hall and then worked all through the evening to bring food and drink to all 180 of the people who came to support this ministry. It took the team almost 7 hours to set-up the hall and then the 3 hours for the dinner, but I have to admit that I had more fun doing that than I could have imagined. It was so amazing to see how many people walked through the doors, faces I recognized and many I did not, ready to help a ministry that has truly changed lives. I've (Shea) never been to a benefit dinner for Reach, so I was completely astounded by the musical and theatrical abilities of the lovely Sevigny girls- they were amazing! But even more so than that, I was overwhelmed by the gratitude that people showed towards me and all the other team members for our commitment to Reach. I was just so excited they wanted to support us and so grateful that they were willing to take time out of their busy schedules to come spend an evening with us. So, I guess that goes to show that when we do the work of Christ, He will bless all those involved in so many more ways than we could have ever expected. I know that's the biggest thing I've learned this year, and I could not be more grateful than I am for all those who continue to support this ministry through their sponsorship and prayers. Thank you, thank you, thank you! You are truly bringing God to young people through your help, and all of us here are praying for you always. May God bring many blessings to you and your family, and may the peace of Christ reign always in your heart,

Our Lady of Guadalupe
Reach Team
2007/2008

The Three Amigos/ Trinity Team

2008-04-18T14:20:00.001-07:00

I hope this Easter season is going well for everyone. There have been some more changes for the Guad Quad. Matty Heffley returned home just before Easter, so there are just the three of us now. We've been officially dubbed the Trinity Team, or the Three Amigos and we're going to learn the dance from the movie and put it up here on the blog in the very near future. We just want to extend a huge thank you to Peter Berger, who despite not actually being on team has given up more than half a dozen weekends to help us on retreats. It's been a lifesaver to say the least!!! So, please keep us in your prayers, as well as Matty as she starts a new chapter of her life. May God bless you all!!!

Our Lady of Guadalupe
Reach Team
2008

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T17:15:00.000-07:00

Our very best wishes on this glorious day! May all the blessings that come with Christ's resurrection be with all of you! And may the peace of Christ reign always in your hearts,
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Reach Team
2007/2008

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

2008-03-17T11:00:00.000-07:00

As the most Irish on my team, I have to say that this St. Patrick's Day has been awesome! Mary Berger's dad informed us that because this is a feast day we were allowed to have what we gave up for Lent, and he even managed to convince me (I don't even take Sundays off, though the church does allow us to. All that stuff about not fasting when the bridegroom is present. Makes sense, if ya think about it) when he told me that even the Missionaries of Charity take today off. And if anyone is hard core, they sure are! So, Mary and Fred got their coffee this morning and I'm going to go eat some chocolate later on today. It should be amazing!

We have gotten the new task of helping get ready for the fundraiser dinner, so we're busy making phone calls and organizing everything so that it'll be an absolutely AMAZING event! Thank you for all the prayers you have been sending us throughout this year, they've truly been appreciated. Please continue to pray for us and our ministry. You are always in our prayers! God bless and may the peace of Christ reign always in your hearts and your homes,

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Reach Team

2007/2008

St. Patrick

Pray For Us

Marathon Weekend!

2008-03-12T13:06:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a weekend! The Guad Quad traveled back down to Oregon last Tuesday to do a retreat for a group out of Hillsboro, OR. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we were at the same beautiful retreat center near Seaside doing a "weekend" retreat for a class of 8th graders. They were an amazingly fun and exciting group that had more energy than I've ever seen! By Friday we were tired, but we loaded back into our van and drove back to Cowiche, where we started another weekend retreat for a Confirmation class out of Kennewick. Luckily, this time they came to us and we were able to do the retreat out of the center where we live. God blessed us with a group of kids that made our lives easy and more fun than almost any other retreat we've done. We hung out, stayed up way too late on Saturday night playing Ghost in the Graveyard around the center and then lost an hour with the time change, sang Praise and Worship songs at the top of our lungs and spent a lot of time talking about faith and God. Overall, in 5 days we did two 3-day retreats, which is quite the marathon!

Well, now we're hanging out in Cowiche, getting ready to head over to Kennewick this weekend for a day retreat at Holy Spirit Church on Saturday. Yesterday we drove with Dan up to Seattle to visit the Neuman Center at University of Washington, and got to hang out at Pike's Place Market in downtown. Please continue to pray for us as we recover from our weekend and continue to do ministry. May God bless you all and may the peace of Christ reign always in your hearts,

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Reach Team

2008

Blessed Mother

Pray For Us

Reach At The Beach

2008-03-03T14:01:00.000-08:00

This past weekend the Guad Quad, plus Peter, did a retreat near Seaside, OR. The beach was beautiful, the kids were awesome, and overall it was an amazing experience. After the retreat we drove to Cannon Beach to spend some time by the ocean. Here's Peter, leaning on a big rock.

And Shea, proclaiming to everyone on the beach that there were Catholics about.

We're home for the next couple of days and then we're back in Oregon Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at the same retreat center in Seaside. After that we're in Cowiche for a retreat. We're all excited about seeing the beach again and then doing a retreat at home. Life is good for the Guad Quad. Please keep us in your prayers.

God bless,

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Reach Team

2007/2008

The Guad Quad Adventures!

2008-02-21T10:08:00.000-08:00

So, it's been a while since the last blog, which means I've been slacking off a little bit. But here's what's been going on the past month or so....

We've had some amazing retreats. First we were in Nampa, ID with some pretty crazy high schoolers. Here's some pictures:

Presenting: The High School Youth Group

Singing: I'm A Little Tea Pot

Mary's Small Group Pyramid. What you can't see is two of us holding them up in the back because they kept falling over. :D

On the way home from Nampa, we got stuck in the Blue Mountains trying to get over the pass because there was a semi wreck at the bottom. So, Mary and I decided we wanted to go see how far the line up of cars was. At this point it was snowing so hard we could barely see and it was foggy to boot, but we needed to get out of the car. So, we jumped out of our van and started making our way down the road to figure out what was going on. We never did reach the end because it was too cold, but Mary and I can officially say that we've run down the freeway between semis and not be lying about it!

We even got a picture of Mary between semis. And they just keep going and going and going and going all the way down the freeway. It was crazy!

After that we headed up to Arlington, WA. We had an ex-reacher come along to help, so Fred had another boy to hang out with. The funny thing was that we were supposed to have two retreats between these two and we didn't because the passes were so bad we didn't want to risk driving through them. There has been a crazy amount of snow everywhere in the northwest except Yakima, WA. Even in Arlington (which is fairly close to the coast and pretty temperate) and Boise (which is in a desert) got snow, and that's practically unheard of. The retreat was awesome and the kids all remembered Matty, Fred, and Peter Berger, which made it fun. Overall, a great group of young men and women who we had a blast with.

From there we went to Moxee for a youth group night and White Swan for a couple day retreats. That was last weekend, so we're almost all the way caught up!

Tuesday and Wednesday of this week we were at Bishop Kelly High School in Boise, ID. We worked with the Campus Ministry class, which consisted of 12 Seniors, on Tuesday so that they could help us out with the 185 freshman we would have in the gym on Wednesday. I have to admit, I know I haven't been doing this very long, but these Seniors were such an inspiration to all of us. We worked with them for about 6 hours Tuesday, and when Wednesday came around they led games, performed a skit with us, each had a small group of their own and three of them shared their testimonies in front of all the freshman. And they were more real than I'd seen anyone be in a long time. They were truly an amazing group of young men and women who I know had an impact not only on the freshman they were ministering to, but also to us and all the administration present who got to see just how open to God's will they could be.

So, now is our day off. Tomorrow we head north to Everett, WA to do a weekend retreat and next week we'll have many, many more adventures to talk about. But for now, here's some pictures of our team: The Amazing Guad Quad! :D

The New Year

2008-01-09T18:55:00.000-08:00

Blessings upon you all in this new year!

I pray that the holiday season was as filled with joy as the first Christmas.
It certainly is a miracle of miracles!

As this new year begins, though, we've seen some changes to our team. The Our Lady of Guadalupe Reach team is now down to four people: Fred Lopez, Matty Heffley, Mary Berger, and Shea McHugh. Phill Peterson has returned home to Chicago, and Amber Kauffman is now working in Yakima. Phill hopes to come back and spend some more time with us during there last seven months of team, and we pray that everything works out for that to happen. Please keep both Amber and Phill in your prayers as they continue their journey. We know that God will bless them no matter where they are!

The Guad Quad will be kicking off the new year with out first retreat this weekend in southern Idaho. Keep us in your prayers!

May God bless you abundantly
and may the the Peace of Christ be with you all,

Our Lady of Guadalupe
Reach Team
2007-2008

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T18:48:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from

Chicago, IL

Salem, OR
Deer Park, WA

Tijuana, Mexico

Yakima, WA

Coeur d'Alene, ID

Best wishes for the holiday seasons and may the Peace of Christ be with you all!

God bless,
Our Lady of Guadalupe

Reach Team 2007/2008

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE!!!

2007-12-12T15:21:00.001-08:00

HAPPY FEAST DAY!!!
We just wanted to wish you the best day possible and may the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mother keep you safe and healthy and close to her son, Jesus.

God bless and may the peace of Christ be with you,

Our Lady of Guadalupe
Reach Team
2007

Nearing The End Of The Year....

2007-12-11T13:08:00.000-08:00

As 2007 draws closer to its end, we've been spending some time with Dan and Laura debriefing about everything so far this year. It's amazing to look back at the beginning of the year and remember how different everything was then. At that time, Reach wasn't something we really understood, and, essentially, none of us really had any idea what we were getting ourselved into. Because even the second years were more than a little surprised about how different this year is from last year and any other year before, because that's how Reach is. It's never the same. And it's always exciting! :D So, here's a summary of our year thus far. Enjoy!

August 26th- We all arrive (except those of us who were here early.... Matty and Phill :D). It was hard to say goodbye to family and friends, but we were all looking forward to what the year held for all of us.

August 27th- September - We're thrown into training with Dan Bartleson and Laura McCain. It's hard core spiritual bootcamp where everyone learns more than they thought they ever would. By the end of three weeks of sessions, retreat skills, drama practice, and team life we all had learned more new information than we thought possible. And we were ready for a break, which is why it was so amazingly nice to spend a weekend at King's Lake north of Spokane, WA. And this was our first official Reach photo.

Yes, we're all amazingly professional after a weekend of "camping" (there were cabins so it doesn't really count I suppose).

October- November - More reatreats. Our team was incredibly busy from the time training ended until the 1st of December. All together, we had 25 retreats, and it was amazing! :D From Wenatchee to Oak Harbor to Prince George

to Coeur d'Alene (twice!)
to Vancouver B.C. (five retreats in six days!) to Richland to Yakima, it's been a crazy trip all the way. Thank you again to all the retreatants- you were so much fun and we miss you all. You're always in our prayers. Thank you to all the contact people- you're help is much appreciated and we could not have done it without your aid.

December- And then we returned to our wonderful home in Yakima, WA. And we're thinking about all that we've done. I know I never expected to be in this place, especially after swearing never to come back to Yakima ever again after my interview weekend, but the more time I spend here the more it becomes my home. Because with a community of believers, it's impossible to feel like there's no hope for the future. It's not always easy, but there's peace in knowing that God will take care of what needs to happen. And with our team, that's been especially important. We truth in God, trust in each other, and pray for the best in the future. I know that these people that God has blessed me with will be with me the rest of my life. On Reach, your team becomes your family. And my family is AMAZING!!!!

And now the year is finishing up. This Friday we will all head home to spend Christmas with our families, but we wish you all the best during your holiday season. Please keep in mind the less fortunate and pray for all those alone during this season of joy. May God bless you abundantly and may the Peace of Christ be with you.

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Reach Team

2007

The Amazing Race... Reach Style!

2007-11-28T12:06:00.000-08:00

Well, now we're back in wonderful Yakima, WA (for all those you did not know, we got SNOW!!! That's right! It was pretty much flippin amazing!) and now we're filling up our day with work around the community. We have mass every morning at one of three parishes: Holy Family, Holy Redeemer or St. Paul's Cathedral. The three teams are assigned to different parishes for one month at a time and, as the months go by, spend time at all three parishes. Right now, our team is going to Holy Family and the Fatima team is at Holy Redeemer. The Lourdes team would be going to St. Paul's but they're never here at the center, so they don't have so worry about that. Keep them in your prayers as they travel around the Northwest.

After mass, we usually go get coffee and have breakfast. But on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, whenever we can, we go pray at the local Abortion Clinic in Yakima. It's a trying and emotional exercise in spirituality, walking outside a building where murder is committed every day. For our team especially, this is something that's very close to our hearts, and we were blessed with Our Lady of Guadalupe as our patron saint, who is also the patron saint of the unborn. So, with her intercession, we spend Tueday and Wednesday morning, and occassionally Tuesday afternoons at Planned Parenthood, protesting the evil committed there. I can say from personal experience that I was the girl who laughed at people protesting and swore I would do no such thing, but now that I see the effects that Abortion has on women and families I know that it's something that must be stopped. Watching people walk in and our of the Abortion Clinic with a haunted look behind their eyes and a defensive tone in their voice makes me realize that there needs to be so much more love in the world and much more support for those struggling with unexpected pregnancies or any of the lies in this culture of death that we are a part of. So, please pray for an end to Abortion, because our prayers will not go unanswered. Mother Mary is our greatest advocate and she's watching over us as we go out and protest the evil. As it says in Matthew 5:11-12, "Blessed ar you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil agains you [falsely] because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven." So, what do you have to lose?

CHOOSE LIFE!

YOUR MOM DID.

When we're not in Mass (Yay Jesus!) or saving babies, our team spends time at our lovely center in Cowiche, WA. We spend our days helping Dan and Laura with work here. By the way, thank you so much Sean and Alicia Haler for our sweatshirts, t-shirts and polos! They're definitely the coolest designs ever and much better than the ones from past years! :D We just received those yesterday, so we're all very excited about that. Our team spends some time every day in prayer, during which we usually lift up intentions or pray the Rosary or pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. We also clean and maintain the retreat center that we are so lucky to be able to use. Juan Gonzalez keeps our lights working and everything maintained so well for us, so thank you Juan! Some evenings we will go out into the community for dinner, usually to a family's home. This week our team is having dinner with the Urlacher's, which we're all very, very excited about! If we're not out for dinner, though, we make our own meals and clean up all our own dishes. It's a good exercise in discipline for us all. This Thursday my team will be attending a Charismatic night at Holy Family Parish called Sprit of Christ Alive. We're not quite sure what we're getting ourselved into, but we're all excited for it. The charismatic movement has been a huge part of Phill's spiritual experience, and Matty and I both come from a slightly charismatic church, so we love being involved in that. Keep us in your prayers as we search for an increase in spirituality in our own lives and in our team. The next couple weeks are recovery weeks for our team, because we don't have any more planned retreats until we leave for Alaska on January 8, 2008, so much more of our time will be spent in prayer as a team and working on increasing our trust in each other.

With only two weeks left before we head home for Christmas break, it's hard to believe that three months ago we all began Reach. All of us have experienced things we never thought we would have to face. We've had trials and hardships, but the supportive community here makes all the difference. When one person is struggling the people around them are always there with a hug or a shoulder to cry on or a listening ear or a word of advice, and it's the greatest feeling in the world to know that there's a community here that cares about my well being and my eternal salvation. And that they care enough to tell me when I'm doing something that's detrimental to myself or my team is what means the most to me. It's the best and the hardest experience of my life, but in the end it's a search for a closer communion with God. And when the biggest goal of a person or a team is that closer communion, it makes life more interesting and exciting than anything else. So, once again, please keep us in your prayers, and for all those considering joining this amazing organization my biggest suggestion is to pray about it A LOT and to ask yourself, "Am I ready to sacrifice myself for my team and my God?"

May God bless you abundantly

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Reach Team

2007

MORE Diocese of Vancouver!

2007-11-20T00:06:00.000-08:00

Just for those certain people who think I was making fun of big families, I happen to love big families and so does everyone on my team! The only one with problems with small children is Phill because he has no idea how to handle babies, so he just hands them off to one of the girls, usually with the line, "Ah! It's broken! Fix it!" It's pretty much hilarious!

So, we've had an exciting day in Vancouver today. It was our first day off in four days, so we were planning on sleeping in (which we managed to do splendidly) and then go have lunch with the Director of Youth Ministry in the Diocese of Vancouver. His name is Clayton Imoo and he was amazingly fun and we had a great time at lunch with him and the rest of his staff at the Diocese. Thank you again to Gerard Garcia, Analyn Perez, and Faye McCreedy for being so wonderfully helpful during our adventure in Vancouver. This is how it started:

We arrived in downtown Vancouver a little late for lunch and parked outside the Diocese offices to find out where we were going to lunch. We fed the meter a few quarters so we wouldn't have to move right away and turned the car off. Gerard came out to show us where we could park the car for free, so we went to turn the car on and it would not start. That's right- no power! The lights were all working, as well as the windows and sliding doors, but the engine was NOT going to turn over for us. So, all got out, fed the meter a few more quarters (one quarter=7 minutes in downtown Vancouver) and met on the sidewalk to walk to lunch. But before the group could get going, a bird decided to relieve itself in Shea's hair. Now, Shea has A LOT of hair, so she didn't notice, so Mary pulled her quickly into the wash room so they could clean her us before taking her out to lunch. The rest of the day, Shea walked around outside with a hood on! Lunch was wonderful at Rosie's, just a block away. When we got back to the car, we put it in neutral to back it into the alley right behind the Diocese offices. Then Clayton ran to go get his car so we could try to jump the car, which didn't work, so Phill had to sign up for AAA to get a mechanic to come look at the car. So, long story short, Phill has to hotwire the car everytime we want to start it by crawling underneath the hood and shoving a screwdriver between two wires to jump the engine and make it run. And our drivers keep forgetting and turning off the car! So, please, please, please, please, pray that we can get to Spokane, WA and get our darn van fixed so that everything will be working fine when we return the van to the Fatima team. Because we were borrowing their van this week! :D

So, it's been an amazingly crazy week of retreats and van adventures, but we'll be heading back into the states tomorrow evening. We're spending Thanksgiving with Matty's family, and then we'll be returning to Yakima, WA until Christmas unless any last minute retreats come up. So, if you know anyone who would like a retreat done, have them call the office because I think Dan will give them a deal on it! May God bless you all and bring peace to you and your families,

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Reach Team

2007

P.S.- More pictures coming soon!

Diocese of Vancouver

2007-11-17T09:46:00.000-08:00

I'm staying with Mary Berger at the Delaney House and we're visiting with their 6 kids

(ready for this?):
Meghan, Connor, Mackenzie, Alex, Marcus, Christopher

Now try saying that five times fast :D

All 6 of us have been split between 3 different host homes since we entered Canada, which hasn't been too much of a problem. Our retreats have been going amazing! In Vancouver we had two retreats at St. Patrick's, one with Grade 10 and one with Grade 9. It was the first retreats that anyone but our fearless leaders have led, so that was crazy amazing! Mary Berger led the first retreat and I led the second. Today's retreat is being planned and coordinated by Miss Amber Kaufman. Please keep us in your prayers and we will be back in the US on Tuesday for Thanksgiving at Matty Heffley's house. God bless,

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Reach Team

2007

Life On Team...

2007-11-12T21:52:00.000-08:00

I'm sure everyone will read this post because that always seems to be the biggest question we get. "What's it like living with these people all the time?" Well, if you really want to know.... :D Just kidding.

Life on Reach isn't something that people outside of Reach talk about much. It's the day to day challenges that can make or break a team. Loving each other as best we can, we all fail each other in some way every day, but we realize that by standing together and forgiving each other's faults we can overcome those failures and become better people. Some days it's not the easiest thing in the world to do, but it's a sacrifice we all commit to. It's a sacrifice that means staying up late talking to someone who needs help when you'd rather be sleeping. It's a sacrifice that means holding your tongue when you'd really like to tell someone exactly what you think of them. It's a sacrifice that means putting your teammates above yourself.

I love how retreat work brought us all together on a team. It's amazing to think about all the different situations that brought our amazing Guadalupe Team together, but we're all hear to teach each other and help each other grow. Because, in this ministry, the plans God has for you may be completely different from the plans you had coming in. It's a daily challenge to grow closer to God and closer to your teammates, while still working full time for a bunch of kids :D

God bless,
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Reach Team 2007

NORTHWEST TEAM!!!

2007-11-02T19:19:00.000-07:00

We've just been assigned our territory for next year and the Our Lady of Guadalupe Reach Team will be conquering the Northwest Territory. YAY!!!

Starting January 8th, we will be in Anchorage, Alaska, and after that we will be in the northwest for the remainder of the year. Please keep us in your prayers, as well as the other two teams. The Our Lady of Lourdes team will be conquering the Midwest, while the Our Lady of Fatima team will be conquering the Southwest.

God bless,

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Reach Team 2007

A Canceled Retreat

2007-11-02T16:32:00.000-07:00

By some freak accident, our retreat in Corbett, OR got canceled this weekend, so we're spending time in Salem and Portland with some of our family. It's a nice time to relax and enjoy the beautiful fall weather in Oregon. We've gone two weeks without any substantial retreats, which is different for our team after going non-stop for a month and a half.

For all those who wish to see more picture of our team, please visit our photobucket account at Our Lady of Guadalupe. You can view all our wonderful and amazing photos there, as i know you're just dying to do.

For all those who are considering Reach, my advice is to get involved in your own church. Help out for the younger kids in your church, volunteer on mission trips, spend time praying and getting to know God on a more personal level. This is a job unlike any other, but it requires work. And, in the end, you get out of it how much you put into it. It's a daily commitment to loving the people around you (especially those you would be most inclined not to love), to following God's suggestions (even when they don't make any sense), and to do everything in your power to allow God to work through you. You will join a community that has also committed to working for God, but every year and every team are completely different. Have no expectations, but plan on being changed by the people around you and by God. He will mold you if you allow Him to, and the more you move out of His way and allow Him to do His work, the more you'll get out of it. It's one of the hardest things to do, but you've always got a community around you to rely on when things get hard. It's a wonderful and amazing experience in faith and community that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. So, if you're considering joining or someone on team has talked to you about it, please pray about it. If God wants you here He'll be persistant, but you need to listen to what He has to say about it.

God bless!
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Reach Team 2007

CANADA!!!!!!

2007-10-14T15:10:00.000-07:00

We just finished our first weekend retreat in beautiful Prince George Canada. It was AMAZING!!!!! We had 18 young adults between the ages of 11 and 18, and they were amazingly fun and exciting. We all had a blast and we'll be heading back into the states tomorrow. Next weekend we're in Coeur d'Alene, ID (where Matty and Shea grew up), but we have a couple days to relax this week between youth group nights and hanging out with families. Pictures of our weekend in Prince George will be coming very, very soon, as well as some pictures from our Oak Harbor, WA reatreat.

Retreats so far:
1. Yakima, WA
2. Wenatchee, WA
3. Richland, WA
4. Richland, WA
5. Oak Harbor, WA
6. Oak Harbor, WA
7. Moxee, WA
8. Prince George, British Columbia, Canada

Retreats to come:
9. Coeur d'Alene, ID
10. Coeur d'Alene, ID
11. Yakima, WA

Life has been pretty crazy, but we're having a blast doing retreats and getting to know so many amazing kids. Our van broke down right before we had to leave for Canada, so we're borrowing the Lourdes' team van, and it's been amazing. Thank you guys!!! We put up Christmas lights inside the van and they are amazing! :D

Please keep us in your prayers that our ministry can continue to change the lives of the young people we come in contact with. God knows it's not us doing it, but He wants us here and we'll do the best we can. Thank you for all the support you've given us and for all your prayers. God bless you all!!!

Our Lady of Guadalupe
Reach Team 2007

Our Lady Of Guadalupe

2007-10-05T14:58:00.000-07:00

Introductions first (from left to right):

Fred Lopez- Our fearless team leader (well, one of them). His second year on Reach. He's the oldest of anyone on team this year, at the age of 24, which means he brings a lot of life experience to the team. He grew up in Tijuana, Mexico, but now lives in Yakima, WA.

Mary Berger- Our home-town Yakima girl. She comes from a line of reachies, but she's most definitely the coolest! She was home-schooled, loves sports, plays the piano like no one's business and

Shea McHugh- Our other Coeur d'Alene, ID girl. She's 19 and just graduated from high school. She loves music and games and talking to people.

Mathea Heffley- Our other fearless leader. She grew up in Coeur d'Alene/Post Falls, ID and this is her second year on Reach. She is the oldest girl on team this year, at the ripe old age of 19 (20 in December), and she brings a ton of energy and fun to our team.

Amber Kaufman- Our only Oregon girl, from Salem. She's 18, and converted to Catholicism a couple years ago. She also just graduated from high school, loves music and dancing, wants to be a nurse when she grows up, and is our vegetarian.

Phill Peterson- Our East Coast kid, from Chicago, IL. He just recently got confirmed (on the 22nd of September to be exact), which was amazing! YAY PHILL!!! He graduated from High School last year, loves dramas and skits, and had no idea what he was getting into when he signed up for Reach but he's having tons of fun.

We're having an amazing time getting to know each other as we put on retreats and travel around the northwest. This weekend we're off to Prince George, Canada. It's a crazy 16 hour drive to get there but we're looking forward to it. Keep us in your prayers!
God bless,
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Reach Team 2007

indiana

2007-03-10T18:14:00.000-08:00

my team disagrees... but i know oprah was in this limo

peter is ummm.... i dont know
Sabrina and the "four guys"

the st. max team goes to white castle

Sabrina being gross and jake enjoying his white castle burger

man overboard!

the captain's ball, during ship decks. good times...

about the 11th hour? ew

looooong car drive from SD to IN. long.

Indiana was a very good place to be. The St. Max team stayed at a camp, hung out, and did some good retreats, all of which were HUGE. I mean like 160-170 6-8 graders, 140 8 graders and another big one... that was cool. I finally ate at White Castle... very good at first... not so much later. We got lost a bit and experienced some very crappy weather. ummmm thats about it.

peace

back when we were in South Dakota

2007-03-02T19:32:00.000-08:00

We were only in South Dakota for a little bit but we actually did a lot. We got to see Logan and his familia. We saw a little bit of Rapid City, including art alley and later we went through the badlands on our way to yankton to stay with kristal and her family. OH AND we drove and drove and drove till we got to Indiana.

sabrina at art alley/ street of vandalism

the badlands

jake was a little scared going down these stairs... i made them all go in front of me, just incase somebody fell.

yeah, reach is everywhere.

THE CORN PALACE.... and pickles!

how cute old teammates together again

Lewistown

2007-02-28T12:49:00.000-08:00

Lewistown is a way cute place and we had a lot of fun there. On Valentine's Day the guys took me and sabrina to a place called poor mans for lunch it was a good time. We walked around the town a lot. We went to Captain Bob's Army Surplus, which is now my favorite store ever... I couldve spent like 300 hundred dollars there, if I had that much. And me and sabrina did some nice stuff for the guys too. We all stayed with some really awesome families the family me and sabrina stayed with had really really cute kids. We did some kick butt retreats. And the last day after mass we went back to me and sabrina's host home to pack up our stuff and we found that we were locked out. Our host home was out of town and so we had to break in. Suprisingly nobody in the neighborhood called the cops on us. So here are some pictures from the town, our retreats and our host home. OH yeah we were in Lewistown a loong time ago... I'm a little behind on my blogging duties.

PEACE

middle of nowhere

2007-02-17T16:47:00.000-08:00

Colstrip Montana is almost non existent, but pretty much amazing. While we were in Colstrip we had a few retreats, saw some cool things, and met some amazing people. Our team got a tour of the Coal power plant that gives electricity to a lot of the west... its huge and awesome and the reason the town of Colstrip exists. We were lucky to see it because most of the locals have never stepped foot inside. We looked way good in our visitor hard hats and glasses. The kids we met on retreat were very fun, and we'll remember them for a while. It also snowed and snowed and snowed in one night we got like a foot. OH and only Jake had service the whole time we were there... my mom was beginning to wonder if I was dead.

Coeur d' Alene again

2007-02-14T20:49:00.000-08:00

So I spent some time with the Joan of Arc team filling in for melissa and then I went home for a little bit with Fred and Alaina, we all had a good time. Then finally after about a week I was reunited with my team in Coeur d' Alene. It was a pretty good time, we had a chance to relax and have fun before our long trip. So we did some cool stuff and hung out with some awesome people. Peter, Jake, and Shane stayed with the Acevez family who were way nice and amazing cooks... we all gained like 10 pounds. Cassi Burnett hosted me and Sabrina and it was really good to spend some time with her. Here are some pictures...