Catholic Heart Workcamp returns to diocese to celebrate community and service
By Maggie Parsons
More than 250 campers attended the 15th annual Catholic Heart Workcamp hosted by the Diocese of Knoxville, welcoming people traveling from all over the country to say yes to serve the people of God in community with each other.
The campers convened in Knoxville June 22-26.
“I think you need to step outside your own backyard to experience it, to know how you can pour back into your own community,” said Annie Nassis, director for the Knoxville location of the Catholic Heart Workcamp and youth minister at All Saints Parish in Knoxville.
Ms. Nassis described how participants in the camp must leave their home community to see how they can give back to their own community to the best of their ability.
Catholic Heart Workcamp has celebrated 33 years of serving communities and growing in faith, spanning eight weeks in the summer from many locations all around the country. The mission of the camp is to empower Catholics all around the world of all ages to surrender to God’s will by stepping out of their comfort zones and serving the people in need by being the hands and feet of Christ.
“The sense of community is built not only while we are together with our youth group, but outside our youth group, and through all the amazing people we get to meet from all over the country,” said Kate Whyman, a youth participant attending the camp from Georgia.
Kate enjoys the community that is built during the camp and the opportunities to meet other people outside the group they came with in order to get a diverse experience.
The camp is divided into five days, having its own variety of activities for the participants, including prayer, work, and fun. Each day they celebrate Mass together before splitting up into their separate work groups, which include people from the eight churches that traveled from all around the country to Knoxville, and serve people from all walks of life. The groups head to their work sites, which vary in need and location around the city, starting on Monday. They make progress until the final day of work on Thursday. Their results show how working as a team for the greater good can help people.
“Everyone on the team is important. Everyone on the team has a job. And everyone has to work together to achieve those things,” Ms. Nassis said as she spoke on the importance of the camp’s teamwork, a reminder of how God wants the faithful to work together and grow for a greater purpose.
“My favorite thing was helping out the residents, learning all the new faces, all the new names. It is one of the best experiences I’ve ever had,” said James Mickey, a camper traveling from Wisconsin, who talked about how he enjoys helping out the residents in the community when asked what his favorite part of the camp was.
The work sites included the Ladies of Charity, Knoxville Area Rescue Ministries stores, building a wheelchair ramp for a diocese parishioner, and Samaritan Place senior shelter. There were over 50 work sites and clients who were helped during the camp week.
Service and sacraments
During the week, the campers get experiences to deepen their faith with Christ not only by helping God’s people but by making sacrifices, participating in the liturgies and sacraments, and encountering their brothers and sisters to build each other up while growing closer to the Lord.
Catholic Heart Workcamp campers finish their work at Samaritan Place shelter for seniors in Knoxville on June 26. (Photo Bill Brewer)
Catholic Heart Workcamp is helping the Catholic campers and organizers around the country be able to recognize and understand the blessings they have back home. Helping those who are not as fortunate helps them take a step back to see the reality of the world around them, how they should use the blessings they have received, and be that light of Christ for those who feel like they live in darkness.
“Taking numerous amount of youth and bring them into the area and showing them what we need to appreciate having at home,” said Deb Braden, an adult participant and chaperone for one of the attending youth groups.
Ms. Braden spoke on the joy it is to bring such a large number of youth who want to leave the comfort of their homes to help those who may not be as fortunate as them.
“The camp does such a great job of seeing the community by bonding here and growing in your faith while on base (in Knoxville) but also seeing what is actually in the world and the areas that need help.” Ms. Braden said, talking about how the camp opens the campers’ eyes to the reality of the world.
“I love the sense of community that is brought through Catholicism and how beautiful it is when we are all in worship together at night, every teenager in there is worshiping God and praising Him,” Kate said, speaking about her point of view of the camp and how it is not just a community but one that is rooted in the founding of the faith.
“It is just incredible to see a group of young people actually work towards a common goal and want to help people outside of being told to do something,” Kate remarked, noting what a joy it is to have a group of people, especially in her generation, that have a willingness to help others.
Like any camp, Catholic Heart Workcamp’s mission is to not only help the campers see the needs of the world, but also to have that grow into something deeper that will stick with them so they don’t just leave it behind. They will carry that with them for the rest of their lives.
“Groups will go back home and start giving to their community, going to serve. It energizes people and motivates them to take more action at home,” Ms. Nassis said when asked how the participants of the camp live out the mission and are on fire for the Lord.
On the last full day of the camp, when the campers are finishing up their work-site projects and getting to see the progress they have made, the residents, those who the campers helped, get a chance to speak and discuss what the week meant to them.
“It’s neat to see the community come together and be a witness to what it has meant to those we have served,” said Ms. Nassis, citing another example of how important a community is and how it can continue to expand, changing the lives built around it.
The campers of the Catholic Heart Workcamp got to be involved in a unique experience, taking a leap of faith for the greater good. Each camper takes a step and says yes to God and makes sacrifices to help people in need. Traveling to a place they may have never been, sleeping on air mattresses, showering in locker rooms, and volunteering for people they have never met, the camp week is a journey, but it’s a rewarding journey shared by others encountered along the way.
In just four short days, Catholic Heart Workcamp united participants from all around the country representing eight churches across six states to serve more than 50 residents with more than 7,000 hours of community service. They began as a mission and developed into a community united in service and taking action through love, all for the will of God.