Last week, Camp MOSH (Maternity Outreach Service for Humanity) at Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Bourbonnais made its massive impact. Many months of planning culminates in bringing together parishioners of all ages and utilizing all of the parish campus as a launching pad for service.
Camp MOSH service projects take groups all over the Bourbonnais area. Starting with prayer at the parish – like this morning blessing from Fr. Jhobany Orduz, CSV (top left) – groups set out for yard work, grounds improvements, and even projects on their own campus, such as this new vegetable garden (bottom right).
“What you do is helpful beyond all expectation for all these neighbors and for their homes,” Fr. Jason Nesbit, CSV, MBVM pastor, said to the group. “And MBVM is a complex piece of property to maintain, so it’s amazing to see how much these efforts do to make our campus beautiful, too.”
This every-other-year service week is a huge project for Amanda Fierce, Coordinator of Viatorian Youth Ministry, Julie Worby, Director of Communications who also leads project management, and the parish staff. Camp MOSH mobilized 140 youth volunteers, with as many as 90 coming in each day. They head out with adult project managers to neighbors’ homes, community sites, and Catholic churches, schools, and organizations, including Bishop McNamara Catholic School and MBVM’s campus.
Each morning starts at the parish with Mass and then breakfast and lunch-packing. Groups go out for six-hour service outings and then return for large-group prayer and reflection. The evenings offer social events, special dinners, and a mix of guest speakers and performances, this year including Bishop Hicks of Joliet. But it’s that faith-sharing period where people process and identify where they saw God.
Fr. Moses Mesh, CSV, parochial vicar, enjoyed working with youth volunteers during the social time. Fr. Moses shared his passion for stitching, sewing, and embroidery by helping young people with various handicraft activities.
One youth volunteer who shared her experience at a neighbor’s home said, “She introduced her special needs daughter, and her daughter was excited to learn our names, meet us, and get to know us a bit.” An adult project manager added, “When we’re tired, we take a break for water, then try to keep going – not just because we want to, but because we believe God can do it through us.”
Young adult parishioner Ian Cole led music and helped facilitate this sharing. “It was many, many years ago that people around here started to pull dirt from earth and make the bricks to build this church,” Ian said, affirming some teams that stayed on-site. “Now you guys are continuing that work and stewardship to maintain the church today.”
One big on-campus project was re-landscaping an area alongside the rectory to become a vegetable garden, whose produce can help stock the parish food pantry. Additionally, some project teams cleaned, painted, and improved the grounds for Bishop Mac, including the site at the parish. “I could not believe how much happened the first day. Then each day, we see more and more,” Pre-Associate Sue Goselin, principal for Bishop Mac’s Bourbonnais site at MBVM, said. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart because it means so much to us at the school.”
For all the earnest service work, Camp MOSH is also a time of great intergenerational fellowship, and it takes a village to prepare and serve meals, setup the gym and parish hall for meals and events, and keep everyone nourished and joyful together.
When the oppressive heat and dangerous heat index hit, Amanda needed an alternative to MBVM’s non-air-conditioned gym. She shortened the workday, secured bus transportation, and brought them to St. George, our Viatorian parish that partners with MBVM on youth ministry. Their air-conditioned hall housed the meal and social time, and the classrooms hosted escape room activities for the night. “Some people maybe wouldn’t have been able to tell you where the other church is or that it’s Viatorian, but this is changing. We’re teaching and sharing that Viatorian connection more,” Amanda said, citing this flip to St. George as a major memory from leading her first Camp MOSH. “It’s been a week I’ll never forget. God is good, all the time.”
Camp MOSH is a strong indication of the strength and vitality of this Viatorian parish. “This is a wonderfully engaged group. I can walk about and ask people about their day, and they’re sharing so much so easily about what they’re up to and how they’re enjoying their work,” Fr. Jason said.