Lessons in Christ

A 6-year-old boy in West Virginia changed Eric Meyer's outlook on life.

Meyer, 16, and a group of fellow teenagers from Southeast Missouri had just painted the little boy's trailer home and were having lunch with his family.

"He said, 'Today is the best day ever,'" Meyer said. "We asked 'why?' and he told us we were making his house look good."

Then the little boy held up the sandwich he was eating.

"When we asked what that meant, he said 'food.' He was just happy to have something to eat," Meyer said.

Meyer is one of around 200 teens who participate in the Vincentian Marian Youth, a Catholic-based youth group that focuses on serving the poor.

The group takes mission trips throughout the country and volunteers at a soup kitchen in St. Louis. They hold a monthly Mass at Miraculous Medal Shrine Church in Perryville, Mo., and a night of adoration (called Youth Adoring Christ or YAC) specifically for high school age youths.

During the mission trip to West Virginia last summer, Meyer helped replace a roof on an elderly couple's home.

"I was really humbled by it," Meyer said. "That couple was so spiritual. Everything they had they took great pride in. Things we took for granted, they were so appreciative of."

Shirley Klump, who oversees the Southeast chapter of VMY, said the teens first met in January 2004.

The organization got its start in the 16th century with the work of St. Vincent de Paul, a priest ordained in 1599. Some 200,000 youths now participate in 80 countries.

The group currently has a capital campaign underway to raise money to renovate a donated building into a youth center for VMY. The group is also preparing for a mission trip to Kansas City in November and a trip to the New Orleans area next summer, said Klump.

Day trips to work with low-income families in St. Louis have also had an impact on participants.

Jessica Donze spent a day carrying trays of food for families, an experience she had never been in before. That sort of eye-opening experience and the connections made are what keep teens like Donze coming to VMY.

"VMY altogether has made me a happier person," said 16-year-old Donze. "I know there is a God and he's out there for me. And there are other people for me, people in surrounding communities who come together for this."

cmiller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128