During the Holy year of Mercy we held a camp for teenage girls in our convent in Brunssum. The program was based on learning how to be a real Christian. The teenagers went to Mass every day along with time for inside and outside games. The talks were about how to be real Christians and about how grace makes us Holy that we have to take care of our souls to get to Heaven. We also talked about the daily graces God gives us and how we have to use that grace to live well. We receive grace in a special way in the sacraments of Holy Communion and Confession. That is why it’s so important to go to Mass and Confession. Our Lord gave us the sacraments to help our souls that never die.
The sisters and teenagers went rafting to work on team building, to learn to be generous and to help each other. We also went on a pilgrimage by bike to St. Charles in Munstergeleen, where the girls learned about St. Charles’ life. St. Charles was Dutch. He was born in Munstergeleen and went as a missionary to Ireland. People go there daily to pray for personal intentions and for world. The girls prayed for themselves and also for their families and the needs of the world. After our visit to St. Charles we had an ice cream and returned with our bikes to the convent. One of the priests from our Religious Family gave a talk about confession, what confession is, and how to confess well. During the talk Father talked about how great is God’s mercy. And during adoration the girls had an opportunity to go to confession.
We had a treasure hunt through Brunssum, where there teenagers had to complete fun tasks and answer questions from different people from Brunssum to receive the following hint. The treasure hunt finished by the campfire.
The days of camp were fun and educational and the children went home with a clean and happy heart. Some of the girls didn’t want to leave so we invited them to come again next year. We the sisters would like to ask you to please pray for these girls. Thank you.
Sister Sterre der Zee, SSVM