Presbytery Youth Mission Learning Week in Taos
Camp Loma Verde - Taos, New Mexico
On June 3-8, 2018, 31 youth and 8 adults from all across the Presbytery of Santa Fe gathered at Camp Loma Verde, a PC(USA) camp 9 miles outside of Taos, for a week of service and learning.
The youth did a lot of work to help get camp ready for the summer, including sanding, painting, fixing up doors and windows, and a lot of brush clearing to create defensible space around buildings in preparation for a dry summer and high fire danger. As well as volunteered at Not Forgotten Outreach, a respite center for veterans. There, the youth learned a lot about the needs of veterans and the importance of spaces, like Not Forgotten, where they and their families can find space to heal.
Besides playing with all the therapy animals, the youth did lots of hard work clearing growth from the acequia that runs through newly acquired land that they are planning to develop into gardens and a tiny home community for homeless vets. On Wednesday, the group was led on a guided hike by Jeremy Romero (with the New Mexico Wildlife Federation) who taught about national parks and monuments and why they are so important to protect. On Thursday, there was an opportunity to visit the Taos Pueblo, where tour guides shared their stories of growing up there as well as the history of the Pueblo and the lands surrounding it. Friday, in returning home with full minds and hearts, and totally exhausted. It was a great week with lots of learning and new friendships made, as well as new experiences of God at work in our lives and world.
