FOCUS North America's Youth Equipped to Serve (YES) Program Hosts Los Angeles Weekend

By Charles Ajalat

I’ve just come home from the FOCUS North America YES trip to the Fred Jordan Mission on skid row in Los Angeles and am still so excited I want to capture part of what happened, for the benefit of Orthodox Christians.

 Our group of 23, included Katrina, five older “counselors” or leaders, the young adults (7th graders through high school students), and myself. We started Friday, February 4 at noon with a two hour briefing and training session at a local Orthodox Church by our truly spiritual, truly uplifting and inspiring YES! Director, Katrina Bitar. What rapport she has with the teens and counselors, what humility, what love for the poor, what a model for our young people. God willing, she is in the process of replicating herself .

We are not only more than doubling the YES program this year but, God willing, will multiple it many times over in the near future. Preparation had been made by the staff the day and week before the YES weekend. The trip was well-planned. Peter Jordan, an Orthodox Christian, and son of the founders of the Mission, Fred and Willie Jordan, was our guide along with the staff of the Mission. Peter and the staff did an incredible job. They were extremely impressed with the YES program and these young adults, their spiritual maturity, their love for the poor, their enthusiasm, their organization. The Fred Jordan Mission staff said our group was the best they had seen!

Read the entire report at FOCUS' website.