The Lewiston-Auburn area is only half an hour away from Brunswick by car. This proximity serves to emphasize the cultural and economic differences between the two locations.

About 10 percent of the L-A population is Somali refugees. Many of the Somali adults speak little English. The majority are Muslim. It was into this startlingly different community that a group of eight local teens and their two adult chaperones immersed themselves from July 1 to 6.

High school students Conner Monette, Nathaniel Vilas, Joe Waring, Jack Murphy, Ben Flanagan, Teresa Murphy, Christina McClure and Madeline Cowan, accompanied by All Saints Parish Youth Ministry Director Sheila Murphy and seminarian Luc Roy, traveled to L-A to engage in a week of Christian fellowship, reflection and community service as part of a mission organized by Youth- Works Inc. The youth group was joined by Methodists from New Jersey and Baptists from North Carolina.

The teens were assigned to work crews and performed various community service activities. Part of the group spent time at Hope Haven Gospel Mission, a Lewiston homeless shelter. There, they mopped and swept floors, washed sheets, pulled weeds, moved heavy furniture, and cleaned bathrooms.

This group also visited Good Shepherd Food Bank, a huge warehouse full of salvaged and bulk food that is distributed at little or no cost to food pantries and soup kitchens throughout the state. Here, the teens weeded, cleaned conveyer belts and carts, organized the refrigerated portion of the warehouse, crushed boxes and unloaded pallets of food.

The same group also worked at Tree Street Youth. This facility offers a safe place for largely disadvantaged, primarily Somali children and teens to socialize, learn and eat a healthy meal free of charge. The morning program serves elementary school children and provides structured classes focusing on topics ranging from fitness to literacy.

The afternoon program serves teens and is less formal. Teens can play basketball or pool, create crafts such as beaded bracelets, or simply hang out with friends. Teens may also choose to take a class in dance, studio art or college planning.

The Mid-coast area teens helped manage the kids in the morning, and mingled with their peers in the afternoon.

The other half of the group painted walls at a local Salvation Army Corps and spent time playing with kids at the Root Cellar. The Root Cellar is an informal drop-in daycarestyle program featuring playing fields, a playground and space indoors where local kids can congregate in a safe environment. The most talked-about activity at the Root Cellar was providing coveted piggy-back rides to the children.

Activities in which the whole group participated included hosting a free community cookout at the Root Cellar and spending an evening at Kennedy Park where much of Lewiston’s youth congregates to play sports and use the playgrounds.

When not working in the community, the teens stayed at Pathway Vineyard Church in Lewiston. They cooked meals, prayed, sang, read the Bible, and got to know one another better through organized activities and competitions as well as through friendly conversation and games of Frisbee.

The week was highly rewarding and memorable one.

MADELINE COWAN is a junior at Brunswick High School.

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