I am so thankful that my parents have always valued instilling a strong faith in their kids, always looking for ways to teach us the faith. As far back as I can remember, in addition to learning about and living the faith at home, my parents would also bring me to Challenge Girls Club. Challenge is a program that helps youth girls and teens to foster a deep relationship with Jesus Christ and help us to become Christian leaders who can transform culture. There is no doubt that Challenge has helped me to do exactly what it intends, which is to teach teens how to follow Christ’s example and live authentic Christian virtues such as friendship, sincerity, obedience, generosity, purity, charity, hope, joy, faith and perseverance. As I have gotten older, I transitioned from Challenge to a program called ECYD (Encounters, Convictions, Your Decisions), which is an international Catholic association of adolescents who make a pledge of friendship with Christ and with each other to build up a new world according to the Gospel.     Growing up, I had the privilege of two older sisters who had set a great example for me. They also grew with the gift of Challenge and ECYD and actually, both of them felt called to do a mission summer through ECYD, which I have been looking forward to doing myself for many years. Many of you probably helped them get to their ECYD Summer Mission program and I am grateful for your help since watching them on their journey with Christ has had a huge impact on my life. ECYD has been a great blessing to me. Because I have been a part of this association since elementary school, it has been the most help through this journey in my faith and learning what it’s like to surround myself with people that will make me a better person. Now that I am older, I want to give this gift to others and a couple of ways that I am doing that is by being a team leader at my parish and a team leader for younger girls involved in ECYD. I have a very strong passion for leading and to not only lead in my hometown but also bring my faith and the light of Christ to Rome since I will be a team leader there as well. 

• Visiting: Rome, Vatican City, Audience with the Pope and Assisi
• Guided tours of St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, Colosseum, Mayor Basilicas in Rome and Holy Steps.
• Cost Includes: Lodging, Entrance Fees, All Breakfast and Lunch and Dinner (according to itinerary) and Transportation while in Italy.
• Cost: $1,850 + Airfare

• $700 – Initial deposit due on December 1, 2023
• $700 – Due by February 1, 2024
• $450 – Due by March 1, 2024 (total cost = $1,850)
• $1,500 – Airfare