What is OYO
Orthodox Youth Outreach is a ministry of the NAC Teen SOYO. It has been designed to provide local parishes with the resources necessary to involve junior and senior high students in local community service and short-term mission projects. These tools are made available through a four step service-learning process known as E4 (expose, engage, equip, and entrust). The strategy behind E4 is to move students from observers to leaders. This is accomplished using a stair-cased program centered upon carefully chosen service projects. Each project is chosen based upon specific criteria known to be meaningful in service-learning contexts. In addition, a modified orientation and debriefing component has been created in order to maximize the significance and long-term effects of these projects.

Most of these projects take place during normal school breaks – Christmas, Easter, and summer. In a stair-stepped fashion, the students are required to participate in local/community projects before they are able to qualify for regional or national events. For example, OYO encourages each parish youth group to participate in, at least, one local service project per quarter. However, to participate in a regional service project, students are required to have served in at least three local projects. Likewise, students are required to serve in at least two regional events before they are considered eligible to serve on a national project. With each step, the environmental or cultural tension of the service project becomes more complex. This “created tension” is by design, and provides the kind of context conducive for real spiritual transformation. The goal of OYO is not to produce weekend warriors, but servants for Christ, who are desirous to discover the “poor” in their everyday lives.

Who is CSM
With the goal of designing life transforming service projects, OYO has teamed up with the Center for Student Missions (CSM), a short-term, urban ministry agency out of Dana Point, CA, to provide a network of urban ministry sites throughout the North American continent. CSM has been hosting urban, short-term service projects for over 15 years and is considered to be one of the most reputable programs in the country. CSM will provide the ministry sites and the “expert” urban guides, while OYO will provide the leadership and programming. We think it’s a winning combination! You can learn more about CSM by surfing the web at www.csm.org.