About twenty young Builders of the Kingdom participate in the "POR ELLOS" work camp organized by MAR Spain in Alcalá la Real.
Taking the thought of Venerable José Gras as a premise "Good is never sterile",
a group of young people from Alcalá, Benifaiò, Granada, Jaén and Seville have moved
to the municipality of Jaén to collaborate as volunteers in different ecclesiastical and civil organizations, taking advantage of the summer time as an opportunity to get out of one's self and think about God's favorites. The spheres and institutions of social ministry in which they have collaborated are the following:
In the sphere of social exclusion, the MAR has collaborated with Cáritas interparish, where
The young people have prepared batches of food, they have classified and organized the closet, they have
prepared toys for migrant children, they have made homemade soap... By collaborating with this
ecclesial organization, become aware of the high number of families that turn to this Caritas and the role of the followers of Jesus in society.
They have also addressed the reality of the elderly, collaborating with the Day Center
Sierra Sur. There the Builders have participated in gymnastics with the elders, they have walked and
chatted with them, they have done all kinds of crafts, they have sung and danced to the sound of the
guitar… It has been a beautiful intergenerational experience, where the “culture of care” proposed by Pope Francis has been experienced firsthand.
Functional diversity has also been an area of apostolate, collaborating with two
Alcalaan institutions. The first of them, Afaníes, is dedicated to children's work and with them the MAR has collaborated in the inclusive summer school with some children with functional diversity doing balloon twisting, games, excursions, workshops... The second, the Los Amigos Occupational Center , works with adults, and there the Builders have participated in the workshops making keychains, rugs, wooden flowers... and recreational activities such as karaoke and crossword puzzles.
The “FOR THEM” work camp has been developed for almost a week,
dedicating every morning to social volunteering while the afternoons and evenings have alternated with recreational, cultural and educational activities, as well as reflection on experiences with the peripheries. The young people have had the opportunity to approach the sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation, as well as moments of desert, personal prayer and adoration.
From these lines the MAR wants to thank all the institutions that have collaborated making possible an unforgettable experience in the IV edition of the work camp. First of all, we express our gratitude to the Community of Daughters of Christ the King in Alcalá la Real who has actively participated with us. Likewise, we express our gratitude to the FEJG that has allowed us to use its facilities. We also thank the Alcalá la Real City Council, in general, and in particular its Culture and Tourism areas; Sports; Social Services, Health, Families and Consumer Affairs. Also to the institutions that have facilitated volunteering: Afaníes, Los Amigos Occupational Center, Sierra Sur Day Center and Cáritas interparish. Finally, thank the ecclesial organizations that have intervened making the work camp not only a charitable experience but an ecclesial experience from synodality: thanks to the Parish of Santa María la Mayor, the Royal Brotherhood of Our Lady of the Mercedes Coronada, Real Monasterio de la Encarnación, MAR Argentina, Radio María and OCASHA, Christians with the south.
Service, gratuitousness, self-sacrifice, fraternity, sensitivity... are the words that best
They summarize this experience during vacation time for the young Builders of the Kingdom, within whom the words of the evangelist have resonated: “Every time you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”
