{"id":4160,"date":"2019-08-14T16:26:27","date_gmt":"2019-08-14T16:26:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ofmjpic.org\/?p=4160"},"modified":"2019-06-23T16:33:23","modified_gmt":"2019-06-23T16:33:23","slug":"mexico-franciscan-camps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ofmjpic.org\/en\/mexico-franciscan-camps\/","title":{"rendered":"M\u00e9xico, Franciscan Camps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Franciscan camps began as an initiative of the Franciscan family in the Province of Saints Francis and James in Mexico, who was concerned about the lack of awareness among young people about issues around care of creation, social justice and the culture of peace.<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Franciscan camps were established in 2008\u00a0\u00a0in the city of Monterrey, northeast M\u00e9xico,\u00a0\u00a0by Fray Antonio Mor\u00e1n OFM and\u00a0\u00a0the catechist Blanca Ugarte, and as the years passed they followed clearerguidelines and more specific goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The aim of these camps is to lead young people to an encounter with God through Sister-Mother Earth, by means of Franciscan spirituality and the values of JPIC.\u00a0\u00a0To achieve this the young people are brought into an environment which promotes\u00a0\u00a0more direct contact with nature and for this reason\u00a0\u00a0the site for the camp is carefully\u00a0\u00a0selected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFranciscan Camps\u201d <\/strong>offers a space for games and interaction,\u00a0\u00a0where\u00a0\u00a0through\u00a0healthy competition, the \u201ccampers\u201d develop those religious, moral, civil and Franciscan attitudes, which in a modest but enterprising\u00a0\u00a0way help to form men and women who are upright of heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To take part in a camp one needs to be between 15 and 30 years old, present a letter of good conduct from\u00a0\u00a0one\u2019s parish priest, chaplain or school director and attend the prior meeting.\u00a0It is worth noting that \u201cFranciscan Camps\u201d isn\u2019t a kerygmatic or \u201cfirst encounter\u201d with God type of retreat, but is a different experience.\u00a0\u00a0Literally\u00a0\u00a0a camp.\u00a0The young people bring their tents and sleeping-bags and share beneath Sister Moon and in the light of Brother Fire on the camp-fire nights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The general dynamic of the camp consists in the participation of the\u00a0Domus.\u00a0<\/em>The\u00a0Domus<\/em> (from \u2018casa\u2019 in Latin) are workgroups in which one shares nearly all the time. They are organized like a family\u00a0\u00a0which competes with other\u00a0\u00a0Domus\u00a0<\/em>during the campto gain points<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each\u00a0Domus<\/em> has a coordinator who is elected by the members of the Casa.\u00a0\u00a0This coordinator is calleda\u00a0Simon.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>This was the name of one of the first campers who stood out for his deep Franciscan spirituality and\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0commitment to being a disciple of Jesus Christ;\u00a0\u00a0something similar to\u00a0\u00a0Simon of Cyrene, who helped Our Lord carry his cross.\u00a0\u00a0In the same way each\u00a0Simon\u00a0<\/em>motivates and helps his companions in the\u00a0Domus<\/em> to tackle and carry out the camp activities.\u00a0\u00a0These activities are:\u00a0\u00a0swimming, football and other sports, field games, dance, town planning, singing and JPIC formation themes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Domus are assigned names by the organizers which reflect the theme of the particular year. When selecting the theme and slogan the guidelines promoted that year by the UN and the Church are taken into account.\u00a0\u00a0For example in 2013 the UN focussed on water and for the Church it was The Year of Faith;\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>so the slogan chosen for the camp was\u00a0\u201cImmerse Yourself in the Water of Faith\u201d.<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0In 2016 the Church celebrated the Year of Mercy and the UN focussed on seeds and vegetables; the camp slogan was\u00a0\u201cSow in Yourself the Seed of Mercy\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To properly participate each \u201ccamper\u201d brings a \u201clunch box\u201d<\/em>, which means bringing one\u2019s own plate, glass and washable cutlery, so as to avoid\u00a0\u00a0buying\u00a0\u00a0disposables\u00a0\u00a0and single-use plastic cutlery. Part of the\u00a0\u201clunch box\u201d\u00a0<\/em>is for each camper to bring and cook one\u2019s own food and so have a more real experience of camping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The camp lasts for four days, in each of which it is hoped to achieve a specific\u00a0objective:\u00a0<\/em>day one, Meeting.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Day two,, Socialising and Getting to Know You.\u00a0<\/em>Day\u00a0\u00a0three,\u00a0Learning and Conversion\u00a0<\/em>(to God in the area of JPIC).\u00a0\u00a0And the last day,\u00a0Commitment<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0The latter is greatly stressed as the camp will make sense in the commitment\u00a0which the \u201ccampers\u201d make to caring for creation, including social justice and the culture of peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ten years after its foundation, the last\u00a0\u00a0elective provincial chapter decided that Franciscan Camps\u00a0<\/strong> would come under the direct control of the Provincial Office of JPIC. To date Franciscan camps have been held in the cities of Monterrey in Nuevo Le\u00f3n, Ciudad Guzm\u00e1n and Magdalena in Jalisco, Canc\u00fan in Quintana Roo, Zacatecas in the state capital, Ray\u00f3n in la Selva Negra de Chiapas, Nuevo Laredo in Tamaulipas and Torre\u00f3n in Coahuila. And together with the present team of active campers we will continue to promote them in the rest of the country.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n