SAN ANTONIO • Who says dreams can’t come true? When your dreams fall in line with God’s will, you know the rest of the saying — all things are possible with God.

    The big dream of the youth directors of St. Mark the Evangelist Church, Rich Mazzara and Cindy Hamilton, to bring Catholic Heart Workcamp to San Antonio became a reality July 2-8.

    When Hamilton and Mazzara first took a group of teens to a Catholic Heart Workcamp four years ago, they started praying, planning and of course raising funds to bring a group of 300 teens from across the country for a weeklong ‘camp’ here in the heart of the Alamo city — to re-paint 35 homes, build wheelchair ramps, clean yards and run a Vacation Bible School, all within the area of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church on the West side.

    The pair began to look for a site where a small army of teens could be housed, fed, showered, celebrate Mass and relax, and again their prayers were answered with the facilities at Our Lady of the Lake University, which still had 200 cots available from use by Katrina evacuees a year ago. Things were now a go!

    At the same time, teens, their parents and their parishes from across the country were hard at work raising funds to come. Each teen comes at their own expense, often anywhere from $250 to $500, depending on transportation costs.

    The teens arrived on Monday and received an orientation to the camp and schedules. Tuesday was the Fourth of July so they had the opportunity to have some fun at Fiesta Texas and other nearby attractions before their ministry began in earnest the next day.

    Then they got busy despite the hot, humid days that week as they scraped houses, rebuilt yards, put new paint on houses sorely needing them, and running a Vacation Bible School. Each day they prayed together throughout the day, Mass was celebrated each afternoon and the evenings offered a time for rest and reflection upon, “Where did I see God today?”

    Catholic Heart Workcamp (CHWC) was started in 1993 by founders Steve and Lisa Walker in Orlando, Fla. They had participated in other similar nondenominational workcamps, which were positive and life changing experiences, but missed a Catholic spiritual dimension to them. CHWC was born out of their desire to foster the spiritual growth of each participant through the sacraments, Catholic faith sharing and prayer as they live as disciples of Christ through serving others. That first year only a few camps were held with 100 volunteers. This year 16 camps were held in 19 states with over 9,000 participants.

    When District 5 Councilwoman Patti Radle welcomed the young people to the Guadalupe neighborhood, she pointed out, “We are painting homes where the owners struggle to put groceries on their table. How can they afford paint? And, we have a law that requires them to keep it painted too!”

    The homeowners were given a choice of nine colors to pick from for their home makeover. She continued, “In a time when we hear about so many teens vandalizing walls with graffiti, it is so wonderful to see teens in action who do care about helping.”

    Some of the teens care so much that they come back every year to spend a week at CHWC like Frank Cyprian of St. Mark the Evangelist Church in San Antonio, who was at his third CHWC camp. When asked why they do, the same words came over and over, “I love making a difference. This experience has really been life changing for me. I never knew how much I have that I take for granted. Even though we are from different places, we all love Jesus.”

    If this sounds like how you would like to spend a week next summer, tentative plans are underway to host another camp here in San Antonio next July. Or you can check out the other sites available and learn more about CHWC on their Web site, www.heartworkcamp.com.