Church of St Timothy

A slideshow of the pilgrimage will take place in the church sanctuary on Sunday, August 10 between the 8:30 and 10:30 Masses - please join us!

St. Tim's World Youth Day Pilgrim's

All of our host families are really nice. Jackie and I are with Elizabeth from St. Anne's and we are with Kate the mum and her daughter Xanthe. She is so cute. We leave tomorrow and she's already been crying because she doesn't want us to leave. We got to Bathurst okay. Our groups got split up alot so we had to wait behind for group two and then our bus broke down so we ended up staying in Bathurst for a night. Anyways, Yesterday we planted trees, learned about the environment and had a bush dance. Its kind of like square dancing. Tonight we had a culture night. The St.Tims group did the hubba hubba song and everyone loved it. We've met some realy interesting people too. We adopted two random WYD goers into our group because they have no one else lol. We've also met some Indians, Venezuelans, and Germans. All of whom are incredibly nice and LOVE taking pictures. We're leaving for Bathurst tomorrow and then Syndey the day after.

Just thought I would drop you a line and let you know that we are having lots of fun in Australia. We are all really enjoying our host families and the community of Dubbo is amazing with their hospitality. Me and Christina are staying with a family with two girls that are sisters, so that's fun getting to know them.

Email Update from Jennifer on 7/12:

We've been having lots of fun. Our host family has a young daughter (3 years old) whose name is Lucy. She's really cute--we took lots of pictures for you to see.

Our host house is in between two vacant lots so the boys have been having fun trying to learn how to fly their boomerangs.

Today is Saturday, and Janet JUST got her luggage today--it was lost for a few days. She's pretty excited to have it back. But no grumbling or crying--she is a trooper.

It's been pretty chily here--especially INSIDE the house. My alarm clock has a thermometer on it and it's been right around 56 or 57 degrees inside. Janet and I have been walking around with our sweatshirts on.

We're staying in a town called Dubbo which is 5 hours outside of Sydney. It's only about a 10 minute drive to the Outback.

Tomorrow we go back to Bathurst (3 hours away) and then on to Sydney. I don't know how much internet access I'll have there--but we'll try to send you updates.

Wish you could be here with us!
-Jennifer

Things are going really well in Australia. Many of them have gone to learn how to throw a boomerang. Tonight (while we were sleeping) they had a cultural night; they had a bush dance, which is like a square dance to us. Tomorrow they have a free day and will go out with their host families and spend time with them. They are with people from Germany and India in their host homes and their host families have been incredible to them. Some of them have been on radio shows or interviewed for the local newspaper. They are having an incredible time. Please keep them in your prayers!

Please pray for our youth and young adults who are traveling to Sydney, Australia on July 7-23. There, they are meeting with Pope Benedict XVI and hundreds of thousands of other young Catholics from around the world to share their cultures, lives, and ultimately their one and the same Catholic faith. They will send us updates whenever they are able to access email, which we will be posting here - check back often!