The Agape Service Project fosters environments where participants can serve the migrant community of Whatcom County and grow in their Catholic faith.

Agape Vision:

• To serve the migrant community of Whatcom County by providing food, clothing, and community support
• To teach participants about the human dignity of migrant farm workers
• To create awareness of issues affecting the migrant community
• To build personal relationships with the migrant communities of Whatcom County
• To foster service and social justice as taught through a Catholic lens
• To inspire and encourage participants to continue answering their call to service throughout their lives
• To create an environment where participants can grow in their faith and meet Jesus through prayer and service
• To do everything with sacrificial godly love (Agape!)
• “And what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8

                   
Agape is a 6-8 week long service project that serves the migrant farm workers in Lynden, WA. Groups of middle and high school youth come to Bellingham to serve for 6 days at a time, and stay in the hall at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. They learn about the human dignity of every person they meet and practice this Agape love through their service. The week involves tabling at grocery stores, running a food/clothing bank, working on a local farm, building friendships with children at a migrant camp, learning activities, teachings of Catholicism, and prayer and mass.

The Agape Service Project is two-fold. The first is with our youth volunteers. We focus on an immersive education program where they learn about issues affecting migrant farm workers, human dignity, and why and how we as Catholics are called to serve. One goal is that our youth leave our program as better people, more grounded in their faith, and as change-makers in society. We teach our youth to know Christ and to serve Him in every person they meet for the rest of their lives.

The second part is just as important: the people we are serving. We are constantly asking ourselves questions such as what does the community we serve need? What impact are we making and how can we do better at it? In Spring 2018, we began working with local organizations to improve the outreach of and the resources for our food bank; we have been able to purchase games and activities for our outreach at the farm worker camps.; and we offered our first ever Agape College Scholarship for farm workers seeking higher education. We are always looking to do more for our community, our neighbors in Christ. 

Melina Sergent                                                                Western Washington University
Director, Agape Service Project                                    Catholic Newman Center
agape@wwunewman.com                                            714 A North Garden Street,
(253) 310-3203                                                                  Bellingham, WA 98225

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