This year’s Christian Youth Mission to Armenia (CYMA) Trip is just around the corner. For one month, (July 1-31) the youth of the Diaspora will learn about our rich history and will be immersed in the current lifestyle through internships, interactions with youth, and social projects. CYMA’s participants will visit Armenia’s historic churches and landmarks. They will enjoy the wondrous beauty of the Motherland and will rediscover their roots!

St. John Armenian church is happy to release the Unified Camp Scholarship Application for 2013. It is a source of great spiritual joy for our community that many of our young people have applied and been accepted to participate in the Armenian Church Summer Camp of the Western Diocese. Through the generosity of various funds established with the purpose of sending young Armenians to Hye Camp, St. John is offering several scholarships to children and youth who have been active in the life of the parish.

On April 20th, Tigran Antonian and Carmen Kestekyan will be walking 15 miles, in silence, through the desert, to commemorate the victims of the Armenian Genocide.

On February 24th, Tigran Antonian, Carmen Kestekyan, and Naryne Sarkiss presented “Greetings from Armenia: An Afternoon of Pictures and Stories”.  The Church hall was filled with parishioners eager to hear about the experiences of these three young adults in Armenia for a month through the CYMA program.  A slide show presentation highlighted points of interest on the trip to Armenia.

On Saturday, February 6, members of Armenian Church Youth Organization of St. John, San Francisco volunteered at Martin De Porres Soup Kitchen. The leader of this inspirational day was Sub-Deacon Arto Bedikian. The day began with our youth cutting desserts in preparation for serving. Then, we spread out into different groups and helped to prepare food, serving, collecting dishes, and cleaning dishes. Overall, this was a enriching and important day as our youth were able to assist those who are destitute in our greater community of San Francisco.

On January 3, the first meeting of the ACYO Core Group was held in the private residence of Fr. Mesrop and Yn. Annie. Present were 6 of our parish's talented youth. The purpose of this fun and productive meeting was to brainstorm new ways of growing St. John's youth ministry. Some of the activities which they have put on the calendar include: