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4 THE SHEPHERD • FEBRUARY 2025 • SAINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO First, I would like to thank our community for your generosity toward our Homebuild- ing Mission Trip with Project Mexico. We exceeded our goal of $10,000! We will be sending a team of high school students and chaperones to Project Mexico June 24-30th. I cannot say enough thanks to you all! Next, I’d like to take a moment to look for- ward to all of the projects and events planned for the next few months: Oratorical Fes- tival, Orthodox Christian Mission Center Coin Drive, Saturday of Lazarus Pancakes and Palms, GOYA Palm Sunday Luncheon, Holy Monday Senior GOYA Retreat, Holy Tuesday Junior GOYA Retreat, Holy Friday Youth Retreat, Youth Group Service Projects and activities, Project Mexico Homebuilding Trip, Vacation Church School, and St. Nich- olas Ranch Camp. We could not do all of this without our volunteers! A huge thanks goes out to all of our volunteers and fami- lies who have helped during the school year so far! Families bring snacks, organize fel- lowship, prep pageant costumes, activity set up and clean up, serve on our GOYA Board and Dance and Choral Board, teach Sunday School and Greek Dance and Youth Choir, and so much more! It can’t be done without our community! Thank you! Youth Ministries is still looking for a Mission and Vision Specialist in our community who could volunteer their time to help a small group of our Youth Ministry leadership through the process of formalizing our mis- sion and vision statement. If you or someone you know would like to help, please email youthministries@stspyridon.org Follow us on Facebook (St. Spyridon GOC San Diego) and Instagram: @youthstspyr- idon. To volunteer or get more information with any of the Youth Ministries at St. Spyr- idon, contact Julie Dennis, Youth Ministries Director: 619-940-5167 or email youthmin- istries@stspyridon.org. 2025 ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM ORATORICAL FESTIVAL: On Sunday March 2nd our parish will host the annual St. John Chrysostom Oratori- cal Festival. Students research and deliver an original speech on the Orthodox faith based on topics selected by the Archdiocese. The event is divided into three levels: Elementary (exhibition, 4-6th grade), Junior (competi- tion, 7-9th grade), and Senior (competition, 10-12th grade). All participants at the parish level will receive a $20 gift certificate. Top scorers at the Junior and Senior levels will receive the George M. Platis Oratorical Scholarship Award, offered by Michael and Maria Platis in memory of their son George, who proudly participat- ed in the parish Oratorical Festival. Please visit the GOARCH website https://www. goarch.org/oratorical/-/asset_publisher/ po6VgxusssWj/ for information on topics, deadlines and registration. For more infor- mation please reach out to parish oratorical festival chairperson, Timmy Paraskevopou- los at 714-931-2431 or t_nicolaou@hotmail. com. Sunday School Sunday School is looking for a few more vol- unteers! We have about 50 Sunday School students each Sunday and as we continue to grow, our need for volunteers is grows also. We are especially looking for classroom helpers with younger classes. The classroom helpers are in the classes to provide an extra set of hands for crafts and activities. No les- son planning needed! I hope you will consid- er volunteering with our Sunday School this month. It is fun, rewarding, and an amazing way to give back to our families! Text Julie Dennis at 619-940-5167 to get more infor- mation today. GOYA (Greek Orthodox Youth Association) Unfortunately, GOYA had to postpone the ski/snowboard trip in January because there wasn’t enough snow on our local mountains. We have a new date scheduled for March 1st! Let’s all hope for snow by then! GOYA was able to make the most of the San Diego win- ter and went ice skating. It was a fun time for everyone! GOYA also had the annual Game Night and painting handprints in January. My favorite was the Mario Cart Tournament and Catch Phrase! Lastly, our GOYA divers all put great effort to swim for the Cross, and it was Kosta Mellos who retrieved the Cross! Congratulations to Kosta and all of our divers! Little Angels Little Angels would like to put a call out to all of the families who have babies and toddlers ages 40 days to 4 years old! Our playgroup meets most Thursdays from 9:45 – 11:00am. It is a great opportunity to play and build up our community through playing and making friends! We hope you will help us to spread the word about our playgroup! YOUTH MINISTRIES