Help Send Me To Greece!
Click Below To Make Your Donation!

Donations are due February 25, 2008

[Check back after March 23rd for YOUR GIFT,
which will include a daily Image&Text Journal of my trip!]

Dear Friends!

Another year has sped quickly along, and the sirens of Spring Break call to all college students! As you may remember, last year I was blessed to be able to join a team of college-age folks to the orphanage of San Cristobal in San Salvador, El Salvador. The trip was incredible! I never knew that one week could be packed with so many phenomenal experiences and encounters. I pray that for the short period of time that we were there, we were able to bring a little joy and encouragement into the lives of the orphans; either way, one thing is certain: they had a lasting effect on me! To see their joy and generous spirits in the midst of complete poverty and seeming hopelessness was utterly beyond words!

This year, I am able to use my final spring break as an undergrad for another positive experience. I will be traveling to Greece to participate in a service project, to help several monasteries face the material challenges involved in the rebuilding and the rehabilitation of long neglected facilities and properties. There will be reconstruction and renovation projects. Our work will vary from painting, logging, gardening projects, spring cleaning tasks requiring many hands, grounds clean-up, re-organization of spaces, to light construction and recreational projects with handicapped children. The project will take place in Central Greece, near the city of Karditsa. These monasteries, that are off the beaten (tourist) path, are symbols of the love and sacrifice given to the world by monastics who dedicate their lives in prayer for all of us. These monasteries are ancient by American standards, and the work is often too much to handle for the monastics who inhabit them. In addition to the help that we will be giving them, we will be participating in the prayer-life and routine of the monasteries. This will be an incredible opportunity to bridge the gap of culture and vocation as we interact with people who live lives completely dedicated to prayer and service to God!

In order to go on this trip, however, I am humbly asking for your help! No amount is too little, as I have to raise over $1,000 in order to pay for travel, living expenses, and any supplies needed. Any additional funds will go directly to the projects and monasteries! Please prayerfully consider giving as much as you deem fit, and keep our team in your prayers! We leave on March 15th and return March 23rd.

Thanks for your prayers and support!

with love in Christ,
mike

NOTE ABOUT PAYMENTS: Paypal offers a secure method of online payment that allows you to use debit/credit (see above "Donations" button). If you do not feel comfortable doing this, feel free to send any gifts, via snail-mail in check form (which will be tax deductable), made payable to “OCF - Real Break.” Please earmark the check RB 2008 Michael Tishel. All donations need to be collected by February 25th, 2008 (EXCEPTION: Late Donations are still accepted even after the trip, they will go to the general pool that is compiled for my trip).

Mailing Address (please include note w/ your own name/address so that I can send you an update and "thank you" note!):

Orthodox Christian Fellowship
P.O. Box 300249
Boston, MA, 02130