Happy February YAV Community,

I hope you all are staying safe & happy.

As you know, the winter storm came and hit the United States very hard, particularly the East Coast. Through the conditions were icy, it didn’t stop us from working together to clear our driveway along with the front door path.

I enjoyed being outside helping my next-door neighbor clear her driveway, hence putting faith into action. However, we had to do two church services online along with most of our county being closed, particularly the school district due to the weather.

On January 18th, 2026 during Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, one of the Scripture passages I read during the service was the Parable of the Good Samaritan, and I reflect on how during a brutal snowstorm, making the decision to help my neighbor was the best choice because one day in the future I may be asked, “Who is your neighbor”? Our pastor read a story to our youth titled “Who Is My Neighbor?.” The story talks about two communities (Blues & Yellows) who normally don’t interact. A character named Lemon Yellow came to the rescue of Midnight Blue. The characters in the book represent what our communities would look like if we treated everybody as our fellow neighbors. Don’t we sometimes forget to treat our neighbors with love including those who look or act different from us?

Luke 10:25-37New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

²⁵ An expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶ He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” ²⁷ He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁸ And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”

²⁹ But wanting to vindicate himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” ³⁰ Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and took off, leaving him half dead. ³¹ Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. ³² So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan while traveling came upon him, and when he saw him he was moved with compassion. ³⁴ He went to him and bandaged his wounds, treating them with oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. ³⁵ The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him, and when I come back I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ ³⁶ Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” ³⁷ He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

Luke’s Gospel is challenging us on whether we choose to be people who walk by like the priest and the Levite, or challenge ourselves to be neighborly to ALL neighbors, as exemplified by the Samaritan, both in times of happiness and hardship. My pastor also invoked the example of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who during the Montgomery Bus boycott was met with an angry crowd outside his house after a bomb had exploded in King’s house. King’s wife and daughter survived the attack. Subsequently, King told the crowd to lay down their weapons and to meet hate with love, which would be laid as a foundational principle of non-violence for the Civil Rights Movement. Likewise, we are called to live like the unnamed Samaritan, ready for action when unexpected situations arise.

On Sunday, February 8th, 2026, my local church hosted Scouts, each of whom read Scriptures, followed by a dialogue sermon that follows up on the Samaritan parable with passages from both the Gospel of Luke and the Book of James.

Here are the Scripture passages below:

Luke 12:35-37New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Watchful Slaves

³⁵ “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; ³⁶ be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. ³⁷ Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them.

James 2:14-17New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Faith without Works Is Dead

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Surely that faith cannot save, can it? ¹⁵ If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? ¹⁷ So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

James illustrates that the outcasted Samaritan was the example of combining faith and action, whereas the priest and Levite chose only faith. The Samaritan, who was not welcomed by the Jewish community, was not expecting to find a man who had been walking a dangerous road from Jerusalem to Jericho, left beaten and half-dead. But as Luke wrote, the Samaritan was moved to give the robbed man compassion and hospitality. Like Luke, James, and Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., let us strive to make a world where more love, kindness, and empathy rule our hearts, minds, bodies and souls. For me, this is the point of why I wanted to be part of the YAV community. How about you?

Please feel free to leave a comment.

Hello YAV Community

Happy New Year 2026!

I started off my new year by traveling to the Montreat Conference Center to help Steffan & Audrey with recruiting more YAVs along with participating in group discussions added with me participating in a workshop planting trees.

The theme for the 2026 Summit at Montreat was Strains of Joy. Every worship both during the day and in the evening was joyous and full of learning. We began on Friday, January 2nd in the evening with the opening passage by the apostle James of the New Testament

In the Scriptures, James is expressively conveying that God’s tests throughout our lives are meant to help us grow, NOT decay in our walk of faith & calls on us to be strained by Joy. We also learned that while we know the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit along with Joseph, Virgin Mary, and Baby Jesus, there are examples other trinities we can name (ex. Oldest, Middle, Youngest Child; Beginning, Middle, and End).

Saturday, January 3rd

Montreat Conference Center had the honorable joy and privilege of presenting Reverend Lizzie McManus-Dail to talk about what real Christian joy is versus how the world pictures joy.

Lizzie told everybody that joy is supposed to be spiritual and something to put our teeth in. Joy comes through powerful, memorable highlights in our lives. Internally, Lizzie said joy feels like a “cleansing of your head.” Joy is strongest in the face of destruction added with Christian joy holding death in its teeth without fear.

The “worldly” joy according to Lizzie is rooted in: extractive capitalism, colonialism, oppression, misogyny, and white supremacy.

God is NOT lazy nor boring. God made us for joy and His joy is not to own us, control us, or demean us. It is a joy we have to hold on to, not something we can own or sell for profit. Joy is not a fence, but the most vulnerable human trait. It is the tender underbelly of our connections to each other. Joy is beauty for beauty’s sake. Joy in the form of resistance doesn’t mean rapid consumption but not allowing the world to consume us.

Later, there was a book signing at the Montreat Store of Reverend Lizzie’s newly published book titled “God Didn’t Make Us to Hate Us.” I was the last person to get an autographed copy of her book.

That same evening we had a wonderful worship where that in order to attain joy we have to have the courage as Israeli King David expressed in Psalm 56:1-4 of the Old Testament, teaching us that when we feel scared or pursued by our enemies, we still have to be obedient to God,

Psalm 56

Trust in God under Persecution

To the leader: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. Of David. A Miktam, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.

¹ Be gracious to me, O God, for people trample on me;
    all day long foes oppress me;
² my enemies trample on me all day long,
    for many fight against me.
O Most High, ³ when I am afraid,
    I put my trust in you.
⁴ In God, whose word I praise,
    in God I trust; I am not afraid;
    what can flesh do to me?

Everyone goes through pain, but we also painfully go through healing. Healing can hurt, and it also requires lots of self-commitment.

Sunday, January 4th

Worship was with the usual music followed by a sermon and the big question that hung over everybody was why is the institution of Christianity so afraid of Joy? The answer is simple; fear and greed. Joy is however, very radical.

Our keynote speaker for that day was Brian Martinez de la Combs along with the Gospel of Luke in the first ten verses of the nineteenth chapter being our morning passage

Luke 19:1-10New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Jesus and Zacchaeus

19 He entered Jericho and was passing through it. ² A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. ³ He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. ⁴ So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. ⁵ When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” ⁶ So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. ⁷ All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” ⁸ Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” ⁹ Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”

Brian told us that Luke’s message is encouraging us to let everyone know that they are deserving of joy. We also need empathy to spread, not keep it as a deficit. Another passage was from verses twelve to thirteen of the twelfth chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans seen below

Romans 12:12-13New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

¹² Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; persevere in prayer. ¹³ Contribute to the needs of the saints; pursue hospitality to strangers.

Joy is something we can’t possess. It is a spoken assurance that God is with us. Happiness is based on what is happening. Joy is a way of living. Jesus chose a holy declaration of being joyful. Joy is rooted in our faith with God. Let us have joy amongst ourselves, not alone. Joy can coexist with suffering. Serving God means turning a lousy day into a fruitful one. Seeds are planted to grow. Joy is rooted in love. Joy gives something to hope for and the world can’t give nor take it away.

While I was away, my local church, First United Presbyterian Church of Dale City (FUPCDC), Virginia had their Epiphany church service. During the service, the passage from the first twelve verses of the second chapter in the Gospel of Matthew was read and it relates to the message mentioned at the beginning of this blog. King Herod learned that Jesus was born and he was afraid. He asked the Three Kings to bring him to Jesus. This was a trial for the Three Kings to take up. They traveled following the star of Bethlehem and when they arrived they were overjoyed and presented their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Annually at this service my church has congregants pick a star with a word on it, and congregants can’t see the word as they pick their star. During the service there was a time for the congregation to listen to videos of some church members talking about their Epiphany Star Words of the past year (seen in the video below). My word for 2025 was “Serve” and for the year 2026, my word to reflect on is “discipleship”.

On Monday, January 5th, we had our final worship service at Montreat where we followed with the verses below:

Genesis 1:26-29New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over the cattle and over all the wild animals of the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

²⁷ So God created humans in his image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them.

²⁸ God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” ²⁹ God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.

God created humanity and commands them to multiply. This implies that Joy is something we can create and re-create amongst each other.

When I arrived home, I happily reflected on how I took up the opportunity to visit the Montreat Conference Center and the joyful experience that I will always cherish in my heart forever.

Please feel free to leave a comment.

Friends & Family,

Merry Christmas to one and all. This year has been full of both joy and sorrow for me.

I will tell it to you straightforward in the best way I can. My NYC YAVs and I were supposed to head from orientation in Louisville, Kentucky to our apartment in West Harlem, New York. Unfortunately, that did not happen as we hoped it would be. There were site specific matters that needed to be resolved before we could move in. We ended up going to Stoney Point Retreat Center, which is two hours away from New York City. Stoney Point had both its advantages and disadvantages. The advantages were that we got to be away from the hustle and bustle of the city, along with having a roof over our heads and the lodge providing meals for us. We also got to explore the town and the greenery was beautiful. On the other hand, there was not much for us to do around the house, and we were stuck since we didn’t have a car.

Eventually, after a bit more than a week, we were told to go back home and wait until we were given further updates. Soon after, I was told that everything in New York City fell apart and that it would not be possible for me to go back. It felt like a gut punch to hear the terrible news. I was given the choice of doing a Virtual YAV year or wait until the 2026-27 YAV year came.

I pondered over the decision and talked it over with people I trust. Together with my pastor, we clarified a lot of aspects to consider with the YAV leadership. After much discernment, I made the decision to do the Virtual YAV year. Though at first it felt like a bump, at the same time I was happy, because I could continue to serve in my local community. My pastors, encouragingly recommended me to apply for two local food pantries where I could help throughout my year, Action in Community Through Service (ACTS) Food Pantry and StreetLight Community Outreach Ministries. I heard back immediately from ACTS Food Pantry, and I have been doing volunteer work there since November. In addition, the events made me realize that I would benefit from counseling to grow.

On Christmas Eve, First United Presbyterian Church of Dale City, Virginia where I have been a member since 2023, had two services. One was a family service, followed by a Candlelight & Communion service. I was in the second service because I was singing with the church choir, which is in the video above for everyone to watch.

During the service, I listened to the Christmas passages of Jesus’s birth in Luke Chapter 2 but also in Matthew Chapter 1 of the New Testament. The sermon’s title was “Joseph’s Pause”. In the Gospel of Matthew, Joseph was the only character who never spoke, yet he was given a choice. He was planning on quietly divorcing Mary so as not to make an embarrassment. But then he was told by the Angel not to be afraid and take Mary as his wife. He paused and did as the angel instructed and stayed with Mary, and Jesus was born in a manger. The passage reminded me of how I was considering to leave the YAV Program, but then paused, and chose to remain within the program virtually and serving locally. Had I left, I would have deprived myself of an opportunity to grow.

Another example of pondering was me discussing if I was going to Montreat, North Carolina for a college summit from January 2-5, 2026. I thought it over and I made the decision to go to Montreat.

Christmas is not just celebrating the birth of Christ, but also allowing time for oneself to pause and reflect. Pausing and reflecting are excellent ways of how we want to chart our paths going forward in a way that God can leave as a mark.

I am grateful to all those who supported and mentored me. I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

By Alessandro Trujillo

Accepting the sunset of an old chapter can be hard, but can only happen if we allow ourselves to let the change, we also allow fruitful maturity and transformation to occur to become both different and better in mind, body, and soul. Having been graduated from college since May 2022, I have progressed in some areas such as learning how to cook a meal as wells contributing to the meal making process, cleaning & ironing my clothes, along with cleaning my area via vacuuming, wiping away dust, and mopping. Other areas that I have improved on but still work on improving are responding versus reacting, understanding facial expressions, being assertive in my communicating, and how to understand the difference between an emotional scientist and an emotional judge. I often worry as a person living on the autism spectrum, but I know that this year with the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) Program can help me to amend the areas I have struggle with.

In the sunset photo of Louisville, Kentucky above, I am reminded by the New Testament scripture Matthew 6:34 of Jesus tells us that we do not need to worry about tomorrow because we have had enough troubles of today. Often, humans worry about what will become of them in two or three years, particularly their personality. God, however, knows that He can transform us into people who have His heart full of love, grace, and peace. Many times I worry about what type of role model I want to be for my goddaughter Adeline, but often I worry if I will uplift myself, or everybody. I pray and hope that this YAV year in New York City, God will give me the answers to all my questions. “Don’t worry” are the words we as Christians, including myself have to remind ourselves constantly from time to time, just as we don’t know what is in the next chapter of the book we have in front of us. Concluding with my favorite quote from Winnie the Pooh bear that connects with the biblical passage, treat the present as a gift, yesterday as history, and tomorrow as a mystery, whether good or bad.

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