Each morning close to 40 missionaries would hit the streets to visit homes, carrying the message of our Lord Jesus Christ.

On the 15th of July, 117 missionaries from the United States, Spain, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland arrived in Toronto to prepare hearts to welcome the Holy Father for the XVII World Youth Day.

For 15 days, the missionaries were adopted by the parishioners of St. Clement´s Church, who not only opened their homes to them but also showered them with charity and kindness. For instance, the parishioners rented a tarp so they would not have to eat lunch under the sun, and they divided themselves into teams to cook for and serve the young volunteers, which meant that some families were "up and at ´em" by 5:00AM to prepare breakfast.

The young women took a brief

	After a workshop on prayer, the missionaries had some time for personal time with our Lord.

course on prayer, and many of them found it extremely beneficial. One said it was the very first time that she had really talked with Christ. Another left the chapel one day saying "Christ is real, guys, He is real!"

The missions were of two types: evangelization and volunteer work. Every morning close to 40 missionaries went out to visit a community of about 6,000 families. In the afternoons they would host activities such as the Way of the Cross, which attracted 150 families. At the end of the ceremony, Father Nino, Pastor of St. Clement´s, drew near to one of the young missionaries and said: "You have awoken something that has been asleep for 15 years."

As the week went on, a steady

	The volunteers helped get the confessionals in place for World Youth Day.

stream of parish families came forward to offer the young women food, to wash their clothes or help them with some of their other needs. A spirit of generosity was ever-present.

In addition to the evangelization mission, another group of 80 young women would work from 9 to 5 all over the city of Toronto helping out as volunteers for World Youth Day. Every day they would receive phone calls from people seeking their assistance: "Could you please send us those young women in the white tee shirts with the cross on the back? They work pretty fast and they are really enthusiastic." Seeing that there were so many needs, the young volunteers decided to keep helping during the official WYD events.

The WYD organizing committee was

	The streets of Toronto became mission territory, thanks to the evangelization efforts of the young missionaries.

very grateful for the enthusiastic spirit of the young women from Youth for the Third Millennium, especially for their work ethic and spirit of prayer. What began as simple volunteer effort was transformed into authentic evangelization, as many of the non-practicing Catholics who were also helping witnessed the spirit of the missionaries and were inspired to love Christ more fully.