Totus Tuus almost totally full

A group of young women pose for a photo at a recent Totus Tuus Summer Camp. (File photo)

The wait list for the girls camps is up to about 30 names, she added. “And that’s after we took 12 more kids this summer for each camp.”

She said the popularity results from the missionary discipleship of the college-age missionaries who lead the camps and parish retreats. “These young kids are seeing these college-age missionaries on fire for the faith and they want to be like them. The faith is not just for their parents and grandparents.”

“Many of the Totus Tuus missionaries attended Totus Tuus as kids and they are excited to give back to the program,” Clark said.

College missionaries inspired

“These college students are being formed as Totus Tuus missionaries and we’re seeing them go out and continue to spread the faith wherever they go back to college as Totus Tuus missionaries. We’re seeing them spread the faith wherever they go back to college. Eventually they come back to Wichita in the parishes surroundings. Totus Tuus forms the college-age missionaries almost even more than the kids because it’s a lifestyle change for them.”

Clark said, she herself, was a product of Totus Tuus camps and missionary work.

Parish Tutus Tuus

Nine teams have been formed for 35 to 40 parish-based Totus Tuus which is presented over a seven-week period in the summer. Another team hosts a Totus Tuus for those with special needs.

One of the parishes is in Auburn, California, and another is in Portland, Oregon. “We send a team of four and we run it just like we do here,” she said, adding that there will be several observers who plan to organize a Totus Tuus in their diocese in the summer of 2024.

Clark added that she’s happy Totus Tuus is moving west. The program has expanded mostly in the east and Midwest.

About Totus Tuus

Totus Tuus (totally yours) is a Catholic summer youth program dedicated to sharing the Gospel and promoting the faith through catechesis, evangelization, Christian witness, and Eucharistic worship. The goal of Totus Tuus is to help young people grow in their understanding of, and to strengthen their faith in Jesus Christ.

In the Diocese of Wichita Camp Totus Tuus offered to boys and girls in the 5th and 6th, and 7th and 8th grades; girls in the 9th and 10th, and 11th and 12th grades; and boys in the 9th through 12th grades. Sixty-five college missionaries will lead the camps and retreats from June 12 through Aug. 4 this summer.

Totus Tuus, which was founded in the Diocese of Wichita, has expanded to scores of parishes throughout the United States. For details about the ministry, visit CatholicDioceseOfWichita.org/faith-formation/totus-tuus.

Two of the summer Totus Tuus camps offered through the Diocese of Wichita filled on Jan. 16 – the first day registration opened. A third was filled the next day and it’s likely all of the camps are full today.

Liz Clark, the Totus Tuus and Summer Program coordinator, said last week that the girls camps are especially popular. “I think the word has gotten out that girls camps fill up fast, so when we open (registration) everybody wants to get in,” she said.