South City Youth Volunteers At Olympics

Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that Arens would be in London during the trip, but he is actually in Essex.

The South San Francisco Salvation Army Corps sent Mathijs Arens, who grew up in South City and now attends the University of California at Berkeley, to the Olympics --- or close to it. No, he's not there to compete with the Michael Phelpses of the world, but to volunteer.

Arens left on Wednesday with a five other young representatives from Salvation Army's Western Territory Headquarters.

In Essex, outside London, Mathijs will be working directly with the UK's Romford Corps in a variety of outreach capacities, including organizing family games at local parks and assisting with sports ministry events.

Arens serves on the Salvation Army's youth leadership board for the Western United States, which focuses on empowering young adults to give back and work toward social justice in their own communities, according to a spokesperson.

Last year, Arens traveled with the Salvation Army to the Dominican Republic to teach and work with children in mountain villages just outside the capital. 

A Salvation Army publication, New Frontier, described the trip in a recent article: "they will minister under the umbrella of More Than Gold, which unites faith-based organizations and church denominations to express Christian purpose and example at major sporting events. The Salvation Army will maintain a water distribution program during the Games, offering not only water to drink but also the means to quench the soul’s spiritual thirst."

Arens and the other representatives will return August 3.

You can look for blog posts from the volunteers here.

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