After a month of separation....

So, Don asked all of us who worked at 3.0 to write another testimony about the experience this past week, and I just turned mine into him today. These testimonies will be shared with the Quad W Foundation so that we can secure funding for the program for the next three years. I decided to post mine on here, since everything else I've written for 3.0 wound up on here as well.

"The 3.0 internship had a tremendous impact on my life. Even now, after being separated from the program for about a month, I still feel its impact and realize each day a new lesson I learned over the summer that has stuck with me. I'm a second-year Resident Assistant in one of the residence halls on my college campus, and I was asked to write a morning inspiration one day during training. I thought long and hard, and I ended up showing my fellow RAs some pictures of the kids with whom I worked, and I told them particularly heartbreaking stories about those beautiful angels of God. Then I related it to our job, and how we cannot ever judge anybody by first glance, but realize that we do not know what has happened in their lives and that it's our job to love them and accept them no matter what. 3.0 forced me out of my comfort zone, and the kids at the Whistler site, where I worked, taught me how to love with an unconditional, unbiased heart, and how to realize that the truly important aspects of life are not "things," but love, acceptance, kindness, humbleness, and, most importantly, molding our lives so that we can live life to its fullest potential in a way that makes Jesus proud. I've heard residents complaining about their rooms being too small, but I think we should all be so thankful if we have a roof over our heads. I've seen people around campus who other people think are weird, but I see them as another child of God. That way of thinking would not have existed in my mind last year. 3.0 changed me forever, and I will always thank God so much for providing me the opportunity to let my life be shaken out of the comfort zone it was contained in before, and letting me realize how amazing life can be once we see the world for what it is through the eyes of God."

Last Day

It would be my luck to end the summer by getting sick. I woke up at 4:00 in the morning throwing up, and that lasted for a while. I've been at Luke's apartment all day today to try to regain my strength, and I'm finally holding some soup and saltine crackers down. I think I may finally be able to go home soon. This summer has flown by...I still can't believe it's over. I don't think the reality has completely hit me yet...it may not until I'm home and actually don't come back to Mobile.

It was hard to say goodbye to our kids on Thursday. Some of them wanted my phone number, so I gave it to them and told them to call me any time they wanted to, and I definitely meant it. We gave them sunglasses (thanks Dad!), blue cinch bags, notebooks, a toothbrush, toothpaste, candy, and extra stuff like toys, bubbles, pencils, or bouncy balls that we had left over in our prize box. We also had a pizza and ice cream party, so of course that went over well. Lots of them asked if I'd be back next summer...I told them that I definitely hope to be. I didn't want to make any promises though, because ya never know what road life will take you down. I already miss those kids, though, and they will forever be on my heart. Just a few minutes ago, two of the kids, Iman and Oneka, called me! I was SO excited, and then I found out that they called Jessica and Wes also. That just shows that we actually did make an impact, and the kids love us just as much as we love them. :)

Thursday night was also our last dinner provided by Whistler. It was Mrs. Judy's birthday, so I had everybody sing happy birthday to her, and we just had a lot of fun in fellowship over dinner. After dinner was our last organic worship, which went really well. We served communion to one another (which was WONDERFUL for me, because I'm used to having it every Sunday but have only had it once this summer) and washed each others' feet. After organic worship, Jessica, Stephanie, Liz, and I picked up Cora (who is the 15 year old daughter of Mrs. Paula, an awesome lady in the church, and to whom I have grown very close), and we took her to the movies to see Inception. That movie was so good! We had a great time together in the movie, and then Jessica and I spent the night with Liz and Cora (who are sisters, in a way...Liz was adopted into their family) in Saraland, which was a great experience. We were able to have a wonderful breakfast prepared by Mrs. Paula the next morning and just enjoy extra time with this wonderful family from Whistler church.

Last night we all went to a banquet at South Alabama's Wesley Foundation. Mom, Dad, Lexie, and Luke came! We sat at a table with Sheridan's family, and we had a great meal, and then Don and Jean made some speeches and showed a slide show. Jean also called each of us up by team to say some stuff about what we'd done over the summer, and we each got an envelope with some pictures from the summer in it. The banquet was a great way to say goodbye to all of the interns, even though it was sad to do so. This morning, Mrs. Judy, Mr. Charles, Mrs. Paula, Cora, Sara, and Reverend Fail were all at Whistler to help us clean and to say goodbye, so I was so happy to get to see them one last time before I left (even if I was sick, hah). Those people have made a permanent impact on my life, and I love them so much.

Well, I guess this raps up my 3.0 blog. Thank you to everyone who read it and gave me encouragement along the way! Hopefully I'll be back at church tomorrow; it just depends on how I'm feeling in the morning and when I make it back to Montgomery. This summer has been the best experience of my entire life, and I will forever cherish all of the memories and all of the lessons that came out of it. We were each asked to write a reflection about the summer, so I'll end with sharing that:

"This summer has, quite literally, been the best experience of my life. I’ve always been aware of the struggles related to living in poverty and developing racial stereotypes, but I’ve never actually done anything about it before. I’ve always had the excuse that I’m too busy with extracurricular activities, and too enveloped in my school work, which is all true. Education is very important to me, so I spend a lot of time studying, but this summer has helped me to realize that making an A on every single test is not nearly as important as making a difference in this world. The summer has also reinforced to me the importance of modeling our lives based on how Jesus wants us to live. His life is the perfect example of unconditional love, humble service, modest living, and genuine actions, and as Christians, we should naturally live in the same way. We should be as willing to help people as these churches have been willing to feed us, and we should always appreciate the blessings we have been given. It doesn’t matter if we only get a sandwich for lunch, or just a bowl of cereal for breakfast, or snakes and mice in our rooms, because at least we have a roof over our heads and food to nourish us. Although I am leaving Mobile tomorrow, I will not leave this experience or these kids behind. I am going to do my best to remember these things I have learned every day, and I will always be in prayer for Whistler, for these beautiful angels of God that have come to our day camp each day, and for the various ministries that we have visited this summer. I will never forget Tonny Algood’s true servant’s heart, or Reverend Fail’s compassion for the impoverished in this world, or Mrs. Judy Lacey’s love for anyone and everyone she meets. I will always have pictures in my mind of Shakarria, Levonta, Satoryia, Arlexsia, Laila, Oneka, Cantrell, Isjiaa, and all of these other kids who I have grown to love so much, and I will never forget certain moments with them, like Shakarria crying in my arms about her dog dying and about feeling worthless, or like Isjiaa begging me to play Chess with her so she could have companionship. As I go back home, I hope to change the way I live, and be optimistic and sure of God’s love instead of being cynical and letting anger get the best of me sometimes. Thank you, Don and Jean, for everything you have done for us this summer, and for making this internship so special and so inspiring."

Beginning of the end

So, I went another week without posting, and don't quite remember everything that happened last week. It was really good week, though. God helped me realize that there are still honorable youth groups and honorable people out there by bringing us the youth group from Kingswood UMC, who was so wonderful with our kids! They brought crafts, helped us with a lot of the cleaning, and were so loving and genuine toward the kids. On Thursday when camp was over for the week, they even invited us to a swim party with them, so we got to hang out with them a little while longer, which was lots of fun. We were able to do some really neat things with stuff that had been donated to us, also. On Wednesday, we told the parable of the sower and the seed, and each kid got to decorate and take home a flower pot. The next day, we told them about how Jesus said He is the light of the world, and each kid took home a desk lamp! It was pretty exciting to watch how God was providing for us.

This past weekend was exhausting, yet so rewarding! My teammates and I spent most of Saturday planning a program for our kids on Sunday morning at church. We made each kid an individual award, bound all of their artwork into books that took a long time to put together, had to write out stuff to say, and lots of stuff, complete with trips to FedEx and Walmart. We also had to fill pillow cases that Wes and I tie dyed the day before with school supplies. We stayed up until around 2:30-3 a.m. doing all this stuff, yet we were completely convinced that not many kids would show up. None of our kids have come to church with us all summer; they just come for the day program. We sent home letters about having a special program where parents could see what their kids had been up to all summer, though, and guess how many kids came on Sunday morning? 20! 20 kids and most of their families! It was such a miracle, especially since we were only expecting maybe around 10 at the most. I had to choke back tears all morning, because it was so beautiful to be there with so many of our kids on Sunday morning. We got to sit with them for the first part of the service, and then we each shared a personal testimony. Next I gave out the awards, which we could tell the kids really appreciated. Each award was individual to the kid, and there were some groups of kids who got the same award. Shakarria, Brandi, and Laila all got the Sweetheart Award, Cantrell got the Christ-like Leadership award, Isaiah got the Young Leader Award, Levonta got the Compassion Award, Myia got the Kindness Award, Allegra and Arlexsia got the Peace Maker awards, and so on. After the service we gave them each their art books and pillow cases filled with school supplies, and everyone in the church was happy. Donald, Lanissa, and Laila's mom came up to me sobbing and hugging me, so full of thanks and love, and another mom talked about cooking a meal for us. We were so energized and happy after the service, and then we went out to eat lunch with a family from the church with whom we've become very close (we went over to their house for dinner on Friday night also!), and it was just such a great day, so full of love and blessings from God. Later I found out that my sweet sister prayed for me to get a blessing that morning....well, I sure got one! Sharing Sunday morning with my kids and seeing all of their happy faces was definitely a blessing.

Yesterday, another cool youth group from Dauphin Way came to help us do a community clean up, organize our art areas, and clean and organize all the toys in the nursery, so that was a big help. That same group came today to do a messy/water day for our kids. The kids had SO much fun! There was a tie-dyeing thing with shaving cream and food coloring, a station where they made homemade ice cream, outside games, a huge slip-n-slide, water tug-of-war, and a water balloon fight. It was kinda hectic, and there was so much to clean up afterward, but all that matters is that they had an amazing time. After water day, my team and I had our last mentoring session with Reverend Fail. In these sessions, we've each picked a verbatim, where we write down a conversation that we've had down here that struck us in some way, and then we discuss the conversation and what our actions and reactions say about us. I picked a conversation I had with Shakarria one time toward the beginning of camp, where she talked about killing herself and hating herself. It was tough to talk about, but Reverend Fail has a way of making everything better. He knows just the right words to say. I told him that I didn't know how I was going to leave here on Saturday....he said, "Well, you'll just leave. You may not know how to do it, but you will." And it really is that simple. I have to be able to let go of this place in a way (even though it will always be on my heart, and I hope to make several visits down here during the school year), and take everything I've learned back to Montgomery. It will be so hard though. I refuse to accept the reality of leaving until Thursday when I have to say goodbye to those kids, though.

Well, that's all I can think of to say for now. I didn't fall asleep until around 4:00 this morning, so I think I'm about to knock myself out with some Nyquil so I can sleep through the night tonight. Just too much stuff on my mind...plus, it was SO hot in here last night. Hopefully I'll get some better rest tonight though.

Love and Inspire

Well, I don't think I'd actually noticed my transformation this summer until this week, with ALL of its challenges. I realized that my eyes were open to new things and that I was beginning to see things differently before now, but bringing in another group of people and watching their interactions with our kids really made me see the problems in this world and how deeply it bothered me to see them right in front of my eyes.

I'll start from the beginning. On Tuesday, we took our kids on an awesome field trip to Camp Baldwin in Elberta, AL. From the very beginning, we knew this day would be complicated. The church van that we were counting on using wouldn't start up in the morning, so Jean had to frantically call around to search for another method of transportation. She finally drove to Saraland UMC, had herself put on the list of people who are allowed to drive their van, and came back to Whistler. I loaded myself and 7 of the youngest kids, between the ages of 4-7, onto Jean's van, and we embarked on our hour and 20 minute drive, at least 30 minutes late. We had been driving along for awhile, having a good time, when suddenly the van started shaking. Jean started freaking out as she realized that we had absolutely no gas left. In the chaos of the morning, no one had thought to check for gas. We had to pull over in a random parking lot and wait for someone who was already at camp to come get us, so of course the kids were restless and thought that they wouldn't be able to go swimming anymore. We eventually got them all there, and Jean got a gas can for the van, and we all enjoyed a good amount of time swimming together. Then it was lunch time though, and I had to wait in line for the bathroom for so long during lunch that by the time I got back, the food had been put away. So...that kinda sucked, but I knew I would be okay until dinner that night. Other than that, the trip was just general chaos. The youth group who was "helping us" actually stirred them up more than calmed them down, and they were no help at all as far as discipline and keeping the kids from going crazy. Then when we got back, kids had left clothes there, brought home clothes that weren't theirs, were wearing different shoes...we had even taken a kid with us who we somehow didn't have a permission slip for. Not to mention that we were 30 minutes late coming back because of the morning difficulties, so, naturally, we had some upset parents. But, even with everything that went wrong and all the moments I thought I was going to rip my hair out, the day was so worth it. They swam, went on a sailboat ride, got to steer the boat, and learned about and touched snakes, baby alligators, and turtles. I saw kids who have barely smiled all summer with smiles on their faces all day long because they were having so much fun. Those smiles kept me going and reminded me that none of this is about me; it's about the children who I love so much. Those smiles made everything worthwhile.

Wednesday.....oh, Wednesday. This is the day that truly angered me. I was a bit annoyed with the youth group, but I was going to try to give them another chance. First strike occurred when I went out to the fellowship hall to move chairs and tables together for our kids to have somewhere to sit during lunch. Well, I had pulled a ton of chairs up to a table, when suddenly, a group of the youth removed those chairs and took them to another table so they could all sit together. I just stopped and said, "Well, I guess I'm not doing this right now," and went back to the back where we live. Strike two happened during lunch. Two of the youth were trying to help me serve lunch, but at first, not many kids were coming to get food to eat. Well, that happens sometimes, and I honestly rejoice when they don't want food at day camp because that means that they got a meal at home. Instead of just waiting to see if kids would come to eat, though, the youth got angry that the kids weren't appreciating their efforts of trying to feed them. They were looking at my kids as though they couldn't believe they weren't eating anything (because apparently being a black child living in Prichard is equivalent to being poor and starving). Then another youth told me that the kids were rough, and others treated everything as if it was a joke and didn't even try to interact with the kids, and others pushed kids away because they're "unclean".....I could seriously go on forever. Basically, they had a "lets cross the bay and save the poor black kids" mentality. They pitied our kids instead of loved them. They took tons of pictures to use as trophies for their own personal glory, instead of being humble and genuinely loving as Jesus would. Jesus spent time with all walks of life, from tax collectors to prostitutes, and he never turned a person away. And not every single youth was like that...several of them were really awesome with the kids and were helpful to us. But the ones that acted as though they were better than our kids definitely got under my skin. I've never been as angry at a group of people as I was this week, because I could see the hatred and the hypocrisy right in front of my eyes. And it was directed toward MY kids, who I have poured all of my love and all of my heart into this summer. They ARE my heart, and they are my life. I will allow no one to degrade them or see them as a joke.
Luckily, after VBS was over for the day and we had cleaned everything up, my team had mentoring with Reverend Fail. Right when we were about to finish, he asked me what I thought of our conversation, which has basically centered around anger. I told him it was convenient timing, since I was pretty angry. I had already had a break down of crying because not only had I just watched my kids be degraded for a few hours, but also, in the chaos of everything, I had forgotten to order food bank for Thursday, so we had to throw something together. There's also always the looming reality of the end of the internship in two weeks, and the thought of leaving these kids absolutely breaks my heart. But, Reverend Fail let me get all of my feelings out, and I was practically yelling at some times, along with the other members of my team. I felt a bit better afterward though, because Reverend Fail has a way of saying the right things to ease the situation.

Today (Thursday) was the last day of VBS, thankfully. A lot of the same stuff I already described happened again....just youth who still have so much to learn about life and the true meaning of Christianity not helping us control the chaos in any way. It stormed in the middle of VBS, so Levonta freaked out because he's terrified of thunder. Mrs. Lacey from the church happened to be there though, so she took him home. Then Lanissa stepped on something and had blood all over her foot, so I had to take care of that. Just....lots of stuff. Then lots of cleaning afterward. Then we had to prepare for a Whistler community meeting that Reverend Fail was hosting that night about the price of water in Whistler. We went straight from cleaning into rearranging tables; searching for large paper, an easel, and a sharpie; and making refreshments. We had some things at Whistler already that we pulled together, but we had to go out and buy a few more things along with dinner for ourselves, since we missed the intern dinner for the second night in a row because of other obligations. God did an amazing thing with this meeting though. Instead of bringing in adults from the community, kids showed up. I don't think some of them even realized what was happening. They just came by because they know they're welcome and safe at the church, and they know we'll give them water after they've been walking around Whistler for who knows how long. So of course we invited them, gave them lemonade and food, and Reverend Fail changed the entire course of the conversation. He asked the boys the good and bad qualities about Whistler community and what things needed to change to make it better, and their answers were remarkable. They said things like wanting a park where they could play, wanting a Boys and Girls Club, recycling, making guys stop sagging their pants, and sidewalks for more safety while they're walking or riding their bikes. Can you see why I love these kids so much? They are the future of Whistler, and they have so much potential and so much power to make things better. Reverend Fail asked them if anyone had ever offered them drugs before, and most of them said yes. I mean, we're talking about boys between the ages of 7-10 being offered drugs and refusing them because they know it's wrong. That's powerful stuff right there. These kids never cease to amaze me.

Sorry for two really long posts back to back. I just have so much on my heart this week, and my thoughts are impossible to contain. I want to shout it to everyone and make everyone understand. Basically, the whole point of all that I have to say is that no one person is ever better than anybody else. I told the interns tonight during organic worship (during a rather long speech I gave expressing all the stuff on my heart) that if people, such as this youth group or even any of us, at any moment act as though we're better than the people we're serving, then we need to reevaluate our own lives. Love knows no boundaries. "Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." --1 Corinthians 13:6-8. Yeah, we all know that verse, but I think sometimes we forget the true definition of what it really means to love. I would challenge you never to forget simple Christianity, never to forget what Jesus stood for and what he died for, never to forget about love. Love abundantly, because the world can never have too much of it, and may never have enough of it.

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord.

So....it's been awhile since I updated this blog. I need to remind myself what I've done the past week. I can remember as far back as July 6th, because I have a schedule sitting next to me, hah.
-Last Tuesday, we interns prepared and served food at McKemie Place, which is a shelter for homeless women in a rough area of Mobile. My team was responsible for making banana pudding for dessert, and each team cooked a different part of the meal. The experience of serving these women was rich with blessings, and I enjoyed every moment of spending time with them.

-On Thursday of last week, the Quad W Foundation, who provides the funds for 3.0 interns to be paid, visited the sites and had dinner with the interns and Whistler UMC, and it was really nice to meet them. My teammate Jessica and I worked with the Whistler UMC ladies to prepare all of the food and set up the tables and everything right after our kids' camp was over and we had cleaned, so it was a long day, but so worth it to spend time with the women here at this church and get to know them better.

-Friday was a remarkable day. Each of the teams in 3.0 have a mentor with whom we meet once a week, and the mentor for my team is Reverend Fail. Reverend Fail is an amazing man, with so much love for people in his heart, and he is always busy doing something to help people. He's also a chaplain at the jail here in Mobile, and we finally persuaded him to take us on a tour of the jail. 19 of the interns went, and we split up into groups of 3 or 4 so we could each visit a different area of the jail at the same time. My group had Sergeant Love directing us around the jail, which was awesome, because he was so kindhearted and wanted us to learn so much from the experience that he took us to areas that weren't even on the list for touring. He has been working at the jail for 21 years, so everyone knows him, respects him, and loves him. I was fascinated by the inner-workings of the jail. I’ve read books and seen shows about people in jail, but I’ve never actually stepped inside of one before. There are so many different things happening at one time, such as people being brought in from the street, court, cleaning, religious services, and educational services. Then there are the women behind it all in the control room. They have to watch so many different screens and control all of the doors and elevators, and I found it really interesting to see how that system works and to watch what was going on around the jail. We watched a bit of a court session also, and I actually really wanted to stay and see a few more cases, because it was just cool to see how things such as unpaid traffic tickets and whatnot are handled. I know that some of the interns were freaked out by the inmates, especially the women inmates who were just as vulgar as the men probably would have been (the girl interns were only taken to the female sections of the jail), but I wasn’t really scared. I didn’t see them as vulgar scum who deserved to be there for their crimes, but as people who need love and ministry more than anyone. The visit to the jail reinforced that every person is a child of God, regardless of their race, gender, or past transgressions. Anyone can see the talent hidden behind those bars and bad lifestyles, especially through the pictures that had been drawn in the chaplain’s office and the mural in the work-out room in the barracks. If we, as Christians, spent more time loving these people and trying to improve their lives from the beginning (such as we’re attempting to do with the kids’ camp), maybe we could allow their talents to flourish in the real world instead of being held captive behind bars. We met one inmate in the minimum security building who gave us a speech about always listening to our parents and staying in school, because she would never have the chances that we have to get an education, and it's something she regrets so much. She's been in and out of that jail since she was 15 years old, all for petty crimes. She knows that what she does is wrong, but she's a career criminal. This time, she's already been in for 3 months. Everyone should go to a jail and meet an inmate, because half of the time, they can tell you what's really important in life.

-Now that my long section about the jail is over,I'll move on to this week. This morning, 5 of us met with Tonny Allgood, who works at McKemie Place and the Mission. the Mission has wonderful programs, including breakfast for people who are food-poor or living on the streets, which is accompanied by a worship service or a little devotional, since that may be the only word of worship they hear, ever. During the day, there's a program for senior citizens, which consists of providing food for them, picking them up, taking them to doctor appointments, or taking them to go grocery shopping. At night, dinner is served for the women staying at McKemie Place. (McKemie Place is the upstairs area of the Mission.) Tonny told us so many stories that made it absolutely impossible for anyone to deny God. You can call things coincidence as much as you'd like, but even I, with my somewhat cynical mind on occasion, cannot deny the power of God's hand in the success behind the Mission. Tonny is a complete man of God, and he may be the most loving, giving, and honest person I've ever met. He would give anything to help anybody, and he has so many things that he still wants to do to help the people in this area. Next on his list is a gang intervention program, since that's a huge problem around here, even though that would be an incredibly difficult ministry. He has spoken with a 15-year-old boy who got jumped into a gang (which basically means he was beaten into the gang), another who was "blessed" into a gang, and, a really horrifying one--a 12 year old girl who was gang-raped by 7 or 8 members in order to be initiated. They all wanted out, but it's impossible to leave gangs...blood in, blood out. The only way to leave the FOLKS (Followers of Lord King Satan) gang is to be beaten by 6 members for 6 minutes with 6 sticks. Yeah, you're not going to make it out of that alive. Tonny had so many stories that touched my heart. He's so humble though. His main point at the end of the discussion was that this is not his mission, not his ministry, but God's mission and God's ministry. He was just allowing himself to be used by God, and God is definitely looking out for him and the Mission and McKemie Place. I hadn't been in the best of moods this morning prior to this discussion, but afterward, I left with assurance of God's power and love in my heart, and with amazement of all the things Tonny is doing, and with the strive to let God move through me and do things to help this world.

-In regards to Kids' Camp, we're doing VBS this week! The youth group from Spanish Fort United Methodist is helping us, and they brought all of their materials from their VBS to us. Their youth are the ones who actually do the snack, games, crafts, and story time, and we do the opening and closing and moving around between groups. Today was a little challenging though, because it was kind of more of a trouble to have them here than a help. Our kids just got so excited about having sooo many new, energetic people with us, and the youth didn't lend a big hand in helping to discipline them or clean up after them. I'm sure it will work out better though once we talk to them about it and describe how our kids need to be handled. Tomorrow will be pretty awesome though, because we're taking the kids on a field trip to Camp Baldwin! We'll leave around 8:30 a.m. and get back around 4:30 p.m., and the kids will get to enjoy a day of swimming, SAILING, and an estuary walk. They've been begging to go swimming all summer, so I'm excited that we get to do this for them. It will be crazy though, because right when we get back and all the kids are gone, we have to run to the bank if we have time before it closes, shower (because I'm sure we'll be nasty after a day in the sun), dress up, and then go to this fish dinner at Dumas Wesley. Then we have to go to a book study that night. We'll be so tired by the end of the day, but it will be worth it.

-On a random note, somehow the Emmaus community caught wind of the 3.0 program, because today after work, there were little gifts on everyone's beds that came from various reunion groups! I knew it was from them as soon as I saw the word Decolores on a sticker. That seriously made my day so much, because I truly love the Emmaus/Chrysalis community. One girl was complaining because all she got was a toothpick and a quote or bible verse with it, and I seriously wanted to shake her and make her realize that it's not about what you get, but about the love and blessings that are being shared from complete strangers. At any rate, it's amazing to see how the Emmaus community follows me and uplifts me without even realizing it. What an awesome gift to have an entire community looking out for us! :)

-I realize how long this blog was, so major props to anyone who actually got through it, haha. I'll end with a picture of me and Levonta, one of the sweetest and most talented kids I've met here. He has a really rough home situation, so please pray that he and his sisters, cousins, brothers, and whoever else lives in that house can make it through life surrounded by love and be allowed the opportunities that many kids in this community don't ever receive. All he needs is a chance.

Precious faces

Incredible love, you fill me.

Well, since the last post, things haven't been quite as chaotic, but I have been dealing with physical difficulties lately. Three of the four interns on my team have been sick, and Jessica and I both ended up having to go to Urgent Care and getting steroid shots for viral infections. I didn't respond so well to the shot, though, and I passed out twice before I left the doctor that day. Since then, my sore throat has gone away, but I cannot stop coughing. I literally stayed up all night the night before last because every time I attempted to fall asleep, the coughing woke me up (I guess that could be a blessing in disguise though, because I stayed up all night talking with two of the interns). Sweet Luke bought me three different types of medicine and some cough drops yesterday though, and that helped me sleep last night. Hopefully this cough will go away soon so I don't annoy everyone at night anymore, hah.
Yesterday Wes and I had to abandon our day camp for a while and go to a hunger seminar in the morning, and it was really interesting hearing about different aspects of the food bank, Angel Food Ministries, and several other ministries that reach out to those who need assistance. The most amazing part of the day, though, was coming back to our kids. We were able to spend the last 30-40 minutes of the camp with the kids, and as soon as we walked into the building, I had at least four kids jumping on me and hugging me, looking so happy for us to be back. Experiencing love like that is so incredible. I can't say enough how special these kids are and how much I love them.
Also, when we were driving to dinner at Pleasant Valley UMC, I had an awesome God moment. If I'm ever doubting my faith, all it takes to bring me back is a nice look at the sky. I happened to look out the window and was instantly blown away. The sky looked 3D...some clouds looked so close to us that it seemed as though we could have touched them, and then tons of other white fluffy clouds covered the sky. The sun was perfectly shining through them, and a rainbow of color radiated the clouds closest to the sun. My description can't come close to capturing the scene, but I could barely even believe what I was seeing. Our God is a brilliant creator and a magnanimous provider, and what a beautiful picture he painted for us to experience yesterday. Even after dinner and our meeting, He was still sharing His awesome love in the sunset. I like to think that on days like that, He's nudging me in the right direction, or smiling at me and letting me know that everything is okay. :)




They were playing with my hair.

week of chaos

So far, this week has really tested everyone's nerves. On Monday, my team had to help with the VBS at Spanish Fort UMC, which consisted of at least 320 kids, if not more. Then we had to drive all over Mobile in the pouring rain to run errands for our boss. Tuesday we were back to our kids' camp, and the kids were CRAZY. They actually said no when we asked them not to do things, they ran around like wild animals, and they trashed every room in the building. Red and black marker was all over the chalkboard, crayons and crumbs were scattered everywhere, and the place was just an all around mess. The kids weren't quite as unruly today though...still slightly disrespectful and messy, but not as rough as the day before. Right after work yesterday, we went to 15 Place in Mobile to feed the homeless, and that was a really rewarding experience. It was awesome to talk with the men and women there, and it was inspiring to see how, despite their situations, most of them still wore the biggest smiles and were so appreciative just to receive a meal for the night. Today directly after work, we had to drive out to a house on the river, tomorrow right after work, we have to drive out to West Wilmer for dinner and worship, and Friday (yep, right after work), we'll be going to the Prodisee Food Pantry in Spanish Fort for a long day of unloading boxes under the Mobile sun. Despite all of the chaos of the week....I couldn't imagine being anywhere else this summer. I love our kids, I love the places we go to help in Mobile, and I love how God is visibly working in these communities and how He is keeping all of us interns going when we feel as though we can't do anything but sleep anymore. I'm kind of stuck in my own little world of 3.0 internship though...it's going to be really difficult to leave at the end of the summer.

First week

Today a woman came to the church during our day camp so she could register her son and bring him next week, and I was just talking to her and explaining what happens each day, and before she left she told me that she knew great things were going to happen with our camp because she could see so much love written all over my face. That was probably the best compliment I could have received...it definitely encouraged me to get through the day, even when kids were running everywhere and creating chaos. Just another example of how God works in the simplest ways to make each day better. Our first week of kids' camp was really great. We grew by 7 kids each day, and had a total of 42 kids today. We know of at least 4 more who are coming next Tuesday. We've done art activities, told Bible stories, made an edible ark to coincide with the Noah story and an edible commandment tablet to go along with Moses, and have generally had lots of fun activities and crafts that made the week go pretty smoothly and successfully. Even when I had a slight food crisis one day and was freaking out about how to feed the kids, God provided and everything worked out fine. Along with all the love and fun of the week, some of it has been pretty difficult for me to handle. The first day, one girl wet herself, so I went into the bathroom to help her clean up. She took off her underwear, and when she handed them to me, they were old, used boy's boxers. This girl lives in a home where probably up to 16 or 17 kids come and go all the time, whether they be cousins or siblings or what, and a lot of the kids come from the same mother but different fathers. It's a rough situation, but the kids are so sweet and creative and just want to be loved. So many of the kids have asked me if they could go home with me, and another little girl said she wanted me to be her mom. It's rough, already loving these kids so much, wondering what's happening in their homes at this very moment, and knowing that I can't do much to change their situation. I just have to show as much love to them as I can while I can and hope to help them in some way.













p.s.--Thank you so much for all of your sweet comments! They make my day and give me a lot of encouragement. Be sure to leave your name with the comment so I'll know who wrote it. :)

Registration Rally

Today my team held a Registration Rally for our Kids' Day Camp that starts tomorrow! Registration was so successful. 32 kids have already signed up, and there's no telling how many more will come tomorrow. Jean, one of my bosses, arranged for two clowns to be there with us (not like, freaky clowns, but fun ones that make balloon animals and have games and bubbles and prizes and stuff like that), and that went over really well with the younger kids. We felt so accomplished when the day was over...can't wait to see how our first day with the kids will go tomorrow! I can tell that God is working in this community, because we've already doubled the amount of kids who came last summer. Two of the kids, Isaiah and Brandy, who came to the camp last summer, hung out with us during the last hour or so, and it was great to get to know some of the sweet kids that I'll be working with all summer. Here are a few pictures from today!



My team at Whistler! The four of us have sole responsibility over the kids.



Silly picture of the team with our balloon hats and swords



The team + a clown + Isaiah and Brandy :)



Face painting always goes over well.

Thoughts

Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work.

--Mother Teresa

20% of children are born into poverty. The major cause of poverty is not lack of education, ignorance, or bad people--it is where you are born. Poverty is usually a cycle that is incredible difficult to escape. Of course, there are the few cases such as Michael Oher becoming an All American football player and first round NFL draft pick, but usually, children are born into poverty and live their entire lives merely making it by from day to day. People are suffering every single second of every day, and not enough people are doing anything to help. We've already spent a trillion dollars on the war in Iraq....think about how many mouths we could have fed with that money; how many children could have been more nourished, even if just for a day. They live a day at a time as it is, because they don't have the resources to plan ahead to what food or toiletries they may need a week down the road.
The crazy thing about the neighborhoods in which the other interns and I are serving is that they are sometimes so close to rich neighborhoods. We went to Taylor Park one day, which is an incredible impoverished and crime-ridden area, but once we had gotten out of the neighborhood and made it back to Government Street, mansions literally lined the street. Those people in those huge, beautiful, expensive homes may have absolutely no idea of what is occurring right behind them, and they may not care even if they do know. That is what is wrong with our world today--we ignore the things that are right under our noses. We hear reports on the news every day about people being murdered over drugs or gang problems, but we don't think about the people. Consider this: You are an impoverished male living in a tiny, run-down apartment with three children to raise, and the mother of the children is gone. You can't find work because you were caught with marijuana one time and sent to jail, so you can't find the money to feed your three young precious daughters. Then one day somebody says that you can make a lot of money selling drugs for them, and even though you've been caught for using before, you agree, because you can't stand to see your children suffer anymore. Does this make you a criminal or a bad person or a "thug"? Absolutely not. Only 10% of people in jails are actually criminals...that leaves 90% who are actually safe to still walk the streets. 90%. Try to tell me that this world doesn't have problems, and I will come up with a million reasons of how it does.
This is precisely why I am here, though. People at church freaked out when they heard that I would be living in Prichard, but guess what? I have now been door-to-door within the community to tell the people about our kids' day camp. God definitely put me at this site for a reason, and that reason is being revealed to me more and more each day. At first I was nervous about going to each door in this area, but after a while, I was more comfortable than I probably would have been in a rich neighborhood. What amazes me is how different neighborhoods are even when they are close together. RV Brown houses tons of children, while Magnolia Trace is rougher and houses mainly older people or teenagers. But let me tell you this: Anyone who has ever complained about having to swim in an above-ground pool has never witnessed 6 or 7 children having the time of their lives in a tiny kids' inflatable pool because that's all they have to beat the heat. Anyone who thinks that every black guy hanging around on a corner is trouble has never stopped to talk to that person or taken the time to understand his situation. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A BAD CHILD--sure, there are bad circumstances and bad situations, but children are not bad. They are raised in environments that may not always be encouraging or loving or morally conscious, and they grow up living the best way they can for what they have.
I have already experienced a shift in my way of thinking. I've never really helped with things before because I'm always so busy with school and my determination to make all A's. Now I realize, though, that being able to attend school and receive an education at all is a true blessing. These kids that I'm meeting may never be able to attend college, but that does not make them ignorant or stupid. I know now that perfect grades aren't quite all they are cracked up to be, but helping the world and living as Christ did is the most important part of life. You cannot say that you walk in Christ's steps and express an unconditional love to all of God's children if you shy away from the poor, the meek, the hungry, the dirty, or the incarcerated. I can already tell that my life is going to be changed drastically after this summer, and I absolutely cannot wait for that change. I want God to shake me out of my comfort zone and to make me see the good in every single person, and I want to continue to help these people wherever I go.

Picture time!

Whistler UMC is where I live and will be attending church all summer. The church is a little white building on the corner of Whistler Street, and there is a small building attached to it by a walkway. The building behind it has a sort of auditorium set-up in the front, with a small kitchen, a stage, and a large ground area that's used as a fellowship hall. By going up the stage and through the door at the back of the stage, you walk down another hall that has some children's Sunday School rooms, and then another door that always stays locked (unless we're all there) leads to where we live. We have a family room with a tv that works every now and then, a little kitchen for us all to share, a changing room/shower for girls, and separate "dormitories" for girls and guys.




part of the girls' room. My bed is the one in the bottom left corner with the flowery quilt and blue blanket. There's a little table right next to it and then another bed next to that, where my close friend Sheridan sleeps, and then another bed is against the back wall. There are some cabinets on that side of the room also.



picture from the stage of the fellowship hall



part of our kitchen--a big refrigerator and a microwave are hiding in the corner



part of our family room, with Wes lying on the couch. Wes is part of my Whistler team, and I also go to school with him at Huntingdon.



I made this Rules sign for our day camp! :)



Jessica is one of the three other interns who serves at the Whistler site with me.



This is from the dinner at Pleasant Valley UMC with the Iraqi refugees. Heather is the girl in the picture, and she's one of the interns who works with the refugees.

Pictures

On Friday morning, we went to a little camp and participated in team-building ropes courses. The first picture is of the entire group, and the second is one of me climbing a pole to swing down the zip-line. It was so awesome. :)

2 days of posts

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Today we visited three of the work sites—Dumas Wesley, Pleasant Valley, and St. Mark—so that we can see where everyone is working and what the interns will be doing at each site. We also visited a transitional home for women and their children who have been homeless, and we went to a food bank to see how those are run. At the site where I’ll be working, we will be providing a Kids’ Café lunch and snack program each day, and the food for that comes from the Mobile food bank, so we had to learn how that works. We had an awesome dinner, provided by St. Mark UMC, and then got a lot of free time for the night (which will probably never happen again, except on the weekend, haha). Things are still going great, and I’m enjoying getting to know more people each day.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Today we visited Taylor Park, Whistler, and West Wilmer, and we went on prayer walks at Taylor Park and Whistler and a prayer ride through the West Wilmer community. We also participated in the first part of a lesson about poverty, which was conducted by the female pastor at West Wilmer. I have to say….we think that we’re struggling with the attendance in our church or with our regular one-story homes, but we have it made. If you ask the kids at West Wilmer what it means to have a home, no matter how small or what condition the home is in, they will say that anyone who has a home is rich. Let me tell ya, the homes in those dilapidated neighborhoods would never be considered an appropriate environment by anyone’s standards in our congregation or anyone with a middle-class mentality period, but to the people in these communities, you’re getting by pretty nicely if you have that little run-down house. I don’t really think that anyone can fully understand life until they have walked through a community that is hanging on the hinges or visited a homeless shelter or know how a food bank is run. It’s just completely unrealistic for us to live in our bubbles of comfort and forget about the people out there—and there are so, so many—who are struggling every single day and living on a day-to-day basis because they have no other choice. This internship is already opening my eyes and making me see the world differently, and we haven’t even started the work yet. I can’t even begin to imagine what incredible ways I am going to see God’s love manifested this summer.

Day 1

Today was the first day! So far I love how everything is going. All of the people I'm living with and working with are great, and I think that awesome things are going to come out of this summer. I'm living at Whistler United Methodist Church in a big room with 5 other sweet girls, and I lucked out and don't have to sleep in a bunk bed, hah. I will also be working here at Whistler with the Kids' Camp that three other interns and I will host three days a week. Mondays the three of us get to decide what we want to do, like working with other people in the community or something like that. Whistler was actually my third choice for working assignments, but I'm excited about it and think that things will work out great. For now, it's time for to me to get ready to sleep though. Can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring! :)

One day left!

Hello church friends, and whoever else may read this! :) Mr. Sam insisted that I create a blog to keep you all updated on how things are going in Mobile this summer, so here it is. I'll try my best to update it as much as I can. I'm still in the process of figuring out how to do this blogging thing, hah. Tomorrow will be spent packing, and I'm off to Mobile on Tuesday!