headin home

Well, I fly back to Ohio in about 4 or so hours. Let me first tell you about the last couple of days. Above is a picture of our community on Wednesday night. In light of the departing of Michelle (a fellow community member) and my self, we decided to pool some money together and go out for a nice dinner -and give us an excuse to dress up. We ate at this place called the Broadway Lounge which is overlooks broadway and Times Square.
Thursday Michelle's dad came and we had dinner at our house and invited friends over to say our fairwells.
Yesterday I did my best to make my rounds at work and tell everyone goodbye. I was going to take some kids to Times Square Church, but it began raining so we came up with some songs and a scripture to discuss in the Chapel. Paula, the Faith Community assistant coordinator helped me lead a few songs and she took care of leading the discussion on Psalms 73. It was hard to keep the group we had on topic, but overall I think they got the jist of what the verses were about (nice work Paula, whenever you read this).
After that I went up and hung out with a couple staff on the girls floor. They have a census of 77 (theres only 78 beds on the floor) with only two staff so things were pretty hectic and they enjoyed what little help I could offer.
Afterwards we decided to see this new scary movie that just came out called "Mirrors". I don't really know why, but it sounded like a good idea at the time, and I wanted to enjoy the city for a little longer. Te only showing that wasn't sold out was 12:45, so we went and got something to eat and came back to find that the only open seats were in the front row, (hich means that when scary things jump out at you from the screen they are really close, haha).
After the movie we split up, two people went to Central Park to see some lights that are at one of the entrances. I hung out with Kamini (one of the girls floor staff) in the middle of Times Square for another hour or so. To make a long story short, I got home at just around 5am and prayer was at 6:15. I had made all these plans about how I was going to get my sleep schedule in order so I would be ready for school - I'm not getting off to a very good start.
I will probably have a couple more entries here once I get home - just to share what I'm feeling as I reflect on the whole experience. But this is definitely the last post from the Big Apple. Peace.

hiking

As promised, above are some pictures of my sweet tattoos from the Staten Island street fair last week. Bonus points for the first person to tell me which ninja turtle that is!

Today we took some kids on a hike. We took eleven, and again it was a great experience and a trying experience for many of my youth. They are definitely outside of their element in the woods and its always interesting to see how they react. My favorite part of the day came when we reached a small park with a playground. I expected that the kids would want to take a break since we had been walking for a while, but they surprised me. As soon as they saw the playground they ran to the swings, slides, monkey bars, etc. Because of the way many of these kids were brought up, they didn't have parents to take them to the park, or to the playground - this was a special event. They were genuinly having fun, running around amidst the rest of the kids who were at the park already (ranging in ages from about 3-10). Most striking to me was one of our girls who didn't know how to swing. She had never been taught to swing. No one had ever taken her to the park to swing. Today I witnessed a 20 year old girl learn how to swing.

It is simple instances like this one that remind me how much I take for granted, how many aspects of my life that I consider "normal" that some people never get to experience. This is definitely one of the biggest things I've learned during my time here. I'm learning how to enjoy the things of life and not take them for granted, how to live in the moment, how to enjoy this life that God has given me because only then am I really able to give Him thanks for it. Peace.

great week of fun

A couple weeks ago our community decided to go camping together so we all requested wednesday off from work so we could go. We left tuesday night and reached our campsite in northern long island at 8pm or so. It took us a good hour to unpack, pitch the tent, get a fire started, make dinner, etc. For the rest of the night we just sat around the fire and hung out - some people went for a short walk at one point, but for the most part we were just relaxing. The next day we got up and had some breakfast, then headed to the nearby beach, where we spent the next couple of hours. To my surprise (and eventual dismay) the sun in New York works the same way as the sun in Ohio, and by the end of the day I had a nice sunburn. Such is life. Late we hung out at the campsite some more and made dinner. Then we had our business meeting, packed everything up, took a short walk back to the beach at night just for the heck of it - then we drove back to the convent.
Today Covenant House put on the Staten Island street fair. It was held at the outdoor sports complex at a school in Staten Island. I drove some supplies for grilling out and helped set up. Then I enjoyed the afternoon participating in a variety of activities ranging from throwing a football to getting face-paint tattoos on my arms (hopefully I'll have pictures soon). Unfortunately, as soon as the fair was over at 4, it started raining so cleanup had to happen in the rain.
Tonight I plan to relax and see whats happening with the olympics. Tomorrow I'm going into work for just a couple of hours to make sure an icecream social runs smoothly. Peace.

great weekend

Yesterday I slept in. Then I went grocery shopping. Then I decided to see if I could get student tickets to a show called "The 39 Steps". Its based on a movie, if you've heard of it (which is based on a book, but that's neither here nor there). It was a comedy, and it was pretty good. The entire cast was only four people, who play over 150 different characters over the course of the night. The do a lot of creative costume switches and prop use. It was a fun play to go to and I'm glad I went. After the show I called Dr. Metz to let him know how it went and hung around the theater. As I suspected, it wasn't too long before the cast came out. Only a couple people were still hanging out in front of the theater so I got a chance to get their autographs and talk to them for a few minutes. Its so weird, because you don't expect them to be normal people, but they are - its pretty cool. Makes you wonder how many famous people you just pass on the street here without noticing, though.
Today a few of us went to Calvary Baptist Church in Manhattan. The sermon was about not putting your trust in money, but putting it in God - always a good thing to be reminded of, I guess.
Afterwards we went to central park for about a half hour, then went to a shop to eat some soup and sandwiches, which were yummy. Then we met another housemate and took a ferry to governors island. Until a few years ago, the government/military has always used the island - it has just recently been opened to the public. It was a pretty good day there, some cool old buildings and stuff.
Once we got back this evening we were pretty tired, so we watched "The Bucket List" - if you haven't seen it, I would recommend it. Now I'm watching a little football (first game of the preseason, I think) and it will be time for bed soon. Peace.

buttermilk toast

This entry has nothing to do with buttermilk toast, but I couldn't think of a title and one of the girls I live with always uses the expression "buttermilk toast" to show excitement - so I thought it was a valid title.
This week at work was super busy - my supervisor kept me hoppin. I've made a few driving trips in the city to pick up donations - this is always an experience, especially during rush hour. Yesterday was especially busy. I went in to work early at 10am and left late at 11pm. But since I was busy the whole time, it didn't seem like a long day.
Last night I took some kids to the times square church youth service that they have every Friday night. It was a small group, but we really enjoyed it. It was an excellent service. My favorite part of the sermon was when the preacher (who was french and had a pretty cool accent) was explaining the verses in the Bible that talk about how all we have to do is simply ask God for things and he will give them to us (you know, the "ask and it shall be given", or "anything you ask in my name" type verses). He talked about how people just take the word "ask" at face value there, when it means so much more. He said "it doesn't mean the word ask like when you go to McDonald's and say 'can I have a burger, fries, and a blessing from god, please'. It is a petition, it is a longing, it is a heartfelt desire".
I think too many times I just ask God for things and expect to get them. But what he wants is a heart that is yearning, pleading for him - because then what I will be asking for is just to be closer to him, to be more like him, to feel him - and these types of things he loves to give.
Its two weeks from today until I will be flying back to Ohio. My time here has flown - but it has been good. I just have to make sure I get the most, and give the most in the little bit of time that I have left. Peace.

rewards

yesterday was a good day, a rewarding day - and it may take a while to explain why it was that way, but i will try to be brief.
first: i spoke for a while with a young lady in the chapel. she was having a bit of a rough day and just wanted to talk. she was really frustrated with a lot of the other kids in the shelter, how some of them don't appreciate the staff or the services that the program offers. She said "i can tell you guys care, and i love you all for that". She meant it. This poor girl hasn't encountered much love in her life, and she truly appreciated people that showed her just a little bit of compassion. It was so good for me to hear that.
number two: later in the evening there was a motivational speaker coming in - while we were waiting for people to show up, a couple of the guys were talking. one of them has been at the shelter for a few weeks, and he's been in the chapel just about every time i had it open. during our time together, he has done most of the talking - he is a really great kid, has been through a lot, and has learned a lot from where he has been. I really don't feel like I have done much for him. But as the three of us were talking last night, this kid recommended me to his friend. He described me as a cool dude, who is real and who has a lot of wisdom. I'm not sure what my face looked like but my mind was running, trying to remember even one thing that I had said or done that would make him think that - I couldn't think of one. Somehow, though, I had made an impact. That....was rewarding.
last of all: i was on my way out from work and i stopped at a pizza place on the corner because they have slices of pizza for a dollar. as i stood in line, a young man (roughly my own age) finally worked up the courage to ask me the line he had probably going over in his head for the last few minutes: "excuse me sir, do you have a dollar so I can have a piece of pizza?" At that moment I froze - this has always been a dilemma for me, especially now that I encounter beggars more often in the city. obviously, yes, i could spare a dollar - but i can't reasonably give every time someone asks me if i do. so sometimes i do, others i don. then the bible says that if someone asks you for something, and its in your power to give it, then you should. this is my dilemma. so there i am, frozen with this young man looking at me. after a few seconds of silence (although it seems longer) he says "if you can't than just say so". As he said this my mind though a million things at once: how many people had refused to help him out, how many had ignored him, how many had dismissed him as lazy, or given him some other stereotype. As all these things went through my head, I answered him honestly - I said "yeah, I can do that". He said thank you, but showed no emotion - (how many times had he been forced to degrade himself, swallow his pride and beg just to feed himself). Then I tried something that neither of us expected, I asked "do you want a soda, too?" You should have seen the smile that came across his face. He said "are you serious" and I just smiled back. He must have said thank you 50 times in the next two minutes that we were standing in line. That was honestly the most rewarding moment of my day, maybe since I've been here. If only you could have seen his smile. Peace.

fun saturday

Yesterday I slept in. When I woke up I really didn't have much on the agenda, so I grabbed my guitar and headed to central park. Once there I found myself a spot on a bench and started playing and singing. I really only know christian songs, so those are the ones I played. I guess it went well, I mean no one crossed on the other side of the sidewalk or had grimaced faces or made mean gestures, so I count it as a success. Many people smiled, a few nodded, one man played his air guitar as he walked by. Good times.

Once my fingers were sore and I had played just about every song that I have memorized I decided to take a nap. So I found a nice spot under the shade of a tall tree. I rested my arm on top of my guitar in hopes that I would be aroused if anyone attempted to steal it during my slumber. I woke about an hour later with guitar still beside me - another success.

I went home to grab something to eat and drop off the guitar. I then went to a Johnny Cash tribute concert. It was a lot of local bands playing Johnny Cash songs in their own style - some I liked, some I didn't. My favorite were "The Persuasions" (pictured above) which were a 60's a capella group and a Cash impersonator (also pictured above). The last picture is of the view over the Hudson river from the Irish Hunger Memorial (one of my new favorite places in town).

Today I went to the Catholic Church that is connected to our convent. It was interesting, because I don't recall ever attending a Catholic mass before (although it was similar to the Lutheran services I have attended). It was neat to see how Catholics 'do their thing'. Peace!

busy week - surprise surprise

Lets see....Wednesday night (community night) my housemates and I went to watch a movie in a park on a big screen, about half way through the movie lightening was too close so they had to shut down - it was a good experience though. Last night I went to see Wicked on Broadway, it was really good. It had a lot of important underlying themes that I didn't really expect - but to put it simply, it showed why it is such a bad idea to judge people because, for the most part, we don't know their backgrounds or experiences that have made them the way they are. There were also many other important ideas woven into the script, but too much to think about at 1:30 in the morning. Tonight I (along with Father Placid) took a group of the kids to Times Square Church for a youth service - it was a really good service and I feel like it dealt with a lot of the issues that our kids are facing daily. We took 12 kids and many of them commented on how much they liked it and asking when we could go again - whenever people are anxious about going to church its a plus in my book. I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend - I don't have one thing on the agenda, so we'll see what ends up happening. Peace.

what a weekend

My family came to see me this weekend, and what a weekend it was. Here's some of the things we did: visited the world trade center site, walked through battery park, ate in little italy, saw mama mia (on broadway, not the movie), went to the bronx zoo, ate pizza in central park, watched a movie, went to church at the brooklyn tabernacle (a church of nearly 10,000 according to their website, and i believe it), and went swimming in the atlantic ocean at coney island. Amidst all this fun, there were a couple of mishaps: at the theatre friday night, i was pick-pocketed, but luckily they just took the cash and threw my wallet down, so when i went to look for it all of my credit cards, insurance cards, ID, etc were still there - a blessing in a very weird disguise i guess - i was so relieved about it that i really didn't feel that bad about the whole situation. then on sunday we were driving to the beach when a woman decided to stop in the middle of the road and back into our car - an unfortunate occurrence, yes - even more so when the cops came and the woman told them that we ran into her. so since it was their word against ours, nothing could really be resolved. not the best way to end my family's visit - but i think the weekend as a whole was positive just because we got to see each other (although i don't know if dad will feel that way when he gets the bill for the car). they are now home safely and i am back to work. Exciting things coming up this week: I'm seeing Wicked (a broadway show about the wizard of oz's witches growing up, and why one of them turned good and one turned evil - should be a good time) and on friday I'm taking some of the kids to a service at times square church specifically for youth - another good time. Peace.

birthday

Yesterday was my birthday - and it was a good one. I started off with a productive day at the shelter, I got a lot of good stuff done. I got off work at 5, then met the rest of the people I lived with at 7. It was community night the night's objective was service, so we decided to make and serve dinner at another shelter in the city. The shelter was called Sylvia's Place. It was much smaller than ours and the facilities were not as good, or very clean. The residents there basically come in at night and find a place on the floor to sleep. They keep their belongings in plastic bins, but they could upgrade to a shelf if they lived there long enough. They were very happy to have a nice meal - we had prepared lasagna, salad, some type of apple dessert, and cookies. They were also very appreciative. It was a good time.
When we got home, my housemates had prepared a cake and brownies and icecream for us to enjoy - and we did. Then we proceeded to play a pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey game except it involved paper ducks substituting for the tail and a painting of saint francis substituting for the donkey. It was fun.
Today will be a long day. I'm on my lunch break now, and I get off work at five. At that time I will be going with one of my housemates to "rumble on the river", an amateur boxing event in southeast Manhattan. Then we will hang out in the city until 11, when we are meeting some of our other housemates to get in line with our tickets for good seats to the 12:01 showing of Batman. I'm pumped. Peace!

hiking

Today, I helped lead some of our kids on a hike in New Jersey. We took 19 kids, almost twice as many as have ever volunteered to go before. I must say, it was very interesting to see these "tough" kids outside of their element. When encountering different aspects of nature almost all of them were uncomfortable and a few were scared, even terrified. At the end of the day, though, the trip was a huge success. Each of the kids conquered the mountain, and each will have stories to tell their friends. A great experience for both them and myself. Peace!

a good week

These are a few pictures I took at the Metropolitan Museum of art yesterday - pretty cool place all in all.

As always, I've been staying busy. Wednesday was our "community night" - all of my housemates get together Wednesday night for either business, social activities, etc. This week happened to be a social-type night. We walked the Brooklyn bridge which gave us a great view of the city at night. Then we stopped in at city hall park where we had our prayer/reflection time in the middle of a sidewalk - and where Clint, a housemate, decided to take a dip in the public fountain (for which he was verbally reprimanded by a security guard. Then we went downtown to have pastries/deserts - it was wonderful.

Thursday night I went to a comedy play called Boeing Boeing. It was very funny, and I stuck around afterwards to get autographs so that was cool.

Friday at the crisis center we had a youth group from Katy (outside of Houston) Texas come in to share. They had about 10-15 kids, and 10-15 of our kids showed up as well so it was a pretty good turnout. We basically just opened up for people to share their story. A girl from Texas told her story first, and another girl from Texas finished up. In the hour between those two, our Covenant House kids shared. It was very moving, and powerful as they they told us about abusive, drug-addicted parents, about addictions and gangs, and about their faith journeys. A Texas girl summed it up well when she said "its amazing that you guys have been through so much, and you still believe".

Its been a good week. I'm looking forward to another good one -hopefully a hiking trip with some of the kids will be a part of it. Also, my family is coming to see me next weekend - so I can show off how well I know the city to them! Peace.

im selfish

I was at the Covenant House Crisis Center and I had opened the chapel for use by the kids. As I explored a bit I found a prayer book - in this book the kids can write prayers or prayer requests for Father Placid (or whoever else) to pray over. As I flipped through the book, here are some things that I read from various writers:
- I want to make it in life
- Please help me get my kids back
- Please help me. I'm lost and would like to be found
- Please pray for my family, we are in need of a home
- I'm lost and scared. I can't find myself. I don't know who I am any more. Everything is lies. Help me find myself please.
- Please Lord help me. I cry to you for help because I need help. Please hear my cries please.

As I read about the things these kids are going through and the types of things they were prayin for, I could only think one thing....I'm selfish.

other recent things

I keep remembering other things that have happened in the last couple of days that I haven't mentioned. First is 4th of July and fireworks. We watched the fireworks from our roof and it was awesome. There were at least 10 sets of fireworks going off at any given time around us. The Macy's fireworks (64,000 pounds worth) were huge, but lacked much of a grand finale. Most of the shows were a long ways off except for the guys that were setting off their own right down our street (illegally, of course). I've decided that I like being close-up at fireworks show, like at home in Ohio - I believe the Orrville fireworks are my running favorites. I like "feeling" the booms.
Today I went to church at the Times Square Church. It was a very large church, and I was kinda sceptical at first with the music and such - the whole thing was very TV-like. I was wondering how authentic the service would be. Then came the message - and it was a great one. The minister preached about "Knowing the Mind of Christ". The first part of the sermon was about how to go about finding God's will for your life and the types of things people do that keep themselves from hearing God's voice in their life. The second part of the sermon focused on using God's calling and sharing it with others. I think that I shouldn't judge churches on their size, or denomination, or anything else for that matter. I think that's where I, along with a lot of other people, get into trouble I think. At any rate its something to think about.
Also, today I saw a man on the sidewalk. This man was walking with his cat standing/sitting on his head. The cat seemed to enjoy it, because it was wagging its tail. I was impressed, but wasn't close enough to get a picture. Sorry. Peace!

great couple of days

At the time of my last entry I was a bit discouraged - but its amazing how God seems to always have everything figured out. On Friday I spoke with Father Placid about what my opportunities would be with pastoral ministry. He left me that night with the keys to the chapel and told me I could open it whenever I wanted. So after he left for the night, I opened the chapel and went around to a couple of the floors to let the kids know that its open and I would be there for a couple hours. I was happy when my first two guys walked in. The one had a very strong faith background and was not afraid to challenge me about what I believed, and I loved it! Others came just to see what the chapel looked like, and to see what pamphlets and things they could get for free. A group of girls came at one point and decided that we would read stories about Jesus together out of a children's book. I took these opportunities to introduce myself to the kids and say a short prayer with some of them. It was a great start - just what I needed. These kids know a lot more about the Bible and what it has to say than I thought they would - I was impressed, to be honest.
Outside of work, I've had a great couple of days. I discovered this thing known as "standing tickets" for Broadway shows. When the shows are sold out, they sell a certain number of these standing tickets to people who don't mind standing in the back of the first floor of seating to watch the show. Its great for a person on a budget (like me) because a regular seat to a show can be anywhere from $50-$150 (sometimes less, many times more) but you can get these standing tickets for $20-$25. So Thursday I got home from work and I went to see if I could get standing tickets for Phantom of the Opera but they were sold out - but very close to that theatre is was showing Spamalot - related to the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I got standing tickets for this show and it was pretty funny, a nice way to spend an evening. Today a few of us tried to enter a drawing to win some front row tickets to another show called Wicked, but failed - so we went and got standing tickets for Phantom and it was wonderful! (The picture above is me in front of the theatre) We may try to win tickets to Wicked again tomorrow - if we do, its a front row seat for $25 - that's hard to beat!
To finish off, I must thank my friends Dr. and Mrs. Metz for their assistance in helping me enjoy Broadway! Peace.

lunch break

I'm on my lunch break at work right now. I got to meet briefly with my supervisor yesterday to get a better feel for my schedule. I will be working with Father Placid in pastoral ministry on Monday and Friday evenings. I will be working for the recreation department Tuesday thru Thursday on afternoons.
So far I haven't had a whole lot of interaction directly with the kids, which was getting a little frustrating. Last night I realized that I came into this summer wanting to "help". During my interviews I told them I wanted to do whatever I could to "help". A lot of my recreation job is going to be trying to get free tickets to events, games, theme parks, etc for the kids to have fun with while they're here. I've realized is really important even though I don't get direct interaction with them that way. I guess it will make me enjoy and take advantage of the times I do get to spend with them either with the pastoral ministry or while doing on-site things for recreation.
During our training, one of the teachers asked us why we thought we were here - why we thought God led us here and what he was going to teach us through this experience. We all gave our answers, then he told us that we were all wrong. He said that we wouldn't know why God brought us here or what he wanted to teach us until the end of the experience.
I think God is testing me a little bit with humility and patience, helping me understand the importance of behind-the-scenes work. I've decided to try to make the best of it, and put as much effort into that part of my job as I do when I'm spending time with the kids.
So I feel good about being here and doing what I can to "help". Peace.

good morning

Today marks day three of work. So far its been.....interesting. My main supervisor has been gone for the two days I've been there, so I haven't been doing what I would usually do. Monday I started on the older females floor (18-21 year olds) where I read some case files and basically observed what happens on the floor. I was in the floor's office most of the day, but boredom got to me so I went and hung out with some of the girls in the lobby. Then I wandered upstairs to the older males floor and talked to some of them. All in all it was a good day - I met a lot of people and got a chance to hang with some of the kids so I can't complain about that.
Yesterday I decided that I wasn't going to just sit and observe. I needed to make myself useful - I don't really care what I'm doing as long as I'm doing something. So I started in the clothing room. People can donate clothing to covenant house for our kids. There is one lady in charge of the clothing room she does everything from sorting (because some people send stuff that an 18 year old kid would never wear) to cleaning the clothes. So I helped her out for a few hours until lunch. Then I went to the older males floor and cleaned out their AWOL closet. If a kid doesn't come back to Covenant House and leaves his belongings, they keep them in a big room for a certain amount of time before throwing them out. After this I went to the females floor and monitored the computer room for a while.
At 5 Father Placid (my supervisor for the pastoral ministry part of my job) took me to the mother/child covenant house building a couple blocks away to hold a prayer/discussion before their dinner. This was the first glimpse of something I will actually be doing, so I was happy to join him with that.
That's all for now, I need to be at work soon. Peace.

weekend so far

Well, this is my foot - all bandaged up in pretty blue. I'm mending, but its rough just laying here all day. I have gotten out a little bit, though. Earlier today Jeni (a fellow volunteer) and I went to Astoria Park for some relaxing reading under the shade of a nice tree. Good times - it was really nice to get out of the house for a little bit. I've hardly had the worst of it, though. Poor Shearl, a fellow volunteer has been very ill and spent the last day or so in the hospital. We have been taking shifts staying with her, my first will be later tonight. Her doctor will hopefuly be releasing her tomorrow morning.

To lighten the mood a bit, I will finish this post with a prayer that we used during one of the reflection times a couple weeks ago. I related to this prayer so well, and it is really sticking with me. At the commitment service on Wednesday we each got a chance to share something that inspired us, or helped describe our purpose...this is what i shared (it is known as the prayer of Thomas Merton) :

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following Your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please You does in fact please You. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this You will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust You always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and will never leave me to face my perils alone. Amen.

I love the lines in the middle that say (sorry for the repitition) the fact that I think I am following Your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please You does in fact please You. And I hope that i have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. Thats good stuff.

Peace.

job placement

This morning I found out where I will be working. I will be splitting time between the recreation department and pastoral ministry. It's a really weird placement, because most volunteers are placed on the actualy resident floors, but I'm excited about it. Hopefully I'll be able to interact with the kids a lot as well as give them some guidance with the ministry. I don't really know what I'll be doing yet, but I'll find all that out on Monday.
As for my toe...I ended up getting 6 stitches, but because of the continued bleeding I went to another doctor today who rebandaged it and gave me some antibiotics. Outside of the doctor's offices, though, my fellow community members have been so helpful. They have basically waited on me hand n foot (and scolded me everytime my foot wasn't properly elevated). I really appreciate thier help. What a great group of people :)
I had ideas for things to do this weekend, but now it looks as though i'll be spending some time on this couch. Hopefully tomorrow ill get to a park or something for a while. Things are good though - this won't get me down. Peace.

last couple days

Its been a couple days since my last post. To be honest, they are all a blurr. More training, community building and planning for our commitment service. The commitment service is an evening where faith community alumni and agency people come to the house and we put on a banquet-ish thing. It is our official induction into the program. After living in this house with 15 or so people, we had a lot of cleaning to do and cooking and decorating and all kinds of fun stuff - but it went really well.
Today, people at the different sites will be traveling there (Ft. Lauderdale and Atlantic City). Its sad to see them go, but I know they are excited to get started. The people who are staying in New York will be going to the agency later today to get our job placements and get started!
So now the bad news :( Last night I was getting into a storage cupboard when the door to the cupboard fell of its track and landed on one of my toes (and these are no small doors). It instantly began bleeding and, upon further inspection, it broke my toenail off right at the base. Luckily we have two nursing majors in the house right now, so they took good care of me. Right now its all bandaged up and I will be going to some sort of foot doctor later today to see what needs to happen. So that's no fun, especially with the amount of walking we have to do - but I'm tough, right? Haha. Well that's all for now - I will know what my job will be by tonight. Peace!

the day of rest

(The photo is last night's sunset from our roof) Today is a good day - it is Sunday, our day off. But before I get to Sunday, I better cover Saturday. We woke up for prayer/reflection at 6:15 and then some of us went to Time Square for a city-wide yoga event. The first 500 people got free stuff, so thats always good when you're doing volunteer work! Last night I went to an Off-Broadway show with Sue. Sue is a current volunteer in NYC who will be done in about 2 weeks. Off-Broadway shows are basically 2nd rate shows that aren't necessarily in the theatre district. So we saw a show called "The Castle" which was not a typical show. It was basically 4 people who sat on stools and told their life story. Combined they had served 70 years in prison - They had also each lived in a transitional home once they got out called "The Castle". It was a very emotional performance, as these people were not actors, they were people who were telling their story in hopes of creating change. Their stories all had a similar story line - each of them had a horrible childhood which led to them getting into drugs and eventually some type of crime. The one man stated that everything in his childhood prepared him for prison - another told us about the 67 times in 20 years that he had been in jail. They each talked about how much the decisions they made when they were young affected their lives. All I could think about was the kids that I'll be working with this summer, and how much of an impact I could have on their lives. It was an awesome show.
So now its Sunday. I went to the New Life Fellowship church this morning. It was a very diverse group of people with a very worshipful service. The sermon was on the armor of God, specifically the sword of the spirit - or God's word. It was a great service. After we got back and had lunch a few of us decided to just relax for the afternoon and watch Disney's Robin Hood. Tonight we're going to go out to the Chinatown area, which is probably where we'll eat, then who knows for the night. Peace!

just before bed

What a week. Tuesday we spend most of the day learning about what is called an Enneagram. For a simple explanation, this is a type of personality test. We learned a lot about different personality types and why certain people react in certain ways depending on a certain situation. This really helped us define who we were as people (which was kinda cool) and help us to understand the variety of kids we will be working with. It may seem a little frivolous, but it really was a great exercise. We also spent some time Tuesday learning more from the book "Community and Growth" about living in community. On Wednesday we spent 5 hours in a workshop on "Substance Abuse and Mental Health". It was basically an informative session about types of drugs our kids use and mental health issues they could be dealing with. We also talked about how to recognize each of these and what to do in certain situations pertaining to them. Later on Wednesday we learned more about the Covenant House's governing structures (rules, policies, etc). Every Wednesday night is community night, so we went out for a picnic with everybody in our group along with the current New York volunteers that we are living with. We had a picnic in Central Park, but it rained so we moved it under some really cool bridge in the park - it was a fun. Upon returning to the house, we spent about an hour in prayer/reflection with the group. Thursday was another intense day. We met a couple higher-ups in the organization in the morning then had a three hour session on "Gender 101, Working with LGBTQ Youth (thats Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer). This session pertained to understanding anything from the meanings of the categories above to the basics of sex change and everything in between. Its really important to understand these things so we can relate to the kids. After this we returned to the house to do a whole lot of paperwork an have dinner. We then had an evening session to help us understand the basics of "Franciscan Spirituality" (the priest who founded Covenant House was in the Franciscan order). So we learned about the life and beliefs of Saint Francis of Assisi and did a really cool activity where we wrote the Lord's Prayer in our own words - very cool. Ok, I know this is getting long, but we still have today to cover. This morning we had a session on the Covenant House mission statement where we basically dissected the mission statement that I blogged earlier. After this we had a 3 hour session on "Suicide" where we spent a lot of time talking about how to respond in situations where the kids tell us that they are contemplating suicide and did role plays to that effect - it was very heavy, but very important as well. Other than that we had dinner and some of us watched Shawshank Redemption while those with more energy left went out for a while. Ok, thats it for now - Peace.

reflection

In the blog I just finished I forgot about today's reflection. I was the leader of today's reflection time, and I want to share just the final part. I read a prayer from a book about Mother Teresa called No Greater Love. It is the Daily Prayer of the Co-workers of Mother Teresa, and it is adapted from the Prayer of Saint Francis:
Make us worthy, Lord, to serve our fellow men throughout the world who live and die in poverty and hunger. Give them, through our hands, this day their daily bread, and by our understanding Love, give Peace and Joy. Lord, make me a channel of Thy Peace, that where there is hatred, I may bring Love, that where there is wrong, I may bring the Spirit of Forgiveness, that where there is discord, I may bring Harmony, that where there is error, I may bring Truth, that where there is doubt, I may bring Faith, that where there is despair, I may bring Hope, that where there are shadows, I may bring Light, that where there is sadness, I may bring Joy. Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort, than to be comforted, to understand, than to be understood, to love, than to be loved, for it is by forgetting self that one finds, it is by forgiving that one is forgiven, it is by dying that one awakens to eternal life. Amen.

lunch break

We are taking a lunch break, so I decided to get on here real quick. Yesterday was good, as we had the day off until dinner. After being so focused on "community" for a week, it was time for me to have a little alone time - so I went exploring on my own. First I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge - great experience. Then I started at the southern tip of Manhatten and worked my way north. I visited Battery Park, from which you can see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Then I took a gander in a Native American museum which had all kinds of cool artifacts and stuff like that. I stopped by the New York Stock Exchange for a minute, but to my dismay it was just a building. I visited the Trinity Church and St. Pauls Cathedral, both very old churches with intricate architecture. After these I took the subway up to Grand Central Station where I got off and went to the New York Public Library. It was an absolutely huge building with lots of art and books - it also holds the original dolls that inspired the story of Winnie the Pooh, which I thought was pretty cool. After this I was tired of walking so I took a break at Bryant Park, a nice little park where many people were taking their lunch break - actually, too many people were taking their lunch break because there were no open tables. So I joined a man named Bennet at his table and we spent the next 45 minutes getting to know each other. Bennet was about 50 and had lived in New York his whole life, so he had a lot of interesting perspective to offer on the city. After this I walked to the times square area where I visited a bunch of shops (including a Hershey's Chocolate shop and a 3-story M&M shop, both of which offered samples which I was excited about). After a while I was ready to get off my feet and out of the sun, and found shelter in an ESPN shop where I watched Tiger win the U.S. Open in sudden death - probably the most fun I've ever had watching golf. At 5 we all met up and had pizza at John's Pizza place which was probably some of the best pizza I've had in a while. After this some of us were going back to watch a movie on the lawn at Bryant Park, unfortunatly it rained again so I came back to the house and went grocery shopping. Theres the day in a nutshell. Peace.

fun stuff

If its hard to tell, the people in this picture are soaked. Absolutely soaked to the core. After a long day yesterday, the six of us went to the Little Italy area for dinner. We found a place called La Nonna which was absolutely delicious, a great way to finish off the week. The plan was to have dinner then go to the seaport, where there would be a symphony and fireworks taking place - but as we were eating it started raining, then pouring. We tried to wait it out, but the longer we waited the harder it rained, so we just went for it. We ran about 10 blocks in the middle of a downpoor - and it was awesome. Then we gathered at the subway station and took this picture. As we assumed the fireworks weren't taking place, we went back to the house and had hot cocoa and hung out.

As for some other things we've done in the past couple of days.....wednesday night we had a "community night" where we ended up watching a documentary called Paperclips about students that completed a project to honor those jews (among others) who lost their lives during WWII. Thursday morning we spent a morning session with Jesse Selengut, a past volunteer who is urrently a musician. He brought all kinds of hand drums and shakers and we held a drum session. It was a very interesting experience and I really liked it because it involved music. Each day we also spend at least a half hour in community prayer/reflection time which is a great time for us to get to know each other and form bonds and connections. We've also had little snipits of time here and there to explore the city and hang out. At the end of this two weeks, our group of 11 will be divided to the New York, Atlantic City and Fort Lauderdale sites so we are doing our best to take advantage of our time together.

This morning I went to a church called The River which is associated with the Vineyard community of churches. Its worship was contemporary and participatory. The message was on self deceit - the preacher went through the life of Jacob (meaning deceiver) and how he began his life as a deceiver and was trying to be successful by his own means. He deceived his brother out of his birthright and deceived his father to get his brother's blessing. Later in his life, though, God gave him and new identity - He renamed him Isreal (meaning the Lord fights for you) and his whole life, desires, and attitudes changed. This applied to us relying on God to fight for us instead of doing what we can to get ahead and allowing him to form our identity. It was a very understandable and applicable. The people were welcoming and personable.

Churches in the city are interesting because theres nowhere to build churches and the number of actual church buildings that are in place are limited. Therefore people meet for church whereever they can rent the space. Its definitely new to me, but it really puts the focus of the church on the people rather than on the building that they meet in, which I find very important. Good stuff. Peace.

busy, busy, busy

Its been a mix of fun and work. I have a picture or two on someone else's camera that I want to show when I explain the fun stuff, so for now I'll just give an overview of the types of training we've been receiveing. I always hae to keep in mind that we will be working side by side with people who have degrees in social work, so we are trying to get as much training as possible in two weeks to help us prepare for and know how to respond in a variety of situations.
One part of the seminars that we have been attending are about living in community. There are many factors that go into participating in community life, where all resources and responsibilities are shared between up to 10 people that need to be understood. So we've spent some time exploring those. We've also spent time discussing various schedules, responsibilities, filling out paperwork, and experiencing God through a variety of means.
As for actual training: Thursday we had a 3 hour workshop on "Balance and Crisis". We learned how to respond to a person in crisis, whether they are very aggressive or very passive. We studied and practiced a variety of techniques to use in those situations. On Friday we had a two hour session on "Business Management" where we discussed how to maintain the finances of the house we are living in. We also spent an hour studying the governing structures of the Covenant House, as its important to know and understand the policies and structure of the organization we are serving with. Saturday was a busy day. In the morning we had a 3 hour workshop on "Gang Awareness" with a very charismatic and passionate police officer from Rochester, NY. We learned about the origin and culture of gangs, how to recognize gang hand signs, tattoos or graffiti, and how to interact with a member. In the afternoon we had a 4 and a half hour workshop on "Active Listening". Part of our responsibilities will be to develope a resource file for kids that arrive, so we need to be able to converse with them in a non-threatening, productive way. We also need to be aware of physical and verbal cues to help us understand and diagnose issues that the child may have.
This just highlights some of the things we've been learning about over the past few days. As you can see, we've been busy. Today and tomorrow are free days for us. I'm waiting for a few friends to get ready to go with me to church. Since I'm only here for two months I don't plan to attempt to settle into a church, rather I will be exploring many different types of churches around the city. Hopefully I will have some good reflections on those.
The next reflection will describe some of the fun we've been having. Till then, peace!

reunion

Its weird. All of the volunteers arrived today by noon - and it was like a reunion. Usually reunions consist of people gathering because they used to spend a lot of time together and "reunite" to catch up (for instance: high school reunions or family reunions). But these people I just saw a couple weeks ago.....and we only spent 3 days together....so I have to admit that I think its weird that I got excited when they walked in the door. What could explain this? I can only think of one thing - Psalms 133:1 says "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" These people, despite hardly knowing them, are my family and we are here for a common purpose. This strange connection we feel could only come from the Giver himself. I must say that its good to know that when I can't be around my natural family, that I will still be surrounded by family - can't beat that.

Switching gears, last night was awesome in a few ways. Little did I know that when I wrote last nights entry, the night was only just beginning. I decided to go play my guitar for a little while. I started in the living room by myself, but before I knew it there were about 10 people there with me. I played guitar, my friend Clint busted out his African drum, and others joined by patting on their legs or singing (or trying out the sweet drum). It turns out that our group has a number of musicians of one type or another, which is very exciting to me. Music is a huge part of my personal and spiritual life, and to know that I will have people here to share that with is awesome.

After a while of hanging out and worshiping, we realized that there was a pretty intense thunder storm going on outside, so we decided to hang out on the roof as God displayed his power - very cool.

This morning I woke up early and took the subway into town to take a nice run in Central Park - It was a great chance to relax and enjoy the city. Then orientation/training started a little later. We will spend the next couple of weeks being acclamated to all the things we will be dealing with in the field so it should be pretty intense. For now, its dinner time!

Peace

arrival

Well, I am currently sitting on the couch in NYC. The flight went well, despite sitting beside two fellows who didn't speak english. With my first evening here I've had a few observations:

1.) It is hot. Yesterday, NY reached triple digits. Today it only reached 97 degrees, but there is no air movement at all and with the humidity the heat index was well over 100.

2.) They told us that Astoria was really diverse, but..... tonight we went to a small chinese restaurant. It was really tiny, there were only seven little tables to sit at. While we were there eating, there were 5 different languages that were being spoken. This place is seriously diverse.

Orientation and training will begin tomorrow. The next two weeks will be really intense acclamation into the program. I'm pumped and ready to get going!

Peace

mission statement

Just for kicks, here is the Covenant House Mission Statement:We who recognize God's providence and fidelity to His people are dedicated to living out His covenant among ourselves and those children we serve, with absolute respect and undconditional love.That commitment calls us to serve suffering children of the street, and to protect and safeguard all children.Just as Christ in his humanity is the visible sign of God's presence among His people, so our efforts together in the covenant comunity are a visible sign that effects the presence of God, working through the Holy Spirit among ourselves and our kids.

confirmation

Today I was notified that I will, indeed, be serving at the New York City Covenant House site. That was my preference out of the three possible locations, so I am really happy with that decision.Here is a little background info of how things work in New York. I will live in community with somewhere between 6 and 10 other volunteers. We will be living in Queens (northeast of Manhattan Island). As a group we will share all of the responsibilities that our home requires and will spend a half hour every day together in a time of prayer/reflection.I will travel into Manhattan each day (not every day, but generally 40 hours a week) to work at the Covenant House Crisis Center. This center (along with all other Covenant House locations) operates on an open door policy: this means that any kid who walks in for the first time will have a place to stay that night - no exceptions. Covenant House provides the kids with their most immediate needs (food, clothes, shower, bed) as well as a medical/psychological evaluation. The goal is that within 30 days they will have found a job and moved on to a more permanant living situation (which Covenant House will help assist them in finding). The kids must also make a commitment while staying at Covenant House. They commit to following the rules house rules, and they commit to job searching or working towards some educational goal.While at work I will have a few responsibilities. Some of these include evaluating kids on an individual basis (determining what types of support they need), documenting work done and services provided, conducting workshops on various life-skills issues and other support services. I will know more about what, exactly, I will be doing once I begin training on June 11th. Until then, this is all I really know.As a final disclaimer I must add that, although I keep referring to these people as kids, they are 18-21 year olds who are, in some ways, more mature than myself due to living on the street.

answering the call

God has been after me for a long time, constantly nudging - but I was scared. He has been pointing me towards service, but that doesn't exactly fit into my plans of becoming a teacher and coach. So I asked, "God - I feel you, but I need you to point me in the right direction". Its amazing how God answers prayer. I began looking into overseas missions, because I love to travel and I felt that traveling and doing God's work seemed like a pretty good combo to me - but as usual, he had different plans.
There was a day on campus at Bluffton when many different service organizations came to recruit for both short and long term missions and service opportunities - and I was there to gather as much info as I could and decide which organization was the best for me. While I was there, I ran into some representatives from an organization called Covenant House. They talked to me about the mission of their organization - a commitment to serve children of the street and to safeguard all children. Now this seemed like an honorable mission, but it obviously wasn't for me because I wanted to go overseas - the program they were recruiting for only exists in the states. So I gladly accepted their brochures, and went on my way to more interesting and exciting organizations.
For the next month I could not get covenant house off of my mind. The nudging from God seemed to turn into a deliberate shove. I began looking into Covenant House more and more, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this is what God wanted me to do - But for how long? A full year of service, perhaps? At about this same time, I began interviewing for teaching jobs. Again, I asked God to lead me - after my very first interview, I was offered a job at Ontario Middle School to teach exactly the subject areas that I had hoped for - God answers prayer.
So I will serve with Covenant House for the rest of my summer - they offer 3 month volunteer opportunities, and accepted me into the program even though I can only serve for 2 months before my job at Ontario begins. I will find where I will actually be serving soon - I could be in New York City, Atlantic City New Jersey, or Fort Lauderdale Florida.
If anyone wants to know more about Covenant House, their website is http://www.covenanthouse.org/ and the website for the actual volunteer program I am involved with is http://www.covenanthouse.org/inv_faithcommunity.html