Monday, December 17, 2012

ABWK Has Holiday Style

Can you believe it is only a week until Christmas?!  Soon Karl and I will be heading to Phoenix to catch a flight to Ogden, UT to visit our family for the holidays.  Last year was an experience of a lifetime, and we received bounteous hospitality and love from our friends in Belfast, but we are excited to be spending the holidays in the company of our family. 

This past weekend we held another “A Brush with Kindness” event in the Sunnyside Neighborhood, and in the spirit of the holidays and as an effort to increase neighborhood involvement, we planned a fun, holiday neighborhood gathering around the regular clean-up and construction activities.  The day started at 7:00 am as we joined Habitat and neighborhood at the Gonzales’s house to repair the front porch roof, replace rotted fascia and trim boards, fill masonry cracking, caulk windows and paint the entire exterior of the home. 
While the hard work was happening on the house, Santa and his elves were busy setting up a festive float for photos, holiday crafts and a tasty BBQ for everyone after the morning of work.  At 10:00 Santa took his seat in his throne and welcomed anyone who wanted their photo with him.   All of the volunteers and the homeowners had their photo taken with Santa, and we had three families come by from the neighborhood.  The energy was great and everyone who came had a wonderful time, but we were a bit disappointed by the turn out from neighborhood residents.  The weather was really cold, especially for Arizona and this is a busy time of year, but we thought there might have been a better turn out from the 250 families we sent invitations to.  After Santa finished his photo-ops and the work was completed on the home, we all gathered to have a nice BBQ to finish the day off. 

Reflecting on the days’ activities, there were definitely some successes of the day:  the Jenkins Family who we helped in September came out to pay it forward by helping on the house all morning, three members of the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association volunteered as well, all of the volunteers had a very fun time with the extra holiday activities, we reached out to a handful of neighborhood residents, and the Gonzales Family was more than appreciative!  However, we are still quite downtrodden by the poor response from the neighborhood.  We will continue to try and get our name out there by scheduling regular ABWK events and networking with organizations and members of the community. 
Posing for a picture with my colleagues!
Neighborhood kids getting their photo taken

Repairing the porch roof


 

Monday, December 3, 2012

Sustainable Community Development

Boy how time does fly!  It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving has passed and Christmas is just around the corner.  Things have been going very well here in Tucson – been keeping busy with Habitat and have really enjoyed building community with our fellow Tucson YAVs.  I haven’t given an update on my work with Habitat in a while, so thought I would fill everyone in on how things are going.

Lately I have been cleaning the cobwebs from the Engineering Shelves of my brain as I have been working on passing a new set of floor plans through the Southern Arizona Regional Residential Green Building Rating System and the Energy Star v.3 rating system.  In order to do this, I have been working on some plan revisions in AutoCAD, walking the construction sites to document green building techniques and working with a mechanical engineer on the air handling system design.  It has been about a year and a half since I have used my brain in this manner, so this work has been challenging but enjoyable. 
Aside from the work I do with construction, I have been spending the majority of my time at Habitat engaging in community development efforts.  Currently Habitat for Humanity Tucson is working in the Sunnyside neighborhood of Tucson to build relationships with neighborhood residents and community organizations.  We are attempting to get to know the people in the neighborhood to learn their desires and assets for attaining said desires.  We are partnering with the neighborhood association, the city council, police department, churches and various public organizations in order to reach out to a wide audience. 

Our primary method of outreach at the moment is a program called A Brush with Kindness (ABWK) which is an exterior home preservation program to help families who are not able to conduct home repairs on their property for various reasons such as income deficiencies and/or disabilities.  So far we have helped three families through ABWK, each having their own distinct story. 
Most recently, we helped a woman and son who had become overwhelmed by the scale of the repairs and clean-up needed to improve the quality of their home and living environment.  When the two moved into their home, they inherited quite a mess in their backyard and a number of repairs that were not manageable for them.  With the help of 36 volunteers, we were able to do a tremendous amount of work in one day – we cleared their backyard that was essentially a small landfill, replaced fascia around the whole roof, painted the entire exterior of the home and replaced a toilet in the bathroom.  (See photos of the days work below)

Now the above description of the work we did that day sounds wonderful, but the discouraging part of the work was that we were not able to engage any neighborhood residents in the day of service.  We can only consider these events a success if we find a way to engage the neighborhood in actually helping their neighbors, otherwise the program is not sustainable and any difference we make will be short term.  Our goal with neighborhood revitalization in the Sunnyside neighborhood is to create a sustainable environment in which residents are able to care for and maintain their homes and community without the help of outside organizations.  In choosing families for ABWK, we make sure they are willing to volunteer on the work with us, make a financial commitment to the project (to the best of their ability) and try to pay the favor forward by helping out with future ABWK events. 
The process of engaging the neighborhood and its residents is slow, but we are continuing to work at it.  We have our next ABWK event on December 15, and we have planned a fun, family friendly event around it.  Along with the work we will be conducting on a family’s home in the neighborhood, we will be having Santa photos for the neighborhood and a BBQ cookout for people to stop by and get to know Habitat and their neighbors.  We’ll see how it goes!





(Photos courtesy of Ayman Alhajji)

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Abundant Life?

So much has happened since I have last updated my blog, I don't even know where to begin or what to deem relevant enough to write about.  WARNING: This could be a long post in order to catch up! 

I'll start with some work related items.  Habitat for Humanity Tucson is a wonderful fit for me!  As I continue to get deeper into my work, I am reaffirmed that I am where God wants me to be this year.  I am loving the challenges of building community in the Sunnyside neighborhood and am getting a good amount work sent my way in the areas of green building and structural design review for two new floor plans Habitat is starting to build. 

Between my days spent working with neighborhood revitalization, I have been able to keep pretty busy with other YAV related activities/experiences/opportunities.  Last week(end) we were joined in Tucson by about 20 other YAVs and DOOR volunteers from the west for a delegation with Borderlinks.  Borderlinks is an organization that runs educational experience trips for groups wanting to learn more about border and immigration issues.  Our group went on a 4 day delegation and participated in workshops and experiences both in Tucson and Mexico.  The most impacting parts of the delegation were attending Operation Streamline and visiting Mexico and the border. 

Operation Streamline is a controversial act of our judicial system in Tucson which moves 350 immigrants through the court in a week.  Each afternoon on Monday through Friday, 70 people picked up for the crime(?) of "entering the country without inspection", or not entering at a border checkpoint, are given the opportunity(?) to plead guilty to their said crime, waive their right to a formal trial and be sent back to their country of origin.  This might not sound like a horrible situation to some who are reading, but wait there's more.  These 70 people are moved through this system in a maximum time of two hours, but depending on the judge could be in a mere 30 minutes.  If you do the math, that is less than half a minute for each person pleading guilty.  The immigrants enter the courtroom shackled, tired, hungry and dirty from their journey through the treacherous desert.  They are all wearing translation headphones and are called seven at a time to the front of the court room.  There the judge confirms their name and asks a series of questions which are answered in unison, "Si, Senor" or "No, Senor."  At the end of their time in front of the judge, they have all agreed to pleading guilty and are sent back home with no chance of ever being able to attain residency or a work permit in the U.S.  No matter what your stance on immigration issues, I hope you can agree that human beings, people born to the same earth (maybe only 50 miles south of you), should not be treated this way.  It is simply inhumane.

The other most impacting part of the delegation was our trip to Nogales, Mexico.  The most gut-wrenching moment of the trip was when we approached the border and I could see as far as the horizon, miles of wall built at the border.  I was immediately brought back to memories of my time in Belfast last year.  As I looked at the wall, I realized how impersonal my feelings were towards the segregation in Belfast.  I truly felt for the people of Northern Ireland and Ireland, was touched and changed immeasurably by the relationships I built there, and learned how to come together on common ground and strive for peace in an atmosphere of division.  However strong my feelings were though, I never felt the way I did when we approached the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico.  My heart was filled with sadness, anger, shame, and humiliation for my ignorance of the situation at the southern border of the country I grew up in.  Sure I have not always turned a blind eye to immigration issues, but I always listened to the news and talked about the issues in a dehumanized manner.  So much of the conflict around border issues is reduced to economics and job availability.  The debates that take place surrounding immigration are often carried out as if we are not even discussing human beings and their right to an abundant life through Christ (John 10:10).  During our delegation, we entered into conversation about the injustice taking place in our backyard and centered our conversation around more than just money or employment issues.  We didn't do anything tangible to help the situation over the weekend, but we did start the conversation and become far more educated, which is a good start.


Pictures of the border
We returned home from Mexico on Sunday with just enough time to get ready for one of the biggest gatherings of people in Tucson for the All Souls Procession.  The All Souls Procession is a huge event held to remember those who have passed from this world.  People dress as skeletons, painting their faces to resemble the bones of the dead, and walk in a parade honoring passed loved ones.  There were probably over 15,000 people out for the event and our whole house took part.  My housemate, Sarah, is a tremendous artist, and she painted our faces for the procession.  She painted my face in memory of my Gramie Jo.  Before painting, she asked me to describe Gramie.  I told her about her love of hummingbirds and the color purple, about her life giving energy and her ability to bring our extended family together.  Sarah painted my face depicting a hummingbird feather and life-flowing vine sprouting with purple flowers.  It was a beautiful depiction and I was pleased to have the opportunity to share it with my new YAV family and the city of Tucson.

Karl was remembering his Grandfather and I my Gramie


Karl with Ellison who was walking in honor of Belfast

House photo!

Well, there you have it.  The longest post yet!  Thank you all for reading and for supporting Karl's and my experiences this year.  We feel truly blessed to be where we are and to have this time to discern God's will for our lives.  Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Improvisation

I am lying in bed right now getting ready to turn in before a new week of work, feeling thankful for the wonderful weekend I just had.  It started on Friday evening when Karl and I packed our camping gear onto our bikes and cycled the 15 miles through Gate's Pass to a beautiful camping location.  We were surrounded by gigantic saguaro cacti, majestic mountains on the horizon, beautiful sunsets and sunrises, twinkling stars at night, and the ominous sounds of coyotes in the distance.  We spent two nights out in the desert enjoying each other's company, reading, playing cards, and catching up on some one-on-one time that we have not had too much of since arriving in Tucson.  We came home early this morning in time to go to a jazz worship service at St Mark's Presbyterian.  Boy am I glad that we made the early trek back into town for that!

All of the music was led by a five piece jazz band, and the energy in the church was fantastic!  We sang great traditional hymns - Amazing Grace, I've Got Peace Like a River and Leaning on the Everlasting Arms to the fun beat of jazz and took a different, jazzy spin on the traditional Communion Sacrament liturgy.  In addition to the uplifting worship elements of the service, the message was jazz themed and thought provoking. 

Rev. Mike Smith spoke about improvisation in our spiritual lives.  He used the concept of jazz - creating a song from a specific chord progression, but with different rhythms and combinations of the notes (improvisations) to make an original piece of music - to get us thinking about how we can improvise our lives through Christ.  As people following Christ, we should be able to follow the chord progression set out for us (Christ, His love and His grace) and improvise to make a song, a song that resonates the nature of our being in Christ and is beautiful to all those who hear it.

Taking Christ's love and His message and improvising with it in our lives means applying our faith in new, original ways.  We are all made as individuals with different gifts and callings.  As we live into our passions and use our gifts to positively interact with those around us, we are able to make a beautiful song.

The thing I love about the word improvise is that it does not impart the idea of taking a chord progression and playing it in one, set way.  It allows for change and transformation.  Since Karl and I first met, we have played so many different songs and improvised a lot in our lives.  Seven years ago we met each other in the dorms of UW.  I was on the track towards becoming a Structural Engineer, while Karl was on the track towards becoming a professor in Mathematics.  We were playing songs of numbers, academics and careers separate from our faith.  Over time, our songs joined together into one harmonious song, and we started improvising with the gifts and opportunities that were placed in our keeping.  We got involved in youth work at Laramie UPC and then got even more involved in the church through our work with the college ministry.  Next thing we knew, Doug Baker was speaking to us about a program called YAV, and that seemed like a great opportunity for improvisation, so we changed our tune again. 

We now find ourselves living in Tucson, continuing to explore vocational discernment, continuing to improvise with the notes that God is giving us.  With jazz music, no two songs are alike and the opportunities for innovation and harmonization are endless.  As with God and His call, the opportunities for change and for bringing people together are endless.  Improvisation is a good thing, and it results in newness and beauty.  So let's not be afraid to improvise, to step out of the steady rhythm of life and make a change in this world.

View through Gate's Pass

We conquered the ascent!

Sunday, October 7, 2012

From the Heart

Since moving to Tucson and starting to worship with Southside Presbyterian Church, I have been exposed to the wonderful genre of music called Gospel.  Being a Wyoming girl, I have never had the opportunity to listen to or worship through gospel music.  The choir at Southside is a gospel choir, and I have enjoyed the exposure to this type of worship.

This afternoon, I attended a gospel choir concert and the pianist took a short amount of time to share about her youth and growing up with gospel music.  She emphasized the simplicity of the music and how a song can grow out of one line.  She told a story of her father repeatedly singing a line about Jesus being our leader and how the whole room erupted into a heart-felt song of our leader Jesus.

That is the beauty of gospel music.  It doesn't need elaborate instruments, chords, rhythms or lyrics.  All it needs is expression from the heart and the simple beat of a stomping foot and clapping hands.  From those simple elements, a beautiful form of worship is born - a worship from the heart, a worship that is true to our Lord, a worship contagious to a body of believers, a worship that frees the soul.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Transition

This past weekend we travelled 11 hours through the beautiful landscapes of Arizona and New Mexico to Ghost Ranch for a transition retreat closing our last year of service in Belfast.  Karl and I are not the only second year YAVs in Tucson, so we were accompanied by Ellison, who served in Belfast with us, Austin, who served in Guatemala, and Brandon, our site coordinator, during our journey.  We spent the long drive beginning to re-remember and reflect on our experiences of the previous year.  Brandon prompted us with questions like, “Who are some people who impacted your time in an unforgettable way,” and “When did you feel you had completely arrived in your place of service?”  We took turns sharing and listening to stories of people and occasions which touched and changed our lives last year. 

I realized during our moments of sharing in the car that I had not spent a lot of time intentionally recalling moments of our past year.  Since returning from Belfast, Karl and I have had a generally smooth transition.  We have had a few bumps in the road, but are slowly learning how to move on from last year while still remembering and incorporating the lessons we learned and relationships we gained through our time with the people of Belfast, the congregations of Whitehouse and Woodvale and the 174 Trust.  It was nice to have the car trip to warm-up my mind and soul for the events that were to come during the transition retreat.  When the rest of the volunteers arrived at Ghost Ranch we jumped straight into worship and group processing activities.  The facilitators of the event helped us to understand the stages of transition (remembering the journey, letting be and moving on) by sharing their own personal stories and facilitating small group discussions.  Talking through how this transition is going with other YAVs, YAV Alumni and YAV staff was very helpful, and I am thankful for the thought and consideration the YAV program puts into helping us transition into our next stage of life. 
The most powerful part of the weekend was when we came together with our entire group from Northern Ireland and had a hand washing/healing service.  We took the time to share with one another what we are in need of healing for or from as a result of our experiences this past year.  The potential for this type of exercise was enormous, and our group took advantage of the opportunity which presented itself.  Rather than hide our feelings and thoughts from one another, we opened up and became so very vulnerable in our group.  We shared about parts of us we had to hide during the year, feelings of guilt and shame, brokenness amongst our families and friends as a result of changes in ourselves, and shortcomings of the community we shared as a group of volunteers in Belfast.  We spent over an hour sharing, crying, laughing, praying and washing ourselves clean from our sufferings and pains.  At the end of the service, we felt whole and felt a great sense of closure for our Northern Ireland group.

As we were leaving Ghost Ranch to head back to Tucson, back to our next step in life, I felt a little burdened.  I felt the physical and emotional exhaustion of the processing and reflection from the retreat, I felt the sadness of saying goodbye to so many YAVs who served with me and who I don’t know when I will see again, and I felt my past year in Northern Ireland crashing into my new year in Tucson.  The beauty of it though is that my past experiences are colliding with my new experiences.  I might not know how exactly the people, places and things I learned and am learning are going to come together in the future, but I do know that God has placed Karl and I in these places for a reason.  He is allowing us to try new things, to succeed and fail at these new things, to go new places, to meet new people, to experience His call and to live our life to the fullest in this world He created. 
Norn' Iron Group

Beautiful Scenery of Ghost Ranch

Chimney Rock
 

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Building Hope


In the past 24 hours I have interacted with two individuals who inspired me and helped me to fall further in love with the work that I am doing with Habitat Tucson.  The first interaction took place at a Sunnyside Neighborhood Association meeting, in which I got to meet some of the community members of Habitat’s Neighborhood Revitalization focus neighborhood.  The president of the association is a kindhearted woman with a gentle but fiery spirit.  She has a passion for building her community and for making the environment around her pleasant and welcoming to all who enter. 
During her address to the meeting she told us that she had some sad news to share.  She said that there was a divorce in the neighborhood.  When I heard this, I immediately thought that she was sadly sharing about a divorce of one of the neighborhood families.  She elaborated though and shared that the neighborhood adjacent to Sunnyside split over a zoning issue.  What used to be a harmonized community next door was now a divided group of individuals.  When sharing this news, the president was near tears, I could tell she was truly hurt from the situation.  She used the circumstance, though, to inspire peacemaking in the residents of Sunnyside, urging the community members at the meeting to learn from the situation of their neighbors and to never go down that same road. 
She shared some wisdom on peace from a legendary Native American leader named Hiawatha, a follower of The Great Peacemaker who proposed the unification of the Iroquois peoples.  In the words of Hiawatha:
Never disagree seriously among yourselves.
Your skin must be thick to stand for what is right in your heart.
Exercise great patience and goodwill toward each other in your deliberations.
Never disgrace yourself by becoming angry.
Let the good tidings of peace and righteousness be your guide in all your decisions.
Cultivate good feelings of friendship, love, and honor for each other always.
The second interaction took place today over the phone.  During these past two days of work, I have been furiously making phone calls to Sunnyside neighborhood residents who might qualify and wish to take part in Habitat’s A Brush with Kindness (ABWK).  We are holding an event next weekend, September 29, in which we are conducting exterior home repairs on two homes in the neighborhood.  As September 29 is approaching quickly, it is quite urgent that we find the two families we are going to work with!
After listening to many unanswered rings and being hung up on a couple of times, I had a moment of success when I reached through to man who is legally blind and interested in taking part in ABWK.  We talked on the phone for a while about what kind of help he would like with his home and about the pride he takes in keeping his home functional.  I ended the conversation and hung up the phone quite pleased by the fact that I found a homeowner to take part in our program. 
After speaking with our construction site supervisor for the event, I called the man back about arranging a time we could come to his home to evaluate the work to be done on September 29.  Before I could tell him why I was calling back, he interrupted me and told me that he had rethought his participation in the program.  My heart dropped immediately, but he continued speaking and told me that he knows two of his neighbors who are in much more need of ABWK than he is.  He gave me the names and phone numbers of his two neighbors and said that he would be willing to help me contact them if I could not get a hold of them.  I was astonished!  Here is a person who is need of some financial and physical help to make repairs to his home, but is advocating for helping his neighbors first. 
Through these moments I learned something great about the service I am involved in this year.  While I may be volunteering for an organization that reaches out to families and communities to build hope, I am experiencing people in communities building a sense of hope in me.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Building Freedom Day

Last Tuesday, September 11, I started my day at 3:15 A.M. as I left the house headed toward Corazon
del Pueblo where I was joining the rest of the Habitat staff team in setting up for the biggest donation
and volunteer day of the year. Every year on September 11, Habitat Tucson holds a ‘Building Freedom Day’ in which they solicit donations and volunteer work to raise the walls on multiple homes in memory of the tragic event which happened in 2001. This year’s event was very successful with over 300 volunteers and four homes in which walls were raised.


As I arrived at the job site at 3:30 I could feel a good energy building in the people already hard at work setting up for the big day. We had people setting up volunteer registration stations complete with hard hats, sunscreen and safety glasses for all. Others were setting up the presentation and meal tent, others the catering station, and others the parking arrangements for all of the volunteers coming that day.  While this was happening there were still more Habitat staff and volunteers getting the construction sites ready – ensuring the proper lumber, tools and fasteners were in place.
 
Hard hats, sunscreen and safety glasses station
At about 5:30 A.M. the first shift of volunteers started to arrive, being welcomed by a very enthusiastic group of Habitat homeowner’s. The homeowner’s lined the sidewalk leading up to the registration table, and as each bus load of volunteers showed up they gave a hoot and a holler for their efforts that day. Their cheerful reception of the volunteers set the tone for the hard day’s work ahead. The volunteers were offered breakfast while a few Habitat directors and local ministers gave opening remarks for the day.


After the pep talks finished, the first shift of volunteers went off to work. They moved from the tented area to a neighborhood block which contained four empty slabs ready to be built on. As the volunteer teams got to work, the neighborhood was instantly filled with the sound of hammers and the site of people sharing God’s love by building homes for those in need.

Bare slabs at the beginning of the day


The first shift of work ended at 9:00 A.M. and a second shift of volunteers came on site. They continued the miraculous work up to the lunch hour. When 12:00 came around, the four empty slabs which started the day were no longer empty. Each of the slabs had framed exterior walls and sheathing. Two of the homes even made it as far as putting some roof trusses up. The work that was completed between 6:00 A.M. and noon was spectacular!

Raising the first wall!

Making progress...

...still more progress!
We ended the construction day there (it gets too hot in Arizona to work in the heat of the afternoon)
and moved to the tent area for lunch and a closing program in which five Habitat families burned the
mortgages of their Habitat homes. It was heartwarming to sit and watch the multi-generational families come to celebrate the achievement of owning their very own home and a great way to end such a wonderful day with Habitat Tucson.


This tremendous event took place on my fourth day of work – what an awesome way to get acquainted with Habitat Tucson and the wonderful people who do so much hard work to make the organization one that has a great presence in the community! I got to spend the day hopping back and forth from working on the construction sites, to talking with homeowners and construction crew leaders, to meeting many people who are behind the work of Habitat Tucson. It was a great orientation to the work, the people and the community that I will be spending my time with this year.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

The Neighborhood Revitalization Jedi

Orientation has come to end, and I have started to transition into my work at Habitat for Humanity.  My first day at work was Wednesday, and I spent the day with my supervisor, Danny, getting to know the ins and outs of Habitat Tucson.   Danny showed me around the office and introduced me to all of the Habitat staff, who by the way are so nice and very welcoming!  We then spent some time talking about statistics and the people and community that Habitat Tucson serves.  After absorbing as much information as possible in one sitting, Danny took me out to the neighborhoods that Habitat is currently building in and the neighborhoods which are a focus for Neighborhood Revitalization.

I will be spending the majority of my time (about 28 hours a week) this year working on Neighborhood Revitalization in the development department and the rest of my time helping out the construction and design department.  I am really excited about the opportunities that are in front of Danny and myself through the Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative (NRI) this year.  NRI is a new focus of Habitat Tucson, and I will be working alongside Danny to initiate projects that go beyond building homes for Habitat clients and community members.  As Habitat for Humanity has historically been focused on building homes for families, they are currently revisioning their mission to think about "Families Served" instead of "Homes Built."

The reality of our economic climate is affecting the amount of homeowners Habitat is able to secure, so we will be using our efforts through NRI to help families raise their quality of life by assisting them with home and neighborhood projects.  Since NRI is so new to Habitat Tucson, I have come into a situation which is pretty much wide open in terms of my work scope.  This is a little scary, but also exciting!  Danny and I will be trying a lot of new things to reach out to the families living in Habitat neighborhoods in order to help the residents to create a sustainable and pleasant living environment.

To start out we are directing our attention to a specific Habitat neighborhood, Sunnyside, and will be focusing on graffiti clean-up efforts, starting a tool lending library and conducting a program called "Brush with Kindness."  Sunnyside neighborhood is a low-income area which is hit pretty hard with graffiti vandalising.  We are working with police and community members to report the vandalism, clean it up and possibly brainstorm some ideas on how to help those doing the tagging get a positive, outward expression of their feelings instead of using graffiti tagging.  We are in very early stages of starting a tool lending library, but the main principle behind starting one is to enable community members, who do not own tools, to personally care for their property and instill a sense of pride in their neighborhood.  Lastly, Brush with Kindness, is a program that pinpoints a few properties in the neighborhood that are in critical need of work (home repairs, painting, weatherization, gardening, etc.).  We are securing volunteers to spend Saturdays going to those homes to help the homeowners with the work on their property.

We are in the initial stages of our NRI efforts, and I would love to hear from you if you have ideas for revitalizing neighborhoods.  Like I said before, the scope of our work is wide open right now.  As an organization we are seeking to put God's love into action by bringing people together and building homes, community and hope.

On a last note, I have titled this post Neighborhood Revitalization Jedi because that is my 'unofficial' title at work.  Danny and I were trying to come up with a title so that I can get business cards, and we were throwing ideas around.  We really liked Neighborhood Revitalization Jedi, but didn't think it would be appropriate. So to the public I am a Neighborhood Revitalization Specialist, but in the walls of my office I am the Neighborhood Revitalization Jedi.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Sweaty!!


Perspiring, clammy, sticky, hot – these words describe how I have felt for 98% of the time since arriving in Tucson.  The weather here right now is hot and humid (normally it is not humid in Arizona, but it is monsoon season), and for someone who is coming from an environment that didn’t get much hotter than 60 degrees in a year, it is quite an adjustment. 
We bike everywhere we go, which means entering into the heat with helmets and sunscreen, pedaling to our destination and arriving with our bodies attempting to cool down by sweating!  Our house is cooled by a swamp cooler which operates by blowing humid air into the house which evaporates and thus cools the air around us.  Essentially our bodies are doing the same thing when we get hot.  We sweat and the water evaporates off of our bodies, cooling us down.  So I have come to the realization that being sweaty is just something I need to get used to during the hot months of the year. 
Even though I am starting to grow accustomed to the norm of being hot and sticky, I am still well aware of how uncomfortable it is!  No matter how uncomfortable it is though, it is my body’s method to cool down. 
This first week of living in community has been filled with uncomfortable moments too.  We have been working hard this week to set up our living space and learn about each others’ living habits.  As we are a group of 10 individuals who are just meeting, it is only natural to come across some tough conversations such as food ethics, cleaning, quiet hours, social habits, energy consumption, theological stances and so on.  As we have been discussing what our expectations of living in an intentional Christian community are, we have definitely had moments in which some, if not all, of us have felt uncomfortable. 
Similar to the case of being uncomfortably sweaty, our uncomfortable moments in conversation have been necessary to the foundation of our life this year in intentional community.  We are all coming from different backgrounds, but we have made a commitment to make this community our home for the year.  What God has planned and designed for us is not always comfortable, nor is it always comfortable to live out our beliefs and make decisions that Christ would on this Earth.  But we can find comfort in knowing that God uses uncomfortable moments and situations to help us grow in spirit and in love.  So next time you are sticky from sweat, remember that it is a necessary means to cooling down. 

We are in Tucson!

I wrote this blog post a few days ago, but we do not have internet in the house yet, so I haven't posted it.  Here it is...

2nd YAV year, here we are!  Karl and I have been in Tucson for 5 days now, and we are starting to settle into the community that will be so much a part of our experience this year.  We are living in an awesome house with 8 other young adults (6 YAVs and 2 YAV Alum).  Our house was built in the 1890’s for railroad workers.  The layout of the house is pretty neat.  Walking in the front door, you are directed straight down the hallway of the house which connects every single room.  There are 5 bedrooms, a living room, 2 bathrooms and a kitchen branching off of the common hallway.  We live in an historic neighborhood, so our house has been restored to reflect its conditions when it was built – this results in some great character in the house.  There is beautiful crown molding in every room, original windows on rope tracks, real wooden doors with original iron door handles, and fantastic wood floors. 
As great as the layout and character of our house is, what makes it even better is the great energy that is flowing throughout of the house as a result of all of the people we are living with.  There are 6 other volunteers living in the house with us, all with varying spirits and personalities.  One thing has brought us all together though, and that is the call of God.   We all feel called to be in this place this year, maybe not for the same reasons, but none the less we have been brought together to live in an intentional Christian community and walk (or bike) each day alongside the people of Tucson.  Some of us are particularly passionate about border issues, others about living simply, others about helping to provide all people with basic needs such as food and housing.  The thing that binds all of our passion, though, is a desire to live in a manner which spreads Jesus’ love for each and every person on this earth. 
We have been spending our time this week getting orientated to Tucson, equipping ourselves with bikes and the proper skills to commute this year with a bike instead of a car and getting to know each other.  Brandon, our site coordinator, has planned a great orientation schedule which has given us a great balance of conversations, in order to learn about each other and to learn how to best create a healthy community to live in, and practical activities such as riding routes to our work placements and stores, in order to help us get comfortable with biking in Tucson and to learn about our surroundings. 
Energy levels are dipping a little bit, as it has been a busy week in the heat of the desert, but it is easy to get re-energized here.  We have only been in Tucson for a limited amount of time, and I have already visited some great organizations and met various people who have great energy and desire to advocate for right and just living for humanity.  Living amongst our community of YAVs and the community of Tucson provides for so many opportunities to get involved with efforts to live out God’s word and to be a living example of His love.  I have a feeling that this year will be filled with countless opportunities to learn, grow and act on my faith.

Enjoying a view of Tucson from Brandon's roof.


 

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Built Together In Him

It's hard to believe that Karl and I have been home from Belfast for almost three weeks now.  Since returning home we have had multiple reunions of family and friends in various locations!  We got to see all of my family at my sister's wedding in Denver, Karl's family at a family reunion in Ft. Collins and in Guernsey this past weekend, and so many friends and church family members in Laramie last week.  We have five days left to spend with family and friends before we head south to Tucson, where we will be embarking on another year of service through the YAV program.

I have a lot of mixed emotions and feelings about what is going on in our life right now.  I am completely thrilled by the opportunities we had last year and the opportunities that are lying in front of us on the road that God paved for us, but I am also feeling very anxious about the change and transitions we will soon be facing.  When we arrive in Tucson, Karl and I will be moving into a seven bedroom house which we will be sharing with 8 other young adults in Tucson - a chance for great friendships, Christian intentionality, collaborating living styles, and learning to love each other as Christ has shown us.
 
The intentional community aspect of our next year of service will be stretching and challenging, but coupling that with the work at our placements, the year should be a fruitful experience.  I will be working with Habitat for Humanity Tucson, and Karl will be with an organization called CHRPA.  At Habitat I will have a chance to use some of my engineering education while continuing to explore a vocation which allows me to share my faith in Christ.  I will be spending a quarter of my time working with Habitat engineers and the remainder of my time working on the Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative which is exploring how to further improve the quality of life for members of the communities Habitat serves.  Karl will be trying his hand at home repair as CHRPA is an organization that does home repairs for low income and disadvantaged home owners in Tucson.
 
I have created this new blog so that you can keep track of our adventures in Tucson this year (Belfast Bulletin wasn't really fitting for Tucson).  In choosing a title for my new blog, I turned to the passage that speaks to me about our service through the YAV program, both in Belfast and in Tucson - Ephesians 2:14-22.  God has called Karl and I to be a part of His one body and to help build a dwelling place in which we are all together in Him.  Thank you to everyone who has shown us so much support thus far with the YAV program and please continue to keep us in your prayers and keep up with us by reading our blogs.
 
"For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit."   -Ephesians 2:14-22