With everything going on this month, it has been difficult to be a regular blogger! I am getting on today to share some quick updates.
1) VLM Orientation starts on Monday! Please keep us in your prayers as the volunteers travel to Chicago from all over the country. There are fifteen of us total (four returnees, including myself, and a fifth as well serving as site coordinators for the other ten). This will be the first time we will all be together since we began this journey long distance late last fall. There will be plenty of new faces, and lots of reunion hugs as well!
2) I am officially starting my new work with the Daughters of Charity here in the Bay Area, serving as Coordinator for Vincentian Educator Formation. It is a very exciting position, and I am loving being able to work in Vincentian Formation as a career! This will definitely be overlapping into my sharing about the Vincentian charism with you all.
3) I had a beautifully successful fundraiser two weeks ago at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in my hometown of Jordan, Oregon. My heart is overwhelmed by the generosity of money and school supplies that were donated to the VLM cause. If you have any further donations you would like to share with us (either before this trip, or in preparation for next year's volunteers) please don't hesitate to contact me! You can also visit our website for more information on e-donating, or mailing items to our director, Jessica Werner.
Thank you all so much for your prayers, donations, and for sharing the message of this beautiful ministry. I will be back in July!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Preparation
VLMs are in the thick of preparations! It's a very busy month, with volunteers graduating, finishing classes/finals, working, and preparing to be gone for an entire month of their summer.
For 3 days at the end of June, all of the groups heading to Kenya and Ethiopia will gather in Chicago to reflect, learn, build community, and gather necessary materials for our journey. Orientation will be a unique time for all 15 of the volunteers to get to know each other, especially since we will be doing our ministries in small groups of 3-5. The coordinators are preparing sessions on the Vincentian charism, community building, our service, culture tips for our work in Africa, etc. It will be a busy 3 days, full of valuable information and fun!
The Ethiopian group will be leaving directly from orientation, and will spend the entire month of July in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. This location has such a special place in my heart! They will be working with the teachers at the Blessed Gebre Micael school, sharing new teaching methods and pedagogy. Please pray for them in their final few weeks of preparation.
The remaining three groups traveling to Kenya will go back home for the month of July, and we will all meet up en route to Kenya in August! There is much left to be done, but the excitement is definitely rising.
As I've been preparing materials for formation and for the upcoming orientation, I've been thinking a lot about this notion of preparation. As Christians, we are asked to always prepare - for we will know neither the day nor the hour of the Lord's coming. We prepare our homes for guests, we prepare our minds for the workplace, we prepare our hearts for God.
I heard an interesting quote tonight at mass that I would like to leave you with - about preparing and living lives centered on Christ.
"If being Christian were a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict you?"
For 3 days at the end of June, all of the groups heading to Kenya and Ethiopia will gather in Chicago to reflect, learn, build community, and gather necessary materials for our journey. Orientation will be a unique time for all 15 of the volunteers to get to know each other, especially since we will be doing our ministries in small groups of 3-5. The coordinators are preparing sessions on the Vincentian charism, community building, our service, culture tips for our work in Africa, etc. It will be a busy 3 days, full of valuable information and fun!
The Ethiopian group will be leaving directly from orientation, and will spend the entire month of July in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. This location has such a special place in my heart! They will be working with the teachers at the Blessed Gebre Micael school, sharing new teaching methods and pedagogy. Please pray for them in their final few weeks of preparation.
The remaining three groups traveling to Kenya will go back home for the month of July, and we will all meet up en route to Kenya in August! There is much left to be done, but the excitement is definitely rising.
As I've been preparing materials for formation and for the upcoming orientation, I've been thinking a lot about this notion of preparation. As Christians, we are asked to always prepare - for we will know neither the day nor the hour of the Lord's coming. We prepare our homes for guests, we prepare our minds for the workplace, we prepare our hearts for God.
I heard an interesting quote tonight at mass that I would like to leave you with - about preparing and living lives centered on Christ.
"If being Christian were a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict you?"
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