Day 1: We arrived in Florida on January 24. We were picked up at the airport along with 4 other BVSers. Since we all arrived at various times, we had a few hours of free time once we were back at Camp Ithiel. We used this time to begin the process of meeting our orientation group. By supper time everyone was there and had learned each others' names by an impromptu game of kick the ball at someone and say their name. After dinner we had our Welcome session including expectations, schedules and sign ups. Orientation group #287 was a group of 15 including 3 German volunteers, people from east to west coast, and age ranges from 18-26. Four of the members of the group (including us) are heading to Europe for service, even one other in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Day 2: The surprising part of day 2 was our food talk. We learned that we would be cooking for the group in 5 groups of 3. The budget for the meals was strict: 50 cents for breakfast per person, 75 cents per person for lunch, and 1 dollar for dinner. Micah's group consisted of a German and a 18 year old. He had to step up into the leader position! Lucy's group consisted of a German and 20 year old that had little experience cooking. Most groups seemed to have a few that didn't have a lot of experience. This and the budget lead to some interesting meals. None were bad but a few were quite small and we had a lot of repeats! Micah's group LOVED to make spaghetti so we had that a few times (but it was good). We had tuna noodle casserole three times in 4 days (good but a bit much). It was a great learning experience on how to cook with a budget, but hopefully in the future when we have to we will be a bit more creative! In the afternoon we all headed out to buy food for our first week of meals. Lucy was asked while the group marched around the grocery store buying food if we were doing a school project. A group of 15 buying groceries and trying to spend every penny must be a sight to see! The afternoon was filled with soccer! The three German volunteers and five others headed out. It was a great time to get to know the volunteers better! Right after dinner, I was surprised with a cake for Lucy's birthday. It was really special that they had remembered. HOWEVER, we soon found out that it was chocolate. Micah found this hilarious since he constantly wants Lucy to eat chocolate and Lucy does not like it!! It was the first time in a long time that Lucy had chocolate and no she does not like it yet! :) The evening was dedicated getting to know more about each others' lives by telling stories. We talked about everything from describing our mothers to our ideal day to our favorite movie. After the story telling, Lucy led devotions. Each night one member of the group led devotions. It was a little intimidating to go the first night, but with the help of Micah, it was planned! Lucy reflected a bit on Shane Claiborne's book "The Irresistible Revolution" and seeing Jesus in others. After dinner we played around the world ping pong for hours playing with different rules and styles.
Day 3: Our morning session was labeled "Who are the Brethren?". It was a session that was informative, but not among our favorites. Micah had an interesting first experience with cooking that day: No water. Lunch was almost on time with Micah's great leadership skills!! It was delicious once we added a lot of Tapatio sauce (hot sauce). (Lucy got sick this evening and decided it was from Micah's cooking although she was the only one!) In the afternoon and evening session we talked about how people are placed in projects. Brethren Volunteer Service does not preplace people unless they are going abroad, so 11 people did not know where they were going when they came to orientation. Each volunteer is encouraged to look through files on each placement and then decide their top three from which they are placed. So after the process was explained in detail, time was given to begin looking through files!
Day 4: For our first session we went to a prayer labyrinth nearby. It was our first experiences with a labyrinth and although it was a little overwhelming doing it with a large group, we were amazed at the power of walking a labyrinth. A beautiful mosaic mural of Jesus' life was right next to the labyrinth. Hopefully we can attach a picture or two of this below! In the afternoon session we took a tour of Lake Apopka, one of the most polluted lakes in the U.S. Back in WWII part of the lake was drained for additional farm land, but each off season it was reflooded to retain nutrients. Each time it was reflooded more and more pesticides and chemicals used on the fields were washed into the lake. The lake was been attributed to killing birds, fish and mutating aninals. Although one reason we were there was to learn about the state of the lake, another reason was to hear the stories of the farm workers who worked directly with the chemicals for years. The affects on their lives has been great. Not only have they lost their job of picking food since the farms are no longer used, but they are experiencing health problems as an aftermath of exposure to pesticides and chemicals. The worst part is that the government does not acknowledge the connection between the farm workers health problems and chemical exposure. Our passionate tour guide, Gennie, taught us a lot about environmental racism and problems in the U.S., but also taught us that if nobody works to change these problems they will never change. That is what keeps her going when she cannot see the change day to day. In the evening we shared our faith journeys with the group. It was an eye-opening session that let us know a lot more about others in the group, why they are here, and what they have gone through to get here.
Day 5: This morning we were able to talk to Kristin, the BVS coordinator in Europe. We were able to ask many of our questions and learned a lot more about the placement at L'Arche. The rest of the day was spent in "Conflict and YOU" sessions. It felt a lot like a class we had both taken at Goshen College, "transforming conflict and violence" so although the presenter was great, we did not learn much new information about conflict management. In the evening we talked about transitioning. I am sure we will talk about this more as it happens!
Day 6: Today was dedicated to a workday in Orlando. We split into two groups. Both Micah and Lucy went to Second Harvest food bank, a distribution point for local food pantries. The day was spent opening donated boxes, sorting them into food and non-food items and checking expiration dates on food and medicine. It was tough to see so much thrown away and crazy to see the weird stuff people donated (empty juice bottles, used shampoo containers, two year old food and medicine items etc). It was a tiring day but we enjoyed getting to know more about the Orlando community and its needs.
Day 7: Saturday morning we leaned about working styles, again it was review. Micah was a peacemaker and Lucy was a perfectionist. Not real surprising!! The afternoon was our second food run. This week went a lot smoother with the food run as well as the meals! People learned how to cook more food after the first week of small meals! The evening was an enjoyable evening of games. We played a couple different games as a whole group and had a lot of fun together.
Day 8: Today was a relaxing day!! We attended the Church of Brethren congregation that meets at Camp Ithiel. We sang some of Lucy's favorite hymns and heard a sermon on restorative justice. It was a good way to begin the day of relaxation. Throughout the day each volunteer had a meeting with the leaders to discuss project placements. So once Micah and I finished our meeting in the morning before church we were free for the afternoon and evening. It happened to be a nasty day in Florida, cold a rainy! So our day consisted of reading, playing cards and ping-pong as well as Pac Man on an old school machine! In the evening after all the meeting were done we went to dessert! YUM! After a week of being hungry and missing sweets, this was quite a treat!
Day 9: The morning started out with an interview with Kristin (the coordinator in Europe). She interviewed us on behalf of L'Arche. It was an hour and half interview, but we did learn a lot more about the community we will be moving into. The rest of the day was dedicated to talks on Eco-Justice with a employee of the National Council of Churches. Although he was a pretty dry speaker, it was very informative and eye opening. We talked about everything from harmful chemicals used in home cleaning products to climate change to many of the aspects that the NCC deals with.
Day 10: The morning and afternoon was dedicated to a work day at Camp Ithiel. Our group began by washing the siding on the main dining hall to prepare it for painting. We scrubbed and scrubbed and probably still left dirt behind! This took up the morning, and due to rain we ended up having the afternoon free. We played Ultimate Frisbee with our free time. The evening was really exciting! We hosted a potluck with the camp volunteers, the church on camp, and old BVSers in the area. It was such good food! Micah was on the entertainment committee. They decided to write lyrics to the "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" song that applied to our group as well as make a Jeopardy game for the whole group to play. Once the entertainment was done, we had a contra dance (a mix between square and line dancing). Our favorite dance move was the "rip and snort".
Day 11: The three sessions of Tuesday were titled "Volunteers Exploring Vocation." Coming into it, we were a little worried that the presentation would be a bit boring, but it ended up being very thought provoking and applicable. Our leader discussed what does it mean to think about God's call for our lives and what does that look like. Micah felt like the leader was stealing a lot of his devotion material throughout the day since this was the topic he was focusing on. We discussed in his devotion what does it mean to live like a Christian in our world today. Tough topic to tackle! After dinner we headed over to visit John and Kay Reimer (a couple from Lucy's home church) who are volunteering at Camp Ithiel for the winter. It was such a blessing to have them at camp for two reasons: we enjoyed having a familiar face on camp and enjoyed the conversations with them AND they gave us ice cream and cookies when we visited!
Day 12: Today the group headed down to Homestead, FL near Miami for our weekend away from camp. Pretty much we drove and had a food run! Not much to say about those activities. The highlight of this day was hearing that we had officially been accepted to L'Arche and therefore were for sure going to Belfast (as long as we both get Visas).
Day 13: On Friday we had a tough session on the death penalty. Our speaker shared from her personal experience with her father being murdered and stabbed 22 times and her being the primary witness after being stabbed 5 times. She discussed her process of how she came not only to forgive the man that caused her so much pain, but also to fight to save him from the death penalty. It was a heavy session but also a unique opportunity to hear her story first hand as well as think about forgiveness and action. The transition to the rest of the day seemed quick. After the session we packed lunch and headed to Miami beach. Finding a beach where people were clothed was harder than expected, but we eventually did! It was another opportunity to play together and relax. A few people ventured into the water, but we remained on the shore! For dinner we were able to go to a Cuban restaurant. The food was great and we were able to get our meat fill! The entertainment for the night was a Flamenco dancer and singer! Lots of fun!
Day 14: Starting out the day Saturday, all we knew is that we were doing a workday in Homestead. We found out that we would be doing a work day but different than any of us expected. This day is what BVS calls the "drop off day". We split into groups of three and were literally dropped off miles from the church we were staying at with a small map with the instructions to find work for the day. We were in different groups, but both of us experienced a lot of rejection. Lucy was dropped off with 2 other among farm land and gated houses (hard to find work). The group started by picking up trash and walking to try to find a less protected community. For most of the morning all the gruop could find to do was pick up trash. No one was at any churches her group passed because it was Saturday. Finally after lunch the group found a neighborhood where doors were accessible. After knocking on many doors to ask if anyone needed help and being turned away, we finally met a woman who was carrying groceries to her home. Lucy's Spanish came in handy since Maria did not speak English. It was enjoyable to talk to her on the walk home and the guys in the group tried to be in the conversation despite limited Spanish. She said she did not have anything else for the group to do so we continued on. We asked one house and were turned away and after asking a few more (and being rejected) we decided to turn back, when we passed one of the houses that turned us away earlier, we were called over and told there was work to be done! It was so exciting! The three of us got to work cleaning off the porch, raking the yard and helping to move a couch. By the time we done it was almost time to head back to the church so we put some carts away at a grocery store and then headed back (after directions from a friendly post office worker!). Micah's experience was one only filled with rejection. The group started about six miles from the church in the middle of avocado fields. After trying a few homes and being turned down, they found one older man that said that he didn't need any help, but apparently needed someone to talk to because the group talked him for nearly 1.5 hours. The rest of the day consisted of walking through neighborhoods, knocking on doors and being told they had nothing for us to do.
Day 15: Sunday we attended local congregations. Micah and I both attended Homestead Mennonite Church (where we had stayed through the weekend). The rest of the day was driving back to Camp Ithiel and a food run! In the evening we watched the Super Bowl and ate a lot of junk food!
Day 16: We were able to sleep in this morning!! After a tiring weekend that felt good! Once we were up and around we started our Visa application. We have all the paperwork we need except a biometric fingerprint. So that is the last step before we send it off! Our appointment is set for 16th. The afternoon and evening were light sessions where we were given scenarios about community living and work issues and asked to work through them.
Day 17: "Paying attention at your projects" was the theme of Tuesday. Our leader gave us many different ways to meditate. In the evening we watched the movie "Wall-E". We recommend this movie if you haven't seen it yet! It applied a lot to what we had been talking about with Eco-Justice and simple living.
Day 18: Recreation Day--56 degrees, a strong north wind and it doesn't stop us from going to the beach. BRRRR!!! Sweatshirts and pants were the key to some warmth this day. It was a good day of debriefing with each other as we prepared to leave Camp Ithiel. After returning to camp we had a commissioning service. We sang together, read poems and scripture and participated in foot washing. Don and Callie (our leaders) had words of encouragement to say to each of us as a way of sending.
Day 19: Our last full day at Camp Ithiel was filled with logistics. First was a "business session" of what to do and what not to do at projects. The afternoon was cleaning and packing. Finally the fun came in the evening. Lucy was a part of the celebration committee. The committee planned, relays, S'mores, karaoke, and a theme of "Wacky Tacky". It was a good way to end our time together. We found out during the party that our flight from Atlanta to Bloomington was can canceled. So we rescheduled for a much later flight and preped for a long day at the airport.
Day 20: After breakfast we had a time to say goodbye with a "hug train". Then it was off to the airport. We were dropped off at a little before 10 knowing that our first flight was not scheduled until 7:50. We couldn't even check in til 3:50 so we had a lot of time to hang out! Luckily many of the group met up and passed the time together. When we went to check in we found out we could be put on standby for an earlier flight, which sounded good to us since our previous itinerary had only half an hour between flights in Atlanta. We did get onto that flight, but it was delayed until about 8:20 (the scheduled time was 5:30) due to a snow storm in Atlanta. We were told in Miami that our flight from Atlanta to Bloomington was delayed until 1:30 meaning we would get home at 2:30, luckily the flight was pushed back up so we only had about 40 minutes between flights in Atlanta. We were so thankful to have been on the standby flight so we actually made the flight to Bloomington. By the time we loaded and were de-iced we left about 10:30 getting back to Bloomington just before midnight. Our checked bag was lost, but we just glad to be in a bed that night rather than the airport!
Now: We are home between our families working on getting our visas. The scheduled date to leave as long as everything in the visa process goes smoothly is March 14. Then we will fly to Geneva, Switzerland for a 4 day European orientation before we head to Belfast on the 19th. Please pray for our visa application. We do not expect any problems but one never knows. Also please pray for L'Arche as they are preparing for us to come! Hope all is well and we will let you all know when we get our Visas!
More pictures to come!
Mosaic mural by labyrinth.
At Cape Canaveral beach
Armadillo seen at beach.
Wacky Tacky celebration
