Waiting on the Bus

I recently purchased a ticket for a 20 hour bus ride home for the holidays and I want to take this time to share some numbers about transportation in the US.

First of all not all YAVs get to visit home at Christmas.  We are all are asked to be heavily invested in the communities we serve. Each site makes their own rules about visitors, and vacation travel.  Last year as a YAV in Boston I did not come home at Christmas and that taught me more of what Advent and Christmas are about. I found a friend in an older man named Ray last year.  It was a beautiful time.  I found a truer meaning of the season.  I now know Christmas is not about presents, it is about the people you are with and the ways God shows up.  Christmas is when we remember God is here and God expresses himself by shining some light in a dark time of year. Feel free to read about my lovely Christmas last year here.

Ok. Transportation:
 Why does transportation matter to churches?

We spend money on transportation.  Perhaps we want to save on transportation expenses so we can give more to charities we support. Maybe we want to invest in transportation options that lead to a better world, build up God's kingdom.  Can we use our transportation resources to help out our neighbors like picking people up, or helping change a tire.  Are there transportation modes that may be better for the planet God made, and God's people on it who he asks us to love?  Are there ways we can use less transportation fuel so others with more of a need have enough.  Let's explore these ideas.

We all must realize that 28% of the total energy in the US is used for transportation, the second largest consumption sector after electric power production.  71% of all petroleum consumed in the US is used on transportation. Every day our nation burns 18.88 million barrels (40 gallon drums) of petroleum products, 8.774 million of which is gasoline.  That's pretty substantial. http://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=oil_use.  

Flow diagram of the US energy consumption by source and sector
http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/pdf/flow/petroleum.pdf 

Why might the Church care about Petroleum or fossil fuels anyway?

1.Violence.  I'm not even going to try and tally all the soldiers, not just the US soldiers who have died in conflicts to protect US oil interests.  Due to the simple fact our nation consumes so much, our leaders have to make sure there is gas in the gas stations.  We have to be real, but also recognize where violence happens.  Violence, oppression, and dangerous work conditions are not uncommon in the fossil fuel industry. Human and environmental exposure to toxins from the fuels before they are refined and after they are burned contribute to most of the health and environmental problems of our age.

We consumers who consume so much regardless of what it costs should consider more ways to cut back to reduce harm to ourselves and our brothers and sisters. http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=19191

US Carbon Dioxide Emissions by Source.  Data from 2012. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/gases/co2.html

2. Justice. Just this June, the General Assembly of my denomination, (Presbyterian Church USA) was presented with an overture from the Boston Presbytery asking the denomination to divest it's endowment money from fossil fuel companies.  The request was referred by the Environment and Immigration Committee to the Committie for Mission Responsibility Through Investment to let them handle it.  That divestment request was part of a larger movement for other denominations, schools, universities, and businesses across the nation to make a statement that we want to stop our dependence on fossil fuels to reduce carbon emissions and combat climate change.  That's where I first heard the term "Climate Justice"

http://www.fossilfreepcusa.org/

What? Churches are talking about fossil fuels and climate change? What do Christians know about climate change? There is a committee for Immigration and Environment? These were my first thoughts.  At General Assembly people told me to look at it this way:
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Our denomination funds YAVs like me to restore wetlands in New Orleans from the BP Oil Spill.  It's contradictory for the denomination to fund clean up efforts and also profit from companies like BP causing environmental damage.

In other news,  climate change is a justice issue.  Many of the world's poor are affected by climate change in the global south, where rivers are drying up.  Lakes that provide a source of water, food, and employment are disappearing.  Larger storms are causing larger disasters, and the poor have a harder time recovering than the wealthy.  The wealthy parts of the world (i.e. the United States)  can easily remain ignorant of these things where wealth and a fortunate happening of geography slow the direct impact.

As changing climates change lives, geography and wealth will further divide the resources from those who have them and those who don't.  This is already happening.  Any Christian who pays attention to the old testament laws and especially the prophets on taking care of the oppressed and not being part of the oppression, or any Christian who listened to what Jesus said about the "least of these" better consider getting on board with fighting climate change or just keep reading scripture to see what could happen.
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Oh. Yikes. I see it differently now.

Some opposition to this movement for divestment, and even the criticism I have is that it is just about money.  It changes very little in the life of the church but it makes us feel better that we aren't profiting from large fossil fuel companies.  It may even free us from the evil of profiting from oppression.  Maybe.  Everyone at General Assembly talking about the issue still drove or flew there in vehicles using fossil fuels.  I went there on a plane, I'm just as hypocritical as they come, but we have to start somewhere.  Granted that is no reason to oppose the movement, just a minor setback.

We must attack such large issues on multiple levels.  While we are putting our investment money where our beliefs are, let's put our daily actions and our pocket change there too.

Since Transportation and gasoline are large contributors to climate change, I decided to think about how I could get home for Christmas in a sustainable way, and in a way that reflects some of those ideas on "climate justice" and conservation.

So the greyhound bus home....

Some numbers:

• There are 858 miles between Ferncliff and my house. 
• It takes 13 hours driving but I don't trust myself to stay awake so I'd spend the night somewhere and allow up to 24 hours at least.  Who knows with winter weather.

I considered stopping in Nashville for the night for an adventure and get to hang out with some newly made friends there I made on my drive out here in August. That was one option and a very good one but most of them would be away for the holidays and I didn't want to crash the Nashville YAV house on my way home as they stayed at their YAV sites.  So I looked at the times and prices for public transit to compare and even investigated energy use to see if public transit is worth it to let someone else drive and I wouldn't worry about falling asleep.  Here is what I found.  

I ruled out flying because I waited too long and tickets are in the $800-$900 range which I can't afford.  I also ruled out the Amtrak because it would go through Chicago to get to Virginia from Little Rock.  That costs close to the bus but takes twice as long.

• The Greyhound bus bus can get me 783 miles closer to home in 19 hours, making it 21 by the time I make it all the way home from the bus station

• If I drive home to Millboro, Virginia from Little Rock Arkansas and back (approx 1720 miles total) in my 2004 Chevy Impala, I'll burn up about 65 gallons of gasoline releasing 1227 lbs CO2 emissions.  And it will cost about $195 round trip (assuming $3 per gallon--although gas prices keep dropping below that).  
• If I take the Greyhound to Roanoke, VA (65 miles from home), the bus will burn up 213 gallons of diesel fuel each way and I'd burn another 10 gal of gasoline total in my parents car for them to get me to and from the bus station.  It costs $288 for the bus ticket and another $30 for the gas in my parents' car $318 total.  Other bus lines may be cheaper but I couldn't find other routes going to my home. (note: gasoline and diesel emit different levels of CO2.  More at: http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=307&t=11)

Things look better if I consider fuel use per person:

• If the bus is full with fifty people both ways my share is actually only 8.72 gallons per person plus 10 from the bus station (18.72 gal per person total). Net 284 lbs CO2 emissions
• If the bus is only half full with 25 people my share is still only 27.4 gallons per person (17.4 on the bus, 10 in parents' car). Net 380 lbs CO2
• If there are only eight people on the bus my share is 64.5 gal per person, the same as going the entire way alone in my car, but with a net 784 lbs CO2 emissions.  And I'm guessing Greyhound will find more than 8 people to send the bus that far.

So I spend $123 more to save lots of fuel, half a month's stipend.  Is it worth it? maybe I'm crazy.  On the YAV budget that's not an easy expense to make but a sacrifice for sustainability is a sacrifice worth making.

Let me go deeper.

• Greyhound claims on average each bus takes 50 cars off the road and achieves 184 people miles per gallon (miles per gal x number of people on the bus).  (https://www.greyhound.com/en/about/factsandfigures.aspx).  That's not only incredible it's over twice what air lines claim for each seat!
• 
  

Image from an excellent Wall Street Journal Article on  airplane fuel economy.  http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704901104575423261677748380

• My car gets an average of 26.5 miles per gallon.  With just me in it, that's only 26.5 people-miles-per-gallon --significantly lower than 184, even lower than 60.4 on a delta flight!
• If we assume the bus I'm on takes 50 cars like mine off the road, the bus  could potentially save as much as 2,800 gallons of gasoline each way which is 53,000 lbs CO2 emissions! That's incredible!  
• The greyhound bus people mile per gallon will outweigh me riding alone in my car with as few as 8 people riding the bus.

Brief reflection:

Running all these numbers I realized car-pooling in a smaller car is a better option.  Since cars are more fuel efficient than buses, fitting more people into cars makes a bigger difference, but only up to the point when more fuel efficient cars end up consuming more gas than the bus because of how many cars are needed.

  In this particular case study, that point occurs when about half the bus (25 people) are packed in five cars like mine.

Tips to save energy on transportation

• car pool as much as possible
• take public transit on a bus or train when traveling by yourself.  These vehicles are already running anyway and consuming the fuel, help them out by hoping on the band wagon
• Plan ahead, bus tickets, train tickets and even plane tickets in general are cheaper the earlier you buy.
• There is no rule of thumb, get to know what public transportation options are between where you are and where you're going.
• The Amtrak or plane may be cheaper depending on the route.
• A monthly bus or subway pass can make a great Christmas gift!

So that's my story.  I am saving about 1,000 lbs Carbon dioxide emissions.  I had to really stretch my YAV money to spend about $123 more than I would driving to support an industry that helps reduce our fossil fuel usage as a society, and not just buy fossil fuels to use myself. I'm helping lower my own environmental impact and that of other bus passengers. I get to sleep on the road.  I don't have to drive on the winter roads in the south where there are no trucks to clear off ice and snow.  I get home faster than I would stopping to sleep in Nashville. And maybe I'll meet a friend.  Maybe this is something more Presbyterians should be doing as our leaders consider divestment from fossil fuel companies.

I also want to remark that I went a little overboard on the calculations just to make a point.  Choosing travel shouldn't be a scary mess of numbers, but when we talk about sustainability we need to consider ALL our options.  The purpose of this article is to encourage people to think through more than just $ amounts, time, and schedules but also look for other important factors like fuel use and environmental impact, possibilities to make friends, time to sleep, time to read, time to look at birds out the window, etc.  Also time that we don't go crazy being cooped up in a bus for so long.  We need to find balance in our lives, and there are lots of values we tend to overlook as Americans,; values we don't know about until we do something new like ride the bus for 20 hours.  

It may be the case that driving makes more sense for your vacation than public transit, but It really is worth considering before you make that choice.

I'll be home for Christmas--(In a sustainable fashion)
 if only in my dreams.

I welcome any comments if you are skeptical about my calculations or your thoughts on public transportation.  Even comments on factors I didn't mention that are important to your travels.

Drive Safe! (to the train or bus station that is)

There is Chicken Blood on my Pants (and No, I'm not a Witch).

It is quite humbling to catch a chicken, hold her, pet her, attempt to calm her, pass her off to Steve, and look her in the eye as the axe comes down. Then after plucking feathers, and knifing away the vitals, I carry it on ice to my freezer. I did that today.  I caught a bird that has lived at Ferncliff much longer than I have, and helped end her life.

This article is about killing chicken.  I thought you should know that here before you decide to keep reading or not.

There was a bright vivacious red color blood.  There were feathers--lots of them. There was a small child calling at his father, "please don't kill it Dad."  There was slimy smelly guts. There was skin. There were feathers we missed. There was yellow fat.  It smelled like a dead animal, it did a lot of twitching.  It bled on me. It's smell lingers in my arm hairs hours later.

Picture of me removing the chicken's crop and cutting the organs away from the neck bone. Photo taken by Molly DeWitt copyright 2014

Today I am brought back to the earth. I am reminded how the life thing works. I must kill to eat--be it a bird, a mammal, a plant. I must cut open the earth to plant, cut off the leaf or root, cut off the head, or in some way consume another's life to sustain my own. We humans are pretty destructive if you think about it.

Today I am brought back to the earth. I am reminded how the life thing works. I must kill to eat--be it a bird, a mammal, a plant. I must cut open the earth to plant, cut off the leaf or root, cut off the head, or in some way "cut off" and consume another's life to sustain my own. We humans are pretty destructive if you think about it.

Continual sacrifice, death, and dirty, smelly, labor are required to continue our lives. This is real. This is food. This is life.

Jesus' sacrifice gives us life.

All food comes at a cost of life.* It makes me think of James Cameron's Avatar in the scenes when they hunt.  The blue girl Neytiri, teaches the blue guy Jake Sully to respect the animals he hunts.  A few times you see her approach the animal she has attacked and fatally wounded.  She says.  "I see you"  "I thank you."  She has a brief zen moment with it. Then she slits it's throat to kill it.  Jake does this later while hunting.  That movie has a lot about "knowing" the other animals on the planet with the jellyfish tentacle thing from their hair that they touch each other with. I don't have one of those things in my hair (that I know of) but I appreciate the concept--A truer empathy and understanding with other people and other species even.  What if we had that today.  I think it was more prevalent a few generations back.  A lot of adults here talked about butchering chickens with their grandparents.

In the real world how much of our food do we see? How much do we thank?  How much do we want to see?  How much of it are we thankful for? 

My thoughts taper off into trying to empathize with the bird.......

I remember Steve said today, "I don't think God intended for us to enjoy it."

With chicken blood on my pants, and a chicken's blood on my hands, I realize more fully, I must inevitably leave a mark (or a pile of feathers) behind if I am to continue.  I am a heterotroph. I must consume energy from something. I cannot generate it on my own. 

I did this to some quail at Nu Beginning Farm a few years ago.  It hasn't made me vegetarian, but it's made me realize someone for a job has to get bled on every time we order meat.  It's made me remember that an animal had to die to make my dinner.  This has made me very comfortable having meat only once or twice a week, or sometimes less than that.

Many people I know, both living and dead have made a mark on me while sustaining their own life. In an inspirational since knowing that I will damage things, or at least leave an impact, I guess I should make  the most Christ-like impact I can.  I must steward that time and life for God since it is a gift from God.  I must see, and thank myself with the same respect Avatar and chicken killing has taught me for other animals.  The chickens that died today left a mark on me, and I will say some words about them.

(Placing my hat over my heart...)

While living, these birds put many a egg in a campers hand, they were the first animal many a child ever held, and they were used to teach many how to farm. Even today while dying 7 people from ages 7 and up were taught "how we eat chicken," how to kill it, and get it ready for your kitchen. They became part of a meal for the YAVs and the Americorps team.  I thank you dear bird.  I held you, I see you, I smell you, I thank you. I'm also sorry, it was kind of rude for me to move into your home and help kill you soon after.

Alex's Butcher benediction: 

May all birds have the chance to give such light to the world. 

May our human lives and deaths be a blessing to all who hold us. 

And may there always be good soup!

*Idea:  In the author's opinion, arguably fruits and eggs do not cause death to anything living.  Most edible fruits are like gifts the plant wants you to take so you spread it's seeds. (so plant a few of them once and a while-pay it forward)  It doesn't damage a plant to pluck it's fruit in the same way tearing a leaf or cutting off the root literally tears cells apart and damages the plant. Unfertilized eggs will not develop into chicks so we might as well eat them since they are there, right? Nothing dies there because it wasn't really alive.  On the cellular level fruits and eggs are viable, organic cell matter that are essentially "eaten" by our cells but I don't consider those alive in how birds are alive.

Americorps, Swimming, and Winter

Last Sunday a team of nine Americorps NCCC volunteers stationed in Denver arrived at Ferncliff.  Water 7 is their team name.  NCCC is the Americorps branch for the National Civil Community Corps.  They will stay here and several other places all across their region for 6 weeks at each place.  They have certian hour requirements here at Ferncliff, and a certain number of required hours outside of this project.

They are our new friends: Billy, Michael, Jocelyn, Kindra, Steven, Luke, Kevin, Sasha, Josh, and Jessica. Their main project is demolishing the old swimming pool.  It has some beautiful artwork which I hate to see go.  One of the dining hall staff was chatting with me about that.  She's been here for 19 years. Camp used to have the kids swim in the lake and use the old cabins with no air conditioning.  Now they have air conditioned cabins which they don't even carry their trunks to, and they swim in a new swimming pool with a splash pad, beach entry and water umbrella.  The old pool is becoming the site of a new dining hall more centrally located so guests don't have to walk as far to eat.  This lady told the same words of progress I heard from camp executive staff in a tone of an older lady wondering why the world has changed so much.  Camp staff is proud of the growth, and she wondered "what's wrong with swimming in the lake, and cabins without air conditioning, isn't that what camp is?"  I could empathize with her.

Back at Nature Camp we don't have air conditioning, we swim in the creek, we don't use computers, we don't even use electric pencil sharpeners.   We once had camp for a week without electricity after a wind storm.  Electricity only powers lights, the refrigerator, fans, and hot water.  Where do you find the sweet spot at camp? How do you equally balance the preferences of a changing generation, modern practicality, and experiencing the natural world? Everyone has their opinions. I think Ferncliff has a relatively good balance here.  

This year we're constantly thinking about what camps should be as a ministry of the church.  Everyone's got opinions.  I think the new pool is a little bit closer to Disney world than camp, but they've got a straw bale building, goats, chickens, tree houses, a labyrinth and a stone chapel to bring visitors and campers quickly back to the center of what's importan. They span the whole gambit from rustic to awesome adventure to fancy-modern.  To Ferncliff's credit the air conditioned cabins use a "Geothermal" HVAC unit which uses the lake water as the heat sink, so it is more efficient than a typical air conditioned cabin.

Americorps is using most of the wood from the pool house to become a storage barn on the other side of camp.  They'll start building it this week.  And part of the old pool foundation will become foundation for the new dining hall. They re-use as much building material as possible.

The old pool and pool house as it stands Nov. 17 halfway deomolished by the Americorps team

Ferncliff's new pool.  Photo from Ferncliff Facebook

Americorps Water 7 has also been helping us YAVs with some work.  I had a handful of Americorps people helping me winterize the Eco Center. We had our first frost the first week of November so I got the woodstove going but the summer ventelation system was still working to cool the building.

The building is cooled by a solar chimney made of two large black pipes on the roof.  The black metal heats in the sun causing the air inside to warm, become less dense, and rise.  As it rises it draws air from the building and creates a draft.  The idea is that enough air flow inside can keep the humidity down.  The thick straw bale walls can keep the heat out and that is how it stays cool.  The major design flaw is that the humidity stays high on cloudy days inside.  Even though it may be 78 inside on a 95 degree day, high humidity inside can make that 78 unbearable to sit through.  We're working on it, but I'm glad camp just tried it and we're going from there.

Eco Center Photos property of Ferncliff Camp Copyright 2013

So during our cold nights hot air from the building was escaping out the solar chimney and keeping the building at 55 or cooler in the wee hours of the morning.  We had a group staying there in a few days so I had to fix this.  No matter how Eco-friendly the group is I doubt they want to wake up in a drafty 55 degrees when they are paying for it.

Some Americorps volunteers helped me caulk some cracks, block the cieling vents, and spray-foam-insulate cracks around pipes.  I discovered it takes a little bit of work to get other people to do your work for you.  Most of these Americorps kids are 18 and just out of high school so they don't have as much hands on experience as I.  Don't get me wrong I'm pretty useless, I got plenty of good ideas and I know how things work but I can't do all that much on my own with tools.  Out of the five they sent me, none of us, even I had more than a day's experience with caulking, so we accidently destroyed two bottles before we realized you need to punch a hole in the foil inside the front to let it come out.  We also learned don't sniff it or don't get it on your hands.  Luke and I had similar debacles with the spray foam.  It was very fun, a little messy, and minimally stressful.

I got a few people blocking ceiling vents with cardboard.  I gave them what I thought was good instructions, and the necessary tools and left to run an errand. I came back 20 minutes later and they were in the same place I left them.  They were still figuring out how to best get the vents back on.  They were slow and deliberate, and they got it done, but it surprised me how long it took. It gave me insight into what my supervisors might feel when they leave me alone on a task and I get stuck and make less progress than they thought.  This is pretty much every day for me.  It gave me insight into the frustration Don felt when I was doing mudding and sanding in NYC with PDA and he'd come back and I'm still sanding the same section of wall he saw me sanding the last time he was there.

Lets face it volunteers have heart but maybe not the hand skills to get everything done.  The people with the skills are out there using their skills making money, and they cost money so non-profits might settle for volunteers.  So if you are a skilled professional you would be the envy of volunteers, and a much needed volunteer.  I'm realizing a big part of this volunteer world is doing what we can together, and getting the right leadership to get these tasks done without professional help.

This is my volunteer contribution so far:  It took me a week to weld a weather station pole together, five weeks to make signs for features of the Eco Center, four weeks to plan out a landscape project, three weeks to vacuum rice hulls and weevils, three days to connect one solar panel to the golf cart and two hours to clean just four golf cart batteries.  I gained some great experiences and fun stories along the way.  But someone who knew what they were doing could do all that in a day or two.  The learning and the stories are what makes this experience what it is.

So whatever you are doing on your own, for your supervisors, or for those you supervise. Do it well, learn something, teach something, tell a story, and make a story.  I'd love to hear it.  Thanks for the stories Americorps Water 7!

Here's The Situation on the Jersey Shore...

I got to do some PDA on the Jersey Shore with Molly and Dan!  Look at my previous post if any of that sounds unusual.

Two years ago just two days before Halloween, hurricane Sandy met with a noreaster and took an unexpected turn west slamming into the barrier islands on the Jersey Shore.  The northern winds and storm surge literally cut through a barrier island and caused flooding on the shore and in the inlets and pretty far up some of the rivers.  The floods damaged thousands of homes in Ocean and Monmouth Counties.

Salt water permanently damaged cars, houses, businesses, roads, beaches like never before.  Flood water sent debris, sand, boats and everything far from its origins.  Thirty four people died in New Jersey, 117 total died in the US, and 69 in Canada and the Carribbean.  The flooding was so drastic officials re-structured the flood zones. It was almost as bad as Hurricaine Katrina in New Orleans in 2005.  In fact Sandy was larger in size than Katrina. Here is a little more about the storm.

PDA sent a national response team to Point Pleasant immediately after the storm.  FEMA, the Red Cross, and dozens of aid groups showed up to help.  In fact, truck loads of supplies were being shipped from across the country even before the storm touched ground.

Picture from CNN
 (http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/13/world/americas/hurricane-sandy-fast-facts/)

Just over a month after the storm, Point Pleasant Presbyterian Church opened the top floor of their annex building above the preschool to a scraggly group of do-gooders from central Pennsylvania who call themselves "Lend a Hand."  This group had sent volunteers and teams to rebuild from floods in Iowa, and to Katrina multiple times.   As the story goes (as I heard it)  Lend A Hand not only helped clean up several homes, but they gave the church lots of advice on how to host mission teams for this work.  For a few months early into 2013, Pt. Pleasant Pres. Church coordinated, hosted, and found work for dozens of other PDA mission teams in their "Volunteer Village."  They converted their great hall into a village by putting bunk beds in their 3 Sunday School classrooms and eventually building showers on the stage.  In spring of 2013 the PDA call center here at Ferncliff took over scheduling work teams and Point Pleasant focused their goal on hosting the volunteers.  Church volunteers helped coordinate work for visiting volunteers and established partnerships with Jersey Cares, and A Future With Hope (a United Methodist program much like PDA).  There are also 15 other hosting sites including churches and other facilities welcoming volunteer help and finding them work.  Watch this video for more info on the storm and the Church's response.

If you have a home damaged in new Jersey and you need assistance rebuilding. visit the Jersey Cares, or A Future with Hope website linked above or contact the Ocean County Long Term Recovery group:  http://oceancountyltrg.org/  (732) 569-3484, info@oceancityLTRG.org.  They will get you started to recover.  

Jumping ahead two years, On October 13, 2014 myself Dan and Molly walked into Point Pleasant Pres as volunteers eager to do some rebuilding.  PDA regional leader David Rauer drove us from Philidelphia and gave us the low down on the storm damage.  One big thing now is homeowners are being forced to raise their houses on pilings, stilts, or cinderblock to avoid higher insurance costs.  It's kind of crazy, one tiny double-wide was on 18ft of wooden stilts! Crazy!   Pastor Carl showed us around, as another volunteer team showed up.  We got to meet this group, Lend A Hand, and the lovely ladies of the church cooked us dinner.

The three of us YAVs just tagged along with Lend A Hand for the week.  I can't say we lended them a hand because they knew what they were doing.  PDA sent us up to Long Branch to help A Future With Hope finish a house for Russ and April.

Lend A Hand and YAV team with Russ and April front and Center
(picture from A Future With Hope Facebook)

Their house collapsed on 3 sides from the impact of the storm surge.  April was a first responder out helping people during the storm. Russ was at home.  When his generator went out he went to the basement to fix it.  Unsuccessful, he walked out of the basement to the outside as flood water rushed down the steps.  Within a few minutes of when he got out of the basement the house collapsed.  He barely missed being inside when it happened.  He grabbed his dogs and a backpack for him and his wife and swam to his car.  Russ and April along with family demolished the house in a week with 5 dumpster loads on their own, and have rebuilt from the ground up.  They have been living in a tiny RV outside their new construction for 2 years as volunteers have added to it a piece at a time.  The plan was for our group to finish it up and get Russ and April moved in.  That's the story.  They are great people, working alongside and around us the whole time.  Very grateful.  Very eager to get out of that RV as I could imagine.

I worked with Ron trimming windows.  It required more detail than I imagined, lots of measuring, re-measuring, cutting, measuring again.  Several times when I cut it twice and it was still too short.  We got creative and used some flooring pieces for the window sill to match the floor.

On the first day Dan and Molly helped Nelson install floor and pipe insulation in the crawlspace,  Bob the ice cream man ran the saw for everyone.  Leroy got his team putting in cement board and drywall in the bathroom.  Deb led a mudding crew in the back bathroom, while Bill, and Ken laid bamboo floor.  Jim was the foreman.  I didn't mention Denise, Pete, Doris, and Steve.  They were helping all over the place as needed.  These jobs changed as the week went on.  Some moved to hanging kitchen cabinets and appliances, installing a toilet, finishing doors and trim, and pouring cement for the front porch.

Everyone acting like we're working for the picture.
(picture from Lend A Hand facebook)

Molly finishing up Russ and April's kitchen
picture from Lend A Hand

We got so much done at that house they sent a team of five of us up to another house to sand and mud some dry wall.

Complete paint job after lots of sanding
and mudding at the other house

Pete sanding at the other house

Then on Friday they sent Bob, and me with Frank from Point Pleasant to help a lady whose floor had collapsed in a trailer.

Brief side note.  This lady was living with her 2 year old grandaughter in a trailer.  She used to live with her mother in a house that was completely destroyed by the storm.  Her mom got some money and bought this trailer to temporaily house her and the little kid.  She told us all about how hard it's been living there.  They had opossums take residence underneath the home and invade quite frequently.  She's spent over $600 a month on propane to heat the place, and she ran out of money last winter, stopped paying for heat and all the pipes froze and broke below.  We were there replacing a floor that had gotten wet in the girls room because of a leak off one of the hot water heaters.  That floor soaked up water like a sponge, got soft, and collapsed.  Bob, in between angry mumbles about how terrible the construction of a trailer is cut out the soggy floor, got a list of supplies together and sent Frank to the store.  We replaced it with plywood.  (that floor was held together by 1x2 boards.  The garden beds we made at Ferncliff, and even my make shift clothesline are more sturdy).  Before we left she told us all about the struggle with that trailer.  Frank is working on getting some church volunteers down to help her out, but PDA and the long term recovery group can't really do much because they are working with FEMA money which is strictly tied to storm-related damage.  Since that was a hot water heater leak it doesn't count.  That made me a little angry at the volunteer leader who told me that, help is help and I hope she gets it.  Please pray for Tracy.

We didn't get to see Russ and April move in but we got them pretty close.  I'm guessing they got in before the 2 year anniversary of the storm this week which would be awesome.

Other highlights of the week included gobs of cake (some for Dan's birthday, some not) Bob's homemade ice cream.  Digging past the Chinaman's house with Nelson, lunch on the beach, digging up an old glass medicine bottle I gave to Russ and April, watching Russ and April's expressions warm as such noticeable progress was made, watching April try so hard not to look inside until the supervisor got back, and hearing old stories from all the Lend A Hand folks.

This marked the 19th time Lend A Hand had sent a group to Point Pleasant since the storm.  They've almost been there every month the church was open.  I saw construction talent like I had never before.  It was like being on a professional crew, no tolerating mistakes, and only doing the tough detailed jobs.  These guys and ladies were great to work with and stay with.  How great it was.  Thank you Lend A Hand for babysitting me and the other YAVs in New Jersey!

Point Pleasant is closing for the winter, but will be back up and running in 2015.  Interested in helping make a difference by volunteering?  Call the PDA call center and sign up to visit and help today (866) 732-6121 callcenter@pcusa.org.  Eden and Cameron here at Ferncliff will answer and get you set up just like they did for us.  This site lists all Presbyterian churches hosting groups in New Jersey and New York just like Point Pleasant.  Lots of work still to do and they could use your help.  The Jersey Cares and A Future With Hope websites will have more opportunities to help.  People like Tracey, Russ, and April need your help.  And you should visit the Jersey Shore!!

That's what we did in between trips to the beach, walking on the boardwalk and buying pizza at Jenkins'.

That's the Situation on the Jersey Shore.

Dan's photo from lunch on his birthday on the Jersey Shore

Presbyterians love their PDA!

"No PDA" is something people have been saying since middle school.  It has something to do with refraining from groping with your significant other in front of everyone, but what's wrong with Public Displays of Affection?  Christians are supposed to show love in public, right?

Ok, so this article is not about PDA as far as kissing and holding hands, but another kind of PDA.  PDA is one thing the Presbyterians can  be proud of.  PDA may involve sleeping in a room with someone who snores.  PDA has blue "sweat-shop-free" T-shirts.   PDA values ministry of presence, self care, and personal narrative.   PDA is pretty darn awesome.

PDA is Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.

Image from PDA on Facebook

Image from Southern Comfort Mission and Ministry Team Facebook

What does that mean?  Well you may be familiar with "Presbyterian Disaster" at least if you've seen my friend Marcus and I together...

Presbyterian Disaster ASSISTANCE is providing care, love, and support to areas going through disasters.  This could be tornadoes, like those in northern and central Arkansas earlier this year, floods or hurricanes like Sandy, Katrina, Ike, etc. It may be other disastrous situations like all the migrant children crossing our boarder right now, or the Ebola virus outbreak. They are an area where Presbyterians are doing good in the world.  And it's sort of a Public Display of Affection.........well maybe more a public display of God's Love. The emphasis is on helping people through the struggle.  Not going in and preaching, or telling them "it's part of God's plan," but listening and holding their hand through it all in between acts of kindness such as cleaning up or rebuilding.

PDA volunteers set up shop in disaster areas alongside FEMA, American Red Cross, World Cares, the Salvation Army, and dozens of other relief organizations.  PDA organizes churches to host volunteer teams and connect them with work to be done rebuilding lives after disasters.  In most cases PDA stays longer than other groups because of the stable funding by the denomination.  We can be proud to say that PDA is still cleaning up from Hurricane Sandy among many others even though most aid organizations have moved elsewhere. But we can be angry, sad, and aware that our brothers and sisters are still suffering from damage from nearly ten years ago. Angry that PDA still needs to be there. Angry that there is injustice in recovery.  Angry that those who cannot afford insurance have a harder time recovering physically and emotionally.  Angry that race, economics, and social barriers unequally hinder people from recovering.

As of October 27, 2014 PDA is currently responding to disaster in the following states.
Arizona      (border crisis and helping migrants in distress in the desert),
Arkansas (tornadoes in spring 2014) and Ferncliff Disaster Assistance Center
Washington state      (mudsilde March 2014), Colorado (flood Sept. 2013),  Also working on training Presbyterian Camps and Conference centers to respond to school violence across the nation.
California      (earthquake),
North Dakota      (Spirit Lake Sioux Reservation),
Illinois and Oklahoma      (tornadoes),
Missouri      (Joplin tornado May 2011 and Ferguson shooting),
Louisiana      (helping 2005 hurricane survivors rebuild and return home),
Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Alabama      (various wildfires, hail, floods and tornadoes),
New York, New Jersey, Coinnecticut, and West Virginia,      (Superstorm Sandy, Oct. 2012),
South Carolina      (Feb. 2014 ice storm)
Tennessee      (home repair 2010 flood)
Mississippi      (April 2014 tornadoes and June 2014 hail, flood, wildfire damage)
Florida      (spring 2014 flooding in panhandle and June 2014 hail, flood, wildfires)
West Virginia, (flood recovery and other projects)
Maryland      (home repairs with NAILS ministry)

There is also PDA going on in the Philippines (Typhoon Haiyan), South Sudan, Afghanistan, Gaza, Iraq, , Ebola Crisis,  China (Earthquake August 2014),and  Syria (refugees of violence).  And given current events PDA is even working on Voilence across the US, and the Unaccompanied children and the border crisis, Visit pda.pcusa.org to learn more about each situation.

Here are pictures of a college spring break group I joined in Nashville that did some PDA a year after the 2010 flood in Nashville. (you may have forgotten the flood which was swallowed in the press by the BP oil debacle in the Gulf soon after).  Three nostalgic cheers  to Goo Goo Clusters, and the good times with Alicia, Tedd, Danielle, Michelle, Kathleen and Pastor Kerry!

My good buddy Tedd and I trimming bushes in a field full of flood debris

This deck was washed from the house into a guy's yard during flooding.
Several PDA teams--30 people total-- picked it up and put it back in place.

JMU Campus Ministry PDA team helping Mr. Glenn clean up
his outdoor cookhouse from flood damage a year after the flood.

JMU Spring break volunteers cooking supper for PDA volunteers

Sound like a good idea? Maybe you want to get involved with your church, your family, your bridge club, your college club, or neighborhood group.  Check out this page for ways to get involved.  You can make an impact for so many, and you can see some places you may not otherwise.  Pray, stay informed, assemble kits, volunteer, or give money.

Outside of sending volunteers, PDA works with Church World Service to get volunteers to buy and donate kits or care packages to send to disaster areas, or even school kits, baby kits, and hygiene kits to send overseas regardless of natural disasters.  You, your church, your garden club, your sports team, or whoever can make and send kits to disasters.  Mail them to us at camp Ferncliff in Arkansas or to Church World Service in Maryland where they are stored in warehouses.  If you send it here my fellow YAV Dan will make sure it gets stored properly and sent out when needed.  They will be sent out whenever disaster strikes or there is need.  Follow these links for information on what supplies to buy and where to send them. http://pda.pcusa.org/page/kits/ and  http://pda.pcusa.org/page/act/

 

Photo of disaster kits by Kathy Broyard, PDA NRT.
Retrieved from pda.pcusa.org/page/kits.

Dan (at end of the table) helping the youth group at Second Pres. Little Rock inspect and prepare for shipping kits made and shipped here to Ferncliff by churches and community groups across the US. Photo from Second Pres LR Facebook page

I recently did some PDA with Dan and Molly on the Jersey Shore and New York City.  I will post more on the work and journey there in the coming days.   Please stay tuned.

Have you done PDA or other disaster response?  When, where, why? Please comment below.

Solar School

Solar Under the Sun trains people how to install solar electric systems to power lights, water filtration and basic needs in developing countries.

I first learned about Solar Under the Sun or SUTS at General Assembly in Detroit just a few months ago.  They had a booth there giving out flyers and brochures.  I asked them about it because it's a curious name.

Solar Under the Sun Director Chris McRae (left)
with General Assembly moderator Heath Rada (right)
Picture from SUTS facebook page:  

Named as a ministry of the Synod of the Sun, they spun off of Living Waters for the World (LWW).  LWW has designs for low cost water filtration systems and trains interested missionaries how to coordinate tirps, design and install the systems to bring clean water to places they visit on mission trips.  Their systems use UV lights, reverse osmosis, or ozone injection along with a DC pump.  They are effective and relatively inexpensive, but require electricity.  Some places they wanted to install systems didn't have reliable access to the electric grid and looked for alternative electricity sources.

Thus SUTS was born to provide small scale photovoltaic (solar electric) systems primarily to power LWW water filtration, or it can be more versatile and power lights and computers at a school or cellphone charging stations to serve larger community needs.  They emphasize how important light is for education encouraging kids to keep reading and doing their homework after dark.  Consider this story about kids in Guinea flocking to public parking lots to read because that's where the light is.  What if Christians put lights in churches so kids could flock to churches to read?  see the idea?

Young Guineans, without access to electricity, study under carpark lights at G'bessi airport in Conakry, Guinea. Photograph: Rebecca Blackwell/AP.  Image retrieved from: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/mar/07/energy-poverty-deprives-billion-adequate-healthcare. 

It's really quite impressive.  They started in Haiti a year before the earthquake and have since installed over 50 solar operating stations there and have built several in Hondourus, Kenya, El Salvador, and a few others.  Trips are sponsored by different Churches and non-profits in the US who send funds and volunteers.  Some funding churches have maintained close relationships over the years, others haven't.  They have a story of one place in Haiti that the night they finished the system the power went out in the village, but the church they'd just wired had battery power and turned on the lights in the church.  It was a beacon on a hilltop and the people came from all around to be in the light at the church.

Solar School is the training for mission teams to build SUTS power systems.  Solar School is done at Camp Ferncliff where I live so I got to take it for free.  Thank you YAV, SUTS, Ferncliff, and Jesus.

They offer two courses;  Solar 1 which is most important as it teaches the theme of the work and Solar 2 that teaches all the technical intricacies on how to actually wire the system correctly.  Both are important, but Solar 1 is essential if you ask me.  Solar 1 graduates learn how to organize a survey trip, establish long term relationships with people in villages, truly understand the need for electricity and determine if solar is appropriate.  They look for places to buy electronic equipment in the country where the build will take place and coordinate with the partners there to set up long term plans for maintaining the system.  Solar 2 folks oversee the wiring, battery installation and maintenance so that it works without explosions or fires.

Click here to learn more about the next Solar School to take place in May 2015 here at Ferncliff.

I really enjoyed taking Solar 2 it took me back to Mr. Jenkin's 11th grade electric shop learning the different wire sizes, grounding practices, panel boxes, it was great, but I wish I could take Solar 1 to get more of the context and cultural appropriateness.

Participants of the 11th Solar School (I'm in the back left corner)

The big idea here is to teach you not to just come in for a week, put up solar panels take a picture with some native smiling children, and fly back home to your high energy air-conditioned home to feel good about yourself.  That's not the point.

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS.  That's the point.  You want to grow in faith and in partnership with other people in the world.  You want to sit with them. Talk with them.  Understand on the deepest level possible what life is like for them in their world and society.  And then help in whatever way you can if that means installing a solar array and battery storage then good thing you went to Solar School.  If they need clean drinking water hopefully you took LWW's Clean Water University.  If that means just coming home and telling people what life is like there do that.  If it means changing some spending habits do that.  If it means bringing a friend to visit them next year do that.

Don't go in with a solution and force it on another culture, country, village, or family until you know them.

I think SUTS could emphasize that a little more honestly, but I am impressed with them putting relationships first.  Solar panels won't solve all our problems, but they can solve a few. I come from the engineering background that has me wanting to build something to help people, and I met a lot of folks this week who just want to go somewhere and put in panels.  I've been learning for a long time and especially this week how much more sustainable, and loving it is to pay attention to that personal relationship and build that up.

Jesus didn't give us a solution to Sin until he lived with us, and shared in our joys and pains for a little while perhaps we can bring a little more empathy and compassion along on our mission trips.  And through Solar School we can bring solar energy as well.

Challenge:  this week focus on building a relationship with someone you know.

Video retrieved from www.solarunderthesun.org 

Solar Under the Sun Promo from Claire Sparks onVimeo.

What do we do at Ferncliff?

The last week of August I moved to Ferncliff.  I live with Dan and Molly in a beautiful house on the southern end of Ferncliff's campus.  Ferncliff is located about 6 miles west of Little Rock in the woods. 

Dan, Molly, and I (The Little Rock YAVs)

We are definitely in the woods.  There are lots of tress: sweet gum, black gum, pin oak, other oaks, mimosa, maples.  Lots of insects, insects that bite. Chiggers, ticks, mosquitoes-all have already bitten me in places I wish they hadn't.  I need to watch out for the snakes and spiders. There are several venomous varieties I'm not familiar with.

This camp does a lot.  Where should I start?  The beginning of this webinar explains a lot about Ferncliff in their emphasis on caring for God's creation and God's people.

Lets start with summer camp at Ferncliff: 

During the summer they do all kinds of theme camps for kids in late elementary to high school including family camp (kids bring their parents to avoid homesickness), Night owl, yoga camp, weird science, forest and stream, day camps and much more.  They have training camps for kids seeking to be councelors.  Here's a video from last summer.

In the adventure section of camp there are tree houses and log cabins for folks to sleep in if they are too scared to camp outside.  There is a working vegetable garden with goats, and chickens.  Molly's Job is to get the garden scaled up.  The largest straw bale-insulated building in the country is also there-I'll be working with some energy projects there.  I imagine kids get an amazing experience trekking through that side of camp. I know I did!

Tree Houses with a fire pole exit

The Eco-Center (my main workplace for the year)

Ferncliff offers transportation to the day camps and "Camp to you" where staff visits your church or school for a day of camp activities.  Learn more about specific camps at http://www.ferncliff.org/programs/summer-camp/. 

My favorite are Ferncliff's special outreach camps:

Camp Alex- for children and youth affected by suicide.  (Given my hesitancy to do another YAV year because I wanted some time to be with family after Gus' suicide I felt it a sign from above this camp shared my name.) 
Aim-Hi- for hearing impaired youth
Our House- day programs for youth participating in Our House summer programs
Camp Noah-for children affected by recent tornadoes
Family Matters- for siblings separated by foster care (in partnership with First Pres Ft. Smith, DHS and Ferncliff)

They also host school groups affected by voilence and school shootings.  The Labyrinth in front of the chapel was built by students from Jonesboro Westside, Columbine, Paducah, Bosnia and several other sites affected by school violence.  There are rocks from all these places.  It is powerful being in that space.

   A lot of healing happens here.

One small part of the year is for the three of us to explore how camp can be used as a tool for churches to engage the world in mission.  From what I see just moving in, Ferncliff does an excellent job reaching out to kids if it's exposing them to nature for the first time, being the first place they can pet a goat, and pick fresh mint, or see a straw bale house.  Or maybe it's providing a scenic environment surrounded by other kids suffering from a similar hardship as they are and fostering a sacred space for healing.  I ask myself how can I serve the world with what I have, and I think I will learn a lot from this place this year.

What camps did you go to as a kid?  What is one adventure or healing moment you had? leave a comment below.

May all the camps we visit bring adventure, healing, and the Love of God to all who enter. 



Thanks for reading about my YAV year.  Please consider supporting me this year by praying for me, sharing this blog with others, or sending money to support the program to cover my living expenses.  I still need to raise about $2,000.  A gift of any size, large or small will be greatly appreciated.  If you'd like to give, please make checks payable to Ferncliff with "YAV Alex" in the memo line and mail to:

Ferncliff Camp and Conference Center
1720 Ferncliff Road
Little Rock, AR 72223

This is also my mailing address for the year.