The Solar-Powered Laundry Dryer still works in November

Here are some numbers:

Six Haneys have been at the house for the holidays since the weekend so it's time for Laundry.  7 loads that is--including all the towels, napkins and place mats.  Total this would take about six hours in the dryer.  The dryer is typically the second most expensive and energy-consuming appliance in the average household after the water heater.  Check out this chart from the US Department of Energy.

But it's a nice sunny breezy day so with the spare time on vacation we decided to use the solar powered laundry dryer to save some electricity.  Don't you have a solar-powered laundry dryer?  The line pins and poles runs at $100 or less. Talk to your local hardware store.  Now who'd have thought solar power for less than $100!  Tell your friends.

Today's high in the mountains of Virginia in November was 51, and it was in the low 40's when I started hanging laundry.  After 7 total hours of sunlight not all of the laundry dried completely outside, but most of it did.  Keep in mind, seven loads is quite a bit of laundry.  A total of 80 minutes in the dryer did the rest.  So think 80 minutes of running the dryer vs 6 hours (360 min).

Now the numbers:

The sticker on the dryer says it's rated at 28Amps at 240Volts.  By multiplying those, the dryer uses 6,720 Watts, or 6.72 kilo Watts of power.
For every hour we run it we use 6.72 kWh  KiloWatt Hours
It costs about 11 cents per kWh on the average electric bill.
So it costs about $ 0.74 to run it for an hour.
Since we hung the laundry reducing our dryer time by about 4 hours 40 min
That is a savings on the electric bill of about $3.47 today.

Now $3.47 isn't very much. It could buy half a gallon of good milk.  Pay for 1/3 of the labor time I spent hanging the laundry.  Not all that much.  But if every laundry day we saved that energy, think how much money we could save.  About $15 per month!

The internet tells me we get about 0.95 kWh per pound of coal burned.  Our savings today is 31.4 pounds of coal.  That makes it worth it to me.  We saved 31 pounds of coal with the solar energy.  Approximately 4x10^-5 acres of coal.  Not much.

So is it worth it?  If you ask me. Yes.  Climate change, habitat loss from fossil fuels, these problems are very large and scary.  But if we each do our part, we can get through all this.  Baby steps.  If enough people hung their laundry yesterday we could make significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, land destruction from.

Since today is Thanksgiving, lets make sure we are thankful for the infrastructure of the electric grid, and the system in place that allows laundry drying to be so easy.  If that goes down we'll all be doing a lot of laundry hanging.  Think how many people in the world wash their laundry by hand, and dry it without electricity.  Think how much less resources they use.  Think of their lifestyle in all regards besides laundry.  Maybe try it out.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Camp Alex

Camp Alex was this week.

Bright salmon colored Camp Alex T Shirt

I learned of Camp Alex after a telephone interview with David and Gerald about coming to Arkansas to be a YAV a year ago.  After a promising conversation on how great of a fit I was to bring my passion for science and the environment to do some projects with Ferncliff's new straw-bale Eco Center, they asked me if there was anything else.

I told them I've had a rough year.  One of my best friends, ancestral kinsmen, fellow plantcrafter, and inspiration to be a YAV, Gus killed himself, and my 30 year old cousin Sarah died from a heart condition after finishing a marathon when I was home for Gus' funeral.  Two of my supervisors moved away, another took a different job and I had a few weeks when the interim left me.  I told them I think I just want to go home and be with family for a while after all that loss and stressful transition.

Gerald asked about my cousin Sarah.  He told me his son died very young of practically the same heart condition.  David said, "we host a camp for kids of families that have lost loved ones from suicide"  I thought, "that's a weird coincidence"  and after I hung up the phone, I pondered a little and talked to Jane about it.  Jane was my supervisor who never left me, (but she scared me once after a car wreck that ended a police chase).  Any way.  I googled, "Ferncliff suicide camp" and I saw the words "Camp Alex"  and the way my brain read that in a time of trying to dicern if I should stay home or go to Ferncliff, I heard God saying "Camp Alex, Go to camp, Alex"

In reality it took God thumping me in the head with three other big coincidences before I listended to those words to come to camp.  Now I am here and It came full circle when Emily, Joel and David let me be the coordinator for Camp Alex.

Camp Alex is named after Alex Blackwood who killed himself in 2008 at age 19 as a college freshman.  His mom Cindi, father Steven, and sister Ariel began the camp when they realized how nice it would have been if there were a camp or something for Ariel to go to as a 13 year old who lost an older brother to suicide.  They took this extremely tragic thing that broke them, took the pieces and made something new to .

They told me Alex would be 25 now. I'm 25. He kind of had my build, tall. He was a little thinner than me, but we both share dark eyes, dark hair, and a calm demeanor.  I saw a painting of him today and we're not very close in the face, but Ariel gave me a double-take when I introduced myself as Alex.  There was also a Will this week, and another camper who lost his brother Will to suicide. Both Wills are very close in age.

So what does this kind of camp look like?  The week was full of normal camp activities like fishing, boating, archery, packing hygene kits at the DAC, we even went over to the 4H center and did the rock wall tower and giant's ladder, those team building high ropes activities that teach cooperation, and physically leaning on those around you when you need help.

What made us different were some art therapy projects and time with Greg Adams, a grief therapist from Arkansas Children's Hospital and friend from church.  Greg did activities to help us understand emotions associated with grief and response to suicide and got us talking.  We broke a flower pot and glued the pieces back together to symbolize how you feel broken after a loved one dies, but you have to put the pieces back together, and it might look different, be a little scarred, but it's still there, and can still hold a plant.  We got to anonymously ask some things we were confused about with dealing with suicide and everyone in the group had a chance to speak up.  We wrote a letter to the loved ones we grieved for, and we wrote a possible response from them to our letter.

Cailey and Ariel lead art projects like making a clay model of our emotions, drawing a tree to show what was temporary like leaves, and what sticks with us always like roots.

We also did some music making with small drums and karaoke to express our emotions through song, dance and instruments.

Even with the most shy kids, these metaphors allowed all of us to be very open about how we feel. And process through some grief. Greg said that there is no other place in the state of Arkansas where we could have had that kind of conversation about how we feel and what we wonder about with that much openness, without criticism.

A lot of people tend to respond to suicide survivors, or survivors of any tragedy telling them how they should be feeling, and I think we just need permission to feel how we feel and get through it on our own.

Back of Camp Alex T shirt

I want to thank David for tolerating me getting further behind on my to-do list to help with this camp.  Joel and Emily for making me the unit coordinator.  John and Hayley for being such good counselors and coaching me through being unit coordinator.  Thanks to Ariel and Cailey for their art therapy projects, and Cindy for bringing the camp, Greg for all his work in grief counseling, and all the kids for being open and honest with us, and for having the courage to discuss this hard thing with people you don't know.  It was a gift to walk a little with others carrying a similar load.

One snapshot of the week I'll never forget was making it to the top of the Giant's Ladder at the 4H Center with Will, a 12 year old camper.  This is the activity:  Between two large trees about 6 feet across is a giant rope ladder with wooden beams for rungs.  The first is about 3 feet off the ground the second 4 feet above that, and as you go up the space between each rung increases by about a foot and a half.  You climb up in pairs with the rule that you can't be any farther away from your partner than one rung.

Everyone that wanted tried it.  At the very end Will wanted to go and nobody else did, so I stepped up to help him. I was talking it up like we'd get to the top and we started going.  In my counselor mind I figured it would work if I do all the work to get myself up there, and I'll do all I can to help him get himself up there.  I thought, he's only 12 and I'm like twice as big as he, he'll never pull me up.  We had a strategy of I'd let him climb up my knee on my bent leg to get to the next rung, and I'd help support him as he'd stand up and hold on to the rung above for balance.  Then I'd hoist myself up there as far as I could and use his arm for balance as I stood up.  But as we got closer to the top, it became harder and harder to keep climbing.  It was harder for him to pull me up, and it was harder for me to get up without him pulling me. Each time I had to give up that personal pride that I was going to get him up there and rely on this 12 year old kid to pull most of my weight up.  Sure enough he never dropped me.  I had to depend on him to get me up more than I had planned and more than I thought he could.  There were a lot of times when we'd be ready to give up and the team on the ground would encourage us to keep going.  For some reason we climbed on!

Pretty soon we got to a place where he said, I'm ready to get down, and I looked up and we were just had to get to the next rung and we had made it, but it was right at my nose height.  With a struggle Will climbed up my bent leg at my hip and onto the top rung, but when he stood up the top bar was at the tip of his fingers and he couldn't grip it enough to also reach down and grab my hand, so the belay team below shouted for me to grab his leg for leverage.  He was scared he couldn't hold on and that his foot would slip.  I was scared his foot would slip, but I used his leg for leverage to swing over the bar, reached up my right hand and he got it and pulled me up.

I had to let down some of my idea that I'd do all the work for me and help him where he needed it and we'd make it.  It showed me I have some pride and self centeredness in my generosity that I want to do the work.  I learned to realize that the campers can help me out too.  In a way I felt my experience with Gus could help the kids see that it's ok and we will all get through it.  But just like I needed to rely on Will, I needed to rely on the campers and other counselor's stories of suicide to help me heal a little more.  Just like that ladder where we need to trust the belay team below not to let us fall down to our death, and our climbing partner to reach out an arm, leg, or hip when we need a boost, we learned healing from loss is very effective when done in community, and this week we made a community.

I see now that here at Ferncliff I'm not only here to play, explore and grow, but in some cases to lean on others to help us reach our goals together.

To sponsor a kid to come to Camp Alex or learn more about Camp Alex, the Alex Blackwood Foundation or the Association For Suicide Prevention, please visit http://www.alexblackwood.com/  They have some pictures from previous camps posted there.

¿Cómo cantaremos cántico de Jehová en tierra de extraños?

¿Cómo cantaremos cántico de Jehová en tierra de extraños?  Salmos 137:4

That’s the Spanish version of Psalm 137 verse 4.  “How do we sing a song of God in a strange land?”

I felt it was appropriate to read this scripture while I was reading my Spanish bible in Guatemala on my Living Waters for the World trip.  This entire trip as a YAV I’ve been asking myself and challenging my team how do we do this work we believe is ordained by God in a place we do not know?  How do we build this water system, teach people how to use it, and turn it over to them in just four days to a community we don’t know very well?  It’s a different basis for the question than the Israelites writing the psalm, but it is still valid.  How?

How do we avoid saying something offensive, or inappropriate hand gestures we are unaware of?

Luckily, Living Waters for the World (LWW) who set up this trip has some guidelines emphasizing sustainability, training the trainer, and partnership to really work on the “how” so that the presence of God is made clear with a project like this. As an organization LWW is attempting to get more

With the YAV program and our work at Ferncliff the emphasis is on things like solidarity, empathy, compassion, simplicity, partnership, sustainability and just understanding the complexities of our world and what struggles are like for the vulnerable.  It’s an extreme Christ-like year full of putting on someone else’s shoes, building relationships, and being vulnerable yourself.  If you complete a project that’s great, but these things come first for YAV. Before projects.

So for me to switch that mindset and do a short term water system build was a big switch in philosophy from what I’m used to.  I was reminded by a YAVA (YAV-Alum) named Emily who served in Guatemala, that if you are intentional you can keep the emphasis on relationship building, empathy, solidarity, and vulnerability while also doing a project.  That has been my hope for this trip. 

I, like most beginning missionaries got involved because I like to build things.  I like making technologies like solar cookers that can help someone without access to all the conveniences that I have.  It excites me that something I like can help someone else, and it makes me feel better about myself when I help people.  I like to build, cut wood, drive nails, and put stuff together. That’s me.  But I had to overcome that because a main goal of Living Waters for the World is to “Teach the Teacher”

After I finished their training at Clean Water University I realized I was not trained to build the water system.  Rather I was trained how to teach future operator how to build and operate the water system.  A nuanced difference that my trip leader observed has not been realized by everyone whose been trained.  I was trained how to assume the trainer’s pose.

Mr. President and Mr. Vice President displaying the "Trainer's Pose"
LWW teaches a hand's off approach to turn ownership over to partners.

I imagine that is hard for other folks like me to turn over the tools and instructions to someone else.  I had to learn that mission work is not about me stepping up to build this thing and flex my shop skills muscles.  It’s me putting my pride aside and handing over the hammer, nails, valves, and pipe to the people that will use it.  I take the role of a cheerleader, teacher, encourager, partner, resource and I let the folks living in the community build and operate the system.


Perhaps I was over zealous in the quest to share the work when I handed the drill to Diego to drill the top screw not realizing the screw 6ft above the ground was much easier for me to drive than for him since he was only 5 ft tall, or when I gave it to a younger guy and couldn’t think of the Spanish word for “push” and we kept stripping all the screws.  That mindset kept popping up,  and keeping me in check during times when I’d start gluing pipe. I’d be reminded to let someone else do it and then immediately hand over the glue and pipe to Jaime or Diego who gladly accepted and joined in the work.

It was as much a teaching workshop as a construction project.  Much like getting the Second Pres Youth group to build garden beds, or teaching farm campers, or even camp counselors how to turn over compost.  Much like John teaching me to raise quail or make castile soap.  Give a little talk, explain it, and pass over the instructions and tools to the padawan.

This has all been a good exercise in sustainable mission work.

In order to make lasting change in a community you can’t just do the work yourself and make the community’s success depend on you.  You need to give up a little bit of pride and start teaching other people what you think needs to happen and step back and watch them do it. That is how I understand the “train the trainer” model.

This is a realization I’ve seen through both  YAV and LWW, and the more I think about it, this is how people have invested in my life—teaching me how to make the changes they want so that the spark continues after we’ve gone.

“Be the Change you wish to see in the world”—Yes my college, JMU uses that on all their brochures.
But enough about changing the world.  A 10 minute video has some pictures and a voice of my opinions of this Living Waters trip to Guatemala.  This video is also on YouTube at this link if your computer has trouble loading it below.

The trip had 3 components. First we were building a water system in El Xab, north of Retaluleau in the western Pacific Coastal region of Guatemala.  Second, we checked in with the water system operators at the Long Way Home School in San Juan Comalapa where Mac, Dan, and Joan had visited and built a Living Waters system in 2013.  And finally we spent one day in Antigua, Guatemala—a very old city settled by the Spanish 500 years ago and destroyed multiple times since them due to earthquakes.  It sit’s at the base of several MASSIVE volcanoes one of which is active.  Antigua has 400 year old or older ruins from the original stone buildings destroyed by earthquakes the last several centuries.  Most of the houses are build from the ruins.
This blog and video focus most on the build at El Xab which was the most meaningful and challenging part.

The follow up visit at Long Way Home was amazing. The school was built out of trash designed by former Peace Corps volunteers.  Kids that attend pay their tuition in trash by bringing one piece of trash every day and the requirement that they stuff 4 plastic soda bottles full of trash every year.  Trash and stuff bottles is used as filler material in the cob, cement, and or used-tire wall.  The cob, mud, or plaster covers the trash, and the trash saves on the volume of expensive, energy intensive lime plaster needed to fill the wall.  I had an amazing time there meeting Lars, Genevieve and Rachel.  Awesome operation they have, I’m strongly considering going to live there for a few months to teach them about straw bale construction from what I’ve learned at the Eco Center, and learning some tire construction.  Their newest endeavor is to start molding their own plastic bricks from all the plastic they collect as trash. Plus they need some minor repair work on their small solar panel array…..Anyway as amazing as that part of the trip was, I want to emphasize the build because that was the most moving and challenging part of the trip.


In just four days we went from a school getting their water from a well with a bucket on a rope to filling twenty- 5 Gallon bottles with “agua pura” or "agua purificada".

So how do we do these things like train the trainers, and give our tools to others to build with them. How do we pass the torch?

#1. Humility--recognize that you aren't the savior, God is
#2. Recognize that you are not God.  You are just as much a sinner as this person you are serving regardless of your income, race, gender, etc.  You got your own stuff you need help with so get off your high horse.  Maybe your partner can help ease your pain.
#3.  Communicate with your partners in service get to know their needs and plans for the system, and other business stuff.  If you are doing a project while building relationships do all your planning ahead of time.  Use your brain, not just your heart.
#4  Learn about your partner's culture.  Learn their language.
#5 Become a friend to your partner.  Take time to have conversation with them about their family, job, interests, hobbies, dreams.  Make it more than business

And now a final Lilla Watson Quote: "If you have come here to help me then you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together."

Yo voy a Guatemala!

I am leaving the country for a few days with a partner organization in my work called Living Waters for the World.  I will assist in bringing a water filtration and disinfection system, and training operators and teachers how to use it at a school in El Asintal north of Retalhuleu, Guatemala.  Then we will visit another school in San Juan Comalapa where other team members built a system 2 years ago.  We will spend a day touring a coffee plantation with former YAV Jane Atkinson, and tour around Antigua before flying home.


Please pray for our team and our experience there. It is such a gift to participate in theis kingdom building work. I hope to bring you lots of pictures, good stories and make some friends on this journey.  Below is some more information about the trip.


See you on May 21!

Alex’s Guatemala trip itinerary

Team members Mac Sterrett -team captian (101)

Dan Woodworth (103, Liz Branch’s cousin)
Joan Bundy (102 from Warrenton,VA—did clean water training with Alex
Connie Miller of Massanutten church
Alex Haney (103, Ferncliff YAV 2015)

 

Sun May 10: Virginia team departs Staunton late afternoon, travel to Joan’s house (overnight)


Mon May 11:  Depart Joan’s 4:00-4:30 to Dulles (flight is 7:30); Alex 7:15 flight to Atlanta.  Team and Alex meet in Atlanta, arrive Guatemala City 12:10.  Depart airport by 1:30, meet Pablo From LWW Guatemala Network and Israel our driver, grab lunch and drive 5 hours (Google says 3) to Escuela Oficial Rural Mixta Project (El Asintal), El Ayal.  Would like to go to school in El Ayal that evening to meet, look, plan.  Back to Reu for overnight.


This is where we will stay Monday 11th – Friday 15th:  http://hotelastorguatemala.com/


Tue May 12:  El Ayal;  begin H&H in morning (maybe afternoon?)  FULL DAY ON SITE, building the water system, training operations and teaching H&H to students and teachers  (Reu)


Wed May 13:  El Ayal;   FULL DAY ON SITE  (Reu) 


Thu May 14:  El Ayal;  FULL DAY ON SITE  (complete installation)  (Reu)


Fri May 15:  El Ayal;  FULL DAY ON SITE; testing and training; celebration in afternoon  (Reu)


Sat May 16:  Depart after breakfast; drive 5 hours (Google says 3) to Comalapa; overnight in Comalapa,


NOTES FROM MAC about the Hotel in Comalapa,” our teams have stayed there twice in the past and have found it to be quite comfortable, rooms have private bathrooms, very adequate for a small town in a less-developed country, and most importantly, clean and safe.   Heat is not something that many places in Guatemala provide, because it is the “land of eternal spring,” and also because it is a less-developed country.  The owners are friends of the people we will visit (Long Way Home, Inc.) and they house many of their visitors there.  I believe you will be very comfortable there.  Believe me, I have stayed in far worse! http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g1137804-d7220619-r239140058-El_Refugio_de_Dona_Catrina-Chimaltenango_Chimaltenango_Department.html”


Sun May 17:  Long Way Home:  We are visiting friends at this school where Mac, Joan, and others from Virginia built a water system 2 years ago.  The school is made of trash! check it out:  http://www.lwhome.org/


Mon May 18: Long Way Home


Tue May 19:  Depart after breakfast, drive 1:30 to coffee plantation; depart noon; drive 1 hour *(Google says 30 mins) to Antigua.  Visit former YAV Jane Atkinson and tour De La Gent Coffee Plantation where she works http://www.dlgcoffee.org/  Overnight in Antigua Hotel El Carmen http://elcarmenhotel.com/


Wed May 20:  Depart Antigua 10:00 for 1 hour drive to airport (flight departs 1:20 p.m, arrive Dulles 11:41 p.m.  Alex arrives in Little Rock 10:30pm

 

A Place to Heal

This may contain graphic and violent images not appropriate to young audiences, but unfortunately it is true.

We stand after sunset around the labarynth with torches as she sings Sanctuary

Image from http://andychirch.com/labyrinth/

"Lord, teach the children 

To stop the fighting
Start uniting
Live as one
Let’s get together
Love each forever
Sanctuary for you."

All I think of is "I am in a holy place."  So much emotion. So much pain. So much healing was felt here and is felt here now.

The labarynth was built by students from Westside Middle School, Columbine and other schools who came to Ferncliff from 1998-2003 for healing camps and retreats after experienceing school violence.  Rocks from places all over the world hurt by school violence have been placed at the center of this labarynth.  Christina who was in class the day of the Columbine shooting is singing this song at the labarynth she helped build.

http://andychirch.com/labyrinth/

All images from http://andychirch.com/labyrinth/

Young children died.  Others who survive are left with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other mental struggles.  Families now live without children.  Students now grow up having lost best friends, team mates, siblings.

Wednesday April 7, Ferncliff, in partnership with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance hosted a workshop and training for camps across the nation on how they could be active in response to human-violence disasters and school violence in particular. It was attended and lead by Jessica, and Brandy, two Westside shooting survivors who attended the Ferncliff healing camps, Christina from Columbine, Erika daughter of Dawn Hochsprung, former principle of Sandy Hook Elementary School, and Richard Martinez whose son was killed at UC Davis a year ago in California.

I find myself holding sacred the names Natalie and Paige who did not survive the shooting at Westiside.  Images from these stories fill my mind.  I am drawn to tears as I attempt to empathise with the middle school girl stepping over the body of her friend who was just locked arm in arm with her.  A bullet went right by her ear, another hit her pants leg, one hit her friend. Her friend is dead.  She is alive.  Natalie and Paige are dead.  She was twelve.

This scene she described could be taken from Saving Private Ryan and it happened to her in Middle School.  WTF?

Unfortunately we are at a place in this country where school shootings are very common, and although devastating we hear of them so much it is almost becoming normal to hear about it on the news.  We have to do drills in schools on how to react when a shooter comes in.  Schools are preparing for violence as often as they prepare for fires.  WTF?

Why is this ok?  Why is this normal?  Last Wednesday this phenomenon became all too real as I heard survivors of Westside’s shooting tell about that day that changed their lives forever.

http://andychirch.com/labyrinth/

Triggers bring these kids-now-adults back to this place often and emotions control thier lives. It is who they are now.

All of this rings true and deep with me as I sometimes get triggered into a dark place remembering images of my best friend deranged by mental illness stabbing his father in the face before he killed himself.

In my attempt to make sense of it all 1 Corinthians 13 comes to mind. I would like to share some observations from the day interspersed with some scripture that kept playing in my head throughout the day. A song of the scripture is here http://stevelindsley.bandcamp.com/track/greatest-of-these

In general, one on one therapy sessions were not always successful for the children because there wasn't a well established level of trust. One girl spilled her guts out to a therapist in one session and the therapist didn't recognize her on the next visit.  Even an attempt at a summer camp for a similar group of kids in Nevada just last fall, the campers did not trust the counselors and they missed out on some valuable healing conversation.  I cannot express the importance of having someone to talk to about emotional and mental health.  My parents have always recommended finding a counselor.  And I would recommend it.  However trust is a major consideration especially for children.

And now I will show you a more excellent way.

If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging symbol.  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowlege and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love I gain nothing.

Even the experts cannot hold an audience with those that need the most help if they do not have love for the client or at least establish trust.  David and Ferncliff approached the situation with love. That was key. Ferncliff was a place of safety, and a loving space where the survivors could play as kids again.

Granted Ferncliff didn’t just have love and leave it at that.  They also did their homework.  David was in constant communication with leaders in Jonesboro like pastor Jack, and one of the school teachers he knew before he ever reached out to families.  He approached families through these other community leaders.  He found funding through PDA and the Presbytery to sponsor the kids so they wouldn't have to pay to go to a healing camp.  They found professional counselors to train the camp counselors basics for recognizing signs of trauma and PTSD, while also having the professionals there when camp staff couldn't handle a situation.

And it wasn't perfect.  Camp sparked triggers with games in open fields, and a crazy sereies of events that week that brought most of the kids back to the dark spot on the day of the shooting.  One day a girl tripped and fell as they were all walking outside, she cut her wrist, bled on the sidewalk, and due to another condition was sent home early in an ambulance, to no longer be with them (for camp).  All the unforseen events on a Tuesday was spookily reminescent about the day of the shooting and most everyone was triggered back into that traumatic state of mind.  It was a hot mess as they recalled.

Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  

Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts. Always hopes always perserveres.

http://andychirch.com/labyrinth/

Jessica said, "They didn't talk to us like we needed to be 'fixed,' They just held us."  I think when it all comes down to it the essentials for healing is a community of love and support.  That is what all of the images of Ferncliff as a healing retreat space, and the experience of these kids was.  And even some of the kids who did not go to therapy or come to Ferncliff never found that community of love and support in which to heal and according to their neighbors at the conference they are heavily involved in drugs, alcohol, or other harmful coping measures, which the individuals recieving support avoided.

It's likely just a loving household who supports me is the only thing that separates me from most people in jail.

Erika found that community of love in others who "just get it" when she was invited to speak in DC about gun safety.  A guy named Chris was her mentor. He told her to speak to a politician. He told her it would be hard and they wouldn't listen, but she should keep saying, "You should listen to me because my mother is dead."  She's been able to heal better than her neighbors because she is in a community of support where she is comfortable to grieve, talk about her mother, and take action.  Not all people after a tragedy have this support or open space because our society has trouble encouraging people to talk about it.

I would be lost without the YAV community, and my family and friends as I've been dealing with the tragic loss of my friend Gus.

Camps can provide a great space for healing because of the community where everyone is loved, accepted and celebrated for who they are no matter what they've been through.  That's just what camp counselors do.  That is how we can change the world, that is how we can sucessfully cope with tragic loss-----LOVE.

So what do we do about it?
1.  We can take on the big problems by campainging for better mental health, better gun control, getting more people gun locks, teaching more people gun safety.  We can treat gun violence like a public health problem and drop all the crap about the right for all people to carry assault rifles protected by the second ammendment.

Kids are dead.  We need to do something as a nation.  The NRA can get back to promoting gun safety before gun access.

2.  We can start loving each other, our kids, our neighbor's kids, our friends at school.  It sounds silly beacuse we learned to "love your neighbor" when we were kids but these Westside kids showed me how important that really truly is.  We can create places of love and support and prevent these things from happening. We can be a sanctuary.  "And I will show you a more excellent way" Paul writes---LOVE.

Relationship Status Update

YAV has taught me words like solidarity, reciprocity, compassion

These are a slightly different angle at which to view the word "mission" or "service" than the words charity, relief, donating, that tend to pop up in short term missions.

Opposite sides of a coin perhaps.

My little brother Isaac once interpreted a pastor's speech to me as this:  "Jesus probably wouldn't just reach out a hand while he was standing above you and pull you up to stand and walk.  Jesus would probably sit down with you, talk to you and learn what it's like to sit in your position for a while.  Then he might take your hand and you arise together."  The story of his life and death we remember at Easter is one of God as Jesus setting aside his privilege, honor, power, and highness as God (the highest he could be) to sit down with us in the nasty body of a human and feel pain, gooey emotion, and sit down with us to experience our life and death.  He did all this beside and among us before he rose from the dead so we might arise together.  Allelujah! AMEN!

It is through this lens of let's call it "sitting down service" I've gained as a YAV that I now view the world of service.  I am not here to just throw money at the problem to fix it, or even just donate cans of food.  In order to follow Christ's example with service I think I'm just here to empathize with and understand what it feels like to be in a vulnerable position of those I serve.  I am here to love my neighbor, to feel what my neighbor feels in joy or pain.  That's compassion literally from it's latin roots "com"(-with) "passion"(-feeling or pain).

I read from Isaiah 58 to some Lyon College students last week. Verses 6-9 come to mind. and are presented well in the NRSV translation:

Is not this the fast that I choose:
    to loose the bonds of injustice,
    to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
    and to break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
    and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
    and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
⁸ Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator^[a] shall go before you,
    the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
⁹ Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
    you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.

This is an amazing passage, please read the whole chapter.  I like how NRSV writes verse 7 as "share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house"  These are commands that not only remind us to "love your neighbor," but command us to do it in a way that involves SHARING a little with those we serve.  Isaiah didn't tell the Hebrews to donate money for the hungry to eat, he asked us to share bread from our plate.  Isaiah didn't tell the Hebrews to support a homeless ministry with your paycheck, he said, "invite the homeless poor into YOUR house"  When John the baptist quoted Isaiah, He didn't say "buy some clothes for the clothes closet," he said, "you who have two shirts give one to your brother who has none, those who have food do likewise".

By giving from our supply of food or clothing directly to another, I think it puts us just one step closer to those we serve.  For the purpose of this article I'll call that level 2 service.  So pretend level 1 is-give money to a charity to buy food for someone else, and level 2 is-give someone bread you already have on your plate:  Recognizing neither one are evil acts, just different ways to meet the needs.  The difference is small but worth exploring.

Level 1--

• meeting needs from our abundance
• giving money or support for someone else to do the work meeting the needs

Level 2--

• Sacrificing something to give to a neighbor in a way that gives you at least a taste of what your neighbor is dealing with.  
• Setting aside "our" place to sit with "them" as God set aside his high place to be with us.
• Realizing that putting quotes around "us" and "them" is really kind of silly because we're all equally as sinful, and all equally loved by God.  I don't know if I can say it any better than that.  We're more alike than we tell ourselves.  God's high place is just as accessible to each of "us" and each of "them."  God loves the whole world no exceptions.

All this big picture stuff is making some sense as I prepare for a short term mission trip with Living Waters for the World.  I've been brainstorming a lot about the role of short term mission to meet immediate needs verses this "level 2" stuff I'm just barely starting to understand as a YAV.

A brief flashback to my first level 1 short term mission:
-----

When I was 16 I found myself in San Diego in the parking lot of Motel 6 ready to go to Mexico and build a house for someone I called then, "a needy farm worker." As loud airplanes flew close overhead, Mac, the trip leader told us one thing that really challenged me.  He said "we are not here to build houses, we are here to build relationships"

I said to myself then, "Well I came to build a house, I don't know what this guy is talking about."  After nine years of trying to figure that out, I find myself preparing for another trip south of the boarder with Mac; this time to Guatemala to build a Living Waters for the World System for a school, visit another school where his team built a system several years ago, see a few other sites, and come home.

This brings me back to the ideas of level 1 service, one angle at which to view mission or service.  "Feed the hungry,  Clothe the naked, give to those who have less, sometimes even get them 'saved' (depending on who you are)"  All mostly good things which I like to believe have good intentions.

The YAV principles of solidarity, empathy, siting down and arising together give me a cynical view of short term mission and the "level 1 service". We have such detailed work to do building the water system and teaching the Guatemalans to use it that it can easily become a hero mindset.  A tone of "we rich, white (mostly retired) people are coming to build you a system or a house, save your life, and feel good about ourselves" can easily come to mind.  Myself and other YAVs sometimes take this critical stance about short term mission.  It can easily skip over, or gloss over the relationship-building part and be destructive.  Books like Toxic Charity, and When Helping Hurts explore the negatives of unsustainable mission work.  This happens when we say to ourselves, "Well I came to build a house, I don't know what this guy is talking about"

The mindset I hear in fundraising sometimes "we are helping them because we are so blessed"  can further draw that line that "we are better off than them and that means we know how to fix their problems."  What I see in Isaiah 58 is a subtle clue that this should be done in a way that makes us equals, that highlights that common struggle we all share.  And even though "we" may never truly know what "they" are going through, we are attempting to learn.

It's a fine line to make.  I don't want to discount the good work LWW is doing  but I recognize YAV has a different focus than LWW.  YAVs are focused more on relationship building and understanding the social system and situation than just getting work done, and LWW is all about, "providing clean water to all God's children for a generation."  We are on the same team of building the kingdom of God and spreading love.  We're all doing what Isaiah is yelling to the masses, but we emphasize different parts of the goals.

Mac our trip leader has great long term relationships he's made with community leaders in Guatemala already.  He is friends with Israel, the driver they've used on past trips and who will guide us this time.  He already knows and has been communicating with leaders at the second school we're visiting and close to ten people in the Yucatan LWW network.  So the guy who first told me this type of thing is all about relationships is not lacking in relationships he's already built.

And I know LWW is moving in a direction of sustainability, local in-country ownership, and emphasizing "teach the teacher" so that the community can run the system.  They have some of that mindset of short term mission, "us fixing their problems"

Best I can tell, LWW has level 2 in mind with most of it's members, but by it's very nature someone doing level 1 can easily jump in andget away with only doing level 1 service with them.

So after nine years of trying to understand, "we are not here to build houses we are here to build relationships" and almost two of those being YAV years, I have some personal goals for the Guatemala trip.

I want to actually build relationships with people in Guatemala
I want to actually remember the name of someone I meet there
I want to not be the dumb white gringo who doesn't know Spanish
I want to learn what life is like in Guatemala
I want to say something different when I come back than "I went to give them something, but they gave me so much more"
I want to enhance the remainder of my time at Ferncliff with this trip by bringing back ideas for sustainability in service

All things I didn't do as a naive young 16 year old in Mexico.

So how do I do these things?
I find myself taking a risk, and building relationships in Little Rock before I travel.

To learn Spanish as a YAV, I really can't afford to pay a tutor. Sorry tutors out there, I know you have to eat too.  Best of luck!

So I asked around to see who is offering free Spanish lessons.  The library system has done some in the past, and a local church hosts a free weekly Spanish bible class for members led by Carlos a super awesome pastor Carlos from Cuba.  Please pray for Carlos, and his wife Sally.  Carlos has been ill for a few weeks.

I also reached out to a friend in El Zocala, a local immigrant support group working with the Hispanic population.  She encouraged me to volunteer with their English Second Language (ESL) class and pick up some Spanish, and we're even looking into a "language exchange" for one or a few of the students to teach me some Spanish and I help them with English.  In fact next week I have a one-on-one session with a lady from El Salvador who will teach me some Spanish, especially about Guatemalan food which is much like El Salvador's food.  So I'm adding and checking off "talk to a lady from El Salvador" on my list of life goals.  That's something I'd call Gus about, which makes me feel I'm doing something right.

I am also doing a little bit of online "pen pal writing" in Spanish for practice with an old high school friend from Columbia, and another YAV from Puerto Rico.  I've been in touch with a few YAVA who have spent time in Guatemala, and have even been in contact with a YAVA who lives in Guatemala now and we may even meet her on our trip.

Questions about shots and where to get them have given me more reasons to talk with a local doctor at church.  And I'm car pooling with another LWW student from Conway, AR to get to the water system training in Mississippi.

Guess what Mac, I've already started this relationship building before I've even gotten to Guatemala.  Yo tengo muchos amigos nuevos!!!!! Yo estudio espanol con mi amigos nuevos!

I've come a long way since I was 16 on my first mission trip.  The church has come a much longer way on it's mission trips throughout history.  I am encouraged by groups like YAV that emphasize the compassion and work toward a world where we realize there really isn't all that much difference between "us" and "them" especially on the things that matter to God.  I just believe so deeply that all that really matters in life is that we just love each other like Christ, and even providing clean water takes second place to that.

I challenge you to do a level 2 service this week and this month, something that invites you into sharing or dialogue with your partners in service and those whom you serve.  Can you do one of the following at least 3 times before May 1?

Try to make yourself aware of someone else's situation.  Try to experience it.
Sit down with someone you don't know
Look up the definitions of solidarity, compassion, empathy, and reciprocity
Talk to a neighbor, colleague, or a friend about something instead of looking it up by yourself

Please let me know your thoughts on doing "level 2" or "sitting down service" in the comments below. How did these things go?  Am I crazy?

One Day's Wages

My Birthday is this week. I'll be 25 on the 14th.  Birthdays are good for your health. I've read that people who have more birthdays live longer.

Everyone likes their birthday, except for the people who think they're old.  Birthdays are a time to celebrate life.  What's the purpose of life anyway?  People turn to religion with that question. Our Presbyterian Westminster shorter catechism asks and answers the following:

Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?

A. Man's chief end is to glorify God, [a] and to enjoy him for ever. [b]

[a]. Ps. 86:9; Isa. 60:21; Rom. 11:36; I Cor. 6:20; 10:31; Rev. 4:11

[b]. Ps. 16:5-11; 144:15; Isa. 12:2; Luke 2:10; Phil. 4:4; Rev. 21:3-4

I am brainstorming how to glorify God at my birthday.

One simple way through Second Presbyterian of Little Rock is the Birthday Fund when they ask you to donate a dollar for every year you've had a birthday to support the church's endowment fund.  The endowment supports missions and ministries both within and outside the church walls.  In fact 25% of the church's budget every year is sent to ministries outside the church walls. They're pretty popular among the non-profits in town as a grant source.

What a neat idea: churches using their financial power to build up the communities around them.  Maybe we can learn from that.

The Birthday Fund reminds me of another birthday generosity idea I found when I took the Lazarus at the Gate Class in Boston called one Days Wages.  Please watch this video about "One Day's Wages": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoEBr65YZ4Q

For those of you who thought about sending me a card, or a facebook post, or maybe even a present I want to challenge you to glorify God with a gift toward his work in honor of my birthday this weekend!  Please consider the following.

1. Watch the video on this page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoEBr65YZ4Q
2.  Donate the dollar amount of your age or One Day's Wages to an organization you trust to fight extreme global poverty or local poverty in your area.  See below if you need ideas.

One Day's Wages for me as a YAV is about $12.30  ($270 per month with approx 22 workdays per month excluding weekends)

My $25 donation to the church's birthday fund is actually close to two days wages....

"The Earth is the Lord's and ALL that is in it"  God gives us blessings and asks us to go and do likewise.

For my birthday please consider donating to one of these organizations, or to another organization toward building a better world, or building the kingdom of Heaven on Earth.  I really would appreciate that much more than a facebook message!

Ideas on who to donate to:

1.  Thistle Farms--This Episcopal ministry in Nashville, TN offers a safe community, training, and employment making soaps and beauty products for women released from prison after serving for drug addiction and prostitution.  Buying from them or donating helps go toward a holistic sustainable community solution and shows how the power of love can make a difference

2. World Relief https://worldrelief.org/donate   A former BFJN supervisor Ryan now works with World Relief connecting donors to the projects where money is helping those with most need.  Ryan taught me about generosity and One Days Wages and World Relief is involved with some of the world's most vulnerable populations

3.  Catholic Relief Services--Another former YAV supervisor Maggie now works for Catholic Relief in Jordan working to build infrastructure and education for public health issues.  Maggie taught me 93% of what I know about food justice.

4.  Presbyterian Disaster Assistance--This group is active in long term recovery after disaster. They send kits with supplies to people in need and they are a partner here at Ferncliff

5.  Little Rock Young Adult Volunteer Program--That's who I work for and I am almost to my fundraising goal.  Please send a check made out to Ferncliff with YAV-Alex Haney in the memo line to 1720 Ferncliff Road, Little Rock AR 72223.

I also trust the following organizations with my donations every so often: They are working toward sustainable solutions to problems beyond just immediate needs.  I have a total of 14 listed because my birthday is the 14th.

In Virginia:
Voluteer Farm in Woodstock, VA --Volunteer labor runs a farm that donates all food to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank in Verona for local families in need.

In Little Rock:
Our House Shelter--A temporary shelter for families in transitional housing situations
El Zocalo Center--A local immigrant support group helping me learn Spanish for an upcoming mission trip
Stewpot--A local meals shelter and clothes closet serving lunch everyday
Interfaith Power and Light--Working toward bringing sustainability and long term planning on environmental issues into church congregations.

National and International:
Habitat for Humanity--Helping people help themselves build their house and learn personal finance skills
Presbyterian Mission Agency's Self Development of People--investing in people to achieve their own personal goals and not telling them how to live
Bread for the World--national ecumenical advocacy organization for food policy in the US
Heifer International--Using Agriculture and education to help people pull themselves out of poverty


Who have I left out? Who would you give to?

Fingerprints and Tomatoes in February

The Little Rock YAVs were given a delicious trey of Ziti, salad, and a cheesecake from our adopted mother Heather from church. Oh it was so good and such a treat to come home and have this wonderful food ready in front of us.  What a privilege and gift! THANK YOU HEATHER!!!!!  God please bless this food and the many hands that have prepared it.

While eating from this wonderful bounty I opened a carton of "All Natural" grape tomatoes.  I must say it was a terrific treat in the middle of lent as I've cut back on my intake of heavily processed foods.  I like tomatoes, and I haven't seen them in a while since the fall.  I am excited that Dan and Molly don't like grape tomatoes; Even though I grieve that they don't appreciate such a lovely member of the nightshade family, I celebrate for they are all mine!

DELICIOUS!

Gardeners know tomatoes are somewhat tricky to grow. They like sun, heat, and critters like to eat 'em too.  Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) are actually native to the tropics where they are grown as perennials (bearing fruit every year) and here in the US where we have cold winters, we grow them as annuals (re-planted every year).  They die each winter and we plant new ones in the spring.  Occasionally you can find a greenhouse in the US where someone has kept a tomato alive for several years.

So how does one come across such a warmth-loving, cancer-fighting fruit when there is snow on the ground and a high of 27 degrees?  Granted February 2015 in Arkansas is far from terrible this year but when tomatoes need the soil at 70 degrees to germinate, there is no way tomato plants can be "all natural" and still bearing fruit on February 25.

Below "All Natural" the package says "Product of Mexico"  I like Mexico. I've been there a few times building houses for farm workers on the Baja peninsula.  The tomatoes remind me of those visits....

In the US a growing demand for processed and fresh vegetables started the growth of large farms in the deserts of Mexico and California putting a strain on the water table.  To meet labor needs, families would move from Oaxaca to Baja to work in the fields and greenhouses. They were promised a better life, a place to live, and money.  In reality they would be placed in terrible company housing, paid less than $5 a day.  It would take years for them to save enough to buy land and move, then a few more years to save enough to build a house.  They could send their kids to work with them in the fields for some extra income, or spend years of savings on a school uniform and lose that extra income.  Our team would work with International Discipleship Training (IDT), now called Heart Ministries to build houses for families that owned their own land.  It could free up some money to send the kids to school and have one less thing to worry about.  It was a basic house 20'x22' stud and plywood walls on a concrete slab.  While there we'd visit some of the farms to see the working conditions.  They gave us a taste of the living and economic conditions.

Above: temporary structure Lorentino lived in as we built the house.
Below: Lorentino and his wife

Some of my team and local children painting Lorentino's new house

Scenes from one of the work camps in Baja

It was life-changing seeing these things as a sixteen year old.  I returned at age 17 and again at 21.

 It is possible that those tomatoes I am enjoying now may have been picked by one of Lorentino's sons, or the countless other people I met there whose names I have long forgotten.  They may have come from another family housed in a Heart Ministries/ IDT house.  They may have come from a better place, or maybe it was worse.

This LA Times Article has a great summary of what I saw in Baja, and Mexican agriculture in general. It explains the situation well.--A situation the US feeds and perpetuates every meal.   http://graphics.latimes.com/product-of-mexico-camps/

Someone picked these tomatoes, and I have a tiny taste of what life might be like for them in my memory.

My friend Maggie last year reminded me, "all food has fingerprints on it"  It was picked by someone. Somebody touched it.  Somebody packaged it, transported it, took it off the truck, put it on the grocery store rack, picked it up and brought it to my house.  Someone touched it to put it on my plate.  When we pray, "Lord bless this food and the hands that have prepared it,"  There can be many hands involved--more than we know.

Mom used to tell me not to put things in my mouth because I don't know where it's been......

If we eat tomatoes in February, shouldn't we know where they come from?

Tonight I am reminded of my friends in Mexico and their hands.  I think fondly of my time there, the experience of looking at poverty and the life changing confusion upon returning home.  I think of the friendships; But I also remember the pains and hardships I saw from those without a life as "good" as mine.  Those who maybe can't even afford the tomatoes they pick at the price of the ones I eat.

Some questions return to mind.  Ethically, should we buy tomatoes from the farm that didn't pay it's employees enough that they need a mission team to build them a house?  Maybe I should boycott that industry because I don't like what they are doing to their workers.  Or on the other hand, do I buy their tomatoes and at least in a small way contribute to their business so they get at lest some wages even though it may not be enough to afford a house?

Heart Ministries director Bill said the latter, but it's best to buy USDA Organic label fruits and vegetables from Mexico.  On the larger farms in Mexico they still spray pesticides on the fields while the workers are in the fields.  If we buy USDA Organic we give preference to the farms that do not use synthetic pesticides and can work toward solving that problem with our dollars. Organic label means slightly better labor practices so the more we buy, the more we push the market in that direction.

I also ask larger questions.  Why as a society are we comfortable exploiting farm workers in this country and other countries so we can eat tomatoes in February?  Why is it so easy to eat tomatoes this time of year?  The supermarket has whole displays of juicy red tomatoes in twelve different sizes packaged eight different ways all year.  I am eating some now, a little uncomfortably.  What happened to eating in season like most of the world?

And another layer of complexity: Why are the problems so complex in the food system that I found something to gripe about in an amazing meal crafted from scratch by hands of one who loves me?  Heather has only good intentions when she goes out of her way to cook dinner for the YAVs.  It's not her fault (entirely) that she's contributing to a broken system in her generosity.  Heather has taught me a thing or two about economic justice from her own life experiences just the six months I've known her.  I now realize these complexities and injustices sneak even into generosity, kindness and gift-giving!!! I can find imperfection in the gifts given by even the folks on my team in this religion of showing love to one another. In her love to me, I can't tell if we showed love to the farm workers who grew the out of season tomatoes far away.  YIKES.  I have internal conflict criticizing the tomato-purchasing habits of a loving role model in my life as I write this.

Wouldn't anyone with the typical busy schedule and handful of kids just swing by the store and pick up what's there? Probably thinking lovingly, "Alex likes vegetables, oh look tomatoes." How many of us would think twice before buying grape tomatoes? Honestly?  If you ordered a salad this week, in February, you probably ate some and it didn't phase you.  We don't see a problem.  Heck, I didn't see the problem until I took a risk and a week to build a house in Mexico.  It is hidden quite well, and overlooked often .  We don't see the fingerprints on our food.

But even more importantly for food justice workers, how can we bring this conversation in a loving way?  How do we tell the story of migrant farm labor and not get dismissed as the annoying hippie fun-sucker and buzz kill?  How can I invite a busy parent in to this confusing world of passionate awareness on one issue and make sure that I also let her know how freaking awesome her Ziti is and how overjoyed I am to eat it!?  Trust me, it's been a balancing act bringing this up to her.  She is so busy showing God's love in other ways this one gets left out.  Lord forgive us when we fall short. Help us to do better and help each other find righteousness.

Well, I'll eat a few more tomatoes while I think on this. I hear they are good for your heart.

"Create in me a clean heart O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me"

Arkansas Presbytery 2: Mawwage is what bwings us togevor today

Christians out there, hold on to your hats and your cross necklaces, Alex is writing about gay marriage.

In continuation about the Arkansas Presbytery meeting....

Back in June in Detroit, the Presbyterian Church USA General Assembly re-wrote and passed the following addition to the PCUSA policy.  Since it is a change to the Book of Order, part of the "Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA)"  It needs to be ratified by a majority of presbyteries before it takes effect.  That is why Presbytery of Arkansas was voting on it this weekend.

This website has info on the denomination's summary of the proposed policy change and additional resources. http://oga.pcusa.org/section/ga/ga221/ga221-marriage/

Here is the actual text:

Amend W-4.9000 by striking the current text and replacing it with the following: [Text to be added or inserted is shown in italic.] 

“Marriage is a gift God has given to all humankind for the well-being of the entire human family. Marriage involves a unique commitment between two people, traditionally a man and a woman, to love and support each other for the rest of their lives. The sacrificial love that unites the couple sustains them as faithful and responsible members of the church and the wider community. 

“In civil law, marriage is a contract that recognizes the rights and obligations of the married couple in society. In the Reformed tradition, marriage is also a covenant in which God has an active part, and which the community of faith publicly witnesses and acknowledges. 

“If they meet the requirements of the civil jurisdiction in which they intend to marry, a couple may request that a service of Christian marriage be conducted by a teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), who is authorized, though not required, to act as an agent of the civil jurisdiction in recording the marriage contract. A couple requesting a service of Christian marriage shall receive instruction from the teaching elder, who may agree to the couple’s request only if, in the judgment of the teaching elder, the couple demonstrate sufficient understanding of the nature of the marriage covenant and commitment to living their lives together according to its values. In making this decision, the teaching elder may seek the counsel of the session, which has authority to permit or deny the use of church property for a marriage service. 

“The marriage service shall be conducted in a manner appropriate to this covenant and to the forms of Reformed worship, under the direction of the teaching elder and the supervision of the session (W-1.4004–.4006). In a service of marriage, the couple marry each other by exchanging mutual promises. The teaching elder witnesses the couple’s promises and pronounces God’s blessing upon their union. The community of faith pledges to support the couple in upholding their promises; prayers may be offered for the couple, for the communities that support them, and for all who seek to live in faithfulness. 

“A service of worship recognizing a civil marriage and confirming it in the community of faith may be appropriate when requested by the couple. The service will be similar to the marriage service except that the statements made shall reflect the fact that the couple is already married to one another according to the laws of the civil jurisdiction.” 

“Nothing herein shall compel a teaching elder to perform nor compel a session to authorize the use of church property for a marriage service that the teaching elder or the session believes is contrary to the teaching elder’s or the session’s discernment of the Holy Spirit and their understanding of the Word of God.” 

(you can download a full copy of the Proposed Ammendments here: http://www.pcusa.org/resource/ga221-proposed-amendments-constitution/)

Here is Alex's summary of the change in marriage policy: 
If this amendment takes effect:  the definition of marriage is changed from "a man and woman" to "two people, traditionally a man and a woman."   So in state's where same-sex marriage is legal, Presbyterian ministers can preside over weddings, and/or Presbyterian churches can host same sex marriage weddings.
This does not take away the right of a Presbyterian pastor to refuse to do the wedding.  And it does not take away the right for a session to prevent a wedding from taking place at the church property.  Pastors have ALWAYS been able to refuse to do a wedding--Pastor Steve at 2nd Pres once refused to marry a man who showed up drunk, and then happily did the wedding the following day when he sobered up.

Sessions have ALWAYS been able to use their power of controlling what happens at the church to prevent or allow a wedding to take place on the church property.  That does not change.

Basically it says this is now ok.  Please note THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IS NOT FORCING ANY PRESBYTERIAN TO MARRY A SAME-SEX COUPLE OR HOST A SAME-SEX WEDDING AT YOUR CHURCH.  It says you can as a pastor, you can as a session, or you can still choose not to like you always have been able to do.

Seems it's about as good a job you can do to please everybody.

I have seen this issue lead churches who disagree to leave the denomination.  That makes me sad. I would like to suggest that for the churches who feel this is reason to leave such an active denomination that is mentoring me in work for Environmental Justice, and Food Justice please consider the great works of this church body.  This is also a denomination that is very active in building the kingdom of God through PDA after disasters, Living Waters for the World providing clean drinking water, and has mission co-workers like Paul and Mary advocating for the poor and oppressed ALL OVER THE WORLD.  This is no reason to leave the larger denomination.  We all believe the body of Christ is made of many different parts with different gifts, different opinions, different preferences on who to marry.  We can't all be toes, we can't all be hands, or ears.  Yet we still need all the toes, hands, and ears attached to the body. We still need each other to be the body of Christ to the world. Please don't go. I'd love to keep you involved on my team in the AWESOME work this denomination is doing. Have you seen the Presbyterian Mission Agency website? www.presbyterianmission.org  That is where all the stuff that makes me proud to be a Presbyterian is happening!  Churches combating serious mental illness, the root causes of poverty and hunger, YAVs and churches loving the folks in the desert at our southern border, the office of public witness!  And that's not it!  This is probably the denomination who set you up with your first mission trip to see that not everyone has it as good as you do and life is different for most people.  PCUSA has so much good stuff going on. Please ask me about it!  This is the work that kept me involved in Christianity at a time when I had a clear path to athiesm with some friends.  If you can agree with any of those ministries please stay with us. We can learn from you too.  Really I mean it. It hurts to hear you have left or you want to leave.

Here is some debate from the Arkansas Presbytery meeting

One man said the amendment conflicts with previous definitions of marriage in our Book of Confessions.  Good point, it makes us contradictory in what we say we believe.  There are lots of places where we would be contradicting our current "beliefs" Those are listed here: http://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/theologyandworship/marriage-book-confessions/

One man cited part of the confession of 1967 reminding us that scripture is to be interpreted for what it means in our time not just what it meant when it was written.
          
"The Bible is to be interpreted in the light of its witness to God’s work of reconciliation in Christ. The Scriptures, given under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, are nevertheless the words of men, conditioned by the language, thought forms, and literary fashions of the places and times at which they were written. They reflect views of life, history, and the cosmos which were then current. The church, therefore, has an obligation to approach the Scriptures with literary and historical understanding. As God has spoken his word in diverse cultural situations, the church is confident that he will continue to speak through the Scriptures in a changing world and in every form of human culture. God’s word is spoken to his church today where the Scriptures are faithfully preached and attentively read in dependence on the illumination of the Holy Spirit and with readiness to receive their truth and direction.---From the Confession of 1967:  9.29 and 9.30.  http://www.pcusa.org/site_media/media/uploads/oga/pdf/boc2014.pdf 

One man agreed that the church should be a leader in offering the benefits and blessings of marriage to all committed loving relationships but would vote against this amendment because of the line in the third paragraph " if they meet the requirements of the civil jurisdiction in which they intend to marry..."  He was disappointed that it indicated the church was following behind in the progress of the state on a justice issue that the church should be leading regardless of the state's civil laws.   I mean he's right in a way.  The church and God's people in our call to provide justice to the widow, orphan, and oppressed among us shouldn't wait for the US government or state government to show love, equality and acceptance, should we?  The church should be a prophetic witness to the gospel independent of what the state says, right?

Historically Second Presbyterian of Little Rock was one of the only churches to support integration during all the mess at central high school in 1957, primarily due to the leadership of the pastor Dr. Boggs.  University of the Ozarks, a Presbyterian college where this week's meeting was held, claims the first college in Arkansas to integrate sports.  I could feel those undertones in this man's opinion.

After the debate and before the vote, one commissioner asked they briefly stop for prayer that the Holy Spirit guide our decisions.  He also asked for prayer afterwards for peace, healing, and for God to work in the actions of the body.--My favorite part is that prayer and worship services are scattered throughout church government gatherings.

Here is Saturday's vote on the Marriage Amendment
YAADs voted 25 Yes, 2 No
Commissioners voted 93 Yes, 25 No, 2 Abstain
The amendment passed

Here is the condition of same-sex marriage in the state of Arkansas politically

http://www.freedomtomarry.org/litigation/entry/arkansas

Basically it's a battle between the courts.  At least two local courts have ruled the state's ban in same sex marriage is unconstiturional and for a week after

May 9 2014 a Pulaski Co. Judge rulled a ban on same sex-marriage is unconstitutional.and same sex marriages were legal until the state supreme court  issued a stay on  the decision on May 16.  In that one week when it was legal in Arkansas, almost 600 same sex couples were married!!!!

also November 2014 a district court judge in Little Rock ruled that a ban on same-sex marriage in Arkansas was unconstitutional denying equal protection under the law to three gay couples.
In December 2014 the state of Arkansas filed an appeal so the previous ruling was suspended  until the 8th circuit court makes a decision.  No decision was made in December and it was deferred to the next session in January when the new court was sworn in.
As of February 2015 no ruling has been made on the appeal, but on Valentines Day, another lawyer sued the state because some of the marriages from the week of May 9 2014 were not being upheld in the state.

The circuit court has not made a decision.  So Hear Ye Hear Ye.  Arkansas Presbytery voted to allow same-sex marriages within the church before the state has made a final decision on it.  Prophetic witness? You tell me...

Nationally it is already legal in 37 states and seems it will be legal everywhere in the next few years.  A friend pointed out this is one of the fastest turn-arounds on a civil rights/equality policy in the last century!


Here's what I think:

I have come a long way on this issue since I first heard about it in college where the question was to allow ordination of openly LGBT individuals in the infamous "Ammendment 10-A"  Back then I thought if the rule is that if gay people can't be ordained as elders or pastors, they should follow the rule.

I soon learned a good role model who directed a Jesus-related play my parents did was gay.  Some of the people I met in college are LGBTQ.  They were very effective leaders I'd met and worked with at different college ministries, and were great to work with.    That made me think maybe this one thing about a person shouldn't stop them from being a Sunday school teacher or other leader in the church?

I came to my own opinion, that if being gay is a sin (which I'm not sure of) and lying is also a sin, breaking the Sabbath is a sin, then why should one sin be pointed out more than others?  Seems like we're all headed straight to Hell if we don't change our ways when you pull the judgement card.  Which reminds me of Matthew 7. "Judge not lest ye will be judged" and "how can you remove the sawdust from your neighbor's eye while you have a plank in your own eye?" Perhaps we just drop it?

My mom said we were seeing the exact same argument and opposition she faced as a female pastor before I was born.

It became tricky.  My thoughts  changed a little at General Assembly hearing it as a social justice issue and thinking of it as a group of people who have been shunned by many groups, clubs, parts of society and even the churches.  I wrote about a sermon by Annanda Barclay with More Light Presbyterians.  She said she was more scared to be an openly queer woman in a white crowd than in a black crowd.  She is black.  That showed me this conversation DRASTICALLY impacts someone else's life WAY MORE than it impacts mine in ways I honestly don't understand.  I'm a sheltered old-fashioned white heterosexual male from Appalachia and I really don't have a clue about the LGBTQ community.  In fact maybe I shouldn't even vote on the issue and leave that voice up to those it effects unless I have true compassion and learn the struggles of that lifestyle.  Coming to that conclusion was a big moment of growth in my life.

Starting in January until last Sunday, Second Presbyterian had a Sunday school series on "Marriage, the Bible, and the Presbyterian Church."  Church members explored the topic with the bible in hand in the weeks approaching the vote.  YOU can call the church office for copies of the DVD recording of all seven weeks if you'd like. 501-227-0000

The two-part lecture from Hendrix College Professor Dr. Bobby Williamson really set me straight.   Bobby presented that the bible can support marriage only between a man and a woman, you might even go as far as to say having children is the only purpose of marriage.  BUT it may also be showing that a marriage is a kinship unit in which to witness the word of God, not limited to just one man and one woman.  Perhaps like Ruth and Naomi who were no longer bound by marriage law, but Ruth stayed with Naomi because of kinship and God still worked.  For one thing it showed me anyone can quote the bible till the cows come home to make a point on either side.  In that case we must deeply rely on the discernment of the holy spirit.  As a good educated Presbyterian I can't say I'm right I don't know

I do know I have my own sins, my own passionate desires, and lustful thoughts that sometimes probably wouldn't be much less "evil" things that in our judgmental state we associate with "them" to say "they" are sinful and wrong and we shouldn't encourage "them".  As a church I think we should always be keeping ourselves in check. Are our thoughts and actions pointing toward Christ like they should be?  We should call each other out when we see a brother or sister sin, but we must not condemn. We will be judged by God.  Each one of us every day needs to make a damn hard effort to put God first before our desires, wants and even our needs.  Community--a church community helps us support each other in this righteousness.  And as a Church community (capital C) Global Church (not just Presbys) WE ALL have a better job to do on welcoming others into our quest for righteousness.

If this amendment passes or not I would like to see more of my brothers in Christ gay, straight, black, Latino, Appalachian...., showing more love to our LGBTQ brothers and sisters. Is it right? is it wrong?  I don't know?  I know I am asked to love and welcome everyone and stand up for and reach out to those who need help.  After all this experience I now begin with compassion--as old fashioned and "Christian" as it gets.