I apologize for my delinquency with this blog! This past weekend, I went camping with 100 or so Appalachia Service Project staffers at the Breaks Interstate Park ("Grand Canyon of the East") in Dickenson County, VA. The drive over was stunning and it was wonderful to see so many friends from last summer. Though this summer is absolutely what I need at this point in my life, I think I will be ready to go back to ASP staff, or perhaps ASP staff liason, next summer.
One of the best parts about the Breaks is the rope swing. Although I did not get to go swimming last year, I experienced this fantastic rope swing two years ago, as a volunteer in Dickinson County, VA. To get to the rope swing, you have to swim about 1/4 of a mile down the river. Then, you will come to a deep pool beneath a railroad trestle. The trestle is maybe 100 or 200 feet above the water, and a rope hangs down from it. You climb up a cliff at the side of the pool and when somebody throws the rope to you from the water, you grab onto it, swing out and jump! Although I swam this year, and jumped off the cliff a couple of times, the rope kept getting tangled and I didn't get a chance to jump off it. More incentive to be there next year, I guess!
One of the more interesting things I saw on my way was a Sacred Heart statue outside of an Old Free Will Baptist Church. Who would have thought?
P.S. The past two post titles are taken from signs nearby. Signs about the second coming/ quoting scripture are EVERYWHERE.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
God's fire-escape plan: repentance!
Well, I have now been with the sisters for exactly one week. I have gotten to know several of the parishioners pretty well over the past week, including two of the cutest little all-American boys you will ever see. **** and **** are 5 and 7 respectively. **** in particular is darling; he has blonde hair, bright blue eyes and freckles and is missing his two front teeth. His Kentucky accent is made even cuter by his inability to pronounce "l"s (he calls me Caity to avoid saying "Caitwin").
In an attempt keep this email brief, I will just tell you all about a couple of the highlights of the week and about the new ideas that Sister Kathy and I have come up with. If you don't plan on reading this whole email, skip to ideas part, please!
We have spent a lot of time with the Mexican immigrant family that I mentioned in my last email. On Wednesday evening we had a little barbecue to celebrate the straight As that little **** (age 8) got in school this year. His mother does not speak English well, and so I hope to be able to improve my Spanish a bit as the summer goes on. His little brother, *****, is just 2, but watches a lot of rasslin' (wrestling) and so he loves to make an angry face and show off his muscles! Since the mother cannot get a driver's license, we are their only source of transportation while her husband is away (he drives trucks for a living, and is sometimes gone for weeks at a time, as he is now). Today, we took **** fishing, which is something I don't think I have ever done.
On Tuesday night I got to experience Mass in the little chapel next to the Sisters' house. The small chapel was jam-packed (mind you, this means about 12 people). Though the chapel and the Mass there are very simple, the joy and sense of community was palpable, though *****'s attempts to wash his hands in the holy water caused a little bit of a distraction!
Finally, I have been spending a portion of my time planning a twice-weekly catechism class for the few Catholic kids who live nearby. With the help of a number of coloring books and work books (Coloring the Rosary, Joy Joy the Mass!, etc.), a first-grade catechism workbook and a Bible study book for pre-schoolers, I have been making lesson plans and planning pertinent activities and art projects for each of the ten days we will hold class. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to send them to me! None of us really know what we are doing!
Sister and I also had a couple new ideas this week about ways to minister to children. For one thing, we are starting a sports fund for local kids. We plan to raise money to offer scholarships for kids to join sports teams and purchase uniforms. In addition, we are going to make a concerted effort to collect donated uniform pants and shorts, as well as cleats, shin guards and other sports equipment.
We are also starting a "Flat D***y" doll for a little boy named D***y. D***y, who prefers to be called "JJ Jetplane," is five years old and suffers from a rare form of cancer. Please pray for a miracle for him, as the doctors have given up on treatment. The "doll" will be sent via mail to different people, who will each take photos with the doll, which D***y colored himself, and send them back to him. Perhaps some of you will receive the doll!
I plan on going camping with friends who are working for Appalachia Service Project this weekend at the Breaks interstate park a couple hours away, and look forward to hosting 30 volunteers from Pennsylvania next week beginning Monday!
In an attempt keep this email brief, I will just tell you all about a couple of the highlights of the week and about the new ideas that Sister Kathy and I have come up with. If you don't plan on reading this whole email, skip to ideas part, please!
We have spent a lot of time with the Mexican immigrant family that I mentioned in my last email. On Wednesday evening we had a little barbecue to celebrate the straight As that little **** (age 8) got in school this year. His mother does not speak English well, and so I hope to be able to improve my Spanish a bit as the summer goes on. His little brother, *****, is just 2, but watches a lot of rasslin' (wrestling) and so he loves to make an angry face and show off his muscles! Since the mother cannot get a driver's license, we are their only source of transportation while her husband is away (he drives trucks for a living, and is sometimes gone for weeks at a time, as he is now). Today, we took **** fishing, which is something I don't think I have ever done.
On Tuesday night I got to experience Mass in the little chapel next to the Sisters' house. The small chapel was jam-packed (mind you, this means about 12 people). Though the chapel and the Mass there are very simple, the joy and sense of community was palpable, though *****'s attempts to wash his hands in the holy water caused a little bit of a distraction!
Finally, I have been spending a portion of my time planning a twice-weekly catechism class for the few Catholic kids who live nearby. With the help of a number of coloring books and work books (Coloring the Rosary, Joy Joy the Mass!, etc.), a first-grade catechism workbook and a Bible study book for pre-schoolers, I have been making lesson plans and planning pertinent activities and art projects for each of the ten days we will hold class. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to send them to me! None of us really know what we are doing!
Sister and I also had a couple new ideas this week about ways to minister to children. For one thing, we are starting a sports fund for local kids. We plan to raise money to offer scholarships for kids to join sports teams and purchase uniforms. In addition, we are going to make a concerted effort to collect donated uniform pants and shorts, as well as cleats, shin guards and other sports equipment.
We are also starting a "Flat D***y" doll for a little boy named D***y. D***y, who prefers to be called "JJ Jetplane," is five years old and suffers from a rare form of cancer. Please pray for a miracle for him, as the doctors have given up on treatment. The "doll" will be sent via mail to different people, who will each take photos with the doll, which D***y colored himself, and send them back to him. Perhaps some of you will receive the doll!
I plan on going camping with friends who are working for Appalachia Service Project this weekend at the Breaks interstate park a couple hours away, and look forward to hosting 30 volunteers from Pennsylvania next week beginning Monday!
Jesus coming, get ready! Go Wildcats!
Frenchburg is, if possible, even more rural than Sunbright, TN (where I spent about nine weeks last summer working for Appalachia Service Project). Frenchburg has two roads, 551 residents, and countless dogs and cats.
I arrived in Kentucky on Tuesday night, after driving for about 9 hours. Before coming to Frenchburg, I visited my friend Elizabeth, who I worked with in Sunbright last summer, and who is working in Barbvourville (pronounced Bahr-vull), KY this summer. On Thursday, I arrived at the Glenmary Sisters' Frenchburg Mission around one pm. I arrived to a home-cooked lunch, including cherry pie made with freshly picked cherries. There are two sisters here, both named Kathleen Mary. Sister Kathleen is Irish and loves to give me lots of homemade pie, cobbler and other desserts. Sister Kathy is from Wisconsin and loves to give me Ale-8 (a delicious type of soda not unlike gingerale that can be found only in Kentucky). Last weekend, Sister Kathleen celebrated her fiftieth anniversary with Glenmary at the annual Glenmary Sisters jubilee in Owensboro, KY, and so this week has been a little bit slower than usual. I have been getting the lay of the land and meeting community members (including going to a little league baseball game for eight year olds and seeing nearby Cave Run Lake, a very beautiful and large lake that I can't wait to swim in!!).
I have also been learning about the projects that I will be helping the sisters with this summer. We will have two volunteer groups for one week each, who will work on some construction projects. I got to visit one of the houses they will be working on yesterday, and am sure that I will see the other home (apparently in dire need of many repairs) soon. Sister Kathy and I are also working on starting a 4-H club to provide activities for some of the highschool aged youth who have little in the way of positive activiites to keep them occupied when school is out. We will also begin helping an elderly (94!) man who lives near the Church and needs some help around the house with simple things. Sister Kathy, who took final vows in October and is spending her first summer here in Frenchburg, would like to expand the sisters' ministry to the elderly here. The sisters are also working on getting citizenship for a woman who immigrated illegally from Mexico with one son and is now married with another son here in KY. After she improves her english (and we improve our spanish!), we may be able to work more with the mexican immigrants who work in the nearby sawmills. Finally, the sisters opened a community center and thrift shop a few years ago, and I will be spending some time helping out with that. Beyond this, there are many other community members to whom the sisters provide much needed ministry.
In terms of prayer life, we pray twice a day in the chapel next to our house. On tuesdays, the sisters have Mass here at the chapel. The nearest Catholic Church is about 20 miles away, and this is where we will go on Sundays. Another one is about 30 miles away. There are very few Catholics here in Menifree county, and the sisters provide a much needed Catholic presence for these few Catholics.
I arrived in Kentucky on Tuesday night, after driving for about 9 hours. Before coming to Frenchburg, I visited my friend Elizabeth, who I worked with in Sunbright last summer, and who is working in Barbvourville (pronounced Bahr-vull), KY this summer. On Thursday, I arrived at the Glenmary Sisters' Frenchburg Mission around one pm. I arrived to a home-cooked lunch, including cherry pie made with freshly picked cherries. There are two sisters here, both named Kathleen Mary. Sister Kathleen is Irish and loves to give me lots of homemade pie, cobbler and other desserts. Sister Kathy is from Wisconsin and loves to give me Ale-8 (a delicious type of soda not unlike gingerale that can be found only in Kentucky). Last weekend, Sister Kathleen celebrated her fiftieth anniversary with Glenmary at the annual Glenmary Sisters jubilee in Owensboro, KY, and so this week has been a little bit slower than usual. I have been getting the lay of the land and meeting community members (including going to a little league baseball game for eight year olds and seeing nearby Cave Run Lake, a very beautiful and large lake that I can't wait to swim in!!).
I have also been learning about the projects that I will be helping the sisters with this summer. We will have two volunteer groups for one week each, who will work on some construction projects. I got to visit one of the houses they will be working on yesterday, and am sure that I will see the other home (apparently in dire need of many repairs) soon. Sister Kathy and I are also working on starting a 4-H club to provide activities for some of the highschool aged youth who have little in the way of positive activiites to keep them occupied when school is out. We will also begin helping an elderly (94!) man who lives near the Church and needs some help around the house with simple things. Sister Kathy, who took final vows in October and is spending her first summer here in Frenchburg, would like to expand the sisters' ministry to the elderly here. The sisters are also working on getting citizenship for a woman who immigrated illegally from Mexico with one son and is now married with another son here in KY. After she improves her english (and we improve our spanish!), we may be able to work more with the mexican immigrants who work in the nearby sawmills. Finally, the sisters opened a community center and thrift shop a few years ago, and I will be spending some time helping out with that. Beyond this, there are many other community members to whom the sisters provide much needed ministry.
In terms of prayer life, we pray twice a day in the chapel next to our house. On tuesdays, the sisters have Mass here at the chapel. The nearest Catholic Church is about 20 miles away, and this is where we will go on Sundays. Another one is about 30 miles away. There are very few Catholics here in Menifree county, and the sisters provide a much needed Catholic presence for these few Catholics.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
The Drive Down
10 June 2008
Barbourville, KY
I am FINALLY in Kentucky, but not with the Sisters quite yet. After driving for almost nine hours through four states (Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky), spending $80 on gas (1/4 tank left), listening to 135 songs and stopping three times (Burger King, gas station, and roadside pullover), I finally arrived at Union College in Barbourville, KY, where a friend of mine is working for Appalachia Service Project (asphome.org). It is both weird and wonderful to be back in Appalachia, just about two and a half hours from where I lived and worked for ASP last summer, Sunbright, TN. The last two or three hours of my drive were STUNNING, though I am not surprised: Kentucky is one of the most beautiful states in the country, believe it or not.
Below is my packing list - this is everything I brought for eight weeks in Appalachia. Well, perhaps you will think it is a lot, but I really tried to pack light!
Clothing
• 6 T-Shirts
• 4 Painting shirts
• 1 long sleeve shirt
• 5 other shirts (Mass appropriate)
• Four skirts
• 2 Cardigans (black and blue)
• 5 undershirts
• Overalls
• Sky blue jumpsuit
• 2 pairs chino shorts
• 1 pair painting pants
• 1 pair khakis
• 1 sweatshirt
• 4 pairs Sofie shorts
• Underwear
• Socks
• 2 dresses
• veil
Shoes
• Chaco’s
• Rainbows
• 2 pairs flats (black, blue)
• Crocs
• Work boots
Toiletries
• Toothbrush
• Shampoo and conditioner
• Face wash
• Lotion
• Make-up
• Aromatherapy things
• Perfume
• Razor
• hairbrush
Entertainment
• I-pod, headphones, adapter, charger
• Cross-stitching thread, cloth and patterns
• Camera, camera connector
• Computer, cord
Books:
o Spirit of the Liturgy (Benedict)
o The Latin Mass Explained (Moorman)
o The Sacrament of Charity (Benedict)
o (Pieper)
o Milestones (Benedict)
o (Schall)
o The Great Divorce (Lewis)
o Freedomnomics (Lott)
o Short Stories (James)
o (Newman)
o Missal
Other
• Dirty laundry bag
• Towel
• Nalgene bottle
• Rosary
• Pillow
• Cell phone, charger
• Wallet (license, credit card)
• Tote bag
• Glasses
• Stationery
• Sunglasses’
• Alarm clock
Not included on the list is the Bible, though I brought two copies.
Please forgive the dullness of this entry; I've just driven nine hours.
Barbourville, KY
I am FINALLY in Kentucky, but not with the Sisters quite yet. After driving for almost nine hours through four states (Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky), spending $80 on gas (1/4 tank left), listening to 135 songs and stopping three times (Burger King, gas station, and roadside pullover), I finally arrived at Union College in Barbourville, KY, where a friend of mine is working for Appalachia Service Project (asphome.org). It is both weird and wonderful to be back in Appalachia, just about two and a half hours from where I lived and worked for ASP last summer, Sunbright, TN. The last two or three hours of my drive were STUNNING, though I am not surprised: Kentucky is one of the most beautiful states in the country, believe it or not.
Below is my packing list - this is everything I brought for eight weeks in Appalachia. Well, perhaps you will think it is a lot, but I really tried to pack light!
Clothing
• 6 T-Shirts
• 4 Painting shirts
• 1 long sleeve shirt
• 5 other shirts (Mass appropriate)
• Four skirts
• 2 Cardigans (black and blue)
• 5 undershirts
• Overalls
• Sky blue jumpsuit
• 2 pairs chino shorts
• 1 pair painting pants
• 1 pair khakis
• 1 sweatshirt
• 4 pairs Sofie shorts
• Underwear
• Socks
• 2 dresses
• veil
Shoes
• Chaco’s
• Rainbows
• 2 pairs flats (black, blue)
• Crocs
• Work boots
Toiletries
• Toothbrush
• Shampoo and conditioner
• Face wash
• Lotion
• Make-up
• Aromatherapy things
• Perfume
• Razor
• hairbrush
Entertainment
• I-pod, headphones, adapter, charger
• Cross-stitching thread, cloth and patterns
• Camera, camera connector
• Computer, cord
Books:
o Spirit of the Liturgy (Benedict)
o The Latin Mass Explained (Moorman)
o The Sacrament of Charity (Benedict)
o (Pieper)
o Milestones (Benedict)
o (Schall)
o The Great Divorce (Lewis)
o Freedomnomics (Lott)
o Short Stories (James)
o (Newman)
o Missal
Other
• Dirty laundry bag
• Towel
• Nalgene bottle
• Rosary
• Pillow
• Cell phone, charger
• Wallet (license, credit card)
• Tote bag
• Glasses
• Stationery
• Sunglasses’
• Alarm clock
Not included on the list is the Bible, though I brought two copies.
Please forgive the dullness of this entry; I've just driven nine hours.
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