Thursday, March 24, 2011
Dr. Sanders Article Published in Youthworker!
Congratulations to Dr. Dave Sanders who has an article published in the most recent issue of Youthworker magazine! The article, "Why Ask Why? Beyond the Unexamined Youth Ministry," challenges those in Christian ministry to go beyond the "how" question so prevalent in the field. It also expresses a foundational principle of both the Youth Ministry/Adolescent Studies and the Christian Ministries degrees here at Judson.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Day...Four? Five?
What do you say about a place that is so differet than everything you are used to? It's not as if I have never seen poverty before. It is not as if I have never been in a third world country before. I have seen the broken, I have seen hurt...
but I have never known hurt...
brokeness...
lonliness...
poverty...
...and even now...even though I have heard the stories from little cards we tag onto these beautiful beads the Hatian people here are making, even though I have heard personal stories from Corgan and his wife Shelly, even now...
Can I truly say that I have known and understand the hurt and brokeness here? Nothing is truly first hand with our launguage barriors and my white skin hightning our walls of seperation...
It's strange here.
Beautiful.
But the strangest thing is the overwelming joy I see in the eyes of the people here.
Eyes don't lie.
The smiles on their faces...even though by American standards they are the poorest of the poor but...they aren't. They have something beautiful. Something many Americans have lost...
How is this possible?
-Rachael
but I have never known hurt...
brokeness...
lonliness...
poverty...
...and even now...even though I have heard the stories from little cards we tag onto these beautiful beads the Hatian people here are making, even though I have heard personal stories from Corgan and his wife Shelly, even now...
Can I truly say that I have known and understand the hurt and brokeness here? Nothing is truly first hand with our launguage barriors and my white skin hightning our walls of seperation...
It's strange here.
Beautiful.
But the strangest thing is the overwelming joy I see in the eyes of the people here.
Eyes don't lie.
The smiles on their faces...even though by American standards they are the poorest of the poor but...they aren't. They have something beautiful. Something many Americans have lost...
How is this possible?
-Rachael
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Wednesday in Haiti
Hey there, this is Haley. I was given my chance to blog about my thoughts and events about my day here in Haiti. Here we go...
We wake up around 7am everyday, do an individual morning devotion/eat breakfast and officially start our day around 8am. I have been working closely with tagging, packaging; basically getting the beads ready to be shipped off to various locations. This has been a powerful and challenging experience for me. I absolutely love the Apparent Project and hearing about all the stories about the men and women who are a part of this mission. How awesome, to be serving God's folks by empowering them? Bringing their gifts to the surface and telling them they can provide for their family rather than getting a hand out from the 'white man'? Coorigan touched base on how the Haitians have a mind set that they hold the white man as a savior. Why is that?
I was told tonight that Haiti is the most missionary saturated country in the world. I have to ask the question, 'then why is Haiti still in the condition it is in?' Have we seriously taken a deeper look into this? Whether you are a white, middle aged, housewife or a world traveling busisness man this idea will effect you. The concept of wanting to meet the 'need' of the 'poverty' stricken people of the world, is what I now believe in... is the wrong way to think. We have late night talks with Coorigan and something that really struck me deep was this idea of Asset Based Community Development. It's the thought that somebody who is richer than you, will see your poverty. So who really is poor? Why is it that we think that we can go to Haiti and immediately address "the needs?" By doing this, we are already from the get-go communicating that we have something that the Haitians don't have. The heavily saturated missionaries of Haiti have unfortunately clearly communicated that. So what do we do? Here's an example that Coorigan gave tonight: I (white, female) go into Haiti and become depedent on the people of Haiti. And before I (white, female) address the needs of the Haitians, how about I come with a thankful, grateful heart? I dive into their culture, become saturated with the people and find out what their strengths are. That's a key part, finding out what their strengths are. If everybody in a community notices that there's a specific woman in the community that washes clothes faster than anybody else and you gain knowledge of this. Make it known to that woman. Bring her gift to the surface, shed some light on her capabilities. EMPOWER your sister. Tell her she's brilliant. Then, ask her what she needs help with. In asking her that question, we aren't pushing this 'poverty' view on her and we're giving her a voice. Let's say she tells you that she doesn't have enough money to send her children to school. That's when you say, well... let's take your gift of rapid clothes washing and make a business out of this.
SO, let's make an effort as God's people to break the white man is savior stereotype. (That sentence is so messed up, take a look at the words being used.) Let's not think that we have all the solutions. Let's bring ourselves down from this untouchable pedastal and come down to a human to human level. Everyone has a gift and God has not abandond anybody. Give affirmation and power to God's people. I look at the phrase "everyone is equal," in a very different light being here in Haiti. What a wonderful revelation.
Love first,
Haley
We wake up around 7am everyday, do an individual morning devotion/eat breakfast and officially start our day around 8am. I have been working closely with tagging, packaging; basically getting the beads ready to be shipped off to various locations. This has been a powerful and challenging experience for me. I absolutely love the Apparent Project and hearing about all the stories about the men and women who are a part of this mission. How awesome, to be serving God's folks by empowering them? Bringing their gifts to the surface and telling them they can provide for their family rather than getting a hand out from the 'white man'? Coorigan touched base on how the Haitians have a mind set that they hold the white man as a savior. Why is that?
I was told tonight that Haiti is the most missionary saturated country in the world. I have to ask the question, 'then why is Haiti still in the condition it is in?' Have we seriously taken a deeper look into this? Whether you are a white, middle aged, housewife or a world traveling busisness man this idea will effect you. The concept of wanting to meet the 'need' of the 'poverty' stricken people of the world, is what I now believe in... is the wrong way to think. We have late night talks with Coorigan and something that really struck me deep was this idea of Asset Based Community Development. It's the thought that somebody who is richer than you, will see your poverty. So who really is poor? Why is it that we think that we can go to Haiti and immediately address "the needs?" By doing this, we are already from the get-go communicating that we have something that the Haitians don't have. The heavily saturated missionaries of Haiti have unfortunately clearly communicated that. So what do we do? Here's an example that Coorigan gave tonight: I (white, female) go into Haiti and become depedent on the people of Haiti. And before I (white, female) address the needs of the Haitians, how about I come with a thankful, grateful heart? I dive into their culture, become saturated with the people and find out what their strengths are. That's a key part, finding out what their strengths are. If everybody in a community notices that there's a specific woman in the community that washes clothes faster than anybody else and you gain knowledge of this. Make it known to that woman. Bring her gift to the surface, shed some light on her capabilities. EMPOWER your sister. Tell her she's brilliant. Then, ask her what she needs help with. In asking her that question, we aren't pushing this 'poverty' view on her and we're giving her a voice. Let's say she tells you that she doesn't have enough money to send her children to school. That's when you say, well... let's take your gift of rapid clothes washing and make a business out of this.
SO, let's make an effort as God's people to break the white man is savior stereotype. (That sentence is so messed up, take a look at the words being used.) Let's not think that we have all the solutions. Let's bring ourselves down from this untouchable pedastal and come down to a human to human level. Everyone has a gift and God has not abandond anybody. Give affirmation and power to God's people. I look at the phrase "everyone is equal," in a very different light being here in Haiti. What a wonderful revelation.
Love first,
Haley
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Life in Haiti
So we made it. After 12 hours of traveling and fighting through what is possibly the most chaotic airport experience of my life, we arrived at the apparent project. The best part of the day was riding in the back of the "tap tap" through Port Au Prince. A "tap tap" is a truck that baically has had it's gate taken off and is used for carrying luggage long distances. The "tap tap" also had wooden benches on both sides for passangers to sit on. So basically the guys on the trip sat in the back of this truck and rode through out Port Au Prince until we reached the Apparent Projet's guest house. Almost immediately after leaving the airport I saw the tent cities for the first time. It was hard to see this kind of poverty. I have definitely seen poverty in the States but nothing like this. These people literally used the tents that Americans would take on camping trips to substitute as a house. This may sound awful, but as soon as I saw this I started to think I'll be gone in a week and back to reality, I don't have to deal with this. I was simply trying to ignore the issue. But the truth is that for a lot of people, tent city is reality.
Through out the rest of our ride, which was probably half an hour, we saw some more of Haiti. Unfinished roads, housing structures that would never last in the states and Haitian people were literally everywhere. I really tried to focus in on the Haitian people during this ride. I wanted to see their faces and see what they really were like. I realized while riding in the back of the tap-tap that the beautiful thing about being created in the Image of God is that all humans are the same. This ride really showed me the heart of these people and the heart of this nation. They are just regular people that God has a plan for. They have the same potential that I do, same skills, talents, I was really impressed by watchng them. I really can't pin-point why Haiti is in such poverty, but the fear that many display coming to this island could not be more wrong. There is certaintly danger in Haiti but I'm not convinced it's an awful situation. Rather I would say this island has potential. From what I saw out of my ride today in the "tap tap" was a nation that God is alive in, that God is working in. I'm glad I'm here because today I realized that for this week, I get to witness God work. My prayer for the rest of the week is that by his grace I may actually be apart of this work. But even if I'm not I know it's going to be a great week.
In Christ,
Joey
Through out the rest of our ride, which was probably half an hour, we saw some more of Haiti. Unfinished roads, housing structures that would never last in the states and Haitian people were literally everywhere. I really tried to focus in on the Haitian people during this ride. I wanted to see their faces and see what they really were like. I realized while riding in the back of the tap-tap that the beautiful thing about being created in the Image of God is that all humans are the same. This ride really showed me the heart of these people and the heart of this nation. They are just regular people that God has a plan for. They have the same potential that I do, same skills, talents, I was really impressed by watchng them. I really can't pin-point why Haiti is in such poverty, but the fear that many display coming to this island could not be more wrong. There is certaintly danger in Haiti but I'm not convinced it's an awful situation. Rather I would say this island has potential. From what I saw out of my ride today in the "tap tap" was a nation that God is alive in, that God is working in. I'm glad I'm here because today I realized that for this week, I get to witness God work. My prayer for the rest of the week is that by his grace I may actually be apart of this work. But even if I'm not I know it's going to be a great week.
In Christ,
Joey
We're Here!
Just a quick note to let you know that we made it to Haiti and are settling in. Over the next few days we'll have one or more of the students post their thoughts and observations of our trip. Thanks so much for your prayers and support!
Keith
Keith
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Haiti Team 2011
On Sunday morning, faculty members Kim Budd, Keith Krispin, and 14 Christian ministry students will be leaving for Haiti where they will be serving alongside of our mission partners, Corrigan & Shelley Clay, founders of the Apparent Project. The mission of their organization is fourfold:
Our team mission is:
„Our mission, as imitators of Christ (Eph 5:1), is to offer ourselves as servants with empty hands (Phi.2:1-5, Romans 12:1) to the Apparent Project furthering our relationship to bless and be blessed while embracing the differences."
Our team will be stretched and challenged during our week in Port au Prince. During our week in Port au Prince questions will be asked, eyes will be opened, and hearts will be broken. Would you please partner with us in prayer this week?
Team Updates:
For updates please follow this blog throughout the week. To learn more about the Apparent Project visit: www.apparentproject.org
- Helping parents rise out of extreme poverty in order to keep their children
- Responding to Haiti's orphan crisis and the needs of parentless children
- Making the needs of Haiti apparent to potential helpers through media & the arts
- Inspiring adoration of our loving Father God with hope that one day he will be apparent to all
Our team mission is:
„Our mission, as imitators of Christ (Eph 5:1), is to offer ourselves as servants with empty hands (Phi.2:1-5, Romans 12:1) to the Apparent Project furthering our relationship to bless and be blessed while embracing the differences."
Our team will be stretched and challenged during our week in Port au Prince. During our week in Port au Prince questions will be asked, eyes will be opened, and hearts will be broken. Would you please partner with us in prayer this week?
Team Updates:
For updates please follow this blog throughout the week. To learn more about the Apparent Project visit: www.apparentproject.org
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Senior Seminar Presentations
The Faculty and Senior students of the Christian Ministries Department invite you to the fourth annual Senior Ministry Oral Presentations & Defense.
Where: Creekside South, Room 130
When: Monday, Nov 29-Wednesday, Dec 1
Schedule:
Monday, Nov. 29- 2:00-6:00PM
2:00-3:00- Erin Deremer: House of Hope; empowering moms and families through the restoring love of Christ.
3:00-4:00- Sarah Kaggwa: Community Center for homosexuals in Kampala, Uganda
4:00-5:00- Karen Peck: Discipleship Camp; a new paradigm in camping ministry
5:00-6:00- Rob Kuhl: Family Based Youth Ministry
Tuesday, Nov. 30- 6:00-9:00PM
6:00-7:00- Ashley Berkholz: ConnectionHouse
7:00-8:00- Tiffany Komosa: Gripping Freedom; a recovery ministry for victims of sex trafficking
8:00-9:00- Kelsey Little: Judson World Mission
Wednesday, Dec. 1- 3:00-6:00PM
3:00-4:00- Kiley Helgerson: Dove's Eyes; a parachurch curriculum development organization
4:00-5:00- Phillip Lambert: Service Learning and youth ministry
5:00-6:00- Caitlyn Powers: Equipping and Empowering for World Transformation
Come join us for the Senior presentations this year!
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