Between Chapters

I have now been back home for about 2 weeks. I left Denver with so many great memories and amazing new friends. I learned and grew a lot. I am not sure I could ever really put into words on a silly blog all of the things I experienced and felt over my two months in Denver, but here are a few of the big lessons I learned this summer:

*I learned the importance of knowing a person's story. Every single person has a story to tell. One of the ways I learned this was by doing interviews at Joshua Station for families who were interested in the program. Each person had a different story with pain, joys, strengths, and weaknesses. You cannot judge a person until you know their story and where they come from. Another way I learned the importance of story: one of the things all of us interns did over the summer was to share our life stories with each other. I have never experienced a group of people being so vulnerable with each other before. Why can't we all be more vulnerable and authentic with each other? By listening to each of the other interns' stories and by sharing by own, I learned just how connected we all are and at the same time, learned to appreciate diversity in personalities and experiences even more than I did before.

*I learned to live the mystery and not try to find all of the answers. So often, we search for answers to the question of "why?" We try to explain God and life and things that are really beyond our comprehension. In one of our classes in particular (Street Psalms) we talked a lot about lamenting the brokenness in the world. We don't have all of the answers and never will. In fact, the more we study the Bible and learn about the issues in the world, we just come up with more questions. The solution is to simply live the mystery and trust a God whom we can never fully comprehend.

*I learned the importance of soul care, which is especially important in ministry to prevent burn out. In our class, Leading from Within, we learned tools we can use to care for our souls and be healthy individuals. One of the tools was taking an Artist Date (basically a date by yourself, doing something you love, like making something, watching a movie, or taking a walk. The possibilities are endless). We also learned the importance of journaling, solitude and silence. In addition, we learned spiritual practicies such as Centering Prayer and Lecto Divina. (Google them to learn more...it would take me too long to explain them here, but they are great!)

I will blog more as I do more processing and journaling. Now I am trying to shift gears as I prepare for my Senior year at Dordt. To think: 9 months from now I will be done with my college career and looking for a full time job. Crazy. Exciting. Scary.
All I can do is live the mystery and take the hand of my God who has led me this far.

They say that pictures speak more than a thousand words, so here are a few photos of some of my favorite people and memories from Denver:

Picture Captions:

1: Me, Bella, and Lizzy (a couple of Joshua Station kids) at Arts in da Hood day camp, where I helped the last week I was in Denver

2: Alex, Bella, Lizzy

3: Me with my friend and mentor, Rebakah

4: Me, Hannah, and Gina at Estes Park

5: Gina, Connie, Me, and Hannah at the Botanical Gardens

6: Downtown Denver from the air

7: All ten interns with the DUS director, Greg

8: Jenny and I on our helicopter ride

9: Me and Penny, the director of Joshua Station

The Summer is Coming to a Close

A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks. There have been some amazing high points and some very sad low points.
High points include the opportunities I have had to build relationships with the families at Joshua Station and with the other interns and staff. This week I am helping out at a day camp for kids called Arts in the Hood. On Monday I drove a few of our JS kids. It was fun to hang out with them and watch them interact with the other kids at the camp. I am going again on Wednesday and Thursday. Another highlight from the last couple of weeks was going on a helicopter ride over the city. There is a man in Denver who owns/flies a helicopter and takes people from different ministries over the city to pray for the city. It was amazing. All of us interns got to go. Seeing the city and people from above was a reminder of how small we are, and how much more amazing that makes the fact that God loves each of us individually and has a plan for us.

The last few days have been really hard here at Joshua Station. On Sunday, one of the JS kids, an 8 year old boy named John, was killed when he road his bike onto a busy road and was hit by a taxi. The whole community has been in shock and mourning. John was such a funny kid, with lots of energy. I worked with him a little bit at kid's club and saw him around JS all of the time. Tonight we did a memorial thing at Kid's Club, so the kids had space to grieve. We talked about death and favorite memories of John. Then the kids made cards for his parents. Finally, we let a bunch of balloons go outside and said goodbye to John. The whole thing really sucks and doesn't make any sense. Please pray for John's parents, Pam and John Sr., as well as the JS community (especially the kids).

A lot more has happened in the last couple of weeks, but my mind is kind of fuzzy right now. I will try to fill in the blanks later. This week has really been a time of closure and goodbyes. I am really going to miss the people here. I have talked to the director about coming back next year. We'll see where God leads.

When did June turn into July??!!

I guess it has been a couple of weeks since I have posted an update. The last couple of weeks have been amazing. Again, for the sake of organization, I will go by categories…

Internship: I have not been working at JAMLAC too much the last couple of weeks; I have spent most of my time at Joshua Station. I have continued to attend the staff meetings and the Family Advocacy meetings. Last week, I helped clean out and organize the supply closet, which, if you know me, is right up my alley, since I love organizing things. I also have been doing a lot of research and calling around to find a Spanish translator to work with our family advocates, as well as someone who can teach the advocates Spanish. We have a couple of families here who primarily speak Spanish and a family moving in that only speaks Spanish and it is hard for the advocates to really assist those families with a language barrier. One thing I have decided this summer is that I really want/need to learn Spanish; it would definitely come in handy.
One additional thing about my internship that has been awesome: I have been able to spend a lot of time with my mentor, Rebekah, who is the administrative assistant at JS. At the beginning of the summer, each of us interns was assigned a mentor to meet with on a weekly basis and walk with this summer. I am fortunate in that I get to see my mentor throughout the week, since she also works at JS. Rebekah has been such a blessing to me. She is very encouraging and fun to be with.

Classes: I really do wish this was a semester program. (They are planning on turning it into one in the future.) Each class is crammed with so much information to process. I am continuing to learn a lot about challenges in urban America and how Christians should respond. I am also learning a lot about myself and the importance of soul care. I will expand more on this concept in a later blog. I have a feeling this post is already going to be ridiculously long.

Mom’s Visit: My mom came to visit me over the 4th of July weekend! She arrived the night of the 2nd and left on the 6th. I was able to take her to some of my favorite places around Denver. We also attended an Arts Festival and spent some time in Downtown Denver. On the 4th, we went down to the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. The park is beautiful with amazing rock formations. We hiked around a bit and took some cool pictures. We then spent the rest of the afternoon in a small town near Colorado Springs called Manitou Springs. Sort of a hippy town, Manitou Springs has a ton of unique little shops and restaurants. This was one of the best 4th of July’s I have ever had. It was so nice to spend some time with my mom, even though the visit was short.


Retreat: On Wednesday, all of we interns and the DUS director, Greg, went on a retreat up in the mountains. It was amazing. We were in a cabin with no running water or electricity, surrounded by trees and mountains. And the cabin had a woodstove! I am convinced that there is no greater smell in the world than waking up to the smell of a wood stove. The location reminded me so much of Alaska. We had some really good bonding times together. We also learned and practiced the spiritual exercises of Centering Prayer and Lecto Divina. On Thursday, we spent much of the day in silence and solitude. I was able to walk around in the beautiful forest by myself and do a lot of reflecting, reading, and praying. It was nice to spend some time with God in the silence with no distractions. I feel like one of the things He is teaching me this summer is to slow down and really listen to what He is trying to teach me in the world and people around me. During our solitude time, I also had the chance to watch and feed some chipmunks. They were so cute and I almost had one eating out of my hand. (Probably not smart, I know, but whatever.) Thursday night we all went to visit a little town called South Park (it has nothing to do with the cartoon). It is basically set up like a mountain town from the 1800s, with lots of cool buildings and houses to walk through including an old-style blacksmith’s shop, general store, saloon, and bank. It was so cool! Afterwards, we all went out to eat. Friday morning we hiked up a mountain; it was gorgeous. The mountains were spectacular and the ground was covered in wildflowers. It boggles my mind how someone can look at the beauty of the Earth and believe it all happened by chance. After spending a relaxing afternoon at the cabin, we came back to Denver Friday night. The whole retreat was such a blessing.

Prayer Requests/Praises: First of all, my sister arrived safely in Haiti! My parents received a letter from her last week and it sounds like she is doing well and experiencing a lot already. I am so proud of her for being there and I know this will be a time of growth and maturing for her.
Please continue to be in prayer for Carlos and his wife, Diane. (I mentioned them in my last post.) Diane is now out of the hospital, which is a miracle, but they have to amputate her foot due to the infection. Continue to pray for her health and peace for them both.
My car was finally fixed and is no longer overheating! Praise God! Hopefully it will not have any more issues this summer…
You can also be in prayer for the new families we have at Joshua Station. Pray that they might adjust well and really flourish here.

I’ll end with a quote I received during my retreat, which I have found to be very true:
“God has never changed for He always remains the same. But since we’re never fully capable of knowing who God is, what He chooses to reveal to us is always changing. And as result, changes what we know about Him, often offensively changing who we thought He was.”

Another week come and gone...

Another week has come and gone. So much has happened this week; I hardly know where to begin updating you. I guess I will just go by categories:

Internship: Last week at Joshua Station was very similar to the week before. I helped out with some filing at JAMLAC. On Wednesday, I got to go to court with one of the attorneys and a client he was representing regarding her ex-husband’s parenting time with their son. It was different from what I expected. The court room was very small and the only people there were the judge, the two parties, her attorney, me, and two other people. It was interesting to see our justice system in action.

At Joshua Station, we are continuing to do interviews to figure out which families will be moving into the empty apartments. All of the stories of the potential residents are so different and sad. Some of the people who are homeless have made bad decisions in the past that have led them to their current situation. But many of the people who come to us simply have experienced unfortunate circumstances that were beyond their control. Becoming homeless is really something that could happen to any of us. We are all just a pink slip away or an eviction notice away from ending up in the shoes of the people at JS. The people here are normal people, just like you and me. It has been humbling to get to know them and their stories.

One of the things that has really been a blessing with working at JS is the chance I have to attend the MileHigh staff meetings every Tuesday morning. We are currently going through a book by Ruby Payne, who has written several books on poverty and societal issues. The book is called What Every Church Member Should Know About Poverty and talks a lot about hidden class rules and values. Her stuff is very controversial and we have had some really good conversation about how to best work with the poor.

Classes: The classes this past week were so good. In my Friday class, Street Psalms, we talked about how we read the Bible and barriers that keep us from really encountering the Word. Barriers include hyper-personalism, domestification, reductionism, isolationism, heroism, moralism, and dualism. It was very helpful for me to be able to recognize these barriers in my personal Bible reading time.

In the Monday class, Leading from Within, we finished going through the book In the Name of Jesus (great read—I recommend it for all Christian leaders) and had a Jesuit priest come talk to us about Ignatius spirituality. The topic is not something I was very familiar with, but it was good to learn about. On Monday after class, one of our teachers led us on a walk around Denver and told us about gentrification and how Denver has been changing over the last few decades. Gentrification, for those of you who don’t know (because I didn’t know before yesterday) is when people with money renovate a run-down, impoverished part of town, increasing the land value. The result is that many impoverished people are displaced to the outskirts of town because they cannot afford to live where they used to. This has happened a lot in Denver and it is difficult to know how to respond to the problem. One of the things that has been difficult for me here in Denver and in many of my social work classes in the past 3 years has been the realization that many of the problems in society are big, complex, and really do not have easy answers. This can be frustrating for me, as I am a fixer and like to see hope in every situation and work towards a solution.

Weekend: On Friday night, I and three of the other interns drove up past Boulder to Nederland, CO, where we went hiking and camping. We went for a short hike on Friday, then set up our tent and made hot dogs and s’mores over a fire. Saturday morning, after eating breakfast at a neat little café, we went hiking again. We went way up a mountain, until we were tromping through snow. It was gorgeous—lots of mountains, streams, waterfalls, and trees. Though I love the city, I am a nature girl at heart and it was so refreshing to be out in the woods again. The weather was perfect, too; it didn’t start raining until we were heading home. On the way back, we stopped in Boulder, which is a really cool town with a lot of unique shops. The weekend was refreshing and just what I needed.

Overall: As you can probably tell by what I have been writing, this summer has given me a lot to think about. I have been stretched, challenged, and at times, frustrated. But I have also been so blessed by the relationships I have built and the awesome experiences I have had. It is going to be really hard to go back to Dordt for another semester of classes. But… next spring I get another amazing opportunity… I get to do my senior internship in Chicago! I just received my official acceptance letter! I am super excited!

Prayer Requests: First off, I ask that you pray for my sister, as she has completed her “boot camp” training at Teen Missions and is now in Haiti. She was able to call home the other day and was sounding quite homesick. Please pray for her as she experiences new, challenging situations in a foreign country.

Also, please be in prayer for Carlos, one of the staff members at MileHigh Ministries. His wife is extremely sick and is in intensive care at the hospital. She has a strep infection, which has been very damaging because she does not have a functioning spleen to fight off the infection. Please pray for complete healing for her and comfort for her and Carlos.

Finally, my car is having issues again. It overheated again tonight and I will have to call the mechanic again tomorrow. I am hoping it is something that is easy to fix again.

Thank you for your prayers and support. God Bless.

Newsletters, Kids, Baseball, and Funnel Clouds!

What a week! It has been full of challenges, storms, fun, busyness, relaxation, and learning! I don't even know where to start....

I guess I will start with telling you about my internship. This was the week of newsletters. Both at JAMLAC and Joshua Station, they were sending out their quarterly newsletters/support letters. Much of my time in the office was spent helping prepare those. I also had the opportunity to sit in on a Family Advocacy meeting. I was able to learn a little more about some of the families who are here and how the Advocates are empowering them to meet their goals.

I really enjoyed the evening activities this week. Tuesday night I went to the Women's Fellowship. A group of ladies from a local church came to hang out with the women and we all made scarves. Wednesday night was Teen Night. We took some of the kids to a local skatepark. It was fun. :) I made it down one of the (little) hills on a scooter without killing myself! :D There were also a couple of nights this week where I just went and hung out with some of the kids informally. I finally feel like I am getting to know some of them and am building relationships with them. They are amazing kids. What's really amazing about them is that they are growing and flourishing despite the difficult situations many of them have come from.

Thursday was an orientation day at Joshua Station. A couple of weeks ago we had 3 families graduate, so we now have 3 rooms to fill. On orientation day, homeless families can come, learn about the program, and fill out applications. We had over 40 people come and a couple of dozen kids! It's sad that so many people are looking for a place to live. Next week the staff will interview potential residents and then we will have a meeting to decide who will move in. You can pray that God will give the staff wisdom as they make the decision.

Classes last week were really tough, but good. On Friday we talked about lament. We watched a couple of videos and talked about the brokennes in the world. We looked at some of the Psalms and how David cried out to God. It was especially hard because on Wednesday, I found out that two little kids I knew from Alaska- ages 6 and 9- were killed in a house fire. Sometimes God does not make sense and sometimes I can't help but ask "why?" even though I know in my heart that He is in control... I guess I am learning how to lament while still trusting God.

In my Monday class we are learning about leadership. We are reading a great book called In the Name of Jesus. We have also been learning about the Ennegram and learning about our different personalities and the strengths God has given us. You can find out your type at http://www.9types.com/ if you are interested. :D I am a #2....

This weekend was fun. On Friday a bunch of us interns hung out at a cool coffee shop called Stella's. We played the game Loaded Questions. Lots of fun. :) Saturday I went to a Puerto Rican Festival with some friends in the afternoon. It was alright... kind of small and not a lot to do. In the evening we went to a Rocky's baseball game. Apparently someone donated a bunch of tickets to Mile High, so a bunch of the staff and interns got to go. It was my first professional baseball game.

Today (Sunday) was stormy. I was actually out for a walk in the rain when I was warned to get inside because we were under a tornado warning. I walked back quickly, but stopped for a second to watch a funnel cloud come down, then go back up. It was awesome, yet scary and eery. What a reminder of how utterly small and powerless we are and how amazing and powerful and worthy of fear our God is. Amazing. Tonight I had the privilege of going to church and hanging out with some awesome people from Dry Bones, an organization that reaches out to homeless teenagers. Both the volunteers and the kids/young adults they reach are awesome.

One last thing: my car is fixed! :D When I first called around about it, I was told it would cost me several hundred dollars and/or that it might be dead for good. BUT... God worked it out and the people at Joshua Station connected me with a great mechanic who was able to get a used part and fix it for very cheap! Yay! It is running great now!

So this post is ridiculouly long. Sorry! I am sure I am missing some things, though. I am so blessed to be here and am learning a lot. May God bless you wherever you are.
Love and Prayers, Britt

City Life

It's weird to think that I have only been in Denver for one week. In some ways, it has gone by super fast, but on the other hand I feel like I have been here and known the people here forever. The city is great; I love the diversity, busyness, culture, and even the traffic.

I am doing my internship Tuesday through Thursday. Part of the time I work at JAMLAC, which stands for Justice and Mercy Legal Aid Clinic. JAMLAC is the legal part of MileHigh Ministries that offers free/ low cost legal advocacy and counseling to people who are poor and cannot afford it. This week I basically just helped sort files and do paperwork stuff. At Joshua Station, I helped sort through some things that were donated for the families and I helped with their night activities. It has been great to get to know the families who live here. A lot of the kids remind of some of the kids from Alaska, so I pretty much love them already. :)

On Friday and Monday mornings all of us interns come together for classes. Friday was our first one. We talked about how we view Jesus and how our view of Him determines our ministry. It was very thought provoking and I am super excited about the class.

The weekend was a lot of fun. Saturday was a free admission day to the Denver Art Museum, so we all went there for a while. They have a pretty diverse collection of art there. Saturday was also Denver's "People's Fair," which was basically like a mini state fair. There were a lot of booths from local businesses and organizations, door prizes, food, and live bands. It was fun to walk around. Saturday night we all went to a Fray concert. Apparently, Greg, the director of the program, has connections and was able to get us in for free. It was a lot of fun, even though I do not know a lot of the Fray's music (basically just stuff that is played on the radio). We ended Saturday night by going out to Chili's. I have really enjoyed getting to know the other interns. We are all so different and it is so cool to think that God brought us all together this summer for His purpose.

Today I had the privilege of visiting two churches. Both of them were awesome. The one I went to this morning was called Pathways and the one I went to tonight was called The Scum of the Earth. I think both of them have websites if you want to find out more about them. Both had good messages, good worship, and authentic people.

I think one of the things I love most about Denver is how honest and authentic the people are. Today I was waiting at the bus stop (public transportation is interesting, let me tell ya!) and had a conversation with a women from Georgia. She just started telling me about her life and her family. That's just how people are in Denver, from what I have experienced so far- open and friendly. It's awesome!

I do have a couple of prayer requests. The first is for my sister, Hannah, who left yesterday for her summer missions trip to Haiti. Pray that God would use her in an awesome way and that she would not get too homesick. Also, my car is having some serious issues. It overheated and started leaking radiator fluid all over the place. I am hoping to have it looked at tomorrow, but it doesn't look good.

Thanks for your prayers and support! Have a beautiful day! :)

First Day in Denver

I made it to Denver! I left home yesterday (June 1st) at 7:00am. After driving almost 700 miles, I made it to Colorado! The drive was pretty much uneventful, until the end. About 1 1/2 hours outside of Denver, I stopped in a town to get dinner and pick up a couple of things from Walmart. After stopping at a couple of stoplights, the "check gauges" light came on my dashboard. I looked down and realized that my car was overheating. Fortunately, I was right across the street from Walmart, so I was able to run in and get some coolant. Then, as I was trying to figure out where to pour the coolant, another car pulled up next to me and out stepped... a car mechanic! :) It was such a God thing. Not only was he able to show me where to pour the coolant, he was also able to point out that my fan needs to be looked at. Fortunately, the coolant did the trick and I made it to Denver! When I arrived, I unpacked and met the other interns. There are 8 other girls working at different agencies around the city.

The place I am living, Joshua Station, used to be a motel, so I am sharing a motel-style room with one other intern. It's a nice place, but it will take some time to get used to the busy road right next to our window. :)

This morning all of us interns went to the Mile High Ministry staff meeting. We had a devotional/prayer time and learned about some of the programs that Joshua Station offers the residents. Most of the afternoon was spent on orientation stuff. We learned about different churches/events/places in Denver and how to use public transportation system. We are going to have a lot of freedom on the weekends to explore the city. I am very excited! Even though I have my car here, I am only allowed to use it on the weekends so that I can experience the transportation the people in Denver use on a regular basis.

Tonight I helped out with the Kid's Club, which I will help with every week while I am here. It was great to meet some of the kids and hang out with them. Tomorrow will be my first full-day at my internship. So far I really like the city and look forward to building relationships with the people here and learning about urban ministry.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support!
Britt