The Cathedral Blog

Of time machines and other things

Flexibility. If you’re going to survive on a mission trip, you need to learn to go with the flow, and the weather this week has provided a great opportunity to embrace that gift.

Though our dinner cruise and ghost tour got rained out, our last night in South Carolina was anything but disappointing. In fact, the thunder and lightening show was an awesome spectacle, proving to be a pleasant blessing in disguise by forcing the group to spend time together in a large commons area, rather than splintering into groups that went running, or to play basketball or walk on the beach.

Card games, board games, group skits and a ‘make a human machine contest’ had everyone laughing and very quickly forgetting about the inclement weather.

It’s been a week that perhaps didn’t win them all, but one that has opened the hearts and minds of those who were the most skeptical, if even for just a little bit.

And while it’s true that much work remains, God gathered us all here this week for a reason, and the grace and goodness that has taken hold is powerful and palpable.

There have been leaders emerge, and those who have shown glimpses of potential but who don’t yet have the self-confidence to rise up and accept that role.

There are many who have a new appreciation of the many blessings they have. Time and again around the evening prayer circle a student referenced the abundance they enjoy at home, compared to some of the life situations we’ve encountered this week. What’s more, they had the insight to say they need to be more thankful for what is provided for them.

Some have shown they have a true heart for service and outreach — that no matter how unsavory a task, they where the first to step up, willing to help someone in need. Others have displayed a fearless faith, and have generously offered their strength to those searching for some meaning.

Some have eagerly lent cheerful attitudes, wide smiles, warm hugs or joyful silliness, in an effort to cheer another member of the team who was struggling with a project, an early morning, a bad attitude or a disappointing work day.

SCSB09 (South Carolina Spring Break ’09) will be special for the funny memories of one team member’s dolphin noises, the bus getting stuck, or the garbage bag ponchos that were a very popular fashion fad.

But underneath the laughter will be the memories of one homeowner trying to overcome an abusive marriage and unfathomably difficult life; the little girl at the children’s party who shared that she doesn’t really have a mom or a dad in her world; the widow living in a home that had been awash in raw sewage.

Each team member brought talents to share, but we have been the recipients of the greatest gifts — bone-crushing hugs, tearful smiles borne of immense gratitude, prayers for our well being, simple words of thanks.

We have seen the light of Christ. It’s hard to imagine any greater gift.

Forming a community

Rain threatened to slow the work at several sites today, but the showers passed leaving the groups free to dig into their tasks, and allowing the entire team to gather for a bonfire on the beach tonight.

The fire is a trip tradition that doesn’t always get to happen. Some years rain or wind has forced the weenie roast and prayer circle to move inside, but tonight everything fell into place. It was a unique opportunity for fellowship that would be hard to replicate anywhere else. Groups of students of different ages, talents and backgrounds mingled around each other before and during dinner, but it was the evening’s prayer focus that seemed to indicate this group of 80+ was finally becoming one.

Because of the fire, the students suggested we discuss how each of us has seen the Holy Spirit at work this week. As a candle was passed around the circle, each member offered where, how or in whom they had seen the Spirit at work. The cover of darkness probably helped, but most of the kids answered with raw honesty and admiration for acts that had been revealed through their peers, people they were working with on their job sites, or those homeowners and others who were thankful for the kids’ efforts.

Some even talked about getting to know people from school that they had never met prior to this week’s trip, and the lessons that have come because of that.

The challenge will be hanging on to the respect they are developing for one another. When you stand alongside someone for eight hours swinging a hammer or trying to recover a sunken bathroom floor, there’s a different type of appreciation that is generated — one that’s set apart from admiring someone’s talents in the classroom, on the playing field or on the stage.

Now when they pass each other in the hallways, they’ll share a new bond.

One forged of sweat and a little blood, sea salt and sand grit, bug spray and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Moving out of the comfort zone

A 7 a.m. breakfast call comes awfully early when bed checks started a scant eight hours before, but our kids (some with just one eye open) came into today ready for the hard work that awaited them.

It was a day that required patience of everyone, as we moved to our worksites and waited while various project leaders explained what needed to be done with today. Our Habitat team was thrown immediately into action, as the 36 students who worked at that site on Tuesday had not one, but three houses, they were helping to construct. In some cases, the three projects —in vastly different stages of construction — allowed the students to gravitate toward that which they were naturally inclined. But most of the kids were called upon to hang siding, assemble cabinets, lay cement block — you name it, they were doing it — and very often it was a job the teens had never tried before.

The same was true at the outreach work areas, where the projects included everything from deconstructing a wheelchair ramp, to building a “shower house” at a church that is being remodeled into a center that will house work crews — like Cathedral’s — that come into the area to serve families in need in the Low Country.

All of the tasks were accompanied by their own unique set of circumstances: Bugs, sun, not having enough of the right tools or having only incomplete instructions. But it was interesting to move from job site to job site and watch how the kids reconciled their own difficulties. When one team member figured something out, he or she shared it with the others in an effort to help move a project along. When all of the power screwdrivers or nail guns were in use, some students spent time getting to know the people for whom they were working, and later shared their insights with their team members.

That all came before the children’s party the Cathedral crew organized for young people who are served by Stono Baptist Church — the group that has orchestrated our outreach projects. There the older kids were paired up with a younger ‘buddy’ with whom they had a pizza dinner, and then moved into an evening of face painting, crafts, ball and other games.

They were tired, bug bitten, and in some cases a little sunburned, but our kids did not disappoint. The Stono Baptist kids left their church campus Tuesday night with candy from a piñata and an individual goody bag full of special treats, but none of that was as important as the huge smiles on everyone’s faces. All of the “big” kids posed for pictures with their buddies, gave hugs and high-fives, and sent the little ones home feeling as though they were the most special children in the world.

So far this week we’ve talked a lot to our kids about the power each of them has to change the world. Some of our kids want to be doctors, and one of them may well cure cancer someday. But all of our kids — and all of the rest of us for that matter — have all the skills we need right now, right at this moment, to make someone’s life better. It can come through large gestures, like building a Habitat house, and it can come with the simplest of acts, like cupping a little girl’s face in your hand and painting on a bunny nose and whiskers.

Work has begun

The actual physical labor at our Habitat and other outreach sites begins tomorrow, but a different kind of work — the most important work that any of us will ever be tasked with — has begun in earnest.

Many of our students, at our first night of reflection in the chapel, shared that they hope to build a stronger relationship with Christ in addition to the homes they’ll help build or remodel. That’s not an easy thing for anyone to share, but I thought it especially powerful coming from teens who often are loathe to spread their feelings wide for all to see.

It helped that today, before we divided up into the job site teams, Pastor Greg from Stono Baptist Church recalled for the students just how important the work they’ll be doing is to the people it will help. Pastor Greg has one team in particular that will be tearing down wheelchair ramps at places they’re no longer needed, and reassembling those ramps at homes where they are desperately required.

The kids also watched a short video, provided by the Habitat folks, illustrating what a safe, strong, stable home can do for families — especially for the children. Quite simply, a loving home gives kids a place to dream.

So while they will be acting as Christ would call them to, there’s still a disconnect — a kind of, “What does this really matter?” type of skepticism that hangs in the air for some.

I have a feeling that maybe that’s OK. Because I think that when the moment comes, (and it undoubtedly will), when a homeowner is moved to tears by the generosity and spirit with which their project was completed, that’s when some who have asked “Why?” so many times will find the answer — one that’s been there all along.

The cross that stands on the beach at St. Christopher's camp.

We made it!

It was about 15 or so hours on and off the bus — with stops in Kentucky, North Carolina and a breakfast stop in South Carolina — but we have arrived safely at St. Christopher’s Camp on John’s Island and the facilities make it easily worth the long trip.

It is unimaginably beautiful here. We were told by Father Chris — the Episcopal priest who serves as the chaplain here at camp — that a storm that came through yesterday had left the beach full of shells, and the kids were eager to grab a quick lunch, stow their gear, and hit the sand. It was a little chilly, but not when compared to the snow that was falling in parts of Indiana on Sunday!

Though most everyone hit the beach, there were others who played basketball, went for a run or just enjoyed goofing around and having fun in a place that is 300 acres of the most amazing Low Country, complete with Dunes and an island-in-the-making, ‘thanks’ to a hurricane that swept through a few years ago. This place offers visitors the kind of peace that nestles in, like old neighbors over warm coffee.

We’ll have a prayer service later this evening, then it will be lights out, and I’m fairly certain we’ll get few complaints on that front. While everyone has enjoyed their day exploring this part of the island, most all — students and chaperones alike — are ready for some shut eye in preparation of a brand new day.

We’re off!

Rain is splattering the windshield as we head East on I-74. If the meteorologists are to be believed, we’re getting out of town right as some bad weather is expected to be rolling in. Judging by how quickly the kids jumped aboard, I think everyone feels lucky to be headed to South Carolina.

Our trip has started out in great fashion, after a Mass celebrated by Father Munshower that was filled with his wisdom and gentle good humor. We enjoyed songs that were led by our students, and the Commons was filled with parents and family members who had come to see their worker bees off for a week of fun, fellowship and living out their call to do as Christ would have us — minister and serve others!

It took about 2.5 seconds for the snacks to come out in force, and as I write this, everyone’s getting in touch with their inner child, enjoying the movie “Heavyweights” on the bus monitors. Gotta love Disney! The kids are way too young, and it’s too dark anyway, but I remember my dad telling stories about when they would travel when he was a kid, and how they would count the Burma-Shave signs along the way – how times have changed!

Stay tuned for more updates – we’ll be stopping somewhere in Kentucky to change drivers and, undoubtedly get more snacks!

Clean laundry? Not yet…

We leave for South Carolina in about 24 hours, and so far I’ve heard a number of kids who have promised they have plenty of snacks (excellent), plenty of good movies for the bus ride (no complaints), but no one has been certain about the number of clean socks they’ll be taking… could be one interesting week! I fall right in alongside them. Laundry? It’s not Saturday yet…