Last week, my boss in Outreach, Jo, preached in Houma (45 miles east of Baldwin, about halfway between Baldwin and New Orleans) for UMW (United Methodist Women) Sunday. She gave a wonderful sermon on "Passing the Baton" and what an intricate maneuver that is in a relay race and how important it is for women to pass their faith on from generation to generation. After the service at Bayou Blue UMC and the requisite potluck, we journeyed to Vacherie, somewhere close to Thibodeaux, to tour a plantation. Vacherie has a tiny UMC about the size of a tract house living room which holds services the second and fourth Saturdays of the month from 4-5 pm. It is away from everything and cannot possibly hold more than twenty people. I guess that's enough. We chose to tour Oak Alley Plantation in little Vacherie, butted up against the mighty Mississippi River and fronted by two columns of 300-year old live oak trees framing the huge Big House like a canopy. Stunning! I kept expecting to bump into Rhett Butler.
Glenn Druilhet (pronounced Drew-Yet') is a gracious, aristocratic-looking African American woman who is the Director of Depot Operations at USB. Her husband went to school here along with the rest of his large family in the 1960s and 70s. He said the Methodist deaconesses (Home Missionaries) were so strict that when the Sager Brown students graduated eighth grade and fed into the high school district in Franklin, it took awhile for the rest of the kids to catch up academically.
Sunday at Trinity UMC across the street, the church drummer was resplendent in fire engine red: red shirt, red pants, red boots and red hat. Quite the sight--and sound!
Monday, January 30, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Mickey Mouse Head Start
The Head Start program in Franklin next door is called Peter Pan. Mickey Mouse Head Start in Baldwin is on the other side of the tracks. Literally. The last time I picked up a group of volunteers, we had to wait twenty minutes for a freight train so we could return to Sager Brown.
Upon opening the door of an aged, white, clapboard building with Mickey Mouse Head Start Program labeled across the lower half in small, neat letters, one is greeted by a tidy, spacious, bright interior, a large desk, and a neat row of connected small tables and chairs. The desk is often manned by Miss Louise, Director. (In these parts, the title 'Miss' is a term of deference used for an older woman. I liked it better before I knew that.). The tables and chairs are where the children have snacks and a hot lunch. This large entry room and the kitchen separate two classrooms and sets of restrooms which hold twenty students each, consisting of three to five-year olds, mainly African American with a couple Latino children in each class. There are two African American teachers for each class. Miss Louise knows every child and each teacher--well. The teachers know their flocks, too. Each team of teachers consists of a head teacher and an aide, who does the majority of the discipline and carefully supervises bathroom breaks and field trip procedures. Field trips consist mainly of bi-monthly trips to the local library, where Miss Yvette (a library employee) reads a couple theme books (zoo, parade, helping mommy at home), facilitates a couple action songs and a related art project and gets a bunch of hugs for her efforts. Back in the classroom, children spend a lot of time on social skills, basic hygiene, and building a foundation for a successful kindergarten experience. Each day one student gets to be the leader, reviewing days of the week, months of the year, shapes, colors, the five senses and the weather. When the children are prompt with the correct response, they get to, "Kiss your brain!" Even the youngest three-year old knows how to pucker-up on the tips of the fingers of one hand, then tap the side of her head. There are interest centers (musical instruments, blocks, books, science, math and computers) where the children play and learn simultaneously. The program goes from 9am-2pm, Monday-Friday, includes nap time, and even the volunteers get hugs from the cutest little ones in the community before we go.
Upon opening the door of an aged, white, clapboard building with Mickey Mouse Head Start Program labeled across the lower half in small, neat letters, one is greeted by a tidy, spacious, bright interior, a large desk, and a neat row of connected small tables and chairs. The desk is often manned by Miss Louise, Director. (In these parts, the title 'Miss' is a term of deference used for an older woman. I liked it better before I knew that.). The tables and chairs are where the children have snacks and a hot lunch. This large entry room and the kitchen separate two classrooms and sets of restrooms which hold twenty students each, consisting of three to five-year olds, mainly African American with a couple Latino children in each class. There are two African American teachers for each class. Miss Louise knows every child and each teacher--well. The teachers know their flocks, too. Each team of teachers consists of a head teacher and an aide, who does the majority of the discipline and carefully supervises bathroom breaks and field trip procedures. Field trips consist mainly of bi-monthly trips to the local library, where Miss Yvette (a library employee) reads a couple theme books (zoo, parade, helping mommy at home), facilitates a couple action songs and a related art project and gets a bunch of hugs for her efforts. Back in the classroom, children spend a lot of time on social skills, basic hygiene, and building a foundation for a successful kindergarten experience. Each day one student gets to be the leader, reviewing days of the week, months of the year, shapes, colors, the five senses and the weather. When the children are prompt with the correct response, they get to, "Kiss your brain!" Even the youngest three-year old knows how to pucker-up on the tips of the fingers of one hand, then tap the side of her head. There are interest centers (musical instruments, blocks, books, science, math and computers) where the children play and learn simultaneously. The program goes from 9am-2pm, Monday-Friday, includes nap time, and even the volunteers get hugs from the cutest little ones in the community before we go.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
A Short History of Sager Brown
(mostly copied from the UMCOR Sager Brown volunteers' manual, "Know Before You Go")
UMCOR Sager Brown has it's origins in New Orleans. In 1867, a group of women in New Orleans formed the Orphan's Home Society Corporation. This was a means of raising money to provide a home for African American boys who had been orphaned by the Civil War. It was funded primarily by the Freedman's Aid Society, a predecessor to the Black College Fund of the United Methodist Church, and John Baldwin, a plantation owner in St. Mary Parish, La.
Very early in the life of the orphanage, a large monetary gift from William Gilbert of Winsted, Conn., allowed a school for African Americans to be built with Dr. W.D. Godman as director. The institution was named the Orphans Home and the Gilbert Academy and Industrial School. Eventually, Gilbert Academy was moved to New Orleans near Dillard University and became a preparatory school. The school in Baldwin, grades one through eight, then became known as Godman Industrial School. Godman and his wife directed the school and the orphanage and were also responsible for building a Methodist Church on the property.
In the early 1900s, the Orphan's Home and Godman Industrial School were in dire financial straits. Dr. and Mrs. Godman took the student choir, the Jubilee Singers, on a tour of the northeastern United States to raise money. Mrs. Addie Sager and Mrs. C.W. Brown became familiar with the plight of the organization through a concert given for the North Central New York Methodist Conference. Sager and Brown purchased the school and gave it to the Women's Home Mission Society, forerunner of the Women's Division of the UMC (United Methodist Church), to operate. The institution was known as Sager Brown Home and Godman School until 1978. That year, the home and school closed and the property was put up for sale. Twenty-eight acres and ten brick buildings on beautiful Bayou Teche were offered for sale for $100,000--but, there were no buyers. The property sat vacant for fourteen years!
In 1992, Hurricane Andrew hit the coast of south Louisiana causing major damage to the area around Baldwin. UMCOR (United Methodist Committee On Relief) came to the area with volunteers and supplies and used the old Sager Brown campus to stage their operations. After two years, UMCOR determined that the Sager Brown campus would be an excellent location to build an UMCOR depot, from which disaster relief supplies could be collected and provided to the world. The 48,000 square foot UMCOR Depot opened in 1996.
The campus today is a living, working monument to over a century of United Methodist mission. UMCOR is a leader in service for the UMC to those who are hungry, displaced, sick or in poverty because of natural or human-made disasters. UMCOR serves in eighty-one countries of the world. Each year, more than three thousand volunteers come to USB to work in the UMCOR Depot and in service to the community in and surrounding Baldwin, LA, to help make a difference.
UMCOR Sager Brown has it's origins in New Orleans. In 1867, a group of women in New Orleans formed the Orphan's Home Society Corporation. This was a means of raising money to provide a home for African American boys who had been orphaned by the Civil War. It was funded primarily by the Freedman's Aid Society, a predecessor to the Black College Fund of the United Methodist Church, and John Baldwin, a plantation owner in St. Mary Parish, La.
Very early in the life of the orphanage, a large monetary gift from William Gilbert of Winsted, Conn., allowed a school for African Americans to be built with Dr. W.D. Godman as director. The institution was named the Orphans Home and the Gilbert Academy and Industrial School. Eventually, Gilbert Academy was moved to New Orleans near Dillard University and became a preparatory school. The school in Baldwin, grades one through eight, then became known as Godman Industrial School. Godman and his wife directed the school and the orphanage and were also responsible for building a Methodist Church on the property.
In the early 1900s, the Orphan's Home and Godman Industrial School were in dire financial straits. Dr. and Mrs. Godman took the student choir, the Jubilee Singers, on a tour of the northeastern United States to raise money. Mrs. Addie Sager and Mrs. C.W. Brown became familiar with the plight of the organization through a concert given for the North Central New York Methodist Conference. Sager and Brown purchased the school and gave it to the Women's Home Mission Society, forerunner of the Women's Division of the UMC (United Methodist Church), to operate. The institution was known as Sager Brown Home and Godman School until 1978. That year, the home and school closed and the property was put up for sale. Twenty-eight acres and ten brick buildings on beautiful Bayou Teche were offered for sale for $100,000--but, there were no buyers. The property sat vacant for fourteen years!
In 1992, Hurricane Andrew hit the coast of south Louisiana causing major damage to the area around Baldwin. UMCOR (United Methodist Committee On Relief) came to the area with volunteers and supplies and used the old Sager Brown campus to stage their operations. After two years, UMCOR determined that the Sager Brown campus would be an excellent location to build an UMCOR depot, from which disaster relief supplies could be collected and provided to the world. The 48,000 square foot UMCOR Depot opened in 1996.
The campus today is a living, working monument to over a century of United Methodist mission. UMCOR is a leader in service for the UMC to those who are hungry, displaced, sick or in poverty because of natural or human-made disasters. UMCOR serves in eighty-one countries of the world. Each year, more than three thousand volunteers come to USB to work in the UMCOR Depot and in service to the community in and surrounding Baldwin, LA, to help make a difference.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Food For Families and Home Repair
While the international relief work of stitching blankets, layette items and school bags goes on in the sewing room and kits of all kinds are packed and boxed year round in the UMCOR Depot, community outreach involves more variety. This week, in addition to assisting at Head Start, Chez Hope, Raintree Elementary and local Hearts and Hands home repair projects, we also took charge of the St. Mary's Parish monthly Food For Families commodities distribution. Short term volunteers are always free to choose among offered activities. Some work at the Depot or on home repair all week; many choose to try several things.
"Two in the truck bed!" "One in the back seat, driver's side!" "Four in the trunk!" The callers barked directions. The packers made sure the right number of food boxes were placed in the designated spot for each driver. The Depot parking lot was a beehive of activity as clients and their proxies collected monthly boxed grocery items. The fourth Wednesday morning of each month, paperwork is activated and filed in the Sager Brown Gymnasium, then people drive over to the Depot for pick-up. Over six hundred boxes were sent out between 8:30 and 11 a.m. Eighty more will go out in the next week to stragglers. Sager Brown signs folks up, Catholic Charities verifies eligibility, boxes food up (each box contains cereals, juices,
pasta, canned fruits and vegetables, and cheese), and delivers pallets of boxes to
distribution points, and, locally, Sager Brown distributes the boxes. As Abraham Lincoln
said, it's amazing what you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit.
Home repair projects are designed to provide safety, security and sanitation for the residences of low income seniors and disabled persons. Since 2003, Sager Brown has completed 440 projects, all done by volunteers. There are ninety homes (probably eighteen months worth of projects) waiting to be done. Last week we finished weatherizing and securing a trailer home for two grandparents. Their grandchildren sang and danced, then we prayed the home would shelter them and provide a place of happiness and peace. My supervisor said it was the first time she had ever seen the grandfather smile.
"Two in the truck bed!" "One in the back seat, driver's side!" "Four in the trunk!" The callers barked directions. The packers made sure the right number of food boxes were placed in the designated spot for each driver. The Depot parking lot was a beehive of activity as clients and their proxies collected monthly boxed grocery items. The fourth Wednesday morning of each month, paperwork is activated and filed in the Sager Brown Gymnasium, then people drive over to the Depot for pick-up. Over six hundred boxes were sent out between 8:30 and 11 a.m. Eighty more will go out in the next week to stragglers. Sager Brown signs folks up, Catholic Charities verifies eligibility, boxes food up (each box contains cereals, juices,
pasta, canned fruits and vegetables, and cheese), and delivers pallets of boxes to
distribution points, and, locally, Sager Brown distributes the boxes. As Abraham Lincoln
said, it's amazing what you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit.
Home repair projects are designed to provide safety, security and sanitation for the residences of low income seniors and disabled persons. Since 2003, Sager Brown has completed 440 projects, all done by volunteers. There are ninety homes (probably eighteen months worth of projects) waiting to be done. Last week we finished weatherizing and securing a trailer home for two grandparents. Their grandchildren sang and danced, then we prayed the home would shelter them and provide a place of happiness and peace. My supervisor said it was the first time she had ever seen the grandfather smile.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Emma
Emma is 12-years old. She came to UMCOR Sager Brown last week with her grandmother, Betty. This is unusual, as the first few months of the year at USB are typically filled by short term volunteers who are retirees. Summer months are booked by youth groups and families come during holiday breaks. Emma was on intersession from school, so she was the only USB short term volunteer last week under the age of sixty. She dutifully and efficiently packed health kits in the Depot, volunteered to help at Mickey Mouse Head Start, and toured and worked at Chez Hope. She scraped plates and cleaned tables during Kitchen Ministry. Betty said she had chosen to come, but was afraid Emma might be bored around all the old people for a week. By Thursday, it was apparent Emma had a number of adoptive grandparents. On Friday, I told Emma it had been wonderful having her with us and asked if she had a good time. She sweetly said, "Yes." I asked if she was ready to head for home, and she said, "No." I am not the only person who likes being busy in Baldwin.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Chez Hope, Etc.
Etc.
Minnesota left yesterday, pretty much in a multi-car parade. It is unusual to have the Sager Brown Campus populated by the UMC (United Methodist Church) short term volunteers from one state. I will miss them as most stayed two weeks and they had become friends by the time they left. A big (30+) group from Tennessee, a smaller group from Iowa and some others come in tomorrow and it will be back to relying on name tags again. Another adventure awaits.
Monday of last week was MLK Day. Baldwin, like most other towns in the state, had a people's march with a church service afterwards. A good number of USB (UMCOR Sager Brown) volunteers walked with the local ROTC leading the way, from one Baptist church to another. The music at the service was stirring, as you might guess, beginning with "Lift Every Voice and Sing" and ending with "We Shall Overcome".
A few of us went to Shucks in Abbeville for seafood dinner (great crab cakes!) on Wednesday (USB afternoon off from work to allow sightseeing and eating in the area). Last night we went to Landry's in New Iberia for 'Gerald Thibodeaux and Cajun Accent' zydeco music (wonderful--accordion and all!) and buffet last night. The salads/salad bars here are chopped, usually white, iceberg lettuce, tomato slices and shredded carrots; their hearts just aren't really in it. The other food, on the other hand, mostly fried...Oh, my! I had the best fried chicken yesterday that I have ever tasted.
Last week, our Vespers Service was mostly song. The tenors, baritones and basses were amazing! One of the MN volunteers is fluent in American Sign Language and taught a choir to
sign "Jesus Loves Me".
This week we will do a monthly distribution of 650-700 boxes of food to local seniors on Wednesday morning. Apparently the Campus becomes a zoo. I can hardly wait.
Chez Hope
This House of Hope is an interesting and colorful place. The area domestic violence shelter for women and children used to be housed in what is now the administration building on the USB Campus, but is now run out of a historic hotel next door in Franklin. It was quite the destination in the late 1800s and early 1900s. So much so that movie star Greta Garbo stayed there and caused quite a stir in the neighborhood when she was caught skinny-dipping in the hotel pool with a female companion. Her picture still hangs over the front desk. Chez Hope, like most non-profits these days, is run on a shoestring budget. It begs for and receives donations, mostly from the community, to supplement a meager grant from the state. USB short term volunteers tour on Wednesday mornings (Thursday this week, because of food distribution) and work in My Sister's Closet, a second hand clothing center for residents, since many of them escape with only the clothes on their backs. The front, all-purpose, meeting room is decorated for Mardi Gras. The Christmas tree, like most in the area, has been transformed into a vision of purple and gold, with beads, masks and netting covering it's branches. The Director loves hats, so there are bright, unique, donated hats everywhere. There are quilts for an upcoming raffle and t-shirts that say "Hands are Not for Hitting" for sale, an ongoing fundraiser. There are offices, an intake room, children's play room, kitchen and pantry with three freezers downstairs. Upstairs there are three emergency apartments with more in an adjacent building out back. The Shelter can accommodate thirty people, with support facilities close by. Sometimes Chez Hope is empty in the morning and full by midnight. As well as the apartments and My Sister's Closet in the adjacent building, there is a children's and teen center, full of bright-colored toys, games and craft projects and materials. Miss Ida is the children's advocate who staffs and watches over the children's program. She has a bright smile and contagious enthusiasm. Last week, USB volunteers found a brand new, donated air hockey game with broken legs lying unusable in the teen center. Some of our men and women devised a way to fix the legs, drove over to Chez Hope with the repaired parts, assembled and installed it. By nightfall, Miss Ida called to say the kids had already played their first games. USB: Serving the world and serving the community, a dynamite combination, aptly illustrated at Chez Hope.
Minnesota left yesterday, pretty much in a multi-car parade. It is unusual to have the Sager Brown Campus populated by the UMC (United Methodist Church) short term volunteers from one state. I will miss them as most stayed two weeks and they had become friends by the time they left. A big (30+) group from Tennessee, a smaller group from Iowa and some others come in tomorrow and it will be back to relying on name tags again. Another adventure awaits.
Monday of last week was MLK Day. Baldwin, like most other towns in the state, had a people's march with a church service afterwards. A good number of USB (UMCOR Sager Brown) volunteers walked with the local ROTC leading the way, from one Baptist church to another. The music at the service was stirring, as you might guess, beginning with "Lift Every Voice and Sing" and ending with "We Shall Overcome".
A few of us went to Shucks in Abbeville for seafood dinner (great crab cakes!) on Wednesday (USB afternoon off from work to allow sightseeing and eating in the area). Last night we went to Landry's in New Iberia for 'Gerald Thibodeaux and Cajun Accent' zydeco music (wonderful--accordion and all!) and buffet last night. The salads/salad bars here are chopped, usually white, iceberg lettuce, tomato slices and shredded carrots; their hearts just aren't really in it. The other food, on the other hand, mostly fried...Oh, my! I had the best fried chicken yesterday that I have ever tasted.
Last week, our Vespers Service was mostly song. The tenors, baritones and basses were amazing! One of the MN volunteers is fluent in American Sign Language and taught a choir to
sign "Jesus Loves Me".
This week we will do a monthly distribution of 650-700 boxes of food to local seniors on Wednesday morning. Apparently the Campus becomes a zoo. I can hardly wait.
Chez Hope
This House of Hope is an interesting and colorful place. The area domestic violence shelter for women and children used to be housed in what is now the administration building on the USB Campus, but is now run out of a historic hotel next door in Franklin. It was quite the destination in the late 1800s and early 1900s. So much so that movie star Greta Garbo stayed there and caused quite a stir in the neighborhood when she was caught skinny-dipping in the hotel pool with a female companion. Her picture still hangs over the front desk. Chez Hope, like most non-profits these days, is run on a shoestring budget. It begs for and receives donations, mostly from the community, to supplement a meager grant from the state. USB short term volunteers tour on Wednesday mornings (Thursday this week, because of food distribution) and work in My Sister's Closet, a second hand clothing center for residents, since many of them escape with only the clothes on their backs. The front, all-purpose, meeting room is decorated for Mardi Gras. The Christmas tree, like most in the area, has been transformed into a vision of purple and gold, with beads, masks and netting covering it's branches. The Director loves hats, so there are bright, unique, donated hats everywhere. There are quilts for an upcoming raffle and t-shirts that say "Hands are Not for Hitting" for sale, an ongoing fundraiser. There are offices, an intake room, children's play room, kitchen and pantry with three freezers downstairs. Upstairs there are three emergency apartments with more in an adjacent building out back. The Shelter can accommodate thirty people, with support facilities close by. Sometimes Chez Hope is empty in the morning and full by midnight. As well as the apartments and My Sister's Closet in the adjacent building, there is a children's and teen center, full of bright-colored toys, games and craft projects and materials. Miss Ida is the children's advocate who staffs and watches over the children's program. She has a bright smile and contagious enthusiasm. Last week, USB volunteers found a brand new, donated air hockey game with broken legs lying unusable in the teen center. Some of our men and women devised a way to fix the legs, drove over to Chez Hope with the repaired parts, assembled and installed it. By nightfall, Miss Ida called to say the kids had already played their first games. USB: Serving the world and serving the community, a dynamite combination, aptly illustrated at Chez Hope.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Baldwin
In Louisiana, counties are called parishes. The town of Baldwin, 2,500 souls--give or take, is in St. Mary's Parish. St. Mary's Parish is, arguably, the poorest parish in Louisiana. The population of Baldwin is about 65% African American, 32% White, with a few Latinos, Asians and Others. The Latinos came when Katrina and Rita hit and there was a groundswell of need to fill jobs in (re)construction. Even after the official demise of designated prayer in the schools, prayers are said before football games and assemblies. "Separate but equal" may be legally over, but in St. Mary's Parish the white kids attend private (mostly Catholic) schools and the African American kids attend public schools. Baldwin is about ninety miles west of New Orleans in southern LA. It is 1.1 miles square and bumps up on Bayou Teche. It has one stoplight. Besides the stoplight, downtown Baldwin consists of a post office, city hall, public library, police department, drugstore, seedy bar, a couple gas stations/convenience stores, Asian foodmart, Breaux Foodland (Mr. Breaux is also the town mayor), Dollar Store, Lovely Nails, Le Jolie Dame Beauty Parlor (in a private home), Justice of the Peace/Notary (also in a home) and a few other odds and ends. Beautiful live oaks, their branches dripping with moss, languish in front yards between the main drag and the Bayou. Trains pass a couple blocks from downtown at all hours; some speedy, some plodding, some with mighty whistles, some melancholy, all going clickety-clack in some sort of reassuring rhythm. The late afternoon pick-up basketball game, held on a cement court and recycling center area next door to my apartment building, which the town rents from Sager Brown for one dollar a year, has just begun again, to break up around dark. It is interesting to be in Baldwin, busy or not.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Week One
Yesterday, the group from Kansas left to return home. The two Minnesota groups are staying one more week and will be joined by yet another group from Minnesota. The MN folks drive here and they like to get maximal return on their mileage.
Highlights from my first week include:
Monday--My first Vespers' planning meeting with two representatives from each group during dinner. Every one said yes to each dispensed responsibility. A remarkable pianist and choir director appeared to handle music, as well as two clergy members to handle Communion. The hymns were lined up and the Order of Worship explained. A MN volunteer agreed to do the Meditation. I was left with pencils, hymnals, suggestion books and remnants of supper strewn asunder at the conclusion as people in excited discussion went their merry way. It was energizing!
Tuesday--As one of my tasks is to do outreach in the community, I took interested volunteers to Mickey Mouse Head Start here in Baldwin. I had been told by the director we would be working with two twenty-student classes of three to five-year olds. Upon our arrival, the Center was so quiet, we thought the children were elsewhere. Then the Director appeared and
we were parceled out to classrooms. Marjie from MN hadn't been sure what she was going to do
until a three-year old African American little girl came over and took her hand and led her
into a classroom. Problem solved.
Wednesday--It was tour and work day at Chez Hope, the domestic violence shelter for women and
children in Franklin, next door to Baldwin. Chez Hope deserves a post all it's own, so suffice
it to say we had an informative, hope-filled morning.
Thursday--On this, the second anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti (to which UMCOR Sager
Brown fulfilled it's promise of aid), our volunteers in the community spent their morning
assisting teachers in first-grade classrooms at Raintree Elementary School, except for Marilyn from (you guessed it!) MN who taught a fourth grade class a lesson in American Sign Language. In the evening, Lloyd from MN did a Meditation on "Pebble in a Pond" and spoke about how we never know where our ripples will end.
Friday--With many newly-packaged and boxed kits ready to leave the Depot to help a world in need, neighborhood housing repairs in progress and community volunteer experiences fresh in our minds, it was time to bid a fond farewell to some. New folks arrive on Sunday and we will again begin to be busy in Baldwin.
Highlights from my first week include:
Monday--My first Vespers' planning meeting with two representatives from each group during dinner. Every one said yes to each dispensed responsibility. A remarkable pianist and choir director appeared to handle music, as well as two clergy members to handle Communion. The hymns were lined up and the Order of Worship explained. A MN volunteer agreed to do the Meditation. I was left with pencils, hymnals, suggestion books and remnants of supper strewn asunder at the conclusion as people in excited discussion went their merry way. It was energizing!
Tuesday--As one of my tasks is to do outreach in the community, I took interested volunteers to Mickey Mouse Head Start here in Baldwin. I had been told by the director we would be working with two twenty-student classes of three to five-year olds. Upon our arrival, the Center was so quiet, we thought the children were elsewhere. Then the Director appeared and
we were parceled out to classrooms. Marjie from MN hadn't been sure what she was going to do
until a three-year old African American little girl came over and took her hand and led her
into a classroom. Problem solved.
Wednesday--It was tour and work day at Chez Hope, the domestic violence shelter for women and
children in Franklin, next door to Baldwin. Chez Hope deserves a post all it's own, so suffice
it to say we had an informative, hope-filled morning.
Thursday--On this, the second anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti (to which UMCOR Sager
Brown fulfilled it's promise of aid), our volunteers in the community spent their morning
assisting teachers in first-grade classrooms at Raintree Elementary School, except for Marilyn from (you guessed it!) MN who taught a fourth grade class a lesson in American Sign Language. In the evening, Lloyd from MN did a Meditation on "Pebble in a Pond" and spoke about how we never know where our ripples will end.
Friday--With many newly-packaged and boxed kits ready to leave the Depot to help a world in need, neighborhood housing repairs in progress and community volunteer experiences fresh in our minds, it was time to bid a fond farewell to some. New folks arrive on Sunday and we will again begin to be busy in Baldwin.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Church
Tiptoeing into the sanctuary just past 8:30, I was embarrassed I was late and afraid I had missed the sermon. I had been told the service started at 9:00 am, and since the Church is just across the street from Sager Brown, thought I had plenty of time to walk over. Noticing the small parking lot was full of cars, I looked again at the marquee which just yesterday had proclaimed, "Jesus is the Reason for the Season". Now it read, "Sunday Service - 8 am".
A lovely matriarch of the congregation greeted me discreetly and made sure I had a bulletin. I was just in time for the "Alter Call" with "The Word of God" still to come. I have rarely participated in an altar call, but here it seemed the most natural thing to do. I found myself kneeling between two fervent women and prayed for a positive, productive volunteer experience and opportunity to be in service. All the while, the congregation was singing, "Thank You, Lord.". Then a substantial female congregant came to the lectern to lead us in prayer. She could have been speaking in tongues her pleas were so earnest, and frequently punctuated by others adding, "Yes, yes Lord" and "We need you, Jesus". She didn't stop praying until she circled the sanctuary, arms raised in supplication, and sat back in her pew.
The hymn of preparation was "Shake the Devil Off", with the youth choir leading the hand motions and all participating in the joy. The pastor preached on the saving grace of baptism, supported by Scripture and personal testimonial. Everyone greeted everyone enthusiastically
as we sang yet again and the offering was taken. January birthdays were celebrated with
cupcakes and candles. A "Pastor's Wheel of Blessing", a sort of hybrid "Wheel of Fortune",
was conducted with a young lady having lucky bulletin #36 winning a spin of the wheel for a
Bible Story book, then we slowly made our way back out into the world to the strains of "Amen" as our benediction. It was 10 am. I get to attend church in Baldwin five more Sundays. I'm in heaven.
A lovely matriarch of the congregation greeted me discreetly and made sure I had a bulletin. I was just in time for the "Alter Call" with "The Word of God" still to come. I have rarely participated in an altar call, but here it seemed the most natural thing to do. I found myself kneeling between two fervent women and prayed for a positive, productive volunteer experience and opportunity to be in service. All the while, the congregation was singing, "Thank You, Lord.". Then a substantial female congregant came to the lectern to lead us in prayer. She could have been speaking in tongues her pleas were so earnest, and frequently punctuated by others adding, "Yes, yes Lord" and "We need you, Jesus". She didn't stop praying until she circled the sanctuary, arms raised in supplication, and sat back in her pew.
The hymn of preparation was "Shake the Devil Off", with the youth choir leading the hand motions and all participating in the joy. The pastor preached on the saving grace of baptism, supported by Scripture and personal testimonial. Everyone greeted everyone enthusiastically
as we sang yet again and the offering was taken. January birthdays were celebrated with
cupcakes and candles. A "Pastor's Wheel of Blessing", a sort of hybrid "Wheel of Fortune",
was conducted with a young lady having lucky bulletin #36 winning a spin of the wheel for a
Bible Story book, then we slowly made our way back out into the world to the strains of "Amen" as our benediction. It was 10 am. I get to attend church in Baldwin five more Sundays. I'm in heaven.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Day One
The beauty of the moon over Bayou Teche was amazingly matched by the glorious sunset over the Gulf of Mexico. Satisfactorily settled into a cute, little apartment on the UMCOR Sager Brown Campus in the tiny town of Baldwin, LA, I set about learning the lay of the place today and how I might most effectively justify my space in it. Sager Brown serves as the location of support services for a Depot which sends relief supplies all over the world. Short term volunteers, primarily from United Methodist Churches in the Midwestern and Southern sections of the Country, contract to serve a Sunday-Friday term each week. Mostly they work in the Depot assembling relief kits (health, school, layette, birthing), but some choose to do outreach in the community as well. I am a long term volunteer (two months, in my case), working in Outreach. I help liaison between the short term volunteers and the community, which includes working at a local Head Start program, elementary school and a domestic violence shelter for women and children. I also coordinate a weekly Vespers Service and assist in the Outreach Office signing folks up for food aid and home repair. It's good stuff and I'm surrounded by a wonderful, nurturing, professional staff and several other long term volunteers.
Joys of the day include: The efficiency of mass, rapid transit; Squirrels on the grounds; Trains speeding by on local tracks with all their satisfactory sounds; My first food aid sign-up; Southern accents and being called Miss Karen. It is an exciting new challenge to be busy in Baldwin.
Joys of the day include: The efficiency of mass, rapid transit; Squirrels on the grounds; Trains speeding by on local tracks with all their satisfactory sounds; My first food aid sign-up; Southern accents and being called Miss Karen. It is an exciting new challenge to be busy in Baldwin.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Ready or Not
It seemed so simple ten months ago, when I was asked to do a long-term volunteer stint at the UMCOR (United Methodist Committee On Relief)
Sager Brown Depot campus in Baldwin, Louisiana. Now the privilege is less than twenty-four hours away and I am both excited and overwhelmed. I hope to serve well. I hope to be a positive, helpful advocate for the
short-term volunteers, the people of Baldwin and everyone my life touches during the next two months. I hope to represent my church, my family and my friends--my support system--honorably as I seek to be an outreach liaison between the volunteers and the community. I hope to remember my smile. I hope to learn a lot and to be busy in Baldwin. May it be so.
Sager Brown Depot campus in Baldwin, Louisiana. Now the privilege is less than twenty-four hours away and I am both excited and overwhelmed. I hope to serve well. I hope to be a positive, helpful advocate for the
short-term volunteers, the people of Baldwin and everyone my life touches during the next two months. I hope to represent my church, my family and my friends--my support system--honorably as I seek to be an outreach liaison between the volunteers and the community. I hope to remember my smile. I hope to learn a lot and to be busy in Baldwin. May it be so.
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