A Six Foot Dove Mobile, An Oversized Foam Cowboy Hat, and Three Month Old Animal Poo!

So a lot of you have been asking what exactly I do at my new job....well, the title of this blog says it all! I am having a great time here at Koinonia doing just about anything and everything the camp needs done. So.....

A Six Foot Dove Mobile. This past week we had two former counselors (as in early 80's counselors) come in to hang a six foot mobile of a dove in one of our outdoor chapels. Unfortunately it was a pretty dreary and rainy week and so when it came time to hang the steel wire from the trees where it comes down from, Eric (the artist) was sitting 35 feet up in a tree (the very wet and slippery tree) whilst trying to cinch things, etc. We had him hooked up to some climbing rope and apparatii (it should be apparatuses, but I like apparatii better!), but it definitely wasn't regulation per se. The dove is great, and what is even greater is that its' creator didn't fall out of a tree in its' making!

An Oversized Foam Cowboy Hat...is a prize I won at the Tri-State ACA (American Camping Association) conference we went to in Atlantic City! I went to some great sessions (and some pretty crappy ones too!), ate a lot of free ice cream (got to love exhibit halls), and realized that if I never went back to Atlantic City again, I would be very okay with that. Let's put it this way, if you are someone who can stay in a hotel/casino, walk the boardwalk a few times, pay HUGE amounts of money for food, and ignore the rest of AC (which is a rather impoverished city), than you would have a great time! To me, it just feels like they ruined perfectly good ocean-front! But it was a nice break from camp and a good chance to get to know my co-workers a bit better. :)

And Finally....Three Month Old Animal Poo. This past week I cleaned out the barn. The animals left in December. It is now late March. Hmmmm. Let's put it this way, at least it's nice and cold in those three particular months otherwise the poo could have been a lot ickier to shovel off the ground! Koinonia has a farm (goats, pigs, sheep, chickens only....they used to have cows but they got really good at escaping!) that operates from about April until December. A farmer comes and brings us younger animals which we feed and raise until he takes them back in December. After asking a few of my fellow co-workers, no one is really sure EXACTLY why we have said animals, but I think it's kind of nice. (I probably won't be thinking that as much when the animals come back and we have to start doing farm chores in the morning!) I have one dilemma though...there are also chickens. I will have to feed said chickens...for anyone who knows me or has seen me react when a bird gets to close, you understand the problem. Although someone mentioned that there are plenty of things around here that would eat chickens...maybe if I just "happened" to leave the coop open.......

So, those are just a few of my Koinonia adventures thus far. As for what I do the rest of the time, in the past few weeks I have planned a 3-6th grade retreat, helped turn over the conference center (read: made a LOT of beds), washed many a dish, played broomball with high-school students on our frozen pond, only fallen once (which is pretty good for how crazy icy it is!), helped prepare a 4,000 piece mailing, split wood (thank God not by hand), hosted retreating groups on camp during the weekends, and the list goes on....

As per the saving of the world (which of course always continues)...I'm going with the farm theme. We shall take a trip to "God's global barnyard..."

http://www.elca.org/hunger/stories/barnyard.html#top

I think I'll leave this one a mystery...go check it out!!!

Peace to you all...and HAPPY EASTER.

P.S. If you have any good strategies for dealing with rattlesnakes or black bears let me know....apparently I'm going to need them!

I'm here and I'm gone...

So I've been at Koinonia for a whopping two weeks and have been rather neglectful of this blog. Apologies! Be assured that it is because I have been unpacking, quite busy, and having a great time! I've already worked with a few youth groups who have been retreating here, survived my first quilters retreat (ok, I loved them!), and am currently planning a "Smore's and More" weekend (an intro to camp type weekend for 3rd-6th graders. Tomorrow morning we all leave for Atlantic City for a tri-state ACA (American Camping Association) conference until Saturday, which should be great fun and a great way to get to know my co-workers (and roommates) even better.

I sent out an e-mail with my new address and phone number (Verizon is basically the only phone that works up here so I had to switch)...if for some reason you didn't get it, shoot me an e-mail and I'll send it to you, because I am certainly not posting that type of info for the world to see :)

There shall be many more stories to come as well as other details about the wonderful-ness of life out here in Highland Lake...did I mention we have an entire lake within our property?...yup, it's OUR lake!


Don't forget to keep saving the world...

Saving the world, one new job at a time!

Hello Hello and welcome to my blog....a place where you can catch up on the crazy happenings of Steph's life and also save the world! Yes...I have decided that I will no longer be bashful about this...I want to save the world, and plan on doing so. Obviously, however, I cannot do it myself, and would greatly appreciate help ("ahem, cough cough" that means you).

So first, the title of this blog. Anyone who knows me from Wartburg or knows of my activities at Wartburg knows that if you mention coffee or chocolate, my first question will be "Is it fair trade?? Is it fair trade??" Why am I so insistent? Well, I think ideas like fair trade products and microloans (more on that in a later post) are the kinds of ideas that make great strides in saving the world. The basic idea behind fair trade is that the farmers who are providing food and drink (coffee and chocolate are only the beginning!) should receive fair compensation for their product and their work. Fair trade is not about a "handout", it is simply about a fair exchange of money for goods and labor. The process also cuts out a lot of the middlemen (or middlepeople!), meaning a fair price for the consumer as well (that's you and me, yay!). This pretty little picture from the Equal Exchange website really makes that clear! For more info check out their website...www.equalexchange.com.

And of course, the new job! As soon as some paperwork and reference formalities are taken care of I am moving to New York. Highland Lake, NY to be specific. I will be a part of the "Servant Community Leaders" program at Koinonia Lutheran Camp with other post-college young adults. The program offers a plethora (look at how I manage to get one of my favorite words into my first post) of ministry opportunities. Obviously, there will be outdoor ministry involved, but I will also be working with congregations in the area, social organizations in NYC, and the many inter-generational retreats and programs that happen at camp throughout the year. So what will I actually be doing? YES would be the catch-all answer. Everything from cleaning bathrooms (and other such upkeep on the site itself) to working with a youth group in the Bronx once a week to leading worship on site to setting up ministry opportunities in NYC for church groups who want to do service there. Once I arrive, the team will work together to find where specific people's gifts could best be used, but I can be guaranteed a great variety within the 18 months or so I will be there. Speaking of 18 months...it is a program that is designed to move us out into something new. My something new will likely be something old (as in, I will return to seminary to finish my studies), but for now I am incredibly excited for the opportunity to be exposed to and get some experience in many different types of ministry. Oh, and y'all can come visit whenever you want (it's only 2 hours from NYC)!
Peace,
Steph

P.S. I have set up this blog so you DO NOT have to have a Google account to post replies and comments and whatnot...so comment away!