And we're still here!!

June 23, 2006

Yes, it’s Friday morning, and we’re still in Birmingham! Claire’s car spent the night at the Volvo Dealership, and we spent the night at the Sheraton. Hopefully, we’ll be on the road this afternoon.

General Assembly ended on a high note yesterday afternoon with worship and the final business meeting. The worship service Thursday morning was our favorite and the sermon and prayer will be available on http://www.pcusa.org. The speaker is an inquirer in Southern Louisiana and spent last year as a Young Adult Volunteer in Guatemala. She focused on the importance of mission in the life and work of our church. It was neat for Claire to be able to picture scenes from her Spring Break trip to Guatemala during the sermon. The prayer after the sermon was written by middle-schoolers at a conference last week and read by one of their counselors.

We did so much business this week that it would be impossible to recount it all here. If you are interested in a particular subject, please ask us or see the website (listed above). Instead, we’d prefer to concentrate on other highlights of the trip.

For instance, we had a true sense that it was always the work of God that was being done here. Despite the controversial nature of some of the issues before us, God was always present and we could all feel the love of God while we were doing the work of the church. When things got heated, we stopped to sing a hymn or pray together, often joining hands to remind ourselves of the real reason for being here.

It really is amazing that so many people with such diverse perspectives can live together for over a week and manage to still love God, each other, and the church after such an experience.

The worship services were awesome, especially the opening worship on Sunday with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America. The exhibit hall was fun too, and full of resources and goodies like a jump rope for Anna. Donna is coming home with lots of new ideas!

We appreciate the opportunity to represent our church and presbytery by being here. Thank you all for your love and support!

Hopefully, we’ll be home later this afternoon! Don’t forget that Vacation Bible School starts Sunday, and we will see you all there!

Donna, Claire, and Anna

And I'm Here!

Hi from Birmingham!

I arrived yesterday afternoon, went to my hotel to pick up my registration packet, and then straight to my committee meeting at the Convention Center. Kerra, you'll be happy to know that the YADs do at least have a hotel. Though our key cards don't work most of the time, we are grateful that we are not staying in dorm rooms that haven't been cleaned from the previous school year.

For those of you who don't know, I'm on the Ecclesiology Committee (number 6), and we're dealing with the infamous Peace, Unity, and Purity Report. Because of the controversial nature of the business before my committee, we began meeting early (most other committees meet for the first time tomorrow). So, I missed the YAD orientation yesterday, but I hear that I'm probably better off that way anyway. We started yesterday with some group building exercises. Then, we broke for dinner where I ran into my friend from Vanderbilt Shane's Dad (Mike Magee), who is a commissioner from Middle Tennessee and Roger Marriot, a missionary in Guatemala who spoke to my Presbyterian Student Fellowship group at Vandy. I love that the PC(USA) is such a small world! We approved the committee agenda with some discussion as to what a Quasi Committee of the Whole is (I'm sure you can all bust out the Robert's Rules as many of my committee members did).

Today, we had more YAD orientation, which I got to go to. I've met some terrific people already. This afternoon was the first plenary meeting, and tonight we got into the "good stuff," the election of the moderator. Joan Grey, a minister from the Atlanta Presbytery won. To be honest, she was my second choice, but I really think she'll do a great job.

I appreciate all the love and support you are all sending my way. I get teary-eyed just thinking about my wonderful church family at home. I just hope I can live up to your expectations!

It's 12:30 and just about bedtime; we start early tomorrow morning with a breakfast and then committee meetings!

Claire

Steadfast

Today has fostered a multitude of emotions. Help me be steadfast, God.

Today, as we traveled to the work site along the coastline, I was struck yet again by the magnitude of what I was seeing, hearing, and feeling. When something so big and horrific has devastated these people in such a thorough way, how can a person as small as me do anything of importance? To my right was a peaceful, serene stretch of ocean, a sight which always humbles me, while on my other side was one of the most moving and ghastly spectacles I have ever seen. I often pride myself on being well-traveled and “wise” in the ways of world poverty and devastation. As I have come to think, I’ve done my fair share of poverty tourism and seen the worst of the worst. Driving to Biloxi, however, floored me. This, I had to remind myself, is America. This is not a third world country, yet it is the most humbling and heart-jerking scene I have ever seen. Drew, the driver of my Tahoe transportation, pulled over near a particularly trashed creek and we tentatively stepped out into a full-blown war zone.

I walked with trepidation through the wreckage of someone’s home, carefully trying to avoid the broken china and glass that was scattered across what was formerly a beautiful beachfront backyard. As I walked toward the destroyed brick house, I saw an amalgamation of stuffed animals, clothes, and household appliances littering the lawn. The side of the house had a spray-painted X, a symbol I had seen previously on many houses and buildings in St. Bernard Parish. The X on each building signifies that it has been searched for bodies, and the number in the X signifies the number of bodies found in each building. Seeing this spray-painted X with the number one on the side of what I’m sure used to be a well-loved and beautiful house struck me in a way nothing else had.

After absorbing the destruction as best as could be done in a time span of ten minutes, we reloaded the Tahoe and went on to the work site: Sylvia’s house. Sylvia is one of the sweetest women I have ever met. Yesterday, after seeking a listening ear and finding one in me, she told me about the hurricane. She, her husband, and her son were on her front porch when Katrina hit and she described the acute fear she felt as she heard and saw the storm approaching. She told me how a wall of water from the sea came from the left, while from the right came a wall of water from the bay, and she watched as the two walls met and exploded in front of her house. She doesn’t know how to swim and told me that she has never known a fear as terrifying as when the water began creeping up her body at a steady pace. I talked with her for a few minutes, and she gave me a cursory tour of her trailer, welcoming all of us to “borrow” her facilities at any time. After talking to her about her experience and discovering her undaunted optimism, I realized that even though her house had been destroyed, her home was still within her. Her home was the community, not just confined to the four walls of her house. She also articulated that everything had been put into perspective; her possessions were not as important as her family and community and faith.

The unflagging generosity of Sylvia and her husband astounded me. We arrived each day expecting nothing in return for our efforts, yet Sylvia and her husband provided us with clean bathroom facilities (thank goodness!), cookies, chips, cold drinks, and a ready smile. Sylvia even bought a mechanical back massager and worked on our tight muscles during the lunch break. Our work crew from Tennessee and Canada was there to help them, to fix them, yet Sylvia was the one fixing us. She taught me about optimism. She taught me about compassion. She taught me about hope and generosity and faith. She seemed to be the one healing us, but we’re not the broken ones… are we?

Help me be steadfast, God.

- Sarah