Six Weeks In…

I should have done this blog a long time ago but I have been busy (which is a good thing). There have been many challenges and also many real enjoyable times.  I will try to post more often about other events but here is what a typical week looks like so far. My placement this year is at Ferncliff Camp working with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA). Ferncliff is home to one of two Disaster Assistant Centers (DAC). I spend most of my time either working in the DAC or doing stuff for the DAC. 

Picture 1: The Three Little Rock YAVS. From right to left Alex, Molly and I.

A typical week

Sunday: Church at Second Presbyterian Church of Little Rock (Will have a blog all about my experience here later) I also try to make it to their youth group activities at night to help out with junior and senior high.

Picture 2 Heather, the Youth Director at 2nd Presbyterian, and I both supporting our Iowa Colleges

Monday: Work at Ferncliff and in the DAC. Volleyball at 2^nd Presbyterian at night.

Tuesday: Work at Ferncliff

Wednesday: Work at Ferncliff during the day. On Wednesday three men come out to volunteer. This really helps me out because a lot of tasks require extra hands.

Thursday: Work at Ferncliff part of the day. I have also gone to disaster cleanup meetings which I talk about below.

Friday: Community days. This is when our group goes out into the community and volunteers at a nonprofit or learns about different ways to serve. (I will post more about these at a future date as well)

Saturdays: This is a free day for us but I have never used it to sit at home all day. I will also try and post about some of the fun things I have been doing.

Picture 3: Me leading a group of senior high youth from 2nd Pres. in Little Rock

In this blogpost I want to talk about what I do the days I am at camp. There is no typical day here at Ferncliff or the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance Center (DAC) but most of my job responsibilities lay under three categories.

1.       Working in the DAC to make sure everything is organized and making sure boxes that get sent into us are receipted and put into the right places. Many churches make boxes as a mission outreach read this website to find out more about these boxes http://pda.pcusa.org/page/kits/. I also am in charge of leading groups that come into the DAC to sort through boxes and/or make kits.

2.       I am also in charge of the Ferncliff Mission Team’s program. For this program we partner with local organizations. Groups will come in and spend time volunteering at the DAC and then they go to local organizations to volunteer. Here is some more about the program http://www.ferncliff.org/programs/mission-teams/.

3.       I am also coming up with program ideas for the DAC. I am currently working on a disaster simulation experience that will try and help people empathize with those affected by disasters.

Along with these responsibilities I have also been a part of two disaster rebuilding meetings. These two meetings took place in Mayflower, Arkansas which was hit by a tornado this spring. This meeting brought together several different Christian organizations. It was cool to see all of these organizations from many different denominations come together and work so well to rebuild these areas that were devastated by tornados. Many of these organizations have assets that when used with other organizations assets can really speed up the rate of rebuilding than if one organization tried to do it alone.

In the coming weeks my fellow Little Rock YAVS and I are going to New York and New Jersey to help with Hurricane Sandy Relief with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance. I will make sure to update my blog with stories and pictures from this trip. I probably won’t be able to post anything until then unfortunately. Feel free to ask questions or to leave support just post in the comments section.