Koinonia Farm

Because the Greyhound doesn’t go to Americus, I had to hitchhike a little bit to get to Koinonia from Cordelle, which is about a half hour away. That ended up being pretty cool as I got to see a Habitat for Humanity Poverty Exhibit. They have built a little neighborhood of poverty housing, and then after you can see the houses that Habitat builds for different countries around the world.

After that I got my second ride of the day which took me all the way to the farm. I got settled in at the guest housing above the dining hall and looked around a little bit. Koinonia has pigs, goats, chickens, geese, ducks, a vegetable garden, pecans, grapes and I’m sure a lot more that I’m forgetting or don’t know about. A couple massive sows are taking care of a large bunch of piglets right now and that was fun to see. The geese hissed at me. Litterally. I have never seen a bird hiss like that. It stuck its tounge out as if it were a snake. And I’d prefer a snake. While a few hissed at me, the others tried to bite at me through the fence. Dorthy Maguire’s character in friendly persuasion is crazy. Geese are not pets – they are evil. I passed out at six for a short nap and didn’t wake up until 8:30 the next morning. I hadn’t got much sleep that day.

Chuck and Faith took me to a little Mennonite Church in Americus. They don’t have a pastor right now so they have guest deliver the sermons. This guy that preached drove four hours that morning to speak. He talked about Jesus and the young rich man. After that we came back to the farm where I hung out for a while until potluck dinner. This is a thing they do every Sunday. People around the farm bring random stuff for dinner and someone shares a devotion and there’s a little worship.

Monday I had to wake up for Chapel, where there’s another devotion, and then check-in. That would have been where Brendan would have assigned me something, but he was very busy with the new interns, so I helped Nashua with a project he is working on with the homeschoolers in the wood shop. It was basically screwing random blocks of wood into a shelf to make a decorative shoe rack. That was pretty fun. I haven’t messed around in a shop before in a long time. It makes me remember how much I like wood. After lunch I finally got to do some grape vine pruning. There is nothing more satisfying than taking a overgrown plant, that wants nothing more than to swallow you whole, into a healthy, linear, soon-to-be fruitful crop. After work was done a group of us went down to a local bar for some pool and poker. I did alright on poker, but I didn’t make it to the final round. Pool is a different story. There is no hope for me there. The interns seem to know how to have a good time.

Another interesting part of my stay was learning about the history of Koinonia. Clarence Jordan started it as a farm where blacks and whites could work along side each other. No one paid them much mind until the civil rights movement. At that time Koinonia turned from a kooky-christian-peaceful-farming-community into a evil-communist-chaotic-briar. There was a boycott in Americus toward Koinonia. Anyone who bought or sold to them had better watch out. A place in town that sold them some supplies got a bomb through their window. Kids at Koinonia dodged bullets. Teens who lived there and went to high school were ostracized and bullied. The KKK walked up to their door and named a price to buy the farm so that they’d leave. They stood their ground. But even today some locals still harbor prejudice toward the small farm, and some historians say Americus was as much as a battlefront for the Civil Rights Movement as Selma, Alabama – CRAZY.

Nashville, TN

Once again… I AM SO SORRY FOR THE LACK OF PICTURES!!!

So i stayed the last two nights in Nashville, Tennessee. As I browsed couch surfers trying to find someone new to befriend I came across Josh Corlew’s profile. He seemed harmless and as it was, he a member of an intentional community. I know quite a bit of those and what would be a better way to start off my couch surfing experience than with a group full of eco-friendly, earth loving people. 🙂 Not to be stereotypical or anything… But Josh and Co. was way better than I could have expected. Josh was just pulling into the station as I stepped off the bus and immediately we drove Jason’s house for community dinner. I met everyone. Brent, Dan, Amanda, Amber, Jason, Stephanie, and their five kids. It was incredible. After a delicious dinner of Corn casserole and a mixed bean soup, I got to play my first game of Settlers of Catan. Unfortunately, I lost. But I did hold my own amongst experienced players. I then found out that Dan, has been on Oprah. I was in the presence of fame. You’d never guess why. DUMPSTER DIVING. Now he’s pretty humble about the whole experience, and I’m not sure he’d even be comfortable with me writing about it on this blog. So Dan if you read this… I’m sorry if I’ve crossed a border. Just let me know and I can take this off immediately? And fellow readers… just don’t spread the word to much… haha. The next day could have been, literally, the best day of my trip so far. It started off attending lunch with Josh, Dan and Brent. There i found out that Brent… plays ultimate frisbee!! So he attempted to get a group of friends together so that we could play a game. Unfortunately, only one person could join us. So we tossed the frisbee around in a near by field with one of Brent’s friend’s, Michael. Both of them were better players than me but it was still a joy to be tossing a frisbee around again.  Brent was in the mood for a bike ride and seeing as the day was ABSOLUTELY beautiful, Michael and I had to join. We biked downtown which is only about a mile away. Nashville is a lot more hilly when riding a bike. I think it was the first time i’ve taken like a real bike ride. He and Michael showed me all around downtown. The monuments, the farmers market, and this incredible little circle of pillars where you voice is magnified through speakers. Very cool. The three of us had a great little conversation and then headed to Michael’s house. They have some african american boys that live across the street who met us practically as soon as we arrived. I met his roommate Brian and the four of us hung out, rode bikes, scooters, threw frisbee, and tossed the boys around in the yard for what seemed like hours. I never wanted it to end, but unfortunately it was getting late and Brent and I had to return home. We had homemade pizza for diner and then went to Jason’s house for prayer. We worshipped with songs of Taize. It was an incredible experience. Jason played guitar, Brent played djembe, and the rest of us joined them in singing. Dan read scripture in between songs and then their was silence. I haven’t felt the spirit like i did that night in a long time. Thank you Jason and Brent and Dan and Amanda and Stephanie (and Jeremy too of coarse). I woke up this morning and spent most of my day processing and thinking about my experiences in Nashville and couldn’t help but to just be thankful to God for creating such an awesome experience for me. After another community dinner I said my fair-wells. As hard as it was for my soul to leave such a great place, it was time. I hope to return for a visit in the future. but only if they have their solar powered windmill. Until then… thank you Josh and Co. It was nothing but a pleasure and blessing.

Open Door Community

I walked from the Greyhound Station because I dropped into Atlanta on the night of Open Door’s Mardi Gras celebration, and, until I called Johnny and told him I was coming, they weren’t expecting me that soon.  I got to have some left over gumbo while the party crew, dressed up as clowns and women, did the hokey-pokey. After that I met some folks and got invited to the Ash Wednesday Service the next morning. I wrestled myself out of bed for the 6:30 service, only to go back to bed until soup kitchen circle. First Dick talked about Ash Wednesday, we prayed and then we ate.  I was assigned to help Winston in the kitchen, putting away dishes as folks piled in to get some soup. I nearly burned my hands off multiple times. I now hate commercial dishwashers.

A group of women make dinner on Wednesday’s once a month, so I got to eat like a king for dinner that night. After dinner is Medical Clinic, (where doctors, nurses and medical students can come and offer their service and advice to folks off the street), and foot clinic, (where nurses or nurse students or anybody come and give pedicures to folks off the street. I got to help sterilize the equipment for the foot clinic.

Thursday morning circle is at 9:45 so I got up earlier than I wanted for the second day in a row, (and I didn’t get to go back to sleep this time). Nelia about the Transfiguration. Today I was a server, so I would give people napkins and make sure there was grits and coffee on the table. After that we ate and had a discussion about seeing and listening to God, which lead to discussions about other countries and resisting the empire.

Then I had to pack, (while talking to my mommy on the phone), to go to Day Spring (Open Door’s Retreat Spot) to with Johnny, Edward, Marshal and Logan. We crammed into Clifford (A little red pick-up) and drove about two hours north. Day Spring is about 20 acres, complete with a house, a barn and a swamp shed. Marshal and I worked on the dam they’re building to create the swamp, while Johnny and Logan poured the concrete for the ramp to the swamp shed deck. Edward was out and about, in the office and making runs to buy concrete. I got some blisters from shoveling clay and taking it by “Hwheel barruh” to the dam to be spread over compost. It was a fun day of working. Of course, I was last to get out there and help around 11. Marhsal had been working since 7, and Logan and Johnny made it out around 9. So it was a fun half day of working. Then we went out to eat dinner at a local Chinese restaurant where I had some of the best mushu I have ever had, courtesy of Edward. Marshal got a few stares from the somewhat confederate population of Elljay, but it didn’t stop us from having a good time.

Johnny, Logan and I drove back after dinner to Open Door and I left for Koinonia the next morning. Open Door was the biggest Catholic Worker I have ever been to, but full of beautiful people just as the rest of them were. They are committed to serving the poor and the needy as they are able, (and they ARE able, they sometimes get so many donations that they are able to REdonate things elsewhere, like white bread sandwhiches, which they don’t serve), and activism concerning capital punishment, racism, sexism and heterosexism. This makes them a bunch of loving, passionate, beautiful people which were a pleasure to spend a few days with.

Nomad Supply

Ironically, Nomad Supply, found on the Community of Communities website, is not a community. A great guy name Beau started a ministry with his wife Ashley of serving people who live out of their cars following bands. They handed out bibles and food for months at a time, with a couple weeks of break in between. As they met more and more artists and craftsman, they opened a store called Nomad Supply. It has transformed into a decent-sized fairtrade, eco-friendly store.

Jeremy picked us up at the greyhound station and took us to the Wolnsky’s for lunch. (He bought us Arby’s). The Wolnsky’s are a family of ten. They invite everyone over to their considerably large house to eat lunch after church at Shades Fellowship. It’s a BYOL thing. We got to meet a lot of the the folks who attend Shades there.

After that we hung out with Jeremy at his place until Emuna. (Also at Shades) It’s supposed to be an “alternative worship service”, but I’m pretty sure that’s just because the adults are too embarrassed to call it youth group.

Kellee and I got to stay with the Stalcup family, which includes Parke and her husband Jeff, and their FIVE boys, ranging from 4 to 11.  The evenings were filled with meaningful conversations with the Parke and Jeff, while the days were spent messing around with the kids. We even got to go to the zoo before I left.

Trevor and Kellee… Split??

So I know this whole explanation is a little late but just to catch you all up. I headed up to North Carolina while Trevor has continued visiting other communities for the last few days. I was just going up to visit a friend of mine, Blake. But I currently headed back to meet up with Trevor.

I have literally almost no battery left on my computer but I really felt I should post to say something. As i’ve been traveling, everyday I am astonished that some human beings can’t see pure goodness in people. I’d like to think that I am not blinded by goodness but rather that people stem from goodness and bad things happen to them making people believe that somehow people are bad. IT is quite possible that at this point in my life God is doing all he can to take care of me and I’d like to think that is true. What brought this thought up is as i have been sitting on the greyhound waiting to take off there was an older man, doesn’t look to clean, and doesn’t look to have a lot of money, I mean he is carrying a paper grocery bag full of food I suppose that will last him I don’t even know how long. I see him kind of look at me, and fumble through his bag a bit. And I suppose my impression of him could be wrong but he leans over and hands me a bottle of water just out of the kindness of his heart. I also could be exaggerating this story, making to big of a deal about it, but something in my heart tells me that people are real, and good, and my mind isn’t changing about that anytime soon. My favorite book I have ever read is called the Alchemist. It’s a really easy read and if you haven’t read it, I suggest you do. It’s by Paulo Coelho. I have a quote, and i’ll leave you with that.

“Listen to your heart. It knows all things, because it came from the Soul of the World, and it will one day return there.”

Common Ground Community

What struck me first about Common Ground was the simplicity. Action was bred out of genuine love. Charity was non-existent. That would imply they were handing out to “unfortunates.” The ministry there was spreading the wealth and blessings among friends who, for one reason or another, were having a rough time, just as a family supports those in need. There was no expectation, there was trace evangelism, and there was an overwhelming about of grace. They didn’t need a mission statement. The work of their hands and feet was merely the extension of Christ in their hearts. Common Ground started because they wanted to be a presence in one of the lower income neighborhoods in Shreveport. Cedar Grove is primarily black and very low income. When kids started showing up on their front step, they started tutoring. When hungry people became known, gardens were tended to and meals were prepared. (I’m not sure if this is literally how it went, but it feels as though it was.)

Kellee and I hung out with our new best friends Lomax, Chanel and Joey. They picked me up at the station and took me to visit the outdoor friends and went dumpster diving with Kellee and me. We stayed with the Ackermans (Beth, Charley and Wes) and their friend Carl. The first thing Beth told me when I got into her house was that to help myself to anything I could find, and to ask for what I couldn’t. From then on it was all food, origami, tye-dye and attacks from the meanest bird I have ever met, Merlon. Oh, and we learned lots about Mardi Gras from experts. (The Ackermans used to live in New Orleans) Did you know that it’s a religious holiday?

I also got to witness the beginnings of planning to develop the run-down church across the street into a community center. God basically put this church, conveniently located, into the palm of Common Ground’s hand. This will give them an opportunity to offer more of themselves, and possibly to a larger group of friends. The challenge is, however, how does a community as simple as Common Ground grow into a legal-proof operation? I’m glad you asked! With the help of their new addition, Ms. Lisa (Lawyer). And as well as that process is going, they still have the mountain of grants and budgets to climb, but I am sure God would not give them a building only for it to not work out.

I have learned so much from my week in Shreveport, and made many friends. Too many not to return. I look forward to that day.

The Vine House

I love the concept of making friends all over the country. Even if I discover nothing on this trip, which is impossible because I already feel like I’m learning and growing, it could have never been in vain because of all these new and great relationships I’ve formed. I say this because the Vine House is very young without a great history to expand on like many of the communities I’ve visited, but I do not consider my time spent here any less valuable because of the people I’ve met who live at the Vine House and attend San Antonio Mennonite. (And even people who don’t do either of those things).

The Vine House is a small group of six, five of which are in their mid-twenties. A group of four Trinity students started the Vine House after they graduated. They have since then invited three more people to live with them, one that didn’t work out and served as a learning experience. They have also experimented with having no leader, leader rotation, but now they just surrender to the tyranny of Elena. (Sarcasm).

I finally got some Texas weather down here, but I’m still holding a grudge. I just don’t get what this state has against me, but I did not come down here so I could see my breath and get soaked, I can do that in Spokane. But I did get to attend a real live Hootenanny, (which I contributed my voice to), have amazing tamales, and drink the best Bubble Tea of my life, so thank you for that Texas. (And Hannah, Dee, and Alex)

Today I visited the Catholic Worker here. I have never been to such a relational soup kitchen. The small size seems to have enabled the ability to create a trusting and chill environment. Everyone knew almost everyone we were serving except for me! I have never been to a soup kitchen where the workers knew the people they were serving by name in such a large percentage. It was a really cool experience. I was telling Jim how most of the time I’m always a little scared at soup kitchens, but that was not the case at San Antonio Catholic Worker. It was difficult to tell the workers from the people being served.

World Hunger Relief Farm

A good and new friend whom I met at Hope Fellowship during the common meal (He sat right next to me and Kellee) is Allan whose life has lead him all over the place. One of those places was the WHRF where he did and internship and even stayed a while longer. Allan graciously offered to give me a tour on Friday morning/afternoon. (How lucky was I to land myself with a guy who didn’t work the day I was there AND had spent so much time there?) We left the Bridgewater’s house around 10:30 and drove to the farm which is only seven or so miles away. We walked in to the Fair-trade Store/Kitchen/Office Building and met a few people and then the tour commenced. I took the liberty of copying the farm’s mission statement from their website so I didn’t screw it up.

• Train individuals in holistic ministry that equips them to work with communities in developing sustainable farming techniques
• Educate those with an economic abundance on methods of conserving and sharing resources
• Participate in local and international sustainable development programs

Nicaragua House/Living Quarters

So out of that, I know of a few of the things they do. One thing is the internship program, which people apply to and they take I think two of every three months. This is a program for people who are interested in some form of agricultural development in places around the world that need it most. The interns along with the volunteers, maintain the farm and learn how to implement solutions to hunger-related problems around the world. One of the things the interns have to do is called (I think) Live on the Other Side, or something close to that.

Lorena Stove/Kitchen

That is where they spend a night or so living with the limited resources that some underdeveloped countries like Nicaragua or the Dominican Republic. That takes place in the Nicaragua house. Different groups are assigned country, limited to their crop and livestock and have to harvest, kill, and cook their food. They even have to shower using the water run-off storage system.

Some of the interns have also traveled to other countries to build inexpensive and functionally maintainable wells. They cost about 70-100 dollars and are done with physical labor. Apparently many of the wells that most organizations build for communities break and are non functional after a given amount of time because no one knows how to fix them, but these are much easier to maintain and so inexpensive that a family can have their own and be solely responsible for it.

Allan utilizing his charm.

Unfortunately, the camera died before I could get a picture, so I’ll just give you guys one from the WFA (Water for All) Website. If you are curious about the technique or the project, here is the site: waterforallinternational.org/default.aspx.

Allan and I eventually ran into Brad who invited us to help him with the seemingly easy task of moving a few of the goats to a different section of the farm. It ended up being something more like chasing a fast dairy goat through spiky mesquite trees while simultaneously trying to see if they are the correct goat by the number on their collar, but it was crazy fun.

Brad and da lil kid.

Allan was a little bitter because he had to wrestle off Rasputin, the farm’s romantic buck, off of a goat that was not supposed to be impregnated. The smell was pretty bad though. He’s a nasty goat.After that I got to see the goats that weren’t afraid of me, which included a kid out in the pasture and two kids that had been born on Wednesday night.

Then we had a lunch with the whole crew, which included getting to listen in on their meal-time discussion. They are also a community and it was cool to overhear on how they communicate and function firsthand.

A great day.

Hope Fellowship

Kellee and I arrived in Waco around noon on Wednesday and walked to Nancy and Joe’s house, hoping Barbara lived there or whoever did live there knew where she was. Joe’s mom answered and directed us a block down to the Bridgewater’s House. Barbara was a little surprised, but instantly welcomed us in and introduced us to her daughters Hannah and Clare. Then halfway through lunch Philip came home and ate with us. They may be the coolest family I have ever met. All of them were witty and sharp, keeping Kellee and I on our toes while busting us up. It felt as if we were instant members of the family. But in addition to that invaluable gift, Barbara gave me a lot of information about Hope Fellowship and other communities she has been apart of as well. Some things that stand out about Hope Fellowship is that most family’s live in separate houses (most in close proximity to one another) and do not share income. They have a loosely united work spit between World Hunger Relief Farm and Habitat for Humanity. (Although, not everyone is invested in one of the two.) They are also fundamentally bilingual, and not out of necessity but out of desire. Barbara herself speaks pretty well and has passed that down to her daughters, but probably not Philip. This bilingual approach was evident at the common meal we were invited to later that night. Nearly every poster or bulletin on the wall included an English and Spanish translation. Both Spanish and English conversations were even present at most tables. It was like Kellee and I were back in Mrs. Weiler’s class. (Only no one yelled at us when we spoke English)

Thursday included a lot of quality time with the Bridgewater’s, especially the girls. The four of us played a card game called Fluxx, which of course I won. (Clare and Kellee also won a game each, but that’s not really important.) They are a blast. Then Kellee and I went to dinner at Nancy and Joe’s and focused our topic on the beginnings of Hope Fellowship. One thing that came up in that conversation is another thing that sets Hope Fellowship apart: the pastors (Joe and Fernando) do not receive a salary for that position and have jobs. Joe works for Habitat International and Fernando Works for Waco Habitat. Their philosophy is that God calls us all to different roles in the church and that pastors are not more important than the others, and also that the work should never fall on one individual, but should be divided throughout the community. I am continually surprised at how similar and united SMCs can be, while at the same time so diverse and unique. That has been one of my favorite parts about this trip.

Days 13 – 14 – 15

Well Trevor and I have had some great experiences already. Before we left Sacramento, Kevin took us to the bowling alley to watch Ryan, his son, bowl. And that was quite a culture shock. We were warned before we went that it was a bowling alley that mostly colored people bowled at but we did not fully grasp that until we walked in. Within five minutes Trevor whispered to me, “I’ve never felt like more of a minority.” Besides the three of us, I think there were maybe four other white people. It’s a totally different environment. It was an awesome experience. They were all really welcoming and definitely had a different kind of competitive edge. As we left we were told we had to come back and visit again. Something I positively want to do in the future. Anyways, the Greyhound has worked out really great so far although I do miss the environment of hitchhiking. We don’t meet people as easily and it’s just not the same type of interaction you get while your just out on the road. Anyways, our first ride was quite an experience. I swear everyone on that bus was tweaking. As we pulled into LA one guy yelled, “IT’S THE COPS!!” Everyone just turned and stared… there were no cops. But experiences like that just make memories and stories. After riding the Greyhound for nearly eighteen hours we arrived in the little town of Casa Grande. My Aunt Marilyn lives there and sure enough, as we pulled into the bus stop, her and Andy were there waiting for us. Andy is her dog, a shitzu, and boy was he a character.

Hello Andy!!

We stayed with Marilyn for the last couple days and it was a lot of fun. She made us spaghetti the night we arrived. Her and Marie Calendar baked us some apple pie for dessert. J The next day we visited the Casa Grande Ruins. It’s a national monument of an ancient civilization that lived in Arizona during 1600 BC. Trevor and I both found it really interesting. We learned about the way they lived and got to explore the area and buildings they lived in. It was REALLY cool. That night for dinner Trevor and I made Marilyn stir fry and peanut butter cookies. Not to brag or anything… but it turned out awesome. We’re now on our way to Waco, Texas. I’m actually writing this on the Greyhound. We boarded at ten o’ clock this morning and won’t be arriving in Waco until a little after eleven TOMORROW MORNING!! It’s one looooong bus ride, but it will be well worth it. We’re headed to a community called Hope Fellowship. It is one of the Shalom communities, a sister community of Church of the Sojourners. And that’s about it for now.