Re-vamp

Last year when I interned at Refugees International and now this summer at World Vision I walked into the internships thinking that they were going to change my life. I thought that they would be filled with wisdom, lots of interesting people, and jobs that were infused with passion. I was somewhat right. I met a lot of really interesting people at both of these organizations. So interesting in fact that today when I was going over my syllabus in Community Development that I realized we are reading a book from my boss and another book from one of the Advisory Councils. Crazy.

After my internship in D.C. I realized that working in the office was not for me. I remember taking Myers Briggs quite a few times and read bio's on what kind of jobs would work best for an ENFJ. It always came down to social worker, teacher, or event coordinator. 

Before working at World Vision this summer I was stoked again. I forgot that I hate working in an office and accepted the reality that I will have to work in an office in order to make it to the field someday. Do not get me wrong, I really enjoyed my job this summer. I just do not think I am meant to work in an office (sounds naive since I am a college student). I think that God made people to live life to their full potential and if you saw me in an office you would see that I am drowning. Literally. Maybe it all comes down to the fact that I have not been in an office job where I am completely passionate, but that is besides the point. 

Today in Community Development my passion for development was renewed. All summer long development became this thing that was editing papers for the common good of children (that I constantly had to remind myself). All summer I felt like development was putting too much attention on unnecessary detail and people forgot about what the work was actually for. There will always be a great disconnect between the office and the work that is actually on the ground.

Raw and real development isn't all about that- although that is necessary. Today in class my passion for this subject came alive again. I was super  burnt out after this summer and after last fall. This tends to happen often when I am in an office setting doing something related with Relief or Development. When I worked at MIKA I knew I had to work directly with the people- that is where lives are changed and people are empowered. 

I am just happy that God never lets me forget, no matter how stubborn I am, that He desires His people to live lives that are whole and restored (Isaiah 61). Take a read and notice how community development is desired by God.

¹ The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, 
       because the LORD has anointed me 
       to preach good news to the poor. 
       He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, 
       to proclaim freedom for the captives 
       and release from darkness for the prisoners, 

 ² to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
       and the day of vengeance of our God,
       to comfort all who mourn,

 ³ and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
       to bestow on them a crown of beauty
       instead of ashes,
       the oil of gladness
       instead of mourning,
       and a garment of praise
       instead of a spirit of despair.
       They will be called oaks of righteousness,
       a planting of the LORD
       for the display of his splendor.

 ⁴ They will rebuild the ancient ruins
       and restore the places long devastated;
       they will renew the ruined cities
       that have been devastated for generations.

Tijuana

If anyone knows me they know that I love my broken Spanish. It doesn't bother me at all and I still try to get by with it. On Monday morning, almost before the sun came up, a group of us World Vision employees jumped in a van and headed off to Tijuana, Mexico. The intention of the trip wasn't to come and do a week long missions trip, but to see what World Vision is doing on the field level. After all, the whole reason that World Vision exists is to do transformational work through communities.

Let me just tell you, it was amazing to see what World Vision is doing on the ground level. There seems to be a huge disconnect between the field when you are working in the Governance Dept, which deals with the highest people in society.

The place that we visited was an Urban Development Project (UDP). Ladies in the community came together, the children came together, and their husbands came to serve on the day that we were there to serve them. I thought they were just going to give us a ton of work to do, but instead they worked right along with us.

The things I took away from this tiny two day get-away were the following:

1. The work that WV does is sustainable. 50% of the funding comes from WV and the other 50% is from the community.
2. The people who run the community center are dedicated and see it as a place that is transforming their communities.
3. I saw hands on how the sponsored children felt empowered and were able to do more for their community because of the support of donors.
4. Mexican's are hard workers! Especially the women- I was put to shame.
5. There is a disconnect between the office and the field. I am so glad I got to see what the top actually does for the bottom- what WV is truly their for. I am glad that they have a program set up called "Vision Trips" so WV Employees can experience the work of WV on the field level.

I am just so in awe of how sustainable everything was on the field. Our Northern mind-sets sometimes have a hard time embracing and putting sustainability into practice, but the community center and the other projects that the UDP was working on were 100% community owned. I loved it.

Even though it was a short two day trip- it was the highlight of my time at World Vision. Lots of hugs and kisses saying "Adios" to those ladies and children.

development makes me happy

Tomorrow I have my first meeting with MIKA, a community development organization in Costa Mesa. I am really excited to meet with them to discuss their after school programs in the low-income area that they are in. My group and myself will be putting our project assessment and evaluation skills to the test as we work with them. This is just a silly log frame I made up for class. Even though it is super simple and not detailed at all, it has got me thinking about how much I love development. LOVE LOVE LOVE.

Project Summary	Indicators of Achievement	Means of Verification	Assumptions
Goal To eliminate poverty by youth development/Education Programs in unsafe neighborhoods in Washington D.C.
Purpose/Outcome Children and Teenagers will have an increased focus on education	Crime rate lower, test scores increase, college admittance increases	Official school district test records, crime records	Students will be focused and driven by the  program
Outputs Students will attend program every day after school Students will apply for college’s during their senior year of High School	Students have good attendance Students get accepted to a college	Attendance is taken daily for after school program College acceptance letters that student’s receive and verification of enrollment	Enough interest exists in order for students to attend program Students are focused and driven to get good grades, so they can attend college
Activities Find after school tutors Find a location that has a community basketball court nearby Engage with community/local schools to participate in program	2/1 Tutor to Student Ratio Leased lease for minimum of one year with renewal of lease Recruiting workshops/discussion with elementary schools, middle schools and high schools in the city (students, teachers, and staff)	Permanent weekly schedule; Volunteer agreement to tutor for at least one academic school year once a week Signed lease agreement Teachers allow presentations in class, sign-up for the indication of interest of the program	Schedule will not be changed, unless needed; volunteers will fulfill their one academic school year commitment Building available with basketball court near by Teachers and staff are supportive of youth development/education program

In other news, I have an interview with World Vision Monrovia on Monday. Please pray for that. It is paid and would be great experience. I also got a random e-mail from The H20 Project about helping out at a conference in a few weeks. Praise Jesus! It is so beautiful. The last week or so, regardless of my circumstances with this job business, I cannot stop praying and I love it. That is how it should be. The Holy Spirit has woken me up night after night, asking me to pray for things, as I have with joy and delight. I am excited that He is opening doors. He is so wonderful.

A small heart attack.

I am working on a project for the next 5 weeks or so on addressing the issue of "Access to Water" in Sub-Saharan Africa in the context of Food Security... and focusing on water purification tablets, water wells, and home-made water purification systems, while focusing specifially what NGO's are doing and how they are collaborating with Governmetns and Commercial organizations. Ah!

While doing this we (Justine, Emily, and myself) need to contact the big guys, such as UDA, USAID, World Vision, etc. and have interviews with them. Once we do this we will compose a research paper and policies that we will address during a briefing at one of the congressional buildings infront of people who know these issues.

AHHHHH.

I might have a small heart attack.

a new starting point.

This semester has been rocking my world already. It has been hard, challenging, and thought invoking. I am taking Intro to Islam and Islamic Theology, Intro to International Development, Theology 1, New Testament, and Art Appreciation. My two ICS classes have been a huge work load, but so worth it!

So far in my development class we have talked about what it means to live an abundant life, what defines development, different development theories (modernization, dependency, and marxist theory), capitalism and the effects on thirds world countries, what defines poverty, imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism, nationalism, world powers, etc. It has been so interesting! A lot of the things that we have been talking about I have never really thought about in my life- in all honesty. The class is mostly seniors and graduate students, so I am kind of out of place... but its challenging in a good way. So often I do take my modern ideas, along with my "capitalistic" outlook and then look at countries and what they need. Its interesting learning about applied anthropology and how that plays into it and what it means to be a christian in development. Its also hard not to be cynical in this class while looking at things that are happening around the world. My teacher is an anthropologist who graduated from george town university with her undergrad in foreign service and got her Masters from American University in Anthropology. She has worked for numerous government organizations but has done most of her field work in South Africa working along side women. She has focused on how women do community banking. Ah- she is so interesting! She is going to Thailand to research and start up some development projects hopefully for fish farmers. I think one of the things that I love about her is her passion and love for people. She loves people because Christ loved her first. She really cares about people living an abundant life (John 10:10). What does an abundant life even mean? Maybe living without need, living fully, promoting independence- being able to survive independently, contentment, joy, enabling a life for a purpose, returning of things- a way of life that seeks God, etc. Maybe all this leads to living a life the way that God intended. I LOVE how we talk about transformational development. I just love the idea of people's needs being met physically, socially, and spiritually. Before we got into the depth of issues I thought this sounded all dandy and wonderful. As the class went on I realized how hard it has to be a development worker/anthropologist and how important anthropology plays into it. If you want to read a good book read, "Promises Never Kept" by Isbister. So good! The second chapter I believer or maybe third gives five accounts of people whose promises were broken usually due to independence or some form of capitalism. Anyways, that was a huge rant on development. I could go on for hours... it kind of consumes my mind these days. I love studying something that I will use!

This semester has been so great so far in regards to spiritual growth. God has been so so so good! I feel so blessed to get an education. I really do believe everyone should be educated or educate themselves in some way or another because furthering knowledge is such a powerful thing that can further your work in God's kingdom. My NT and theology class are teaching me so many things I have never thought about or questions I have never asked. I love it. My intro to islamic studies and theology has really challenged me to pray for other nations. My prof for that class is such a great example of a man who loves Jesus with all his heart, loves muslims people, and genuinely wants to give God all the glory. Before class starts everyday we pray for a different muslim nation.

An ongoing theme... to glorify Jesus in all things. He is so worthy of all praise! So loving and so good to us. Ah- I am complete awe of Him and his love for us. Its a beautiful thing.