I spent my first week of camp at Camp WaKon’Da-Ho in the beautiful hills of Yosemite, Kentucky. After leaving Indianapolis last weekend I spent Saturday night in Louisville with a young high school teacher who is also a P.K. and a youth group sponsor. We spent Saturday afternoon watching the Belmont Stakes and cheering for our newest Triple Crown winner! Sunday afternoon, the two of us drove from Louisville to Yosemite to prepare for the campers to arrive on Monday morning.
In addition to being a cabin counselor and helping to lead a small group, I had the opportunity to lead interest groups focused on different elements of peace. I got the chance to facilitate a discussion about different issues of the campers’ choosing, topics ranged from derogatory slang, to being an accepting community, and how these are affected by a shared Disciples identity. A few campers and I also took some time to create a labyrinth for meditation and reflection. However, the use of the labyrinth was limited due to a series of thunderstorms that rolled in shortly after we finished painting it. Luckily, next week’s campers will put the labyrinth to good use.
However, the most powerful element of my first week is the incredible relationships I built with the staff, my fellow counselors, and the campers. The warm welcome and accepting community was an outstanding example of the radical peace that can be demonstrated when all are committed to it.
Synonyms with the word “humid”: Georgia
This past week, I had the pleasure to be at Camp Christian right outside of Gordon, GA. Yes, this place was humid beyond belief for someone who is used to a very dry climate. But, I made the best of it (I think)! I know I complained about being hot ALL the time and then too cold when the air conditioning kicked on, but that’s really beside the point.
Camp Christian has a wonderful reputation within the Disciples community and everyone told me that it would be a great camp. It was. I met some amazing individuals who were so enthusiastic about camp and about the community. The campers were so intelligent and kind and were very involved in the workshops I provided. I had some tough topics to discuss and with each new workshop, I was surprised at the level of interest and involvement from the campers. They really helped to make me feel comfortable and welcome at camp. They even posed their own questions and even though I didn’t have all the answers, it spurred some great discussions.
I never felt like an outsider because the counselors were so good at keeping me involved. They always made sure I had everything I needed and taught me about the finer point of Georgian culture. Such as that the Cracker Barrel is the bee’s knees and Pimento cheese is good on anything, literally anything. I learned that I don’t really like grits and I am kind of bored with sandwiches for lunch. I also got praise from the campers. They said I was like Cheers wine (a soda pop from North Carolina) with the reason being that even though I wasn’t from Georgia, everyone loved me anyways. This affirmation helped to round out an overall wonderful week!The Directors put on a wonderful camp this year and incorporated the theme “Power Up” seamlessly! The Rev. Dr. Richard Voelz provided the keynotes, and I looked forward to his message each day. He discussed what happens when we actually start to listen to the Spirit and what happens when we are encouraged to seek out change and make a difference. He discussed the effects of poverty and hunger and how we need the fruits of the Spirit to lead fulfilling and meaningful lives, and finally how the wounded can become healers. The keynotes tied into all of my workshops and it was such a blessing to be able to discuss both my topic of the day and the keynoted in order to make the topics seem much more connected and relatable.
My week in Georgia was a great way to start off the summer! I enjoyed meeting so many people with so many different life goals. Each camper was unique and motivated in his or her own way, and I hope that I at least scratched the surface for them to start thinking critically about the problems our broken world faces today. I hope that they will also be involved in a part of the Disciples Ministry and continue to be advocates for peace in their own communities. Thank you Camp Christian for an experience I will never forget and for some new friends who helped me throughout the week and helped me see that the humidity is really not as bad as I made it out to be.
#PeaceInterns2015
cranes!!!
Hi everyone, my name is Will O'Brien and I am one of this year's Disciples Peace Fellowship Peace Interns. My fellow interns and I have spent the past week in Indianapolis, Indiana learning about the different missions and ministries of the general church.
We arrived last Saturday and settled into our lodgings for the week at Allisonville Christian Church. Sunday morning, Allisonville welcomed us and commissioned our ministry for the summer.Monday, we hit the ground running. After touring the Disciples Center and getting acquainted with the offices of the general church we started our action-packed week of training. We had the opportunity to meet with the General Minister and President - Sharon Watkins, as well as representatives from many other offices of the church. We met with the Disciples Peace Fellowship, the Council on Christian Unity, Church Reconciliation, Global Ministries, National Convocation, Disciples Women, the GLAD Alliance, the Center for Interfaith Cooperation, Green Chalice, and numerous other trainers who shared their ministerial specialties with us.
Map of the Journey
This summer I will be visiting camps in Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Kansas, West Virginia, and Oregon. As training is coming to a close and I and preparing embark on my journey I am looking forward to building relationships and relying on the hospitality of Disciples I meet all over the country.
The Start of Something New
the start of something new
Hello y'all, my name is Celia Thomason(I'm the red head)! I grew up in the Christian Church(Disciples of Christ). My mom is currently the minister at Madison Christian Church in Madison, AL. Growing up I attended church summer camps, winter retreats, mission trips, general assemblies and many other church sponsored events. In high school I was introduced to Peace Interns and I fell in love with what they did. I sadly discovered my first year at college I had to be 21 to be a Peace Intern so I looked for other jobs. I found Camp Lakey Gap, a camp for people with Autism. I was head over heels for CLG and ended up spending three summers there, two as a counselor and one as an Activity Director. This winter I realized that this coming summer will most likely be my last free summer(because I will soon have to enter the real world) and decided to put myself out there and apply to be a Peace Intern. And luckily I got it because I am now writing this blog post!Before arriving in Indianapolis, IN I was incredibly nervous because I did not know any of the other interns, Briana Black and Will O'Brien, and to make it worse I missed my first connecting flight of the summer putting about 5 hours behind schedule on my first day. But I believe that the other interns and I had a fast connection, and by today no one would be able to guess we had only know each other for a week. The picture above is from our second night together, the folder features High School Musical and when we found the folders we all started singing the hit song The Start of Something New which I think is fitting for our new journey.
During training week we met with many people and different organizations within our denomination; Council on Christian Unity, Reconciliation, Global Ministries, National Convocation, Disciples Women, Disciples Home Mission, Green Chalice and GLAD. We also had the opportunity to have dinner with Sharon Watkins, our General Minister and President. And at the end of day we would come back to the Retreat House at Allisonville Christian Church and have independent work time, unpack the day and end everyday with devotions. It was a wonderful week full of laugher, crying and new experiences.
Celia Map
Tomorrow I will be leaving the other interns and begin my separate journey to a different camp each week!Week 1 (June 6-13): Disciples Oaks Camp; Gonzales, TXWeek 2 (June 13-20): Disciples Crossing Camp; Athens, TXWeek 3 (June 20-27): Camp Chandler; Wetumpka, ALWeek 4 (June 27-July 4): Dunkirk Camp; Dunkirk, NYWeek 5 (July4-11): Texoma Christian Camp; Kingston, OKWeek 6 (July 11-18): Craig Springs; New Castle, VAWeek 7 (July 18-25): General Assembly; Columbus, OHWeek 8 (July 25-August 1): Suttle Lake; Sisters, ORClosing Retreat (August 1-5): Portland, OR I am so excited to start this adventure!Till next time y'all!
From sea to shining sea...
Hello Disciples World! My name is Briana Black and I am from Casper, Wyoming. I am a 2015 Disciples Peace Fellowship (DPF) Intern for the Summer at 2015! (I'm the goofy looking one in the center of the picture!)
I have had the opportunity to be in Indianapolis, IN with two other Peace Interns, Celia Thomason and Will O’Brien, to learn more about all of the wonderful things our denomination is doing and how I can be a resource for students all over the country. We have met with the General Minister and President, Sharon Watkins; have talked with Global Ministries; Disciples Home Ministries (DHM); the Center for Interfaith Cooperation (CIC); the Gay, Lesbian, and Affirming Disciples (GLAD); National Convocation; Green Chalice; Disciples Women; and so many more!
Our denomination has a very long arm, and are involved in so many wonderful organizations and events! I have met some amazing people this past week in Indianapolis and have learned about what Disciples are doing in the field and how they contribute to peace and justice across the world.
After training week, we three interns are headed off to all different camps to explain and promote peace and justice to our nation’s youth. We will hold workshops and activities all related to peace and justice issues of our choice and hopefully will plant some seeds of change! I am so excited to have the opportunity to discuss Human Rights issues that affect our own country and abroad.
I look forward to visiting all the camps, meeting new and wonderful people, and sharing all of my experience! This is such an amazing experience and I am so thankful DOC has allowed me to be a part of such a cool group of people!
I will be headed to 7 camps from sea to shining sea! I am going to:
- Camp Christian- Gordon, GA
- Camp Caroline- Arapahoe, NC
- Camp Couchdale- Hot Springs, AR
- Community of the Great Commission- Foresthill, CA
- Camp Christian- Marysville, OH
- Loch Leven- Mentone, CA
- Cane Ridge West- Lincoln, MT
