My Experiences at Wakon'Da-Ho

My first two weeks were both spent at camps! I started with Camp Wakon’Da-Ho in Kentucky. I was nervous as it was my first camp of the summer. Luckily, fellow peace intern, Kate was also there which helped a lot!

So story time now, the day before I was supposed to leave, my car broke down and I had to put it in the shop. With that, I drove my mom’s car. I drive a car while my mom drives a SUV, so the change was weird for a 5 hour drive that came afterwards. Nonetheless, I made it safely to the camp without getting lost. 

Back to the camp now, once I got there, I met the directors of the camp who got someone to show me where my cabin was. I got my stuff up into the cabin and got everything set up around my bunk. Now I have to show off my t-shirt quilt of all my previous camp shirts (plus a couple).

I was super excited for all the campers to arrive the next day. Meeting all the counselors and the YLT (Youth Leadership Team) was awesome. They are all amazing people who wanted to make camp seem as normal as possible with all the COVID regulations. Campers started arriving the next morning and once most of them arrived, the official start of camp began! I will say that I did have some camp culture shock and it took me most of the week to get past it, but it was awesome seeing all the campers come together and share a great connection with each other!

There were many great talks and conversations in my small group. Here is a photo of my small group socially distancing as we meet.

There was one night at Vespers (worship) that was really moving with the entire camp. Some campers got up and shared their traumas and that they don’t want to stand alone. It was so moving that there was a place where the campers felt safe enough to talk about these things and all the counselors provided a place to talk to campers afterwards if they needed to talk. It was heavy, but every single camper that was at that camp was strong that night and they are strong every single day.

This camp was the best camp to start off my summer! I am actually getting the chance to go back to Wakon’Da-Ho for a Junior camp in July so I am very excited about that opportunity. 

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My First Two Weeks "In the Field" as a Peace Intern

Flexibility - that’s the word I think best describes my first two official weeks as a peace intern.

Initially, I was supposed to attend one in person camp and one virtual camp. Sadly, both of those camps had to be canceled and so we had to quickly find a way for me to fill up those two weeks. While it wasn’t how I planned the summer to start, it ended up being a great couple of weeks! 

I started by working with Rev. Dr. Sharon Stanley-Rea, Director of Disciples Refugee & Immigration Ministries. Prior to this experience, I was a little familiar with the state of our refugee and immigration policies, but not near as much as Rev. Dr. Sharon Stanley-Rea. It was so great to hear from someone so passionate and knowledgeable on the subject, teaching me so much in the process. I had the opportunity to learn and advocate for World Refugee Day which was on June 20th! In the process of helping others advocate for refugees and asylum seekers in our country, I learned more about our laws and ways I can make a difference from right here in the middle of Kansas. 

The girls in my cabin, holding up their craft - a paper lantern where they drew something that reminds them of light

Originally, that was the project I would be working on for those two weeks, but as I mentioned above there’s been a lot of flexibility. My regional church camp had a counselor who had to drop out a few days before the camp, which left them in desperate need of another female counselor so that second week I played double duty - leading the junior camp and sneaking away during nap time to do some more work for RIM and meet with pastors interested in World Refugee Day. 

Similarly to most camps, my region is using the Creation Speaks curriculum, which talks about our creation story, how we are connected to the earth, and ways we can be God’s light. I believe that at this age, it’s especially important to make sure children know they are important, created in the image of God, and all have their unique ways of shining light into the world. One of the stories we read was Rainbow Fish - one of my childhood favorites - and learned the importance of sharing our resources with others. Finally, we left the kids thinking about what they can do out in the world to be true disciples - sharing light, and caring for all of God’s creations. 

While it was an exhausting couple of weeks, I am so thankful for all the people I had the chance to work with, and the kids at camp for having a great time with me! 

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Pics from My Week at Wakon'Da-Ho

Here are some pics from My Week at Wakon’Da-Ho. Read my Blog Post about the week here.

Some ASMR ambience from camp Wakan'Da-Ho during a rainy morning watch.

Caterpillar we found during small group. Probably an alien.

Beautiful sunset during the talent show!

I 100% thought this crawdad was a scorpion. In my defence, it was very dark. I was also very confused because it seemed really big for the climate lol. Shoutout to Ashlyn for pointing out that it was a crawdad, and that I should probably use my flashlight to see it instead of trying to stare at it in the dark!

A campfire for campfire!
(Note: Can you spy the cat in this picture? She was the resident mama cat at the camp, and soooooo cute!!)

Camp WKDH's vespers site! This was taken after my small group's vespers. Great job gang!

A cute lil frog on some moss.

This was in the dining hall. I never got an explanation for it, and I never asked.

Here's a typical day's schedule. I particularly liked this one because it had "din-din" on it for dinner lol!

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My Week at Wakon'Da-Ho

I got horribly lost on my way to Camp Wakon’Da-Ho.

Camp WKDH's vespers site! This was taken after my small group's vespers. Great job gang!

I was already running late because 1) I’m notoriously bad at time management, and 2) I had to turn around on my way out of town to retrieve my pillow, which I had forgotten. I was making good time—and feeling pretty proud of myself for making it through the Mad-Max-esque traffic of Louisville—when I turned onto what I thought was the entrance road to camp WKDH. 

When I found myself at the end of the road in a field full of white butterflies, and no camp, I figured that something was up.

SOMEHOW, I had ended up 25 minutes away from the ACTUAL camp WKDH. I blame Apple maps. The address WAS correct, but it was also decidedly NOT the correct address. With the help of Brian, Ashlyn, and WKDH co-director Cameron, I eventually made it to camp WKDH…over 30 minutes late. Luckily the pizza had not yet arrived, so it was all good. 

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At first, I experienced some minor “camp culture shock.” Wakon’Da-Ho did things differently than I remembered doing things back at Bedford. (It had also been several years since I had been at camp, and it took some time to get back into the swing of things.) However, I decided to approach it all with an open mind, and I did my best to adjust and fit in well as a counselor. It didn’t help that I was constantly mistaken for a camper by campers and counselors alike! It turns out that at WKDH, you have to be 4 years out of college before you can counsel CYF camps, so I was a much younger counselor than campers were used to. It did make presenting myself as an authority figure a bit difficult. (I also don’t have much practice being an authority figure to younger people in the first place.)

But I soon warmed up to the camp, and I think the camp warmed up to me. I especially loved the camp’s closing circle nighttime ritual; you could really sense the love there. I also loved how open and supportive all the campers were! It was so heartening to hear all the campers that went out of their way to thank me for my workshop. I was nervous about it, and all their feedback was really, really great. There was a lot of sincerity among the campers, and I really appreciated seeing that. 

As the week went on, I was really able to see how much love existed at Camp WKDH. Love between people, love for God, and love for the camp. It was a very familial atmosphere, and I really enjoyed being a part of it! I especially warmed up to the camp after a very emotional vespers service near the end of the week. I saw how the camp came together to lift up and support one another, and I was so proud and happy to see it. See, for me — that’s camp. In my mind, camp is a safe space where love abounds, and people can find refuge and solace away from the pressures of “the real world.” I saw that in practice at Wakon’Da-Ho, and it made me love that camp. In fact, I felt more emotional than I had anticipated after leaving the camp. Camp Wakon’Da-Ho was clearly beloved by the campers and the staff, and after spending a week there, I can see why. Thank you for having me WKDH! You’ve got some really great campers, and some exceptional counselors/staff as well!

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Goodbye Training Week. Hello Summer!

Goodbye training week, hello summer!

As with almost everything in the past year, Peace Intern Training Week was not what anyone originally had in mind - as you can see from my picture, this is where most of my week was spent.

Even though we couldn’t start the summer off all together in person, I am so thankful we were still able to gather and learn from so many wonderful people trying to do good in the world.

Where to start with training week…

I just have one word: WOW!

It was so inspiring to listen and learn from some amazing, strong, talented people. Until training week, I had no idea about so many of the ministries within our church. I learned about our National Convocation, NAPAD, Obra Hispana, Green Chalice, and SO many more!

There were a few sessions that really stood out for me.

The first was about creating an extravagant welcome for our LGBTQ+ community from AllianceQ. I believe everyone should be not only welcomed, but also celebrated in our church so it was great to see so many people working to make that possible.

I also loved learning about the powerful history of the Disciples Women’s Ministries, because who doesn’t’t love hearing from strong women standing up for justice?

Finally, it was also interesting to learn more about the many different ways our Refugee and Immigration Ministries (who I am excited to work with this week!), are fighting to support the refugees coming to find peace in our country.

Overall, it was amazing to hear and learn from so many strong leaders within our church, and finally have the chance to get to know my fellow Peace Interns - even if it was all through a screen.

I look forward to the day we all get to safely meet in person!

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Training Week Thoughts

My cat, Calamity!

Training week has come and gone.

It was a very informative week full of amazing work from people all over the world. I never realized how big our church actually was and how much of an impact it has around the globe.

It is nice to know that so many people are here for me and my fellow Peace Interns during the summer and in the future. 

Training week was not anything like I was expecting. I knew it was most likely going to be different because of COVID, but I am a little sad that I wasn’t actually able to meet all the wonderful people in person. Maybe I will get to meet a few of them eventually. 

I was shown a lot of different resources for a lot of different topics, but there were only a couple that stood out to me a lot. One of those was AllianceQ. I knew of it coming into Training Week, but a lot more was shown to me. We got to zoom in on a service honoring Allen V. Harris’s 30th Ordination Anniversary which was amazing. It was so nice to see people come together to celebrate someone who has broken so many barriers.

I’m super excited for this summer and all the amazing people I get to meet and have good conversations with. I get to learn more and hopefully influence campers as much as I was influenced when I was in camp. 

{I’ve included a picture of my cat, Calamity, as he was sitting next to me (or causing mischief!) during the entire week of Zoom calls!}

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Reflections after Training Week

Hello Everyone ☺

Well! I made it through training week! I sat through a lot of zoom meetings, and I had a lot of new information thrown at me. It was tiring, but also a really great experience! My favorite part of it was probably getting to meet so many wonderful people and to learn about all the amazing work they’re doing. I also learned so much about the denomination itself.

Did you know about National Convocation? I didn’t! And if you’re out there now, reading this, and you’re also like “National Convocation?? What’s that?” then:

1. Know that you aren’t alone, and

2. Go look it up! 

Are you doing it? Did you look it up? No?

Well go on!

Don’t worry; I’ll wait for you to come back. 

…

I’ve attached a picture of my new tattoo. Just because. I’m very happy with it! ☺

Welcome back!  Good on you for looking it up! (I’m holding you to the honor system here.) 

Aside from learning about National Convocation, I also learned about so many of our church’s ministries that I had no idea were out there! I’d encourage you all to check them out when you have the time; they’re doing some great work! 

On a personal note, as someone with great anxiety, I felt very held during Training Week. There are so many wonderful people looking out for me this summer. What’s more, they all encouraged me to trust myself as I embarked on this once-in-a-lifetime summer. I’m doing my best to do that.

Part of me is terrified, but I keep reminding myself that these amazing people told me they believed in me. Randy Kuss told me that more than any workshop I create, the most impactful thing I could do this summer was to just be myself, and that just the simple act of being myself can speak volumes to someone, without my even knowing it.

What’s more, several people during training week told us that we were chosen as Peace Interns because of who we are. That’s both uplifting and oddly weighty.

I hope I live up to it.

In the meantime, I’ll do my best to trust that I will!!!

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Peace Intern Training Week!

Peace Intern Training Week took place at the end of May. For the second year in a row Training Week was done all online, and this summer we spread all of the Zoom Meetings over 10 consecutive days. DPF would like to thank all of the church leaders, peace activists, and justice partners who helped equip and prepare the Peace Interns for their summer of service!

We thank General Minister and President Rev. Terri Hord Owens, NAPAD Executive Pastor Rev. Chung Seung Kim, Obra Hispana National Pastor Rev. Lori Tapia, and National Convocation Interim Administrative Secretary Rev. Yvonne Gilmore. 

We also thank Anti-Racism, Pro-Reconciliation Trainer Rev. Chesla Nickelson, Healthy Boundaries Trainer Rev. Dr. Jim Higginbotham, Spiritual Disciplines and Self-Care Trainer Rev. Randy Kuss, Peace Practices Trainers Krista Johnson Weiksel and Jennifer Williams, and Justice Bible Study Leader Rev. Stephen Yarbrough. 

Additionally we thank our partners at AllianceQ, Green Chalice, Disciples Immigration Legal Counsel, Disciples Women's Ministries, OGMP, Global Ministries,  Disciples Refugee & Immigration Ministries, Ministries Across Generations, and Disciples Public Presence. Blessings to you all!

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Introducing Myself: 2021 DPF Peace Intern Ashlyn Baldwin

Hello, everyone!

My name is Ashlyn Baldwin. I am from Birmingham, AL, but I currently live with my mom in Gardendale, AL for the summer. I usually am in Florence, AL where I go to the University of North Alabama where I study Criminal Justice and a minor in Crime Scene Investigations. My end goal for my career, as of right now, is to become a Crime Scene Investigator. I’m also getting married a week after Closing Retreat this summer, so I'm fully in wedding planning mode too! I’m super excited that I get to marry the love of my life soon!

I have many passions other than showing God’s Love and spreading awareness about social justice topics including reading, watching tv shows and movies, listening to podcasts, playing with my animals, kayaking, and almost anything outside. Here are some of my favorite books, movies, and tv shows:

1. Books - The Hunger Games series, The Shining, and all of the Harry Potter books.

2. TV Shows - Doctor Who, Parks and Recreation, and Schitt’s Creek

3. Movies - any Marvel movie, Frozen 2, and Hamilton 

4. Podcasts - And That’s Why We Drink, Beach Too Sandy, Water Too Wet, and Morbid

A lot of people are surprised when I say I’m going to be a cop and that I am so active within issues in our world. I want to bring as much change as I can to make the world a better place. People will always assume things about me and I am okay with that. I kinda have to be. I believe that this internship will help me in the future when controversial topics and conversations happen.

I’m looking forward to meeting new people, spreading awareness, and learning new things! 

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Introducing Myself: 2021 DPF Peace Intern Marisa Black

My name is Marisa Black and I am a junior at Wichita State University studying special music education and music performance.

The camp program has been near to my heart for most of my life, and I can’t wait to spend the summer sharing that love and community with other camps.

This summer, I hope to encourage campers to discover how to use their faith to create a better, more peaceful world.

To introduce myself, I’d like to answer some fun get to know you questions, because we all know that’s a big part of the camp experience!

1. Where is your dream travel destination?
- Greece, so I can live out my Mama Mia fantasies!

2. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
- Teleportation, so I could go anywhere I want for as long as I want.

3. What is a movie you can practically quote from start to finish?
- The Princess Bride!

I’m excited to see what this summer holds, and hope you follow along with me!

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Introducing Myself: 2021 DPF Peace Intern Kate Myers

Hello Everyone!!! ☺ I’m writing this from my couch after watching a very fascinating episode of Star Trek: Voyager. It was about faith, and so it feels like an appropriate time to pause and do my DPF homework! 

My name is Kate Myers, and I’m an Ethics and Social change major at the University of Evansville. I also have concentrations in Sociology and Religion. I’ll graduate next semester after spending my last semester abroad studying in a MANOR in the UK! I’m super excited! I want to eventually become a therapist. (Many people ask me what I plan on doing with my degree, so I thought I’d get on top of the question.) I took a jewelry making class this past semester and kind of fell in love with it, so I’m hoping to continue that as a hobby for myself. I probably think too much, and I like to laugh. That pretty much sums up who I am! 

I guess I should tell you about why I’m here, and how I ended up becoming a peace intern. My pastor, Helen, told me about this internship, and it seemed right up my alley. (Getting paid to go to camp and talk with people about social justice and morality and whatnot? Ummm….YES!) So I applied, and I was excepted (obviously), and now I’m really excited to live out this opportunity! I’m particularly hoping to grow my empathy and conversational skills this summer, and to maybe help grow the conversational skills and empathy of others along the way! For me, having a conversation with someone means working to understand that person, and to grow and learn together throughout the process. Now that can be a lot of work! I don’t expect people to have conversations like this all the time, but I feel that we at least ought to be having them sometimes. I think it’s especially important now because I feel like we, as Americans, often get locked into debate with one another—instead of conversations, we have verbal battles, and I don’t think you can really win one of those, because if you “defeat” your opponent, who benefits? Did they grow? Did you? 

I know, I know, I laid it on a little heavy; forgive me. I’m an ethics major; it’s my job to make people uncomfortable! I’m only partly kidding. For me, part of being ethical is being kind to one another, but part of it also means taking a firm stand against injustice, and sometimes that means making people uncomfortable. Socrates described himself as a gadfly; an annoying, biting bug. He felt it was his job to upset people—to make them uncomfortable and get them thinking about things they probably wouldn’t think about if they didn’t get a little uncomfortable. (Socrates was eventually killed by the state, sooooo…..take that into account if you intend to follow in his footsteps lol. And never let anyone tell you that being a philosopher isn’t dangerous!) Socrates, like pretty much every historical figure, was not without fault and controversy, but his description of himself as a gadfly has always inspired me. 

I hate change! (I know that seems to have come out of left field, but bear with me.) Change is very scary for me in many ways, so I know as well as anyone how uncomfortable change can be. But I also think change is beautiful, and change is necessary. Everything changes; it is the nature of life. Feel the fear and do it anyway. That’s how I’ve come to feel about change. I want to inspire people to change for the better, as people have inspired me to do the same. I have benefited so much from change and growth. And it has been painful and uncomfortable! But having kind and patient people with me along my journey has made it so much better. I won’t claim to say that I’ll inspire or change anyone I meet this summer, but I suppose there’s a chance that I might. And even if I don’t, I know that I’ll have that same potential for inspiration and growth. So I’m excited to find out what lies ahead and greet it with an open heart!

I realize this was more of an essay than a blog, but this is what you get when you hire a humanities student who writes reflections about social justice day in and day out, DPF! Hahahaha! To any readers out there, thanks for tuning in; I know it’s a time commitment ;)

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Meet the 2021 Peace Interns!

Kate Myers (she/her)

Kate will graduate in December with a degree in Ethics and Social Change (with concentrations in Sociology and Religion) from the University of Evansville.

She grew up at First Christian Church in Bloomington, IN and in her application noted that “the idea that I could get paid to travel around the country and teach children and adults about social justice sounds like a dream come true to me!”

Kate has a passion for justice and a heart for creating meaningful dialogue. Intending to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker focused on therapy work, Kate hopes that this internship will help her develop her skills as a small group leader and facilitator of difficult conversations.

Fun fact: Kate is taking a Jewelry Making Class as an elective this semester and she hopes to keep up with it even after the class is over!

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Ashlyn Baldwin (she/her)

Ashlyn grew up attending church camps in the Alabama/Northwest Florida Region, and Peace Interns were a huge part of our faith development. “I thought that they were amazing and their passion inspired me to be more conscious about social justice topics. I have always loved hearing the stories they had and learning what they knew,” she says. 

Ashlyn has a strong desire to be a change agent in a broken system, and a heart for reforming institutions from the inside.

2021 will be a huge year for Ashlyn: In December she will graduate from the University of North Alabama with a degree in Criminal Justice and in August she is getting married!

Fun fact, Ashlyn has a cat named Loki, another cat named Calamity, a dog named Meeko, and a bunny named Tennant all named for her favorite movies, shows, and video games!

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Marisa Black (she/her)

A Junior double major at Wichita State University, Marisa studies Special Music Education and Music Performance (flute).

A member of First Christian Church in Wellington, Kansas, she grew up attending camp at Disciples Center at Tawakoni. In fact, after completing her time as a camper, Marisa has returned to Tawakoni as a summer staff member, leading Challenge Courses there.

One of her references described her like this, “The church is Marisa’s deepest love. She has known such love within the walls and spaces of the church that she can't help but seek more opportunities and to share her convictions.”

More than anything else, she hopes to share the full welcome and inclusion of a loving God with everyone she meets this summer.

Fun fact, Marisa’s hometown of Wellington, KS is known as “The Wheat Capital of the World!”