so, the last day of camp is today. i'm both excited and relieved. excited because we start our debrief week, and after that, i get to come home and be with you all. relieved for the same reason. but i'm also a bit sad. this summer went by so fast. i guess i'm glad at this point that it's not over. :) still another week to go. it will be good to reconnect with a lot of you though. i miss you.
-steve
Friday, August 1, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
i'm going to prison
exciting.
we got a call today saying that we've been cleared to visit the prison that we're supposed to visit tomorrow. it's awesome. i'm excited. i've never been to prison. :)
we got a call today saying that we've been cleared to visit the prison that we're supposed to visit tomorrow. it's awesome. i'm excited. i've never been to prison. :)
Monday, July 21, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
a new book
Our New Book with a Really Long Title
:) very insightful.
google has this great thing now, where you can find the book at a local library to borrow, instead of buying it. (a tip for living simply) right hand side of the book's page. the closest library for this book is boston... but you may have better luck with other books.
-steve
:) very insightful.
google has this great thing now, where you can find the book at a local library to borrow, instead of buying it. (a tip for living simply) right hand side of the book's page. the closest library for this book is boston... but you may have better luck with other books.
-steve
"when my dad gets out of prison..."
those are shocking words to hear.
i'd never heard them before yesterday.
i don't know anyone who's is in prison. or maybe i do. and they just don't talk about it.
i have a camper whose father is in prison. i don't know what for. i do know that he says he will buy his son a bike when he gets out. please pray for him and their family.
his son is nine years old. he has difficulty spelling and reading even simple things. we have reading at camp every day. we have craft every day. he shrinks back into himself any time he has to read or write. he becomes a different person. he is afraid of what people will think.
however, he's the most fun kid at camp. he's fast. boy, can this guy run. he loves being at camp. he loves being encouraged. he asks me to tell him if he's doing a good job. he's the most positive person on the basketball court, and even though neither of us can shoot, we can pass.
he understands the value of other people and seeks to make friends with kids who are positive. pray that God will continue this in him. pray that he will continue to seek people who will love him like Jesus does.
thanks.
-steve
i'd never heard them before yesterday.
i don't know anyone who's is in prison. or maybe i do. and they just don't talk about it.
i have a camper whose father is in prison. i don't know what for. i do know that he says he will buy his son a bike when he gets out. please pray for him and their family.
his son is nine years old. he has difficulty spelling and reading even simple things. we have reading at camp every day. we have craft every day. he shrinks back into himself any time he has to read or write. he becomes a different person. he is afraid of what people will think.
however, he's the most fun kid at camp. he's fast. boy, can this guy run. he loves being at camp. he loves being encouraged. he asks me to tell him if he's doing a good job. he's the most positive person on the basketball court, and even though neither of us can shoot, we can pass.
he understands the value of other people and seeks to make friends with kids who are positive. pray that God will continue this in him. pray that he will continue to seek people who will love him like Jesus does.
thanks.
-steve
jammin'
so i'm just sitting here, listening to some blasting tunes... ask chris bannon what they are... he'll know. but i won't do my shameless plug here. oh no, i won't.
anyways, this past weekend was beautiful.
we went up to new hampshire to spend some time decompressing, getting closer as a team and community, and reflecting on the ways God has worked this summer and continues to work in us and each other.
we all woke up at 7am-ish on saturday when we were there to go kayaking. it was awesome to bask in the morning sunlight, and bathe in the presence of God that morning. we all came back together at about 11 to start our reflection time.
we went over the section in mark, where Jesus is healing the sick and casting out demons in capernaum. we talked about a lot about calling, and about compassion fatigue. and all sorts of other things. find the passage and read it. draw your own conclusions, we probably talked about them and prayed through them.
Jesus at the end of the section retreats to a quiet place, then when his disciples found him, decides to keep on moving to another town. they could have built a megachurch, but Jesus had prayed, and knew it was best to keep moving. so they did.
we then began a four hour time of silent retreat and solitude. we were even told by Jim to ignore people we came in contact with. it wasn't rude, we were just focusing on God. nice :). So i started the time off with a 45 minute nap. i know... i know. but really, i started it off just by taking everything i had on my mind and heart, and giving it to God, completely. and it was so freeing that i fell asleep. once i was empty of everything, God could fill me up much easier.
and he did.
on sunday we wrote down things to encourage and challenge the the people we are living in community with. through that process, God convicted me in a lot of ways that i need to improve relationally with people, and although i welcome with open arms at first, to be intentional at maintaining that welcoming spirit towards people i already know. this among other things is something i'll continue to work on.
thank you all who are praying for me, our team, our community, and hartford. God is here. keep praying. :)
anyways, this past weekend was beautiful.
we went up to new hampshire to spend some time decompressing, getting closer as a team and community, and reflecting on the ways God has worked this summer and continues to work in us and each other.
we all woke up at 7am-ish on saturday when we were there to go kayaking. it was awesome to bask in the morning sunlight, and bathe in the presence of God that morning. we all came back together at about 11 to start our reflection time.
we went over the section in mark, where Jesus is healing the sick and casting out demons in capernaum. we talked about a lot about calling, and about compassion fatigue. and all sorts of other things. find the passage and read it. draw your own conclusions, we probably talked about them and prayed through them.
Jesus at the end of the section retreats to a quiet place, then when his disciples found him, decides to keep on moving to another town. they could have built a megachurch, but Jesus had prayed, and knew it was best to keep moving. so they did.
we then began a four hour time of silent retreat and solitude. we were even told by Jim to ignore people we came in contact with. it wasn't rude, we were just focusing on God. nice :). So i started the time off with a 45 minute nap. i know... i know. but really, i started it off just by taking everything i had on my mind and heart, and giving it to God, completely. and it was so freeing that i fell asleep. once i was empty of everything, God could fill me up much easier.
and he did.
on sunday we wrote down things to encourage and challenge the the people we are living in community with. through that process, God convicted me in a lot of ways that i need to improve relationally with people, and although i welcome with open arms at first, to be intentional at maintaining that welcoming spirit towards people i already know. this among other things is something i'll continue to work on.
thank you all who are praying for me, our team, our community, and hartford. God is here. keep praying. :)
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
wheeeee!
this weekend we're taking a trip to new hampshire to get a break from the city. today we're going swimming in the pool. we saw fireworks on saturday. i've had a good amount of time to play guitar and had some good talks with people from school as well. not much time to post a blog though.
God's at work here in more ways than i can count... more on that later.
-steve
God's at work here in more ways than i can count... more on that later.
-steve
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
another day. another post.
i love this city.
usually the city makes people talk faster. usually the city makes people speak more. usually the city makes people say less.
i've had instances today where i've really wanted to expound in many ways on the things that are going on inside my head and in my heart, but i haven't been able to.
when i was talking with adrienne a few calls back, she said that every time she talked to me on the phone i was talking a little bit slower, and with a little more deliberation in my words. she said my pauses were longer inbetween phrases. that it was delightful to hear it in my voice that God has made me at peace here.
which is amazing... because as at peace as i am, i feel completely the opposite so much of the time. but i feel at peace at the same time.
love.
joy.
peace.
patience.
kindness.
goodness.
faithfulness.
gentleness.
self control.
the israelites were people chosen by God to be set apart from other nations. God gave them a new way of living that was supposed to show the rest of the world what God was like.
the israelites were under the rule of a foreign king... a few hundred years after king solomon disobeyed God. their new king was nebuchadnezzar. the dude was ruthless. he would cut people into pieces, or even throw them into a fire if they disobeyed him.
so king nebuchadnezzar told his officials to find a bunch of handsom men from among the israelites who were smart and had their wits about them. they would serve in the king's palace. after three years of learning the culture of king nebuchadnezzar's people... they would enter into the king's service.
among the israelites chosen to learn the culture of the babylonians were daniel, hananiah, mishael, and azariah. the king gave them new names... names that would classify them as babylonian instead of israelites. names that were intended to strip them of their identities and reform them into new ones. so they became shadrach, meshach, and abednego. and daniel was renamed belteshazzar. but unfortunately for the babylonians, only God had the right to rename people and have them become different people because of it.
the renaming of daniel and his three friends, and the stripping of their culture in order to have them relearn something new didn't work. they still remained faithful to their God. they still knew that they were set apart. the israelites had all sorts of food requirements they needed to keep. king nebuchadnezzar demanded that they eat food that broke these requirements.
daniel understood the complexity of these requirements. daniel had an official who was tending to him and his friends. God caused the official to show favor to daniel. instead of him going into a dissertation of all the foods they were allowed to eat, and the foods they were not allowed to eat, daniel just tells the guard, "feed us nothing but vegetables and water for ten days, then make your own judgement" God had made daniel wise.
at the end of the ten days, it was easy to tell that daniel and his friends looked better than anyone else in the kingdom. everyone was then put on the same diet. God blessed daniel and his friends with all sorts of wisdom and understand. they rose to the top of their class and were noticed by the king. they were given high positions in babylonian society.
love.
joy.
peace.
patience.
kindness.
goodness.
faithfulness.
gentleness.
self control.
usually the city makes people talk faster. usually the city makes people speak more. usually the city makes people say less.
i've had instances today where i've really wanted to expound in many ways on the things that are going on inside my head and in my heart, but i haven't been able to.
when i was talking with adrienne a few calls back, she said that every time she talked to me on the phone i was talking a little bit slower, and with a little more deliberation in my words. she said my pauses were longer inbetween phrases. that it was delightful to hear it in my voice that God has made me at peace here.
which is amazing... because as at peace as i am, i feel completely the opposite so much of the time. but i feel at peace at the same time.
love.
joy.
peace.
patience.
kindness.
goodness.
faithfulness.
gentleness.
self control.
the israelites were people chosen by God to be set apart from other nations. God gave them a new way of living that was supposed to show the rest of the world what God was like.
the israelites were under the rule of a foreign king... a few hundred years after king solomon disobeyed God. their new king was nebuchadnezzar. the dude was ruthless. he would cut people into pieces, or even throw them into a fire if they disobeyed him.
so king nebuchadnezzar told his officials to find a bunch of handsom men from among the israelites who were smart and had their wits about them. they would serve in the king's palace. after three years of learning the culture of king nebuchadnezzar's people... they would enter into the king's service.
among the israelites chosen to learn the culture of the babylonians were daniel, hananiah, mishael, and azariah. the king gave them new names... names that would classify them as babylonian instead of israelites. names that were intended to strip them of their identities and reform them into new ones. so they became shadrach, meshach, and abednego. and daniel was renamed belteshazzar. but unfortunately for the babylonians, only God had the right to rename people and have them become different people because of it.
the renaming of daniel and his three friends, and the stripping of their culture in order to have them relearn something new didn't work. they still remained faithful to their God. they still knew that they were set apart. the israelites had all sorts of food requirements they needed to keep. king nebuchadnezzar demanded that they eat food that broke these requirements.
daniel understood the complexity of these requirements. daniel had an official who was tending to him and his friends. God caused the official to show favor to daniel. instead of him going into a dissertation of all the foods they were allowed to eat, and the foods they were not allowed to eat, daniel just tells the guard, "feed us nothing but vegetables and water for ten days, then make your own judgement" God had made daniel wise.
at the end of the ten days, it was easy to tell that daniel and his friends looked better than anyone else in the kingdom. everyone was then put on the same diet. God blessed daniel and his friends with all sorts of wisdom and understand. they rose to the top of their class and were noticed by the king. they were given high positions in babylonian society.
love.
joy.
peace.
patience.
kindness.
goodness.
faithfulness.
gentleness.
self control.
Monday, June 30, 2008
jesus for president... again
yay. so. reading shane and chris's book this summer was awesome. i loved it. yesterday we had a potluck dinner with them, all the people on tour with them (the psalters included... they both smell deliciously of hummus and falafel) and a bunch of people from the catholic worker. it was awesome talking to chris and seeing how he was connecting with our little hartford city mission community here, and getting to know him a little better. he and his wife live with shane and a bunch of others in an intentional christian community called "simple way" it's beautiful. i love the very real possibility of getting involved in a community like that.... so exciting.
anywho, it was a blast. cnn wrote an article about them on their tour, which is pretty sweet, but it misses how much about jesus it really was. they brought in a lot of other political stuff into the article too... but at least a good portion of chris and shane's message remains. it's beautiful
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/29/evangelical.campaign/index.html
i ran into a few people from my church there, which was awesome, cuz i missed a lot of them, and haven't had a real chance to catch up with them while being here. it was nice being able to do that. it was also nice that the majority of the people i expected to come... didn't... but this group that i had no idea was going to be there... was. while i would have liked to see people i hoped would come, it was a nice surprise to see people i hadn't thought would come. i think you get it.
adrienne, my lovely girlfriend, came to visit us this weekend and hang out. she came on saturday and left this morning... it was awesome to be able to talk with her face to face and share my life with her here a bit. the girls i'm living here with all expressed how great it was for her to come and how wonderful it was to spend time with her. i'm really blessed by that. and also blessed that she came.
camp has been going well. last night, my mom asked me what i've been reading. my first response was to list off all the books of the bible i've been studying. which for me is something that i'd never jump to as a blink reaction. but it's been eye opening to see how much God is increasing my love of him and his word through being here and spending intentional time really trying to learn more about God and how to serve God every day... all day.
i've been intrigued by the hebrew scriptures lately. i haven't read them much since i was a kid... while i did lead a bible study on hosea last semester of school, i haven't read the "bible stories" i grew up with in awhile. i've decided to revisit as many of those as possible, along with other daily disciplines and rhythms of diving into God's character. i realize that the more i read God's word, and the more i learn about God, the more i read into myself, and the more i learn about myself; how interconnected we are... i'm blown away.
so, as i said, camp's been going well. this week i've been preparing cirriculum for teaching time. it's been a little overwhelming, but God's got my back, as well as the rest of our team. today i taught the kids about samuel, saul, david, and goliath. a broad picture of all of it, and the specifics with david's fight with goliath. for the rest of the week, we're going to learn about daniel and his three amigos. i'm loving being a learner while teaching. it's one of my favorite things about leading a bible study... the more i have to share with others, the more i want to learn for myself. God has been opening up massive pathways for this in my heart, and providing me with opportunities to share, with anyone who will listen, about what i've been learning in the bible. it's exciting. God's word is breathing and alive.
as frustrating as some of these kids at camp can be, i love them. and i know it's only God that can enable me to do that. it's sad, how not being showed love by parents and family, can lead to it being harder for other people to love them as well.
i prayed tonite, thanking God for the blessing of my parents. people who are so totally invested in my life and my spiritual upbringing. so totally given over to God to grow me up in ways that i would see him in order to know him. and so blessed by God providing them.
i received letters from courtney and stewart, mike's kids... who were visiting him and my mom in rhode island while i was here. they're growing up so fast... stewart was so excited about the idea of us living with a food budget of only four dollars a day. my mom and mike made it a nightly discussion around the dinner table... they would print out a post from my blog every night before dinner (that was when i was posting almost daily) and pass around copies to everyone and then read it aloud. (mike's parents were also at the house to visit) it was great to hear that story and feel so overwhelmed at how great it was that they were joining in the work that God is doing here and sharing it with the people around them.
so you all know... it is such a blessing to be here. and while i miss a lot of people back home, i know God's got some time in store for us all to hang out and share how he's been active this summer. God is on the move.
-steve
anywho, it was a blast. cnn wrote an article about them on their tour, which is pretty sweet, but it misses how much about jesus it really was. they brought in a lot of other political stuff into the article too... but at least a good portion of chris and shane's message remains. it's beautiful
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/29/evangelical.campaign/index.html
i ran into a few people from my church there, which was awesome, cuz i missed a lot of them, and haven't had a real chance to catch up with them while being here. it was nice being able to do that. it was also nice that the majority of the people i expected to come... didn't... but this group that i had no idea was going to be there... was. while i would have liked to see people i hoped would come, it was a nice surprise to see people i hadn't thought would come. i think you get it.
adrienne, my lovely girlfriend, came to visit us this weekend and hang out. she came on saturday and left this morning... it was awesome to be able to talk with her face to face and share my life with her here a bit. the girls i'm living here with all expressed how great it was for her to come and how wonderful it was to spend time with her. i'm really blessed by that. and also blessed that she came.
camp has been going well. last night, my mom asked me what i've been reading. my first response was to list off all the books of the bible i've been studying. which for me is something that i'd never jump to as a blink reaction. but it's been eye opening to see how much God is increasing my love of him and his word through being here and spending intentional time really trying to learn more about God and how to serve God every day... all day.
i've been intrigued by the hebrew scriptures lately. i haven't read them much since i was a kid... while i did lead a bible study on hosea last semester of school, i haven't read the "bible stories" i grew up with in awhile. i've decided to revisit as many of those as possible, along with other daily disciplines and rhythms of diving into God's character. i realize that the more i read God's word, and the more i learn about God, the more i read into myself, and the more i learn about myself; how interconnected we are... i'm blown away.
so, as i said, camp's been going well. this week i've been preparing cirriculum for teaching time. it's been a little overwhelming, but God's got my back, as well as the rest of our team. today i taught the kids about samuel, saul, david, and goliath. a broad picture of all of it, and the specifics with david's fight with goliath. for the rest of the week, we're going to learn about daniel and his three amigos. i'm loving being a learner while teaching. it's one of my favorite things about leading a bible study... the more i have to share with others, the more i want to learn for myself. God has been opening up massive pathways for this in my heart, and providing me with opportunities to share, with anyone who will listen, about what i've been learning in the bible. it's exciting. God's word is breathing and alive.
as frustrating as some of these kids at camp can be, i love them. and i know it's only God that can enable me to do that. it's sad, how not being showed love by parents and family, can lead to it being harder for other people to love them as well.
i prayed tonite, thanking God for the blessing of my parents. people who are so totally invested in my life and my spiritual upbringing. so totally given over to God to grow me up in ways that i would see him in order to know him. and so blessed by God providing them.
i received letters from courtney and stewart, mike's kids... who were visiting him and my mom in rhode island while i was here. they're growing up so fast... stewart was so excited about the idea of us living with a food budget of only four dollars a day. my mom and mike made it a nightly discussion around the dinner table... they would print out a post from my blog every night before dinner (that was when i was posting almost daily) and pass around copies to everyone and then read it aloud. (mike's parents were also at the house to visit) it was great to hear that story and feel so overwhelmed at how great it was that they were joining in the work that God is doing here and sharing it with the people around them.
so you all know... it is such a blessing to be here. and while i miss a lot of people back home, i know God's got some time in store for us all to hang out and share how he's been active this summer. God is on the move.
-steve
Monday, June 23, 2008
i found this to be interesting
check out this article about changing graduation requirements in hartford's schools
also check the left hand column for some stuff on the demographics of the area we're staying it. (northeast) it's hartfordinfo.org
also check the left hand column for some stuff on the demographics of the area we're staying it. (northeast) it's hartfordinfo.org
Friday, June 20, 2008
God provides
thank you for praying. God has provided an answer to our prayer. the state deemed that the keeney park pondhouse was safe to hold camp in. we will be resuming camp on tuesday. praise God.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
URGENT: prayer needed
so, we have camp in this building called the pondhouse. it is located on a moderately secluded street in our neighbourhood. last night, at 8:30pm, while we were praying at our house... during a high speed police chase, a car crashed into the pondhouse.
it damaged a significant portion of it... narrowly missing the gas and electrical lines... right inbetween them actually. we had camp today outside in the park, and limited our use of the pondhouse for bathroom only. however, the state has condemned the building until further notice... it may not be safe to have camp in. so, we need a new venue. we aren't having camp tomorrow, cuz the kids can't be outside all day.
please pray. thanks.
-steve
it damaged a significant portion of it... narrowly missing the gas and electrical lines... right inbetween them actually. we had camp today outside in the park, and limited our use of the pondhouse for bathroom only. however, the state has condemned the building until further notice... it may not be safe to have camp in. so, we need a new venue. we aren't having camp tomorrow, cuz the kids can't be outside all day.
please pray. thanks.
-steve
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
thank you
i'm sitting here, thinking about what God has done in my life and with our group in the past weeks... it's incredible. thank you so much for supporting me financially and with your prayers. God is definitely at work here. but the summer isn't over yet, at this point it's a huge spiritual battle, and there are definite forces at work trying to make sure these kids don't get introduced to Christ... so please keep praying for our team in Hartford.
thank you.
-steve
thank you.
-steve
post ten - a week has gone by
june 18 (wednesday evening)
camp has been going well.
yea.
wow, i can't believe this much time has gone by since posting last, but things have been extraordinarily busy. my journal posts have gone from very specific to extremely general and sometimes vague. but God has been work in incredible ways. and that's awesome.
my last post... the one before this was cut while i was writing it, i had some other form of responsibility i had to fulfill... i don't even know what i was writing. so... i don't think it's going to get finished. i guess it's just a testament to the fact that... well... i uh... have a lot to do here. :) and it's great.
living in a poor neighborhood, with fully intentional people has been a real eye opening experience for me... and has actually changed some views of mine, regarding what it means to actually follow jesus. it's an incredible time here.
i don't remember if i invited you to the "jesus for president" event... but details are on the hartford city missions mission main page. you should read the book and come out. or just come out. but reading the book would be helpful.
so... camp has been good. my role so far has been to be the floater person at camp... connecting with kids who otherwise would not be connected with. reaching out to the fringe kids and outcasts... the kids who are different. it's important... that's where my heart's been for the past few days. today was incredibly draining, we had more kids than we ever had, and none of them really cared to listen. it was a tough day.
tomorrow will be better.
we have a group of kids this week who are at camp this week only because next week, they're going to other camps, and their parents would like free camp till then. we're sifting them out tomorrow and putting them in a new group. my group. it'll be interesting to see how that dynamic works. i'm praying that i would be able to connect for them and care for them in the same way as if they were spending the whole summer at camp... hey, maybe they'll feel loved enough to do just that.
a lot of these kids are concerned about safety. a lot of them are scared to live where they are... they're scared primarily because they realize that everything else in their life has failed them at one point or another. it'll be interesting to introduce them to a Jesus who never fails them, and who loves them like no one else can. i pray that kids at camp will learn how much God loves them... just as i'm learning by being here.
it's been awesome so far. i wish you all could be here experiencing this. i miss you all. thank you for your support. :)
-steve
camp has been going well.
yea.
wow, i can't believe this much time has gone by since posting last, but things have been extraordinarily busy. my journal posts have gone from very specific to extremely general and sometimes vague. but God has been work in incredible ways. and that's awesome.
my last post... the one before this was cut while i was writing it, i had some other form of responsibility i had to fulfill... i don't even know what i was writing. so... i don't think it's going to get finished. i guess it's just a testament to the fact that... well... i uh... have a lot to do here. :) and it's great.
living in a poor neighborhood, with fully intentional people has been a real eye opening experience for me... and has actually changed some views of mine, regarding what it means to actually follow jesus. it's an incredible time here.
i don't remember if i invited you to the "jesus for president" event... but details are on the hartford city missions mission main page. you should read the book and come out. or just come out. but reading the book would be helpful.
so... camp has been good. my role so far has been to be the floater person at camp... connecting with kids who otherwise would not be connected with. reaching out to the fringe kids and outcasts... the kids who are different. it's important... that's where my heart's been for the past few days. today was incredibly draining, we had more kids than we ever had, and none of them really cared to listen. it was a tough day.
tomorrow will be better.
we have a group of kids this week who are at camp this week only because next week, they're going to other camps, and their parents would like free camp till then. we're sifting them out tomorrow and putting them in a new group. my group. it'll be interesting to see how that dynamic works. i'm praying that i would be able to connect for them and care for them in the same way as if they were spending the whole summer at camp... hey, maybe they'll feel loved enough to do just that.
a lot of these kids are concerned about safety. a lot of them are scared to live where they are... they're scared primarily because they realize that everything else in their life has failed them at one point or another. it'll be interesting to introduce them to a Jesus who never fails them, and who loves them like no one else can. i pray that kids at camp will learn how much God loves them... just as i'm learning by being here.
it's been awesome so far. i wish you all could be here experiencing this. i miss you all. thank you for your support. :)
-steve
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