Hurry Up and Wait

Touring the sites of Boston at Walden Pond.

On Monday morning we left the conference center at Stony Point, New York on our way up to Boston, MA.  The week of orientation and training there in New York was full of bible study and seminars that gave us very practical tools for understanding culture and economics for the people we would be sharing in ministry with, as well as some advice and stories from veterans in the program.  And the spirit of orientation and preparation in a welcoming community continued along with our journey northward.  Starting at 2:30 am on Monday, our group of about 75 Young Adult Volunteers finished orientation and departed on our separate ways all across the world to begin our different missions.  Since then, Facebook has shown me that some of my fellow YAV's have been hanging out with Joel McHale in Hollywood, some on picturesque beaches in the Phillippines, and some biking it up in Tuscon.  Meanwhile, I've been swimming in Walden Pond and seeing the historical sites of Boston in between sessions on house planning, personality tests, and the policy handbook.

 
This Monday, we arrived in Boston to the welcoming hospitality of our partner Christians in the Boston Presbytery, but couldn't move into our house yet.  The lease on our house starts on September 1 so the four of us were basically homeless for the week, and we were welcomed lovingly into two different houses of some of the church members in Lexington, Massachusetts.  On Saturday night each of us will move again to stay with a family from our respective churches and worship with them Sunday, September 1, and move into our new house on Monday to begin work Tuesday.  The four of us will each be working with a different church in the Boston Presbytery with the goal of reaching out into the community to advocate and work toward making local healthy food more accessible to the poor through various methods.  Please visit the program website to meet my colleagues in this food justice outreach mission, Audrey, Libby, and Kathleen. You can find out more about the program there as well. http://bostonfoodjusticeyavprogram.wordpress.com/2013-boston-yavs/

Furnature donations for the new YAV house provided
 by the Presbytery of Boston and BFJYAV partners.

When we arrived Monday, the door to our house was not open yet, but it gave us the chance to be welcomed by a community who has been expecting our team and our work for the past year.  In fact, due to their support we received an entire garage full of donated furniture to use in our new house--all donated by our partner church members.  This hospitable community of the Church universal was welcoming enough to welcome four homeless wayfaring young adult strangers they'd never met into their houses for a week, providing clean beds, food, showers etc..  I've felt nothing but welcoming and acceptance ever since I started in this community and that has shown itself in the hospitality of these host families.  I hate to go to a different house, but it will be nice to settle into our own space and get the work started (as soon as we get all the furniture across town).

While homeless, we've been planning out our food budget for the first six months with the challenge of eating only local foods.  On top of this, we've spent the week learning our way around the city, and preparing for our intentional community centered on spiritual formation, vocational discernment, simple living and of course food justice.  We've already begun by becoming acquainted with local farmers and growers, and starting to preserve some local fruit for the winter while practicing the art of canning.  The challenge of eating only local food for the first six months will definitely keep us on our toes.

One final note on fundraising: As of the last count on Tuesday, I'm only $75 short of my minimum fundraising goal of $3,000 so I thank you so much for your generous support of this work.  We will continue fundraising as the year continues.  The program will cost significantly more than that amount and as a team we have set a higher goal so please tell your friends about our work up here.

If anyone is still considering a donation please know that monthly donations are another option.  For example if you give $5.00 per month it totals $55.00 for my 11 month term which is the equivalent expense of 3 weeks of my food budget or approximately a 3 week bus pass.  The cool thing is that any amount helps.  So thank you!  Please remember to keep us in your thoughts and prayers.  All donations should be mailed to the following address:

BFJYAV Program c/o Maggie Holmesheoran

Clarendon Hill Presbyterian Church

155 Powder House Blvd.

Somerville, MA 02144

Write checks payable to Presbytery of Boston with Alex Haney -BFJYAV in the memo line (you could put in another one of our names if you wish to support them instead)  I ask you send all prayers to God, Jehova, Yahweh, Allah, the Creator, etc., however you wish to say it. Prayers can go farther than dollars (they go to God).  Thanks again and I will post more details on my specific work as soon as we settle into home and the work begins on Tuesday.