An update on my situation
Hello there. I just wanted to give you an update of what I have been up to recently, and to fill in some details.
I am currently at the AmeriCorps*NCCC base in the Sacramento area, having just returned from a two-month project in Bay St. Louis, MS. While in MS, my team was working with Lagniappe Presbyterian Church and were working to build and repair houses damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, and we were also working to help the church manage and take care of the other volunteers who were staying for shorter terms (such as a week, or a weekend).
We came back to the Sacramento area to finish up debriefing for this past project, and to be briefed on and to prepare for our next project, which will consist of working with an organization called SOLV to perform removal of invasive plant species in the areas in and around Portland, OR. My team leaves for Portland on Monday, and we will arrive Tuesday evening, staying on that project until late March.
During the past project, my teammates and I were still trying to get accustomed to living and working with one another, and trying to get accustomed to functioning within the structure of the AmeriCorps*NCCC program. I believe we have done a pretty good job of getting used to one another and the program.
Another relatively difficult situation which I found myself dealing with during this past project was difficulty in maintaining my spiritual life as an Orthodox Christian. In the area in which we were working, I found it rather difficult to make it to an Orthodox parish, for a number of reasons: my team had only one vehicle to be shared among all the members; I am not a driver on my team; and the nearest Orthodox parish was a forty minute drive away in Biloxi. So, I haven't been able to attend an Orthodox parish since around Thanksgiving. However, I am looking forward to attending church again once I get up to Portland, since I will be living relatively close to a few Orthodox parishes, and I have some friends who go to some of those churches.
I have also been lax and irregular in maintaining my prayer life and some other spiritual disciplines. I have been only occasionally doing my morning and evening prayers, and reading of the word, although in part this is due to a difficult work schedule. Perhaps another factor in this might be the awkwardness of doing such things while living in close quarters with generally non-religious or atheist people. I was able to keep the nativity fast to some degree, although I could not maintain the fast fully due to the fact that our project sponsors prepared our food and did not provide many vegetarian options. I will admit, though, that my failures in fasting and in prayer were in a large part due to my own laziness, which I am trying to address.
Well, that is most of what is going on in my life right now. I would love to hear back from you if you have any questions, comments, or advice for me. If there are any people who would be interested in hearing about all this, feel free to let them know. And, most importantly, please keep me in your prayers.
Pons Timothy Materum III
I am currently at the AmeriCorps*NCCC base in the Sacramento area, having just returned from a two-month project in Bay St. Louis, MS. While in MS, my team was working with Lagniappe Presbyterian Church and were working to build and repair houses damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, and we were also working to help the church manage and take care of the other volunteers who were staying for shorter terms (such as a week, or a weekend).
We came back to the Sacramento area to finish up debriefing for this past project, and to be briefed on and to prepare for our next project, which will consist of working with an organization called SOLV to perform removal of invasive plant species in the areas in and around Portland, OR. My team leaves for Portland on Monday, and we will arrive Tuesday evening, staying on that project until late March.
During the past project, my teammates and I were still trying to get accustomed to living and working with one another, and trying to get accustomed to functioning within the structure of the AmeriCorps*NCCC program. I believe we have done a pretty good job of getting used to one another and the program.
Another relatively difficult situation which I found myself dealing with during this past project was difficulty in maintaining my spiritual life as an Orthodox Christian. In the area in which we were working, I found it rather difficult to make it to an Orthodox parish, for a number of reasons: my team had only one vehicle to be shared among all the members; I am not a driver on my team; and the nearest Orthodox parish was a forty minute drive away in Biloxi. So, I haven't been able to attend an Orthodox parish since around Thanksgiving. However, I am looking forward to attending church again once I get up to Portland, since I will be living relatively close to a few Orthodox parishes, and I have some friends who go to some of those churches.
I have also been lax and irregular in maintaining my prayer life and some other spiritual disciplines. I have been only occasionally doing my morning and evening prayers, and reading of the word, although in part this is due to a difficult work schedule. Perhaps another factor in this might be the awkwardness of doing such things while living in close quarters with generally non-religious or atheist people. I was able to keep the nativity fast to some degree, although I could not maintain the fast fully due to the fact that our project sponsors prepared our food and did not provide many vegetarian options. I will admit, though, that my failures in fasting and in prayer were in a large part due to my own laziness, which I am trying to address.
Well, that is most of what is going on in my life right now. I would love to hear back from you if you have any questions, comments, or advice for me. If there are any people who would be interested in hearing about all this, feel free to let them know. And, most importantly, please keep me in your prayers.
Pons Timothy Materum III
posted by thebrainkid at 2/02/2008 12:09:00 PM
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