On to Boston

It is Saturday morning and our first day to sleep late. Kids have worked hard (adults also!). The end of our service at Esperanza was joyous. Bishop Gayle Harris joined us for the late morning as we put the finishing touches on the picnic table. The garden is lovely. The 6th grade class prepared an ethnic lunch for us that we delicious. The BANA Fellows sang and we showed some slides of the Gulf Coast. Then out to the garden for a blessing. Bishop Harris sprinkled life sustaining water on the garden and all of us and we celebrated together the transformation of a dark, dingy place into a place of beauty. Neighbors came out to admire and to help. All in all it was a powerful experience for us all. At the end of the day the teachers took all of the kids for a softball game and gave the BANA adults and hour of free time. That too was great!

Last night we moved our crew to Cambridge MA and Youville Hospital. Our quarters are cramped and the showers are few but we are making it OK. It is supposed to rain on our parade today but we will do the tourist thing anyway!

Everyone is waiting for me and as I have to come to a coffee shop to get on line, so I better close this off and get back. We are safe. We are happy. We have had very few disruptions. As Sunday approaches we will hold you all in our prayers, I hope you will do the same for us. Please pray also for my Bishop (Bishop Shaw) who has gone to Zimbabwe to stand with the bishop there in the face of governmental threats to slaughter the Anglicans in Zimbabwe for opposing his oppressive government. He is witnessing to oppression in that part of the world.

God Bless,
Jane+

Pictures and More Pictures

Tomorrow is our last day at Esperanza. It has been "wicked awesome". Today we planted the last of some 60 plants, loaded the last of a 10 foot pile of dirt and rocks, and painted another area. We also finished doing laundry. Two unexpected encounters happened. Early this AM the person living in the house next to Esperanza come out. He had been watching our work for two days. He joined us in the alley, picked up a shovel and began to clean up with us. Making things beautiful is contagious! Then this afternoon an Indian gentleman came over and asked us what we were doing. LaShonda and I talked to him for a while and his eyes welled up with tears. "I have lived here for ten years. I have never seen anyone come to help us." We went back up stairs and when we returned to work he showed up with a plate of brownies. He could not thank the kids enough. Our scripture lesson tonight was the Mustard Seed.

All of our encounters have not been as pleasant. We have had a store owner slam the door to the coke case and explain that people hide bottles under their shirts. We have been charged more than the price on the product and then when we questioned it been told that the price was wrong on the package. We have even had an encounter with a Rhode Island State Trooper in which he was about as rude and inappropriate as a police office can be. This was actually a serious incident and so I want to share it in its entirety.

After leaving DC we were delayed in traffic around NYC. As a result we found ourselves in Rhode Island about 6 PM and hungry. We stopped at a Wendy’s. They were out of several products but we got enough to eat and sat down. Then three Black teenage girls came in and went to the counter. Soon we began to hear raised voices. Our guys wanted to stand up to see what was happening but we encouraged them to finish eating. Then out of nowhere two state troopers came in from either side of the restaurant. Then two more came in. Then a fifth came in and approached one of our young girls. He wanted to know who she was and what she had done. Her answer was polite and accurate – his sarcastic. By the second sentence I had crossed the room and inserted my body between the officer and my youth member. I introduced myself and offered to answer his questions. He wanted to know why I came over and I said “Because I do not want you to talk to my children.” Upon which he told me that he would talk to whomever he pleased. Then there was a sort of standoff. I did not say anything but I did not move either. The officer finally walked away and Lessie and the others ushered the children out of the door and onto the bus and we left.

Once on the bus and settled we talked for a long time about what happened. The young people were able to see the role of prejudice and power in the encounter and to name the ways in which the officer had acted inappropriately. They also named the way in which the other girls at the counter were rude and aggressive. I have never been prouder of a group of young people. They acted with poise beyond their years. The next evening the adults had time to do some process also. One of the learnings is that experiencing what it is like to be singled out, profiled, and intimidated is not familiar to white people in the same way as it is for people of color. We shared the fear and the anger together and it just made us more committed to the work that we are about. I have not ever worked with a more dedicated, wise, and compassionate group of adults. And the kids are pretty cool also.
I know that we will have much more to talk about in the weeks and months to come. For now we are looking forward to building a picnic table tomorrow and meeting Bishop Gayle who will bless the garden. Then it is on to Cambridge and Boston for the weekend. Tomorrow a couple of the guys will add their posts. Thanks of for reading our stuff.
Jane+

Brianna's Blog

My Experience

My experience on this trip has been amazing. I have met people I have never met before and got to know them very well. The trip to Washington, D.C. was very interesting. I was happy that I got to go back because I haven’t been there since I was two years old. I saw the White House including the snipers that were watching people from the roof of the White House. I also had the opportunity to ride on the Metro (I was kind of scared). I got to go up to the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. The most amazing thing about this trip was I got to meet a group of girls. I went to their school called Esperanza Academy of Hope. These girls and I have created a wonderful friendship and I am going to be very sad when we have to leave.

Brittany's blog

My experience

My experience on this mission trip has been very superb! I got to see things that I had never seen in my entire life. I got to make new friends and meet people who spoke different languages and it was very fun to learn Spanish.

Day one was the worst it was the worst because I thought none of them liked me, but as I got used to them I got more acquainted to them all. The first day was in Washington D.C. and the people there were very different the talked very proper. In Washington I got to see a lot of things like the Washington monument lots of memorials and many others.

Our first day of work

We arrived at Adelynrood at 10PM last night. Traffic in NYC held us up. Sleep did not come until 1 or so so today was a very tiring day. Three of the crew made it to chapel this AM at 7 to pray with the Companions of the Holy Cross who are hosting us. They keep the prayers several times a day and we are invited to join them.

This morning we arrived at Esperanza for the first time. Much of today was spent reconoitering and gathering supplies. We met with the student first and shared Katrina stories. Then the 5th grade class took us on a walking tour of their neighborhood and to see the Textile museum. Finally we were together enough to begin some work. We have 70 plants to put in the ground and a lpicnic table to build. We are also repairing flooring and ceiling and ripping our old stuff for new to go in. Planting 70 bushes in 4 days may not eem like very much but digging in NE is not like digging in Mississippi mud. There are ROCKS! We have a long metal pipe that we drive into the hole and loosen the rocksso that they can be lifted with a shovel. It takes two - working as a team - to dig the hole.

Please know that we are VERY aware of God's action in our lives on this pilgrimage. Everyday I am more and more amazed.

Tomorrow kids write - I promise!
Jane+

This is going to be short as we have had a full day. The service at the cathedral is on line at the cathedral website. I have not seen it yet either. Tomorrow we leave for Boston. Today we saw Linclon Memorial, Arlington, Air and Space Museum, Viet Nam Memorial and orean War Memorial. It was a powerful day of being tourists.

Thanks for journeying with us. Tonight we will pray for those who have died in the service of our country. We will pray for peace and for justice. God bless...
Jane+

IN A WIFI CAFÉ

What a day. I am so exhausted that I can barely sit up. We slept about 3 or 4 hours on the bus. It was an exciting trip - absolutely as smooth as silk. Today we got unloaded about 1 PM and after a brief attempt to clean up we headed for the Metro and the Smithsonian. We walked and walked. Washington Monument, Reflecting Pool, and to the Museum of Natural History. Then back to the hostel for Joe’s spaghetti and Dorothy’s salad. What a treat to get home and find supper cooked! Now young and old alike are ready for bed.

Some of the learnings today… We are building into a cohesive, strong group. We have each other’s back. Respect is a key ingredient in building community. And most important of all – we have much much more in common that different. Each evening we begin with music, then a sharing time, a scripture reading and reflection, and Night Prayer from the New Zealand Prayer Book. Faye prepared journals for the group – complete with markers and pens for personalizing them and for journaling. The group is doing that now – well some of them. Our music is getting so good that I called and volunteered us for the Offertory next Sunday at St Stephen’s.

While in the WIFI Café I noticed a man in an Episcopal hat. I spoke of course - in true Mississippi fashion. Turns out he is the Verger for tomorrow’s service. We will see him at the National Cathedral. We are all excited about tomorrow.
I will close with one of the comments from a young person as we walked down the Mall. He said “There is one of every kind of person here.” I said yes, I think God meant for it to be that way. Tomorrow’s scripture is the Pentecost reading. We are in the midst of it. Brother Ruffin did the reflection tonight from 1 Thessalonians, “11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 12 Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 14 And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. 16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Brother Ruffin reminded us of how we had lived into these instructions on Christian community today. He told us of his reservations about this trip and how he had tried to avoid coming. But Pastor Haynes and others had encouraged him and he told us how much this day had meant to him. He thanked the mentors for their incredible contributions and the young people for their commitment. The room was absolutely quiet listening to him. This work that we are about is hard work. We are going to have fun and we are going to do some work on a school, but we are also going to continue to go about the hard work of living together as people of God – not as Baptists and Episcopalians, black and white, men and women. We are one in Christ.

Thanks be to God. Jane+

ON THE BUS (Friday Evening)

Two hours ago I was sweating and stressing out over how we were going to get all that STUFF on the bus and now I am sitting here (freezing in the A/C) and looking out hug windows at some of the most beautiful kudzu covered trees I have ever seen. Perhaps one must be from the south to truly appreciate that image. Seriously we are cruising through the Greater Mobile Delta and the landscape is stunning. I suspect we are in for much more as we make our way north along the East Coast.

Our young people have gathered themselves into a rowdy group in the vicinity of the food and drink. As we boarded the bus I called each name and high fived fourteen smiling teens. We are off to a great start. There is a lot of anticipation and excitement.

We will do our best to make blog entries each day. Lessie has a video camera and Dorothy has her camera so we will have lots of pictures and movies to share. This has been an amazing several months of putting together a vision for building bridges across boundaries. Now that we are actually on this pilgrimage I am overcome with joy and thankfulness for all the hands who have worked to make this possible, for the prayers and the support of the people of Redeemer and Main Street Missionary Baptist, and for those who believed that what we are about is doing God’s work in the world. Tonight I will pray for the girls and teachers at Esperanza and for the families and friends that we have left behind. But my prayer will also be for our safety as we travel and for the Grace and Love of God to fill our hearts and our dreams.

Onward!
Jane+

Who? What? Where? Why?

The mission of the BANA Fellows (Build a New America) trip to Massachusetts

At the heart of Jesus’ teaching is a call to serve others and to address the oppressive institutions in society. The Episcopal Church of the Redeemer and Main Street Missionary Baptist Church are embarking on an ambitious mission trip to do just that. It is a program of transformative learning around the issues of institutional racism and classism in our country. We are 7 adults and 20 young people at this time. The ages of the young people are 13 to 17. The crux of our program is a plan to travel to Lawrence, Massachusetts, to help paint and refurbish a school that is hosted by Grace Episcopal Church in Lawrence. The city is a predominantly, Spanish speaking, immigrant community with limited financial resources. We will help Esperanza provide a tuition free opportunity for young girls to attend this school that promotes excellence in education by contributing to the maintenance of the facility and the beautification of the classrooms. A similar group from the communities of Lynn/Salem/Marblehead, Massachusetts will travel to Mississippi in June to work on rebuilding homes in East Biloxi. Together we hope to learn ways for our young people to Build a New America.

Within the context of a service project, we will begin to engage and to address issues of racism and classism in our society. “Ism’s” are driven by a sense of difference and separation. But the Gospel teaches us that we are all cut of the same Divine cloth, all created in God’s image. It is our life experiences that create the sense of separation. The systems of prejudice and the privilege harbored by those who abuse power in a society are exactly the institutions against which Jesus spoke. To find strength in solidarity, to overcome the loneliness of separation, and to name and address the oppressive systems of power are some of the hopes of our mission. To this end, we have engaged in serious conversation around the assumptions we make about each other and about our life experiences. The common denominator for our young people is that they all want to make a difference in their own lives and in their communities. They know that the crucial element in that vision is their commitment to stand together and to serve others. As we continue to meet in community after our return, we will begin to look at how we can - together - encourage each other as well as other young people to make good healthy choices in their lives and to be a positive influence in their communities.

Our experience will include Mississippi Day at the National Cathedral, the Freedom Trail, the Museum of Science, and a Yankees game in the Bronx . We are grateful to the Companions of the Holy Cross (Adelynrood), Youville Hospital - Cambridge, and the Museum of Science – Boston for offering us hospitality.

As our work begins on May 23 we will post a journal of our travels and experiences. We invite you to enter this journey with us as we follow where the Holy Spirit leads.