Interns on the Run!!!!! j/k

Hello all!!  Wow!  It has been a whole 2 weeks since I blogged.  I have had a lot of people asking when I am going to post again, so here it is.  Sorry it has been so long.  It has been a crazy couple of weeks, and I have not had access to the internet for most of that time.

So here is what has been happening the past few weeks...
I finished my last week of working on the golf tournament, so I moved into my position as the Homes for Hope intern this week.  My work on the golf tournament was really successful.  I mailed 100 letters, made 100+ phone calls, and made a really cool looking fundraising meter all in 7.5 days on the job.

This past week has been spent at the HOPE Leadership Summit/Intern conference.  This was an amazing experience.  We got the chance to interact with HOPE's managing directors.  This only happens for HOPE staff once a year, so we were really lucky to be a part of it.  Thursday, May 19, the other interns began arriving.  No one, even the staff, expected this group of interns to get as close and work together so well as we did.  The interns also had lots of fun together, whether it be setting up for the Celebrating HOPE Banquet or walking around downtown Lancaster singing around and playing every piano we saw. (Downtown Lancaster is covered in painted pianos. You can see one in my description of Sunday events.) Oh, and I found out that I will have a roommate at the Caslers, Alison.  We already get along really well!

Saturday night was the Celebrating HOPE Banquet.  The interns spent all day working on decorating a ballroom in the Lancaster Convention Center.  That night, the ballroom was filled with influential donors, HOPE staff, and managing directors from all over the world, all dressed in culturally traditional clothing.  The most beautiful of all had to be the managing director of HOPE Congo, Jacinta, who looked like an African Queen. See some pictures below :) unfortunately there are none of Jacinta :(

 There was a silent auction.  See some of the displays below.

 This is the division I am working for!

 INTERNS!!!!

Sunday, we were interns on the run.  We had the day to ourselves, so a group of us went to Community Fellowship Church.  That night, we went to downtown Lancaster, and entertained the locals. SO MUCH FUN!

The Summit began on Monday.  This began a week of learning about HOPE and all of the work that it does.  I thought that I knew a lot about HOPE before, but now I feel that I could teach a class on it.  One of the sessions that was most influential was on Holistic Ministry.  This is what is different about HOPE, though HOPE is still working at perfecting this part of its work.  HOPE ministers to the entire person, spiritual and physical.  I could talk about this for an entire post, so if you would like to hear more about it, make the request as a comment, and I will post more about it.

Thursday night was the most fun night of the week! At the end of every Summit, HOPE holds a skit/song contest complete with "celebrity" judges and prizes.  The interns DOMINATED!  We did a skit poking fun at HOPE's President, Peter Greer, who happened to mess up one of HOPE's numerous acronyms the first day of the Summit.  Then, we sang the song that we wrote to the tune of LOVE.  The song is funny, while still communicating HOPE's message.  We did this song complete with a violin opening and an acapela base line.  SO GREAT! Here's the song:

“H is for holistic ministry

O is for the Only loan you need

P: keep praying, praying, Peter Greer is always saying

Loans, they’re made for you and meee…

Ooops, we messed up our acronym,

PASSION, FISH, there’s no way to keep track of them,

Oops, we skipped a letter

Peter Greer we must do better

HOPE, there’s hope for you and me.

E, we’ll add it on to H-O-P

HOPE, our products help you physically

Not to be dualistic,

But our SI…it makes the difference

HOPE, it’s international.

Loans aren’t all the HOPE can give to you

Loans are more than a board game for two

Trust alone can’t make it, take my loan but please repay it

HOPE…it’s international”

So.... I'm getting close to the end.  Thursday night was our last night out together, and we went to downtown Lancaster one more time.  We had a wonderful time, but it was sad to be our last night with the ex-pat interns.  However, Mari Pili is our designated intern reunion coordinator, so I hope this happens.  I know that I made some wonderful lasting friendships, and though some may be across the world, I think we will be able to pick up right where we left off.  As I said to all of them that tried to tell me "goodbye" and you know who you are if you are reading this, "This is not goodbye. I'll see you soon, and I mean it."

Friday evening was very special.  We had been staying in a large house with an Ethiopian family the duration of the summit.  As they found out that we were leaving, they wanted to have an Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony for us.  We didn't really know what to expect.  Alison and I had discussed it and decided to go get a cup of coffee and leave.  We were in for a big surprise.  When we arrived on the main floor, where the family lived, we arrived to lasagna, salad, bread, and peach pie.  Everything was delicious, though all but the peach pie had a slightly Ethiopian twist.  In other words, SPICY! After dinner, it was time for the coffee ceremony.  In Ethiopia, the coffee ceremony is done 3 times per day.  The beans are roasted on a special stove, and are ground by hand, then steeped in a special pot.  However, being in America, Ebenezer (our host), roasted the beans on the stove, and used a coffee grinder.  If you have never smelled roasting coffee beans, make a point to.  Ebenezer made the coffee in the special pot, and the coffee was served in small china glasses on a special tray.  Pictures are below.  No filter is used in the coffee pot.  It takes skill to pour the coffee without spilling the grounds.  That said, this coffee was the best that I have ever tasted.  I am spoiled now, and must learn how to do this.

Saturday, I moved into my new home for the next few months, the Caslers'.  Jesse works for HOPE and his wife is a professor.  They have two very cute little boys.  Alison and I share the basement "apartment," a bedroom, bathroom, living area, and kitchenette.  It might not be much, but it is definitely the coolest place that I have been all summer, and I am thankful for that.

I still have such a peace about being here and working here I know that it must be that God has put me here.  I believe it more everyday.

If you have been praying for me, please add the following people and causes to your prayer list:
(I have left out last names for privacy)
1. Elizabeth: Ghana (with Edify)
2. Tara: Moldova
3. Cooper and Mari Pili: Dominican Republic
4. Meghan: Rwanda
5. Sylvie: India
6. Nathan: Philippines
7. Russel: Ukraine
8. Ana: Republic of Congo
9. Alison, Liam, Kira, Tabea, Maria, Margaret, Jabez, Josh, John x 2, and Joe: Lancaster interns
10. Safety of Managing Directors in various countries and stability in the micro-finance markets.

A few things to add:

If you would like to comment on the blog, click follow.  It will ask you to either register with google or blogger.  Then, you can get an email when I have a new post and comment on the posts.  I know several of my readers had asked my mom how to do that, so here are the instructions.
Finally, if you want to send me anything, send me a message or post a comment, and I will send you my address.  I would post it, but this blog is public, and I would rather keep the address private.

I love you and miss you all.

Blessings from Lancaster.

A weekend spent exploring...

It's a town silly...

Saturday, at the recommendation of Deirdre, I went to Kitchen Kettle Village in Intercourse, PA.  If you want to know where the name came from, google it.  It's not what you think.  Kitchen Kettle Village is a really cute little place.  While it is touristy, it's also really authentic.  They make their own fudge, pretzels, ice cream, and jelly on site.  They have cute little shops for everyone from boutiques that carry Vera Bradley and Brighton, to hunting and cooking stores.  I could have spent a lot more time and money there than I did, but seeing as I am a broke intern, I did not want to spend too much.  I did get to try a pretzel though.  Yes, I have had pretzels before, but you haven't really had a pretzel until you have had one up here.  That is the one thing I do not have a picture of, but it was AMAZING!

An Amish farm behind Kitchen Kettle village.

A wire art band

Nutcrackers... for the Scott family

This is supposed to be an Ohio State snowman, but the colors are awfully close to Maroon and White! Hail State!

This is in the Christmas Shop

This is a shelf of extremely expensive Elvis memorabilia.  The glass on the left is priced at $49.00!

Amish figurines designed in Bird-in-Hand, PA

Street view of Kitchen Kettle Village

I agree!

Amish dolls.

They really like to play off the name of the town...

Makin' fudge! Livin' the dream...

A few of my purchases.  I tried all of these in the store and they are extremely delicious.  Mom will be receiving the Pineapple Jalapeno Jam in the mail, if you wish to try it.

This mug was crafted by a local potter.  There is a surprise in the bottom.

Surprise!!! There is a happy little frog in the bottom of the cup.  Don't worry... It's a clay frog.

I spent the rest of Saturday afternoon shopping at the local Tanger Outlet, and was home by 3:30 PM.  It was such a wonderful day!

Sunday afternoon, I spent several hours on the campus of Millersville University.  They have a beautiful campus, and it's actually a lot bigger than I thought it was.  After exploring campus, I when to Rita's Italian Ice and found a new addiction.  If anyone comes to visit me up here, we will go to Rita's.  YUM!

MU has a beautiful courtyard area with a pond and ducks!

Ducks!!

the back of the former library, now executive center
Wait 'til you see the front...

To me, this looks like something out of a fairy tale, absolutely beautiful.

 

area in front of the old library

This is the theatre building.

This is written in the archway of the theatre building.

       

Some of their academic buildings are old houses.

I found these signs around campus.  Come on ladies, you're slacking...

a rock, for aesthetic value

They have a Hull Hall too! However, as seen below, it is not as pretty as ours.

This is the Tanger House.  It's on campus, but I'm not sure what it is used for.  Really pretty, though.

I wanted my last picture to be something pretty.  This is a fountain behind the welcome center.  It was very peaceful in this area.

Here you have it my friends, my picture-heavy post of my weekend adventures.  There is more writing to come in the days ahead.

I leave you with a passage in Philippians that was really encouraging to me this morning:

Philippians 2:1-11
¹So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from  love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, ²complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. ³Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. ⁴Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. ⁵ Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹ Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.


I love you and miss you all.