presbycaroline

04:26 pm: "Seeing the face of God in the City . . . "

He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
Matthew 8:26

This past Sunday morning around 11:15am a crowd of seven 4th through 6th graders sat and looked up at me as I began to tell the story of Jesus calming the storm. It was “Hurricane Sunday” for Fulford UMC, and the rest of the congregation was beginning the process of preparing themselves emotionally and spiritually for the long months ahead of hurricane season. But, my job this morning was to lead something we had started just a few months ago called “Breakaway Sundays”, which is when our 4th through 6th graders get a chance to get out of church and instead do a fun bible lesson with their friends.

I thought this story would be perfect that morning. Instead of focusing on the scary months ahead, I would talk about the way that Jesus can “calm the storms” in our own lives, or in other words how our faith helps us through the hard times. One sixth grader told the story of how her father had survived brain cancer after being given a very bad prognosis. Others told stories of how God had helped them through the death of pets and grandparents.

But even after teaching this lesson and hearing the different ways these children had begun to develop their own faith, my heart was still filled with doubt. In the week prior to this Sunday, I had gotten into a car wreck, been yelled at and threatened by an angry mother of one of my youth, and had begun to doubt every decision that I had made in the past year, first and foremost being my decision to stay in Miami another year. Consequently, even though the seven children probably didn’t recognize it that morning, I had just as little faith as the disciples did that day on the boat.

As the Sunday morning service ended, I began to prepare to take three girls in my youth group to stay at First Presbyterian Church in downtown Miami for their first mission trip. We originally had six signed up, but the day of three girls had backed out. I wasn’t really sure what this week was going to bring. The three girls, who are all Haitian and have spent very little time out of their neighborhood in North Miami Beach, were stepping far out of their comfort zones. There were two other groups staying with us this week, one from a Mennonite Church in North Port, FL and another from a Presbyterian Church on Key Biscayne, which is a ritzy island off of Miami’s infamous Biscayne Bay. The cost for such a week through D.O.O.R. (Discovering Opportunities for Outreach and Reflection) is normally $240 per person, but with the extra fundraising money that we had in our youth account and thanks to my friend Heidi the city director, the girls were able to do the whole week without any cost to them.

After they spent their first two days working at a nursing home and a homeless shelter, my heart quickly started to fill with joy. During the big group reflection, I saw three girls who usually act tough and can quickly be angered, become true servants of Christ. They spoke of their experiences with compassion and maturity. They said they never would have thought that serving the homeless and talking to old people would be so rewarding. They also asked me if we could start a bible study so that I can help them learn how to better understand their Bibles. They even prayed for the rest of our group that they would want to experience what they have this week. Moreover, they have looked past the obvious differences between them and the other groups and made new friends.

Last Sunday when I taught the children to have faith because God can do miraculous things in our lives, I had no idea that that was going to be the same lesson that God was going to teach me this week. Last week my eyes were filled with tears of utter defeat, confusion, and frustration and this week their filled with tears of joy. God is so good.

04:58 pm: Hurricane Wilma

In case you haven’t heard, South Florida, including Miami-Dade County was pounded by hurricane Wilma last Monday.  My roommates and I with the help of some friends and our next door neighbor were able to put up our hurricane shutters, so we decided that our place was safe enough to stay during the storm.  Because we had shutters and many of our friends did not, it ended up that twelve people and six animals (that’s two dogs, two cats, a mouse, and a chinchilla) stayed with us during the storm.

 

The storm itself wasn’t that scary.  It wasn’t until we finally made it out of our dark house that we realized how badly damaged the city was. There were street lights that had been ripped completed off, trees that had fallen on cars and roofs, and windows in homes and businesses that were shattered.  One of the boys in my youth group said that the wind ripped off one of their hurricanes shutters, thus causing his window to shatter while he was asleep in his room.  Thankfully, he wasn’t hurt.  Although the damage by my house was pretty bad, the damage by my church was much worse.  19^th avenue is the street that the church is on, as you see in the picture below the sign is just barely hanging tangled up in some electric wires that used to hold up the streetlight there. 

 

Some 3 and a half million people in the state were out of power, so finding supplies after the storm proved to be very difficult.  Most of the gas stations in town didn’t have power up to three days after the storm.  People began waiting in four hour long lines just to get $20 worth of gas, which was the limit at most places.  And often after waiting for hours, you would end up having to turn around because the stations would run out.  One of my roommates got stuck on the causeway to Miami Beach when her car ran out of gas.  After unsuccessfully running around trying to find stations with gas, we gave up and decided to try to siphon a couple of gallons out of our own tanks to take to her.  After cutting a hose and sticking it into four different gas tanks, we realized that the tanks had been built with a curve so that people wouldn’t do that.  So next, we headed to another gas station with empty containers that we had borrowed from our neighbors thanks to our broken Spanish (as we put it “rojo gasolina”).  When we got there we realized that the station was not even pumping gas, but that people were actually just waiting in line to see if the power would magically turn on.  After that, we decided that the only thing left for us to do was pray.  Then about twenty minutes later, she called us saying that a police officer had pulled over and given her three gallons worth to get her home.   

 

Only a few grocery stores were open, and if they were most were running on generators, and were only selling nonperishable foods.  When I went to the Winn Dixie near my house, basically all I could get was one of the last loaves of bread on the shelf and some peanut butter and jelly.  At my old house, where the new volunteers are now living, thankfully only a block from where I live now, we were able to grill the last bit of meat before it went bad.  But because we weren’t able to find charcoal anywhere, we had to make a fire out of sticks that were lying around the yard.  Most people I knew, including myself, didn’t return to work until this Monday, so each day became merely a matter of survival.  We’d head out early in the morning to various FEMA distribution centers or gas stations, sometimes being successful and sometimes not.  The city was put on a curfew of 8pm all last week, due to the lack of street lights.  Traffic is always bad in Miami, but it’s worse than ever now that people are starting to go back to work even though street lights are still out.  It usually takes me forty-five minutes to get to Wal-Mart, but Monday night it took me two hours.  Kids are expected to return to school this Thursday making it a total of two weeks they will have been out.  Traffic is supposed to get even worse once they return. 

 

As of right now, I still do not have power at my house, and I am not expected to get it until November 14^th, almost a full two weeks from today.  Thankfully I had bought a crank radio, a lantern, and six gallons of water at Wal-Mart the Wednesday before the storm, so we have luxuries that many did not.  Because we have no hot water, I have been showering at friends’ houses when I can.  Thankfully, I will get a bit of a break from the madness this weekend because I am flying to Atlanta on Friday for a Conference on Ministry at Columbia Theological Seminary.

 

Amongst all of the chaos and frustration, there were a lot of really wonderful things that came out of the storm.  For the first time since I have lived in my neighborhood for over a year now, we finally started to connect with our neighbors.  We were able to see that each of us was in need and that we had to rely on one another for help, even though barriers such as language made it some what difficult.  Also, my church, Fulford was one of the first places to get power back, so several volunteers started cooking food and handed out meals to the community and even the Florida, Power, and Light workers.  Also, Branches, one of our ministries in Florida City, decided to put together a Vacation Bible School for kids in the community, since there was no school.  Some 150 kids were able to receive a free meal each day and spend time singing and playing with other kids their age.  On Sunday in youth group, I was able to talk with my kids about their experiences during the aftermath of Wilma, and we all agreed that with every bad news, God also brings good news.  And we had much good news to share from Hurricane Wilma. 

 

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
       his love endures forever.

1 Chronicles 16:34

 

Blessings,

 

Caroline

 

 

Intersection at 19th Ave and 163rd Street, right by Fulford

 

 

Robbie and Katie putting up the shutters. 

02:52 pm: Final Reflections
If we want urban ministries to succeed,
we must quit looking at the city as a place of consummate evil, doom and gloom;
a place to be bulldozed and created anew.
Instead, we must view the city as a place where God is present;
where love, beauty and grace do abound;
a place where the seeds of salvation are already planted and need only to be nourished.
-Mark Wendorf

Dear friends and family,

I hope that you have all enjoyed the summer months so far, whether its been vacationing, working at a summer camp, or only breaking now and then to hit some balls on a golf course (that’s for you Dad!) As for me, I have been working at South Florida Urban Ministries (SFLUM) now for one month. My first project was being in charge of the S.O.U.L. (Summer OUtreach Leadership) Team. This group of teenagers and I traveled to different United Methodist Churches in Miami and put on Vacation Bible Schools. We just finished our last VBS this past week. It’s been good, except for a few road bumps, such as lack of support in some of the churches, and little fury friends (rats!) in another. But, overall it’s been a great experience, and I have really enjoyed helping these youth develop their leadership skills. See the picture below!
Now that the SOUL Team is over, I am beginning to work on a new project, the Oasis Prevention Program (OPP). This is very exciting because we just received a big grant for this project from the Children’s Trust. SFLUM applied for this grant when they hired me and wrote me in as the project coordinator, so my official title is the Oasis Prevention Program Coordinator, which means I will be in charge of starting up this new program. We have five United Methodist Churches in Miami, one of which is Fulford (my church), that we are going to go into and doing a three week long program that will help get urban youth in their area focused on their careers, college, and “life after high school.” Our hope is that through this program kids will channel their gifts, realize their accomplishments, and gain more self-esteem, while giving them a chance to look towards their future in a positive light. That’s basically just an overview, there are a lot more components to it and we are in the process of figuring it all out now that we know that we have the grant. Also, another part of my job will be working at an after school program at Grace Haitian UMC during the week. Grace was one of the churches we did our Vacation Bible Schools and where Faniel from the S.O.U.L. Team goes to church.
And now that I have a job, I am trying to figure out what my living situation is going to be in September. I have several options floating around right now, but I am waiting to figure out the best one. So, please pray that I figure out the best possible living arrangement.

Final Reflections on My Year of Service: Life in Community

Since my year of service is now coming to an end, my roommates and I have had some reflection time together recently. Looking back, I really can’t imagine not having them here. We have had such an amazing community and we have all grown so much together. We have experienced so much down here that we have all really needed the support of one another, and so the bond that we formed has been a very special one.
In fact, when I think about our community, I think a lot about our house. When we got here, we had armies of ants, rats, a front door that was falling apart and eventually fell off, and lots of other little quirks that needed to be fixed. But, as the year progressed, it slowly became more than just a place where we live, but a home. Like the house, we too became more than just roommates, we became a family, sisters in Christ.

So, as the year is coming to an end, we are realizing that our community will soon dissipate. Even though, three of the four of us are staying in Miami and even if some of us end up living together this next year, it will never be the same. So, as my year of service comes to an end, I realize that not only have the kids that I have worked with impacted me, but also my three roommates have forever made an imprint on my heart.

As I look towards the next months, the end of the summer and fall will bring an end of the year retreat to the Bahamas, a karaoke fundraiser, planning for next springs’ camp and OPP, a new living situation, and seminary visits. So, amidst all of this change Psalm 24 helps me remember that God will be my strength and my refuge during this time.

Blessings and peace,

Caroline

Psalm 46

1 God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear,
though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake
in the heart of the sea;
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains
tremble with its tumult.
4 There is a river whose streams
make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of the city;
it shall not be moved;
God will help it when the morning dawns.
6 The nations are in an uproar,
the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice,
the earth melts.
7 The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.

03:09 pm: The S.O.U.L. Team

The Soul Team: Kim, Michelle, Jerry, Faniel

(and in case you didn't know I am the white girl in the middle!)

Hi again,

I just wanted to give a quick update on my summer.  I have been working at South Florida Urban Ministries now for one month.  My first project has been working with the S.O.U.L. Team (Summer OUtreach Leadership Team).  This group of teenagers and I travel to different United Methodist Churches in Miami and put on Vacation Bible Schools.  So far, we have had one week of training and two vacation Bible Schools.  Its been good, except for a few roadbumps, such as lack of support in one of the churches, and little fury friends (rats!) in another.  So, that's it for now.  More to come later I am sure!

Peace,

Caroline

01:20 pm: Change of Plans
Fact: Miami is currently the most diverse city in the United States based on the fact that 59% of it's population was born outside the U.S.

Well, my plans have changed and I have decided to stay in Miami for another year. I know that I mentioned in my last newsletter that I felt as though my ministry here had only just begun and leaving would be very hard. I also mentioned that I was discerning a call to go into ordained ministry. Since that newsletter, I received a job offer down here working with a nonprofit called Miami Urban Ministries (MUM). When this opportunity came along I knew that God was calling me to stay. MUM is a nonprofit that is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and is responsible for putting on the camp that I was telling you about last time I wrote. With this job, I have committed to working there 32 hours a week planning camp and other big joint youth group events with urban Methodist churches in the area like the one where I am working now. Because this job is connected to the Methodist Church, I will also be able to stay at the church where I am working now leading the youth group at 10 hours per week.

So, my job at MUM will focus on getting groups of local urban youth in the area from these churches and not only doing fun events, but also doing life skill training. Because these kids are “at risk” they often fall to the pressures of drugs, alcohol, and sex. The idea is to keep the kids committed to Christ, and give them the life skills they need to survive in the city. For instance, I have a group of twenty teenagers in my youth group who come regularly. Some found this church because they grew up here, others came by themselves because it’s close to where they live, or some may have just come with a friend. It is important for me to keep these kids hooked because as long as they keep coming to church there is a greater possibility that they won’t join gangs or succumb to whatever else they me be pressured into doing at the time.

So my job will be to strengthen these urban youth groups through such programs. There is already one church in the district that has been using this model now for quite some time and is now seeing the success that it brings. The church is in Florida City, just south of where I live, where there is a high population of migrant farm workers. In Florida City, only 20% of high school seniors will go to college, but 100% of the kids involved this church will.

My job at MUM starts May 31st with S.O.U.L (Summer Outreach and Leadership) Team. The S.O.U.L. team has been going now for a couple of years, where it brings in local urban teenagers and pays them to put on vacation bible schools throughout the city. I will be in charge of coordinating this team. I am exciting about spending time going to different churches in the area, some which are all Haitian, some all African-American, and some mostly Hispanic.

I am so excited about this new job because it’s something that I really believe in and love doing. It was, however, a hard decision to turn down a wonderful opportunity to teach in the Delta. But, that still may be something that I can do in the future. For me right now, I know that eventually I will go to seminary, it’s just a matter of when the timing is right. It may be one year from now or it may be three. So, I have started the preparation for ministry process and I plan on using this year to learn more about my gifts and how I can use them in ordained ministry. I just want to thank you all again for supporting me in my decision to come down here and I hope that you recognize that because of your support my eyes have been opened, my heart touched, and my life changed forever.


Thank you,


Caroline Underwood

09:55 pm: Church Camp Rocks!

The pimp of the white girls :o)

Camp

I just got back last night from a four day church camp for inner city kids. Gulftreat friends, I know you will love to hear that we did the “Jesus is the Lamb” and “Revolution” and even the cup of cleanliness. The kids loved the energizers, especially “Revolution,” and they even ended up breaking off into their own freestyle dance to it at one point.

There were just over one hundred junior highs and senior highs at this camp, twelve of which were from my youth group, and all from local United Methodist Churches around Miami. The camp is called Oasis and this was the thirteenth year they have had it. It was started the spring after Hurricane Andrew because kids had still not gone back to school, so they were bored and camp was good way to get them out of the city and the trouble and danger that often comes with it. Now the camp is held every spring break on Lake Aurora, just a few hours north of Miami.

I was on the planning team this year for the camp, so it was very exciting for me to see it all come together finally, especially since it had been such a struggle for so long just coming up with the $100 that it cost each of my kids to go.

Though I have been to so many church camps now that I am beginning to lose track, it is always such a joy to experience it again and see another life of a young person touched. Plus, these kids loved everything so much. Each morning they woke up an hour earlier than they had to just so that they could get the day started as soon as possible. Keep in mind these are teenagers. I think they just get so sick of looking at the pavement that for them going anywhere outside the city is a true gift.

This camp also has topic discussions and skill groups. The topics usually are on sex, violence, college, etc. These are very important because the kids often don’t have the skills they need to even know apply to college, so many of them don’t end up going because they don’t know how to find scholarships, etc. And if they do, few leave Miami.

I had the opportunity to lead a topic discussion on racism. You can imagine that this must have been a very interesting experience, a white girl teaching a bunch of black and Latino kids about racism. The first thing I did was have them say their name, ethnicity, and a name they were called when they were younger that they didn’t like. One kid looked at me right away and said “Did they call you cracker?” But even after this first opening comment, we were able to move forward. I just wanted to give them an opportunity to share their personal experiences, discuss how they made them feel, and decide how as Christians we should respond to them. I used a curriculum made specifically for youth that I got from the PCUSA called “Facing Racism: Vision of a Beloved Community.” There are several sessions in this book, so I just picked bits and pieces from it and then came up with some other stuff on my own. I highly recommend this curriculum though, and I hope to get to use more of it in the future.

So, as you see, camp was great and so maybe now I’ll have my fix for a while and won’t miss Gulftreat too much this summer. :o)

 

Feeling Called

 

Lately, I have also been feeling very sad about leaving Miami in May. I feel as though my ministry here is really starting to pick up and I hate having to leave not knowing if Fulford will even get another intern in the fall. Plus, each day I feel more and more like God is calling me to go to seminary. Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to preach for the first time. This was not something that I was required to do by any means, but instead something that I had asked to do. I have been feeling called to go to seminary now for a long time, but the thought of preaching really made me nervous and I knew that I wanted more life experience before I went, so I was never able to admit to myself that I was being called. After giving the sermon, it was like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I saw that this was something that I could do, and I even enjoyed it. It was one of the first times that I felt like I was a real leader in the congregation, and it felt right.

But with all this enthusiasm, it’s hard to know that it will be at least a year before I can even start to apply because I have already decided to take this teaching job. It’s also tough because I also feel called to teach. Plus, right now financially it’s the best decision that I can make. I know that ministry can happen in many different ways, so my teaching experience can only prepare me even more for my life working in the church. But, I have made a commitment with myself and God that after I am finished with my teaching program that seminary will be next. I think it’s hard because once you realize that God wants you to enter the ministry, you want to do it as soon as possible. But, I have to realize that more life experiences can never hurt, and I just have to be patient and wait.

Caroline

The Pimp of the White Girls

The Muscle Boys, Asim, Richard, and Kevin

Me and Shante

Kids in the Lake with my now pink-haired friend Penny in the middle

02:15 pm: Looking Ahead
Dear friends and family,

Blessings to you all in whatever it may be that is filling up your life at the moment. Things have been quite busy down here for me this past month. My youth had a car wash, a lock-in, and youth Sunday, and my mom came to visit just a few weeks ago. I was very pleased with how youth Sunday went, especially since five of the kids did a liturgical dance, one of which was a boy! The dance was the first one this church has had in a long time and I could tell the congregation was very moved. I have never been a huge fan of liturgical dance, but I have to say that I definitely got chill bumps seeing the kids up there, especially knowing that they worked so hard.

My future plans

Just this week I was offered a teaching position through the Mississippi Teacher Corps (http://www.olemiss.edu/programs/mtc) As some of you know, I had applied for this job last year and was first alternate. So I knew when the opportunity came around again that I could not pass it up. Unfortunately, it does cut my time in Miami a little bit shorter than anticipated. My last Sunday will be May 22nd and on May 31st I will start summer classes at the University of Mississippi. After doing my student teaching and getting my teacher certification this summer, I will be placed in a high-needs school district in the Mississippi Delta, where I will be teaching High School English. This program is a two year commitment with classes in the summer and on the weekends, and after the end of the two years, I will have a Master’s Degree in Education.

Along with all of the excitement that goes along with the realization that it won’t be long before a new chapter of my life begins, I know that I will be very sad when the time comes for me to leave Miami. The hardest part I think will be leaving my youth. I know that it is very difficult for them to have someone for such a short time. I feel as though I am just now really starting to make my relationships with them matter and soon it will be time for me to leave. Therefore, I want to do as much as I can in the next few months and also help Brandon, a member of the church who has worked with me this year, get ready to take charge when I leave. So far, my experience in Miami has been invaluable. I know that by simply having had this time down here, I will be more prepared to handle any curve ball that life may throw me on the road ahead. Thank you all again for supporting me in my decision to come down here and I hope that it won’t be long before I see some of you again.

Take care and God bless!

Caroline

10:12 pm: Miami Slang
Here is a little bit of Miami slang, courtesy of the kids in my youth group:

More to come later I am sure . . .

"Wangsters": Wanna Be Gangsters
"What'd they do": What's Up?
"back that up": Thank You
"Serving": Dealing drugs, or when someone is in jail
"green or slimy": Mean
"Home Skillet": Close friend

09:04 pm: The Trailer Park Kids
For about a month now I have been teaching a Sunday school class at the Lighthouse. The lighthouse is a church that we go to on Saturday nights, so this Sunday school actually happens on Saturday nights. But I'll call it a sunday school class for lack of better words. All of the kids in my class come from a trailer park, actually not far from where I work at Fulford. Sandra, a friend of mine who is in charge of the classes, was desparately in need of volunteers and when I saw where these kids live and the way they act around one another, I was glad to help. The trailer park is located behind a starbucks in what appers to be a typical suburban neighborhood in North Miami. You could pass that starbucks everyday on your way to work and never know that just a few feet behind it is this ghetto. The trailors are so close together that some of these kids act like brothers and sisters rather than neighbors. The streets are so small and congested that one single car can barely fit on it. One night I asked the kids if they had any celebrations and concerns for this week. One of the little girls who is about eleven said that she was happy this week because she found forty dollars. I asked her where she found this forty dollars and she said she found it under a rock after seeing a drunk man put it there. I asked her then if it was really hers to take. Her explanation was very simple, "Look in my neighborhood if you see another piece of trash (meaning person) put something down, you take it, I mean afterall they are trash." I wasn't able to delve into this much more after that because our time ran out, but I hoping to learn more about what its like for these kids to grow up in this place. I know that for them it is really a matter of survival. Hopefully more to come on these kids soon. Please preay for them, for their safety in their neighborhood, for their schools, and their relationships with one another.

04:06 pm: Hotel Rwanda
I saw Hotel Rwanda on Tuesday night. We ended up seeing it because everything for the Miami International Film Festival was completely sold out. I was barely prepared for the onset of emotions that I would feel while watching this film. Chris and Brad both had bags of popcorn and by the end of them they were still full. Its not exactly the kind of movie that you can watch while casually eating popcorn. I am still digesting everything that I saw, but for now I can honestly say, as a very faithful person, I don't know if I could have kept my faith if I had experienced what they did.

So, go see it, because everyone should be made aware of what happened only ten short years ago.

If anyone knows of any good literature about the genocide, please send it my way.