A Day in the Life

Okay, so here is a little bit more about my job this summer since a lot of people don't actually know what it is I do with my summers.  Basically, 4 college students are in charge of a massive amount of people and money.  We have anywhere from 50-90 volunteers that pass through our center each week and we are in charge of feeding them, housing them, catering to their needs (physical, mental, and spiritual), entertaining them, making sure they follow the rules, teaching them construction, and being their friends/role models.  So kind of like a camp counselor except we actually RUN the camp as well.  PLUS we have to manage all of our construction projects (9-12 per week usually) and that includes planning the projects, ordering materials, keeping track of what happens there everyday, visiting everyday, getting all needed permits, keeping the family, getting to know the family, and helping the volunteers get a lot out of their worksite time.  PLUS we all have individual jobs that make things work. The CD is the king and in charge of everything in reality - the homes budget and all required paperwork are his main jobs, as well as running staff meetings and heading up the staff.  The finance coordinator is in charge of paying off all of our accounts and managing a million different budgets (like materials, tools, food (for volunteers), room and board (for staffers), evening gathering, office supplies, etc.).  The operations coordinator (my job last year) is in charge of planning the menu, ordering food, overseeing the cooks, making sure chores get done, inventorying cleaning supplies and ordering more if needed, planning and overseeing the picnic, and meeting with the facility manager to make sure everything is up to par.  The volunteer coordinator (my job this year) is in charge of contacting all volunteer groups by phone (once 2 weeks before they come and again 3 days before they come) with alot of info, turning in paperwork, submitting stories and work updates to ASP's online database, making sure pictures get taken and uploaded, running that center's ASPConnect page (like facebook), making sure evening gatherings get done, planning culture night, and taking care of any issues the volunteers have. PLUS one first year is in charge of doing checks twice a week on our cars and the other is in charge of keeping track of dump on each worksite and requesting a truck when needed (me last year).  The returner (me!) is in charge of organizing and inventorying the supply room.

A Day in the Life of a Staffer

Around 6:30 or 7: One staffer goes to the hardware store. Last year mine was 25 minutes away, this year it's 5.  Sometimes its 40, it just depends on the county.
7: Someone wakes up the volunteers by blasting music, makes sure devotions get done, does morning announcements, and passes back folders with any updates from the staff meeting the night before.
8: One staffer is in the supply room helping volunteers find everything
9: One staffer does border patrol to make sure everyone has EVERYTHING they need or they know that its loaded in a staff vehicle and is coming to their site (if it won't fit).
During this time, other staffers are doing paperwork, making calls, etc.
10: Staff leaves to visit worksites!! Every worksite must be visited every day.  In addition, errands will be run (post office, bank, grocery store, etc.)
12: Staff maybe eats with volunteers on the worksite, maybe not. It's a day by day guessing game.
3 or so: Staff returns and does more paperwork/phone calls/project planning. Maybe takes a break? Just depends.
4: Volunteers return! Sometimes staffers get to hang out with them yay!! Sometimes this is still paperwork time.
6: Dinner!
7:30 Evening gatherings are run by the staff members.  These are either culturally or spiritually based and include songs, games, activities, discussions, staff shares, etc. They go for an hour and include all the volunteers.
9 or 9:30 staff meeting starts! We start with happies and crappies (goods and bads for the day) then move on to discuss every single house and what happened there that day (aka: what went wrong?) Each person is in charge of a few houses every week so they give the updates after talking to the group leaders that were on that worksite.  We also discuss evening gathering changes, announcements, who is going where and doing what in what vehicle with who the next day, and we end in a prayer.  ANYTHING that needs to be discussed to keep this whole operation moving gets talked about during these meetings. These meetings can end anywhere from 10:30 (yeah, right) to 12 (most likely) even to 1:30.

And that's what my summer is like!! Volunteers get here Sunday afternoon and leave Saturday morning, so we have some time without them here that we spend relaxing and preparing for the next group (writing instruction sheets on how to do the construction takes up a lot of that time).  We get one day off every 2 weeks and one sleep in day the opposite week. It's truly a miracle that we get everything done and retain our sanity and it's only by the grace of God and with His help that this all happens!!

I'm back!!

Hey everyone. So this was supposed to be a blog during my semester in Costa Rica and during my time on ASP summer staff (because no one actually understands what I do all summer) but I have been kind of slacking.  Here I am attempting to pick it up again.  I'm not promising that it will be a regular update but I will try to fill people in on what life in Appalachia is like and the amazing ways God is working in my life.


So just as a background story: I applied for summer staff early and found out before I even left for Costa Rica that I had been rehired as a returning staffer with the Appalachia Service Project (www.asphome.org).  I was super excited about my job, especially as I could feel it getting closer as my time in Costa Rica slipped by (which was sad but I had something else to look forward to so it wasn't too bad).  Then when Anna died I came home and was pretty much lost for awhile.  I was in shock for about 2 weeks and then things started to hit me and I didn't feel like doing anything.  My parents would come home from work and asked what I did that day and I would literally have to say nothing. I did absolutely nothing but sit around. And strangely enough, I was OK with that.  I didn't really have a desire to do anything and I didn't know if I wanted to be on staff again this summer because it is a highly stressful and emotional job and I wasn't sure I could handle it.  Then one Sunday in church Rick Abel presented me with a golden cross necklace.  The family that he had worked for during their spring break trip presented them with the necklace and told them to give it to someone in the church who needed healing. This happened after Anna's accident but before anyone there knew about it.  As soon as I got the necklace I knew that it was God's signal to me that Appalachia is where I am supposed to be this summer.  The people of Appalachia were reaching out to me in a time of need when they didn't even know I needed help and reassurance (no one did, in fact).  God knew.  He knew that I needed reassurance and a guiding light in the stormiest season of my life up to this point.


As I was driving into Appalachia, I could just feel the weight lifting off my shoulders.  It felt so good to be back!!! If you have never been to this area of the country, I highly suggest it.  God's beauty and majesty is so apparent! Costa Rica was extremely beautiful and I loved it, but at the same time Appalachia is beautiful (in a different way) and has a special tug on my heart.  The closer I got to training the more I knew that I was doing what I am supposed to be doing.  Reunions with all the friends from last summer were great, and I have met a lot of new and great people.  My staff this summer is absolutely amazing.  I was a little nervous about how we would all mesh together when staffs were first revealed but the four of us work really well together and I love them all.  Added to the fact that they are all great and interesting people is that we all want God to be the focus of our summer and keeping Him at the top of our hearts is a priority for us all, which only convinced me more that this is the place I am supposed to be this summer. This is where I can work on healing remember everyday that God is good all the time!!!