Gathering of BVS volunteers in Northern Ireland (and Kristin), 5 April 2014

Here's a prayer borrowed from Julia Schmidt's blog

O Lord,

in the turbulence

and the loneliness

of my living from day to day

and night to night,

keep me in touch with my roots,

so I will remember where I came from and with whom;

keep me in touch with my feelings,

so I will be more aware of who I really am and what it costs;

keep me in touch with my mind

so I will know who I am not and what that means;

and keep me in touch with my dreams,

so I will grow toward where I want to go and for whom.

O, Lord,

deliver me from the arrogance of assuming

I know enough to judge others;

deliver me from the timidity of presuming

I don't know enough to help others;

deliver me from the illusion of claiming I have changed enough

when I have only risked little,

that, so liberated, I will make some the days to come different.

O, Lord,

I ask not to be delivered

from the tensions that wind me tight,

but I do ask for a sense of direction in which to move once wound,

a sense of humor about my disappointments,

a sense of respect for the elegant puzzlement of being human,

and a sense of gladness for your kingdom

which comes in spite of my fretful pulling and tugging.

O, Lord,

nurture in me the song of a lover,

the vision of a poet,

the questions of a child,

the boldness of a prophet,

the courage of a disciple.

O, Lord,

it is said you created people

because you love stories.

Be with me as I live out my story.

by Ted Loder

Balkan BVSers' Thanksgiving Weekend

Stephanie Barras, Julianne Funk, Julia Schmidt and I met for the traditional Balkan BVS Thanksgiving weekend meeting in Mostar this year, and took at trip to Blagaj to check out the source of the Buna River. 

"merci, plus s'il vous plâit"

From Kirsten Stopher's blog a few days ago: 

One year ago today I arrived in Esteville, France! It was fun for me to reflect on that first day of my arrival with the hébérge - even down to exactly what we ate for lunch. In one year's time I have learned more things than I can imagine and have experienced things I could have never dreamed.

In this next year I have many more things to learn, experience and share. I am very thankful for this past year in an unpredictable life; and today I am especially thankful to have received my assurance maladie letter which declared a favorable decision along with my French social security number included :)

This is definitely a day where I can say; thank you, more please :)

And more new BVSers in Europe!

Welcome to new BVS volunteers Craig Morphew (L'Arche Community in Cork, Ireland), Becky Snell (Quaker Cottage in Belfast, Northern Ireland), and Hannah Button-Harrison (East Belfast Mission, Northern Ireland)! 



Welcoming New Volunteers to BVS in Europe

It’s kind of discouraging that there are so many available BVS projects here in Europe and so few BVS volunteers!  I know I moan about this regularly and there are obviously many factors for the situation. But right now I’m very happy to have welcomed Julia Schmidt (going to a new placement in Osijek, Croatia). 

 

 

 

Last month we welcomed Andrew Kurtz (for Quaker Cottage in Belfast), Stephanie Barras (for OKC Abrasevic in Mostar), and Megan Haggerty (to a new placement, Enable, in Co Armagh, Northern Ireland). 

 

And a year ago, Kirsten Stopher (for the new project ACAPE in Esteville, France)  and Hannah Monroe (for L’Arche Belfast): 

And of course Margaret Hughes, who arrived at the L'Arche Community in Cork over a year ago!  

Mixtures

Here's a recent comment from BVSer Kirsten Stopher who works at the Association Centre Abbé Pierre Emmaüs in Esteville, France:


Today when looking over my notebook after spending the day in a workshop I realized that my life is definitely a mixture of English and French. One line in my notes reads "better than hier and moins bien que demain". Some of the best things in life come from mixtures :)