Hey everyone!
Again, sorry that it's been a week since I updated the blog-- I've been trying to stay on top of e-mails and this week I had to update the staff blog. Check that blog out at http://summerstaff09-harmons.blogspot.com/.
So two groups have come and gone and the summer is already starting to fly. I already wrote a lot of the details from this week on the other blog so check that one out so I don't have to repeat it all ;-).
We haven't had a group here since Tuesday so we've had a lot more down time than usual. I've spent that time hanging out with the staff, hanging out with the boy I'm mentoring, and spending more alone time with God. That's been something that's been tough when there is a group here. I feel like I'm always getting ready for the next devotional time and I have very little time to do my own personal study and reflection. This morning I spent some time worshipping while the rest of the staff went to town to buy some stuff. I got sunburnt at the beach yesterday so I opted to stay at the house. I'm trying to teach myself guitar and I actually led a worship song for a group last week-- Blessed Be Your Name (which if you know guitar is a very easy one with the only 4 chords i know right now; G D em and C).
Besides that I'm probably gonna hang out with my mento a bit tomorrow and spend most of the day cleaning the house to get ready for the next group. The whole staff is excited about getting a new group this Sunday because although we enjoy the time off, everything is a little more lively when a group is here. More Jamaicans tend to just hang out outside the house and they all come for the evening events that we do in the courtyard (like dance night, movie night, mens/womens night, talent shows, etc.)
Thanks to everyone for reading the blog and for your prayers. I really appreciate them!
Much love,
Adam "Chapel Hill" Salloum
PS- you can read about it in the other blog but my nickname down here has become Chapel Hill because when I was explaining where I go to school that's what I said and everyone was confused.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
I love washing machines
Hey everyone,
Just another quick update for ya. I have 6 more minutes-- ready, go!
Today I ran out of clean clothes and had to take the afternoon off to do laundry with Mike (one of the other summer staffers). We walked down the street to a shop at 12:30 to buy some Sud Soap and came back to the Harmony House to use the washing machine; that is, if you want to call my hands "washing machines." We had to scrub out all the dirt from our clothes (that has accumulated from the worksites) in one tub of soapy water, wring them out and transfer them to a tub of fabric softener, wring them out and rinse them in a tub of just water, wring them out and then put them up on the clothesline to dry. Lets just say that with 3 weeks worth of laundry when the dinner bell rang at 6pm we were still not quite done. I love washing machines.
Besides that the group has been awesome this week. They are an older group with a lot of college leaders and its been cool to connect with some of them. A lot of them go to Mizzou because the youth group is based in Columbia, MO. Tonight we had a really good devotion on basing our identity in Christ and not being satisfied with our talents and material posessions as things that define us. I think the group really connected with it.
Tonight I also realized that Jamaica is starting to feel more like home. Some of the Jamaicans are becoming more like close friends than just "buddies." I'm excited to see how the relationships continue to develop this summer.
I miss everyone and I hope you are doing well!
Adam
Just another quick update for ya. I have 6 more minutes-- ready, go!
Today I ran out of clean clothes and had to take the afternoon off to do laundry with Mike (one of the other summer staffers). We walked down the street to a shop at 12:30 to buy some Sud Soap and came back to the Harmony House to use the washing machine; that is, if you want to call my hands "washing machines." We had to scrub out all the dirt from our clothes (that has accumulated from the worksites) in one tub of soapy water, wring them out and transfer them to a tub of fabric softener, wring them out and rinse them in a tub of just water, wring them out and then put them up on the clothesline to dry. Lets just say that with 3 weeks worth of laundry when the dinner bell rang at 6pm we were still not quite done. I love washing machines.
Besides that the group has been awesome this week. They are an older group with a lot of college leaders and its been cool to connect with some of them. A lot of them go to Mizzou because the youth group is based in Columbia, MO. Tonight we had a really good devotion on basing our identity in Christ and not being satisfied with our talents and material posessions as things that define us. I think the group really connected with it.
Tonight I also realized that Jamaica is starting to feel more like home. Some of the Jamaicans are becoming more like close friends than just "buddies." I'm excited to see how the relationships continue to develop this summer.
I miss everyone and I hope you are doing well!
Adam
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
2nd group
Hey Everyone,
Sorry its been awhile-- last week I spent most of my internet time on e-mail. 30 minutes flies when you're trying to keep up with everyone you can.
The first group left Sunday and I think the week went really well. The kids were great to get to know, they worked hard, and they talked a lot in devotions (which is great for me because it meant that I got to talk less ;-)). I connected with a few of the kids and saw some transformations that I think will last in the long term. The tough things was saying goodbye to the team. I think going forward it's going to be difficult because each week it will become more real to me that the team is only here for a week. I'm afraid I might start not making as much of an effort to get to know the kids because of that reality. So I could use some prayer on that front.
It has been nice knowing that I'm going to be here for the whole summer so I'll get to cultivate relationships with Jamaicans in a way that I wasn't able to in my week-long trips here. Even though I do like little kids, I'm finding myself more drawn to the older youth and the young adults.
One other thing I could use prayer on is that I would love the groups that come down but that I wouldn't be too concerned about what they think of me-- I am a people pleaser at heart and I've definitely been struggling with wanting the kids to view me highly.
Well, I'm at 29 minutes (after writing a decently long e-mail to my mom-- I love ya!).
Good night and hopefully I can update this again soon!
Adam
Sorry its been awhile-- last week I spent most of my internet time on e-mail. 30 minutes flies when you're trying to keep up with everyone you can.
The first group left Sunday and I think the week went really well. The kids were great to get to know, they worked hard, and they talked a lot in devotions (which is great for me because it meant that I got to talk less ;-)). I connected with a few of the kids and saw some transformations that I think will last in the long term. The tough things was saying goodbye to the team. I think going forward it's going to be difficult because each week it will become more real to me that the team is only here for a week. I'm afraid I might start not making as much of an effort to get to know the kids because of that reality. So I could use some prayer on that front.
It has been nice knowing that I'm going to be here for the whole summer so I'll get to cultivate relationships with Jamaicans in a way that I wasn't able to in my week-long trips here. Even though I do like little kids, I'm finding myself more drawn to the older youth and the young adults.
One other thing I could use prayer on is that I would love the groups that come down but that I wouldn't be too concerned about what they think of me-- I am a people pleaser at heart and I've definitely been struggling with wanting the kids to view me highly.
Well, I'm at 29 minutes (after writing a decently long e-mail to my mom-- I love ya!).
Good night and hopefully I can update this again soon!
Adam
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Fitting in
Hey Everyone!
We are in the middle of our first week of groups and I'm really enjoying having them down here. It's much more lively around the house with 35 high schoolers running around. It's been great getting to know the students on the work sites, although I'm still getting used to this whole "being in a position of authority" thing. A lot of the times people come to me with questions that I don't know the answer to and it's really tempting to make an educated guess and let them believe I'm probably right ;-).
I've also started to get to know some of the Jamaicans better this week. I think the dynamic of having a group here loosens up the atmosphere a bit. I'm proud to announce that I watched my first live cricket match on Sunday. The village I'm staying in, Harmons, put together their own cricket team that is playing in a Jamaica-wide tournament. I think I understand most of the rules now, and I think it would be fun to play but it can get a little boring to watch; some games last days.
Well, my time on the internet is already running out so I better bid adieu.
I hope everyone is doing well!
AdamE
We are in the middle of our first week of groups and I'm really enjoying having them down here. It's much more lively around the house with 35 high schoolers running around. It's been great getting to know the students on the work sites, although I'm still getting used to this whole "being in a position of authority" thing. A lot of the times people come to me with questions that I don't know the answer to and it's really tempting to make an educated guess and let them believe I'm probably right ;-).
I've also started to get to know some of the Jamaicans better this week. I think the dynamic of having a group here loosens up the atmosphere a bit. I'm proud to announce that I watched my first live cricket match on Sunday. The village I'm staying in, Harmons, put together their own cricket team that is playing in a Jamaica-wide tournament. I think I understand most of the rules now, and I think it would be fun to play but it can get a little boring to watch; some games last days.
Well, my time on the internet is already running out so I better bid adieu.
I hope everyone is doing well!
AdamE
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Summer Staff blog
Hey Everyone,
No time for a long blog tonight but just wanted to check in really quickly. We were making final preparations in the house tonight to get ready for our first group that will be flying in tomorrow. The whole team is pretty pumped but this is when the summer starts to get crazy. Luckily the first group is pretty small, 35 high schoolers I think. I also spent a decent amount of time today working on our devotionals for the week.
ALSO, fyi our summer staff has started a blog of our own! Check it out at http://summerstaff09-harmons.blogspot.com. I'm kinda in charge of it so i've already made the first post.
I hope everyone is doing well-- I've been thinking about a lot of you this week and praying for you as well.
Until later,
AdamE
No time for a long blog tonight but just wanted to check in really quickly. We were making final preparations in the house tonight to get ready for our first group that will be flying in tomorrow. The whole team is pretty pumped but this is when the summer starts to get crazy. Luckily the first group is pretty small, 35 high schoolers I think. I also spent a decent amount of time today working on our devotionals for the week.
ALSO, fyi our summer staff has started a blog of our own! Check it out at http://summerstaff09-harmons.blogspot.com. I'm kinda in charge of it so i've already made the first post.
I hope everyone is doing well-- I've been thinking about a lot of you this week and praying for you as well.
Until later,
AdamE
Monday, June 1, 2009
Harmons, Jamaica
Hey everyone!
Today was our first full day in Jamaica. We arrived yesterday afternoon after about 10 hours of travel (2 planes and a long bus ride in which we had to replace a flat tire). None of us got much sleep Saturday night so yesterday we mostly hung out around the Harmony House, where I will be living for the next 11 weeks.
I've only known the other 5 college students on staff with me for 4 days but we are already beginning to grow close. We had a full day today of intentional discussions, opening up about our lives. I know its going to take a lot of work to build these relationships, especially because we will be around each other 24/7 this summer, but I'm trusting that God is working in each of our hearts. There are 3 people from Geneva college in Pennsylvania, one from the University of Iowa and one from the Mizzou.
Besides some general chores and hanging out with a few Jamaicans that stopped by the house, the only other work I did today was thinking about how to do my job assignment. Our leaders, Josh and Loyd, met with the team today to give us our positions for the summer (none of us had any idea what we would be focusing on prior to this). I am going to be the spiritual formation coordinator. Basically, I will be leading morning and evening devotionals. During the day I can help our work coordinator (John from Mizzou) to get to know the groups that are coming down. Our first group arrives Sunday which we are all really pumped up about. Until then we will just continue to get to know each other better, do odd jobs around the house and hang out with the Jamaicans.
This is going to be one crazy summer but I can't wait to see what God has in store.
Please be praying for us-- and I'd love to hear from you this summer by either commenting on this blog or e-mailing me at salloum@email.unc.edu (although it may take me a while to respond because of limited computer time and such).
Much love,
Adam
Today was our first full day in Jamaica. We arrived yesterday afternoon after about 10 hours of travel (2 planes and a long bus ride in which we had to replace a flat tire). None of us got much sleep Saturday night so yesterday we mostly hung out around the Harmony House, where I will be living for the next 11 weeks.
I've only known the other 5 college students on staff with me for 4 days but we are already beginning to grow close. We had a full day today of intentional discussions, opening up about our lives. I know its going to take a lot of work to build these relationships, especially because we will be around each other 24/7 this summer, but I'm trusting that God is working in each of our hearts. There are 3 people from Geneva college in Pennsylvania, one from the University of Iowa and one from the Mizzou.
Besides some general chores and hanging out with a few Jamaicans that stopped by the house, the only other work I did today was thinking about how to do my job assignment. Our leaders, Josh and Loyd, met with the team today to give us our positions for the summer (none of us had any idea what we would be focusing on prior to this). I am going to be the spiritual formation coordinator. Basically, I will be leading morning and evening devotionals. During the day I can help our work coordinator (John from Mizzou) to get to know the groups that are coming down. Our first group arrives Sunday which we are all really pumped up about. Until then we will just continue to get to know each other better, do odd jobs around the house and hang out with the Jamaicans.
This is going to be one crazy summer but I can't wait to see what God has in store.
Please be praying for us-- and I'd love to hear from you this summer by either commenting on this blog or e-mailing me at salloum@email.unc.edu (although it may take me a while to respond because of limited computer time and such).
Much love,
Adam
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